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Chinese New Year.

Jan 28, 2017

Chinahighlights.com tells us that Chinese New Year's Day is the first day of the Chinese lunar calendar. But the date is different each year on the Gregorian (internationally-used) calendar, between January 21th and February 20th. In 2017 it's Saturday January 28th.
 
When Chinese New Year is Celebrated
 
Officially Celebration — 7 Days (January 27– February 2, 2017)
 
It's a public holiday for Chinese. Usually people have 7 consecutive days off from Chinese New Year's Eve to the sixth day after Chinese New Year's Day.
Officially only the first three days of Chinese New Year (January 28–30, 2017) are statutory holiday. Chinese New Year's Eve and three more days are always added to give seven consecutive days of holiday. These four extra days are taken from weekends: the two weekend days closest to the statutory holiday are included, while the Saturday before (February 6, 2016) and the Sunday after (February 14, 2016) are worked.
 
The most important days of celebration are:
 
Chinese New Year's Eve (January 27, 2017; Chúxī /choo-sshee/ 'Excluded Evening' on the Chinese calendar): the day of family reunions
 
Chinese New Year's Day (January 28, 2017; Chūyī /choo-ee/ 'First One' on the Chinese calendar): the day of (close) family visits and New Year greetings
 
Most people will return to work on Friday, February 3 or Saturday, February 4 in 2017.
 
Traditional Celebration — 23 days (January 19 – February 11, 2017)
 
Traditionally celebrations start much earlier than Chinese New Year's Eve. Some people start to celebrate three weeks before, the 8th day of the twelfth Chinese month (January 5, 2017; Làbā /laa-baa/ '12th lunar month + 8'). More people celebrate from the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month (January 20, 2017). They start to clean the house to welcome a new year from then.
 
Traditionally the end day of the Spring Festival is the fifteenth day of the first Chinese month, February 11, 2017 — the Lantern Festival. Chinese make all kinds of beautiful lanterns and eat sweet glutinous rice balls in sweet soup (tāngyuán /taang-ywen/ 'soup round').
 
Why Chinese New Year is Celebrated in Winter
 
Like Christmas in the other countries, Chinese New Year is China's much-needed winter holiday.
 
It was set to coincide with the slack time just before a new year of farm work begins, as a time of preparation. Traditionally most Chinese were farmers, so this made sense. Now 55% of China's population is urban (a generation ago it was 25%), but 100+ million return to their rural roots for CNY.
 
Celebrating a New Working Year and Praying for Good "Harvests"
 
According to China's traditional solar calendar, which dictates the lunar calendar, the first Chinese "month" is called 'start of Spring'. The farming cycle is set to start some time after this, but it really depends on the location in China. The ground doesn't thaw in some places until March.
 
During the Spring Festival, Chinese traditionally celebrate the start of a new year of farm work, and wish for a good harvest. This has now evolved to celebrating the start of a new business year and wishing for profits and success in various vocations.
 
2017 — A Rooster Year
 
Chinese New Year 2017 will be a year of the Rooster. For people born in a year of the rooster (1921, 1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005), 2017 is considered a bad year. "Roosters" are hardworking, resourceful, courageous and talented.
 
Why is a Zodiac Year an Unlucky Year?
According to Chinese astrology, people in their zodiac year are believed to offend Tai Sui, the God of Age, and incur his curse. It is believed to bring nothing but bad luck. Therefore Chinese astrology followers pay special attention to their conduct every twelfth year of their lives, i.e. in their birth sign years.
What/who is the 'God of Age' Star (Tai Sui)?
Tai Sui doesn’t actually exist as a real star! (It roughly corresponds to Jupiter, which takes 11.86 years to orbit earth, and is probably where the idea for the star came from). It’s an imaginary star that changes position exactly 30 degrees of direction each year, i.e. orbiting Earth every 12 years exactly.
The star Tai Sui is said to bring misfortune to people in zodiac years matching their year of birth.
Later, during the course of history, Tai Sui evolved into the God of Age, and has been worshipped by Chinese people from one generation to another. People offer sacrifices to the God of Age to get rid of misfortune and pray for blessings in a zodiac year.
How to Get Good Luck in a Zodiac Year
According to Chinese tradition, there are some things that people can do to fend off bad luck in a zodiac year.
By Wearing Red
Red is one of the luckiest colors in Chinese culture, standing for prosperity, loyalty, success, and happiness. Red can drive away bad luck and evil spirits.
Therefore wearing red during your zodiac year (or zodiac year) will bring you good luck and give you a good year. You can wear a red belt, red socks, red shoes, or red clothes, and red underwear is highly recommended during your zodiac year.
However, there is a rule that you need to pay attention to, or the red won't ward off bad luck. You cannot buy, for example, the red underwear yourself. It should be bought by a spouse, family member, or friend.
By Wearing Jade Accessories
Besides wearing red, you can also wear jade accessories during your zodiac year to ward off bad luck, like pendants, earrings, rings, and bracelets.
By Facing the Right Direction
People are often told by fortune-tellers that Tai Sui will bring bad luck. Actually in theory you can make use of Tai Sui to bring good luck, by facing in the opposite direction. The position of Tai Sui for each year in its cycle is listed below.
 
Chinese Zodiac Animal      Year (e.g.)      Position of God of Age
 
Monkey                                  2016               Southwest (240°)
Rooster                                  2017               West (270°)
Dog                                        2018               Northwest (300°)
Pig                                         2019               Northwest (330°)
Rat                                         2020               North (0°)
Ox                                          2021               Northeast (30°)
Tiger                                      2022               Northeast (60°)
Rabbit                                    2023               East (90°)
Dragon                                  2022               Southeast (120°)
Snake                                    2025               Southeast (150°)
Horse                                    2026               South (180°)
Goat                                      2027               Southwest (210°)
 
People adjust the direction of beds, seats, desks, and even where they live and work to face away from Tai Sui, i.e. “to get Tai Sui behind them”, in an effort to incur good luck.
 
For example, in 2016 (a year of the Monkey) Tai Sui is in the southwest (technically closer to SSW). So in 2016 “Monkeys” adjust their furniture and dwellings to face northeast to get good luck. When doing something important, such as a business negotiation, Monkeys should face northeast, and they will stand a good chance of succeeding.
 




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