O New YearChinese that's when the New Year in Chinese culture takes place. This passage follows the Chinese calendar, a lunar calendar that has 12 months, and, in leap years, 13 months. New Year's is one of the most popular festivities in the China and it is a holiday that can be up to seven days in length.
Accessalso: New Year's Eve, the traditional turn of the year in the West
Understanding the Chinese New Year
The Chinese New Year is the celebration of New Year's Eve that happens in China, a country that has a different calendar than the one we use here. The Chinese New Year follows a calendarlunar, adopted in the country and based on the 12 cycles of the Moon, which gives around 354 days of duration.
It is important to note that the lunar calendar is not synchronized with the time of the seasons, which are based on the Earth's rotation time around the Sun. With this, it is necessary that, every three years, a month is added to the Chinese calendar. It is also 12 months long, but, exceptionally in leap years, it is 13 months.
The big difference in relation to the calendar we use in Brazil is that ours, called calendarGregorian, is solar and is based exactly on the rotation of the Earth around the Sun. Our calendar has an inaccuracy of a few hours, so it is necessary to add one day to it every four years.
New Year's Eve for the Chinese is one of the most important and most popular commemorative dates in their culture. It doesn't just happen in China, but also in countries like South Korea and Japan, for example. Other countries with a significant Chinese population also register expressive celebrations.
Accessalso: Do you know what the Chinese Cultural Revolution was?
Chinese New Year Traditions
In China, New Year is a holiday and one of the most important. Officially the New Year is a holiday for three days, but much of the commerce is closed by sevendays, which means that, in practice, the first week of the year is all considered a holiday. Shops and restaurants, for example, are closed during this period.
The New Year is a celebration celebrated amidst a series of traditions that tie in with superstitions of Chinese culture. In all, the celebration spans 15 days, although the holiday, as we have already seen, lasts only a week. Days before the New Year, the streets are already starting to be properly decorated with red lanterns and with inscriptions on the doors of the houses.
Do not stop now... There's more after the advertising ;)
During the celebration, many people prepare traditional dishes that symbolize luck. On the last day of the celebration (the 15th day), for example, the FestivalgivesFlashlight, when families throw small lanterns into the air. Each lantern must have a written wish by the one who cast it.
Another practice of the Chinese calendar is to relate each year to different animals. This custom comes from the Buddhism, for a tale of this religion tells of an occasion when Buddha invited the animals to a festival, but only 12 of them would have appeared. To honor them, the years are now known by the order of arrival of each animal:
Mouse
Ox
Tiger
Bunny
Dragon
Snake
Horse
RAM
Monkey
rooster
Dog
Boar
The years on the Chinese calendar follow this cycle. The current Chinese year started on February 12, 2021 (this is the year 4719 for the Chinese), and it is the year of the ox.
THE chinese mythology he says that the practice of celebrating the New Year arose when an elder appeared in a village telling him to wear red, decorate the streets with red lanterns and inscriptions and bursting fireworks were the ways to get away from a monster called Nian.
Historically speaking, some believe that New Year's celebrations date back to the period of emperor Yao (around 2200 BC C.), but the earliest records of the celebration in China date back to the period of dHan inasty (between the 3rd centuries a. Ç. and III d. Ç.).
In today's China, the New Year celebration is a time when millions of people return to their homelands to spend a few days with their families. For many, it's the only one time to review the family, and therefore it is quite common for there to be exchange of gifts.
In rural areas of China, the New Year also has a very important meaning, as opens the preparation period for planting rice, one of the most important crops of local agriculture.
Accessalso: Mao Tse-Tung, one of the greatest personalities in Chinese history
How is the Chinese New Year defined?
The Chinese New Year date is mobile and can be between January 20th and February 20th. The date is defined by the New Moon that takes place in this period, so, as we have seen, in 2021, the date was celebrated on February 12th, and, for the following years, the dates will be as follows:
year of the tiger: February 1, 2022 to January 21, 2023
year of the rabbit: January 22, 2023 to February 9, 2024
year of the dragon: February 10, 2024 to January 28, 2025
year of the snake: January 29, 2025 to February 16, 2026
Horse year: February 17, 2026 to February 5, 2027
year of cmummer: February 6, 2027 to January 25, 2028
year of the monkey: January 26, 2028 to February 12, 2029
year of the rooster: February 13, 2029 to February 2, 2030
year of the dog: February 3, 2030 to January 22, 2031
year of the wild boar: January 23, 2031 to February 10, 2032
year of the rat: February 11, 2032 to January 30, 2033
By Daniel Neves
History teacher