2. Days of Celebration
• Chinese New Year starts on the first day of the lunar
calendar on the new moon.
• Chinese New Year falls on different dates each year, on
a date between January 22 and February 20. This
means that the holiday usually falls on the second, and
occasionally on the third new moon after the winter
solstice.
• Families meet starting on New Year’s eve. They gather
together for a large meal and for prayer.
• The period around Chinese New Year is the time when
the largest number of Chinese migrate in order to reunite
with their families for the holidays
• Chinese New Year ends on the 15th: this day is called
Lantern Festival (yuánxiāojié, 元宵节 ). This takes place
around the time of the full moon.
3. The Chinese Calendar
The Chinese year can be named three ways:
1. By its number: the current year is 4705 by the
Chinese calendar
2. By its animal name: there are 12 animal names, and
they are recycled every 12 years. 2008 is the Year of
the Rat.
3. By its stem-branch notation, where years are named
based on 60-year cycles, and are combinations of the
five “heavenly” stems (elements) and the twelve
“earthly” branches (animals).
• This is what the Chinese horoscope is based upon.
This is the year of the Fire Pig, and I was born in
the year of the Metal Rooster.
• What to notice is that the combination names are
different from the separate names, for example,
Fire Pig is dīnghài ( 丁亥 ) instead of huǒzhū
4. Chinese Calendar Symbols
• The five elements are: wood ( 木 , mù), fire ( 火 ,
huǒ), earth ( 土 , tǔ), metal ( 金 , jīn), and water
( 水 , shǔi)
• The twelve animals are:
1 2 4
3
5 6 7 8
9 10 11
12
5. Early Celebration Events
• Before the New Year, everyone sweeps their
homes to get rid of bad luck from the old year
and prepare their homes for good luck
• On New Year’s Eve, families get together and
share a large meal, usually at the home of the
eldest member of the family
• Red packets of money, or hóng bāo, are often
distributed from elders to younger members of
the family during or after the dinner. Never put
$4 in red envelopes because it is the number for
death. 8, on the other hand, is a lucky number.
7. Prayer
• Many Chinese are Buddhist
or Taoist, so prayer is a big
component of celebrations
• Incense is lit, prayers are
sent to the gods (Buddha,
Lady Buddha, Gods of
Health, Happiness,
Longevity….)
9. Superstitions
• Only wear good luck colors, which is primarily
red, but secondaries are gold and pink
• You cannot sweep on the first day, or you will be
removing the good luck from your home
• You’re not supposed to wash your hair the first
day or you wash away your good luck, but
people usually do anyways because, well, it’s
kinda gross
• For those who believe in horoscopes, you must
travel in the good luck direction on the first day:
east was happiness and west was prosperity this
year
10. Foods
• Snacks are eaten throughout the holidays such as
red melon seeds, sugared fruits, and sesame and
peanut candies. Since you are not allowed to sweep
on New Years, red seeds are often strewn all over
the floors!
• Many people are vegetarian for one or more days
during the New Year period because it signifies
longevity, so they eat dishes like Buddha’s delight,
which is usually made up of 18 ingredients like
veggies, black mushrooms, bean thread noodles,
and dates
• Fish is almost always served on New Year’s eve
because yú ( 魚 ) sounds like “surplus,” so we can
say “nián nián yǒu yú,” or “may there be surplus
every year”
12. The End of Festivities
The Lantern Festival signifies the last day of
celebrations. Traditionally, it was a good day for
finding love and for matchmaking.
13. The Meaning of Chinese New Year
*** EVERYONE gets one year older!
