Chinese Lunar Calander, New Year Traditions, Culture and Celebrations with Stock Photographs

According to tales and legends, the beginning of Chinese New Year started with a fight against the mythical beast called the Nian or "Year" in Chinese.
Nian would come on the first day of New Year to devour livestock, crops, and even villagers, especially children.
To protect themselves, villagers put food in front of their doors at the first of every year. They believed that after the Nian ate the food, it wouldn't attack people any more.
Once, someone noticed that Nian had been scared away by a little child wearing red, then everyone thought that the Nian was afraid of the color red.
People started to hang red lanterns and spring scroll on their windows and doors. They also used firecrackers to frighten the Nian, the Nian never came to the village again, he was eventually tamed by Hongjunlaozu, a Taoist in the old time, and Nian became his mount.


Chinese New Year is observed as a public holiday in a number of countries where a Chinese people live. Since Chinese New Year falls on different dates every year and on different days of the week, some of governments will shift working days in order to accommodate the holiday. Like many other countries in the world, a statutory holiday is added to the following work day if the New Year falls on a weekend.

It is also important to understand that celebrations, that can span a period of several weeks before and after the official holidays, are a time when businesses operate in 'holiday mode', and it is not the time for making decisions or business negotiations.

The Ox is the sign of prosperity through fortitude and hard work. This powerful sign is a born leader, being quite dependable and possessing an innate ability to achieve great things. As one might guess, such people are dependable, calm, and modest. Like their animal namesake, the Ox is unswervingly patient, tireless in their work, and capable of enduring any amount of hardship without complaint.

Ox people need peace and quiet to work through their ideas, and when they have set their mind on something it is hard for them to be convinced otherwise. An Ox person has a very logical mind and is extremely systematic in whatever they do, even without imagination. These people speak little but are extremely intelligent. When necessary, they are articulate and eloquent.

People born under the influence of the Ox are kind, caring souls, logical, positive, filled with common sense and with their feet firmly planted on the ground. Security is their main preoccupation in life, and they are prepared to toil long and hard in order to provide a warm, comfortable and stable nest for themselves and their families. Strong-minded, stubborn, individualistic, the majority are highly intelligent individuals who don't take kindly to being told what to do.

The Ox works hard, patiently, and methodically, with original intelligence and reflective thought. These people enjoy helping others. Behind this tenacious, laboring, and self-sacrificing exterior lies an active mind.

The Ox is not extravagant, and the thought of living off credit cards or being in debt makes them nervous. The possibility of taking a serious risk could cause the Ox sleepless nights.

Ox people are truthful and sincere, and the idea of wheeling and dealing in a competitive world is distasteful to them. They are rarely driven by the prospect of financial gain. These people are always welcome because of their honesty and patience. They have many friends, who appreciate the fact that the Ox people are wary of new trends, although every now and then they can be encouraged to try something new.

It is important to remember that the Ox people are sociable and relaxed when they feel secure, but occasionally a dark cloud looms over such people and they engage all the trials of the whole world and seek solutions for them.


Attribute
Zodiac Location: 2nd
Ruling hours: 1am-3am
Direction: North-northeast
Season and month: Winter, January
Gemstone: Onyx
Colors: Yellow, blue
Equivalent Western sign: Capricorn
Polarity: Yin
Positive Traits: Responsible, dependable, honest, caring, honorable, intelligent, industrious, practical, patient
Negative Traits: Petty, inflexible, possessive, stubborn, critical, intolerant, materialistic, eccentric
Countries: Switzerland, India, Cuba, Yemen, Finland, Ukraine

Days before the new year
The days leading up to the New Year celebration Chinese families give their home a top to bottom cleaning. There is a Cantonese saying that goes "Wash away the dirts on ninyabaat" or the 28th day of the 12th Month. It is believed that the cleaning will sweep away the bad luck from the year before and opens up room in their homes for good luck. Brooms and dust pans must be put away on the first day of the New Year so that luck will be swept away. Some people will go as far as to give their homes, doors and window-panes a new coat of red paint. Homes are decorated with paper cutouts of Chinese good fortune phrases and couplets. Purchasing new clothing, shoes and receiving a hair-cut also symbolize a fresh start .

In many households where Buddhism or Taoism is prevalent, home altars and statues are given a thorough cleaning, items on the altars from the previous year are taken down and burned a week before the new year starts, they are then replaced with new decorations. A paper version of the Kitchen God, the recorder of family functions, is burned in order to acknowledge to the Jade Emperor of the wrong doings and good deeds done by family in the household.

The biggest event of any Chinese New Year's Eve is the feast. This meal is comparable to Christmas dinner in the West. In northern China, it is customary to make dumplings after dinner to eat around midnight. Dumplings symbolize wealth because their shape is like a Chinese tael. In the South, it is customary to make a cake after dinner and to send pieces of it to relatives and friends as a gift for the coming days of the new year. After dinner, families go to local temples hours before the new year begins, to pray for a prosperous new year. In modern practice, households will hold parties and have a countdown to the new lunar year.

The First day of the new year
The first day is for welcoming of the dieties of heaven and earth, beginning at midnight. Many people will abstain from eating meat on the first day because they believed that it will ensure longevity for them. Some believe that lighting fires or using knives can be bad luck, so all food is cooked the day before.

The most important event on the first day of Chinese New Year is to visit the oldest and most senior members of their extended family, usually their parents, grandparents or great-grandparents.

Some families will have a lion dance as a symbolic ritual to bring in the Lunar New Year and to frighten bad spirits from their homes. Married members of the family give red packets containing cash to the children and teenagers.

Fireworks and firecrackers are very popular, but some regions have banned them because of concerns for fire hazards. For this reason, various governments have issued a ban of fireworks and firecrackers for private use. As a substitute, large-scale public firework displays have are launched in cities like Hong Kong to carry on the tradition.

The Second day of the new year
Incense is burned at the graves of ancestors as an offering and prayer ritual.

On the second day of the Chinese New Year married daughters visit their birth parents, especially for daughters who do not have many opportunities to visit their birth families often.

The Chinese pray to their ancestors and all the gods, they are extra kind to dogs and will feed them well because they believe that the second day is the birthday of all dogs.

Business people who use the Cantonese dialect group hold a 'Hoi Nin' prayer at the start of their business on the 2nd day. The prayer is done so they will be blessed with good luck and prosperity in their business for the year.

The Third and fourth days of the new year
The third and fourth day of the Chinese New Year it is considered inappropriate to visit relatives and friends for one of two reasons.

1) It is known as "chì kou" which means that it's easy to get into an argument, for simple reasons.

2) Families where someone has passed away in the past 3 years will not go house-visiting out of respect for the dead. The third day of the New Year is set aside for visiting the grave-site instead.

It is the day for the sons-in-laws to pay respect to their parents-in-law.

Day Five of the new year
The people of northern China will eat Jiaozi which are traditional Chinese dumplings on the morning of Po Wu. The fifth day is the birthday of the Chinese god of wealth. Businesses in Taiwan will re-open on the fifth day if they haven't already. This is also a popular day for firecrackers.

Day seven of the new year
The seventh day,is the day when everyone grows one year older. It is the day when some families will eat tossed raw fish salad, yusheng, a time for people to toss the colourful salad and make a wish for wealth and prosperity.

Day nine of the new year
The ninth day is for offering prayers to the Jade Emperor of Heaven, because it is the Jade Emperors birthday.

This day is especially important to Hokkiens and Teochews, because on midnight of the eighth day of the new year, Hokkiens will offer thanks giving prayers to the Emperor of Heaven. The offering is usually sugarcane because that was what protected the Hokkiens from certain extermination generations ago. Tea is served in order to paying respect to an honored person.

The Fifteenth day of the new year
The fifteenth day is celebrated as Yuánxiao jié or Chap Goh Mei in the Fujian dialect. Rice dumplings Tangyuan (a sweet rice ball brewed in a soup), is a popular treat on this day. Candles are lit to guide wayward spirits home. This is the long awaited day of the Lantern Festival, families will walk the streets carrying colourfully lit lanterns, and marks the end of the Chinese New Year festivities.