The Origin of the Chinese New Year Celebration

Legend has it that there was a beast called Nian (which means "year" in Chinese) that would come to China the night before the new year began (according to the Chinese Calendar) and prey upon the people. One of the legends has it that Nian had a very big mouth and that he would swallow a great many people with every bite.

One day an old man came to the rescue of the people, he said to Nian, "I hear that you are a very capable beast, but do you think that you could swallow the other beasts of prey instead of people, who are not worthy opponents?" So Nian started to swallow he other beast which were harassing the people anyway. After that the man disappeared riding Nian, it turns out that the man was really an immortal god.

The old man told the people to put up red decorations on their windows and doors at each year's end to scare away Nian in case he came back. Nian lived in fear of the color red. The people celebrate the New Year by putting up red paper and lighting firecrackers to scare away Nian. They say the words "Guo Nian" which mean both, "Survive the Nian" and "Celebrate the year." The word "guo" in Chinese means both observe, and pass-over.

Another interesting thing about Chinese New Year is that very few people know when this holiday is celebrated without looking at a traditional Chinese calendar because it never falls on the same day. The ancient Chinese used a lunar calendar. (Today we use solar calendars.) On a lunar calendar, the New Year begins the first night of the new moon after the sun enters Aquarius. This date is anywhere between January 20 and February 19 (on a solar calendar). Chinese years are grouped in sets of 12 with each year being represented by an animal (zodiac sign). It is said that a person displays the characteristics of the animal of the year in which they were born.

Along with the 12-animal cycle is a cycle composed of the "Five Elements," (i.e., metal, wood, fire, water and earth). The elements act as modifiers on the 12 animal symbols. This year (2006), for example, is the Year of the Fire Dog. The next lunar year, which will begin on Feb. 18 of 2007, will be the Year of the Fire Pig. Fire is red or yellow, and this is associated with gold. Accordingly, the Year of the Fire Pig becomes the Year of the Golden Pig. This occurs only once every 60 years. And to top it off, 2007 is no ordinary Year of the Golden Pig. When further calculations are made using the principles of Ying and Yang, the year is a special kind of Golden Pig year that occurs only once every 600 years! (other pig years: 1923, 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995)

Those born in pig years tend to have excellent manners, make and keep friends, work very hard, and appreciate luxury. They are very loving and make loyal partners. Since Will was born in 1971, I can say with all honesty and love that my husband is truly a pig!

References:

http://gochina.about.com/od/chinesenewyear/a/NY_Activities.htm

http://teacherlink.ed.usu.edu/tlresources/units/Byrnes-celebrations/Chinese.html

http://www.infoplease.com/spot/chinesenewyear1.html