The origin of the Chinese New Year Festival can be traced back to about 3,500 years ago. Chinese New Year has evolved over a long period of time and its customs have undergone a long development process. A Legend of the Origin of Chinese New Year. Like all traditional festivals in China, Chinese New Year is steeped with stories and myths. In Chinese, the festival is commonly known as the "Spring Festival" (traditional Chinese: 春節; simplified Chinese: 春节; pinyin: Chūnjié), [16] as the spring season in the lunisolar calendar traditionally starts with lichun, the first of the twenty-four solar terms which the festival celebrates around the time of the Chinese New Year Since the mid-1990s people in China have been given seven consecutive days off work during the Chinese New Year. This week of relaxation has been designated Spring Festival, a term that is sometimes used to refer to the Chinese New Year in general. The origins of the Chinese New Year are steeped in legend. One legend is that thousands of years The history of Chinese New Year was closely associated with agrarian society in old times. Ancient people concluded the disciplines of cycles of seasons from their planting experience, and the yearly celebration came into being with the outcome of calendar in the Shang Dynasty. The earliest worshiping activities became the embryo of the festival. While 元旦 (yuán dàn) would fall on January 1 of the Gregorian calendar, it is considered the official start of the new year. Nowadays, Chinese people will have a 7-day holiday from Chinese New Year's Eve (除夕 chú xí) to the sixth day of Chinese New Year. In 2023, the Chinese New Year holiday is from January 21st to January 27th. Chinese New Year has a history of about 3,500 years. Its exact beginning date is not recorded. Some people believe that Chinese New Year originated in the Shang Dynasty (1600–1046 BC), when people held sacrificial ceremonies in honor of gods and ancestors at the beginning or the end of each year. Chinese New Year (Spring Festival) is the oldest traditional festival in China, but a few people concern the origin and story behind the holiday. Many existing customs and activities of the festival actually can be traced back to a popular story of the Monster Nian, which helps to explain why and how the festival is celebrated. The traditions of Chinese New Year spread to these regions as a result of migration, trade, and cultural exchange over centuries. Vietnam, which was under Chinese rule for over a thousand years, celebrates Tết Nguyên Đán, which shares many customs with Chinese New Year such as ancestor worship, red envelopes, and lucky foods. Also known as the Spring Festival (春節), or simply Chinese New Year, As the rat won the race, it came to be listed as first among the 12 animals of the zodiac. The order of the other 11 Like all traditional Chinese festivals, the origins of Chinese New Year are steeped in stories and myths. One of the most popular, which emerged during the Zhou dynasty (1046-256 BC), is about the mythical beast ‘Nian’ (which translates to ‘year’), who terrorised local people by eating livestock, crops and even humans on the eve of The Year of the Snake.Here's your guide to the Lunar New Year. When does Chinese New Year start and end? Chinese New Year in 2025 starts on Wednesday, Jan. 29, and lasts until the Lantern Festival Each Chinese lunar year has a Chinese zodiac sign animal. The Chinese zodiac year's stsarting date is a little different from the Gregorian year. It starts from Chinese New Year. The Chinese zodiac years chart below is provided to help you find out the exact starting and ending dates of the Chinese zodiac years. (This is especially useful for Unlike the solar-based calendars of Mesopotamia and Egypt, the Chinese New Year follows the lunar calendar, with the festivities typically occurring between 21 January and 20 February. The origins of the Chinese New Year are steeped in legend, particularly the story of Nian, a mythical beast that terrorised villages at the end of each year. Lunar New Year is one of the most important celebrations of the year among East and Southeast Asian cultures, including Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean communities, among others. Buddhism, after its arrival in China, had a profound effect on Chinese culture, so it isn’t surprising that these deified animals would come to be honored as part of the zodiacs. Chinese New Year and the Zodiacs. Each of these zodiac animals governs a whole year, which starts at Chinese New Year according to the lunar calendar. Most of us are familiar with the Chinese Zodiac and how it differs from the Western Zodiac. The Chinese system is based on the lunar calendar and assigns an animal to each year within a 12-year cycle. It is said that people born each year receive some of that year’s animal’s reputed attributes. But where does this belief come from? There are 12 Chinese zodiac signs, in the following order: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig.Each sign is named after Lunar New Year, festival typically celebrated in China and other Asian countries that begins with the first new moon of the lunar calendar and ends on the first full moon of the lunar calendar, 15 days later. The dates of the holiday vary from year to year, beginning some time between January 21 and February 20. Chinese New Year is steeped in history, much of which intertwines with the story of Nian, a fearsome beast whose name coincidentally shares the same word for “year” in Chinese. As legend has it, Nian would terrorize villagers annually until a wise old man suggested using loud noises, firecrackers, and the color red to scare the monster away. (Picture: Getty) The story behind the Chinese zodiac animals. One version of the legend says that the Jade Emperor, the ruler of Heaven and the Earth, decided to hold a race to pick the animals
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