Chinese New Year Traditions.

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NEW YEAR.

April 2026
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Chinese New Year 1

Year 2026 will be the "Year of the Horse beginning on Febuary 17th.

It is Year 4723 by the Chinese calendar

Introduction

Some people believe that 2026 is Chinese year 4724, and not 4723. The belief goes something like this...
The first King of China was the Yellow King, but he was crowned in 2697B.C.
The King used the winter solstice day, which means...
Either of the two times of the year when the sun is at its greatest distance from the celestial equator.
As the first day of the year which was around the 23rd of December 2698 B.C.
Thus losing 8 days from what we would term as traditional new year.
Therefore if you take the date from the Chinese Kings inauguration, then it is indeed Chinese year 4724.

LunarChinese New Year

When it comes to keeping records, China has a long memory...
The Chinese Lunar New Year is the longest chronological record in history.
It dates from 2600BC, when Emperor Huang Ti introduced the first cycle of the zodiac.
Just as the Western calendar, the Chinese Lunar Calendar is a yearly one.
With the start of the lunar year being based on the cycles of the moon.
Therefore, because of this cyclical dating, the beginning of the year can fall anywhere between late January and the middle of February.
This year it falls on February 17th.
A complete cycle takes 60 years and is made up of five cycles of 12 years each.

The Chinese Lunar Calendar names each of the twelve years after an animal. Legend has it that the Lord Buddha summoned all the animals to come to him before he departed from earth.
Only twelve of them came to bid him farewell, and as a reward he named a year after each one in the order that they arrived.
The Chinese believe that the animal ruling the year in which a person is born, has a profound influence on their personality.
Saying that: This is the animal that hides inside your heart!
I'm not sure if this is true, but I think its a beautiful thought.

Animal Legend

According to Chinese legend, the twelve animals quarrelled. They argued as to who was to head the cycle of years.
The gods were asked to decide, so they held a contest.
Whoever was to reach the opposite bank of the river would be the first year.
Then the rest of the animals would receive their years according to their finish position.
All the twelve animals gathered at the river bank and jumped in.
Unknown to the ox, the rat had jumped upon his back.
As the ox was about to jump ashore, the rat jumped off the ox's back, and won the race.
The boar, who was very lazy, ended up last.
That is why the rat is the first year of the animal cycle the ox second, and the boar last.

Origins

The origin of the Chinese New Year is itself centuries old. in fact, too old to actually be traced.
It is popularly recognised as the Spring Festival, and celebrations last 15 days.

Nian - The New Year Monster

Nian in Chinese means 'year'. However, the word comes from the mythical monster that would terrorise the people at New Year.
Nian threatened to destroy mankind. The Emperor summoned a wise man to solve the problem.
The wise man issued Nian a challenge.
He said Nian could only kill the weak humans because they were no match for his strength.
so if he wanted to prove his strength, then he should destroy all the other monsters that roam the earth.
Nian took the challenge, after a year he had destroyed all the other monsters,
So he came back to terrorise mankind. but on the day he returned some children were playing with firecrackers.
They noticed that Nian was afraid of the noise.
So from that day forth every New Year firecrackers and other fireworks are used to scare away the last remaining monster of the earth.

CHINA BIRDS.