Chinese new year celebrations Nano Nagle Centre Cork Ireland
In the Chinese culture, the dragon represents good luck, strength, health and also the male element Yang. The dragon is unique because it is the only mythical creature of all the animals in the Chinese zodiac and babies are born in the year of the dragon more than any other animal.
Chinese New Year (traditional Chinese: 新年, 中國傳統新年; simplified Chinese: 新年, 中国传统新年; pinyin: Xīnnián, zhōngguó chuántǒng xīnnián[pronunciation?]), Spring Festival or the Lunar New Year, is the festival that celebrates the beginning of a new year on the traditional lunisolar Chinese calendar. In Chinese culture and Asian countries within Sinosphere, the festival is also commonly referred to as Spring Festival (traditional Chinese: 春節; simplified Chinese: 春节; pinyin: Chūn Jié) 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 Lunar New Year.[2] Marking the end of winter and the beginning of the spring season, observances traditionally take place from New Year’s Eve, the evening preceding the first day of the year to the Lantern Festival, held on the 15th day of the year. The first day of Chinese New Year begins on the new moon that appears between 21 January and 20 February.
Chinese New YearFireworks over the Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong; fireworks and firecrackers are a traditional element of Chinese New Year celebrations.
Also called
Spring Festival, Lunar New Year
Observed by
Chinese people, Sinophone communities within the Sinosphere and non-Chinese people worldwide[1]
Type
Cultural
Religious
(Chinese folk religion, Buddhist, Confucian, Daoist, some Christian communities)
Celebrations
Lion dances, dragon dances, fireworks, family gathering, family meal, visiting friends and relatives, giving red envelopes, decorating with chunlian couplets
Date
First day of the first month of the Chinese calendar (between 21 January and 20 February)
Frequency
Annual
Related to
Lantern Festival, which concludes the celebration of the Chinese New Year.
Mongolian New Year (Tsagaan Sar), Tibetan New Year (Losar), Japanese New Year (Shōgatsu), Korean New Year (Seollal), Vietnamese New Year (Tết), Indigenous Assamese New Year (Rongali Bihu)
Chinese New Year is one of the most important holidays in China, and has strongly influenced Lunar New Year celebrations such as the Losar of Tibet (Tibetan: ལོ་གསར་), and of China's neighbouring cultures, including the Korean New Year (Korean: 설날, seollal), and the Tết of Vietnam. It is also celebrated worldwide in regions and countries that house significant Overseas Chinese or Sinophone populations, including Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar,Thailand, Cambodia, the Philippines,Mauritius, and Canada as well as in North America and Europe.
The Chinese New Year is associated with several myths and customs. The festival was traditionally a time to honour deities as well as ancestors. Within China, regional customs and traditions concerning the celebration of the New Year vary widely, and the evening preceding the New Year's Day is frequently regarded as an occasion for Chinese families to gather for the annual reunion dinner. It is also traditional for every family to thoroughly clean their house, in order to sweep away any ill-fortune and to make way for incoming good luck. Another custom is the decoration of windows and doors with red paper-cuts and couplets. Popular themes among these paper-cuts and couplets include that of good fortune or happiness, wealth, and longevity. Other activities include lighting firecrackers and giving money in red paper envelopes.
The lunisolar Chinese calendar determines the date of Chinese New Year. The calendar is also used in countries that have been influenced by, or have relations with, China – such as Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and Vietnam, though occasionally the date celebrated may differ by one day or even one moon cycle due to using a meridian based on a different capital city in a different time zone or different placements of intercalary months.
The Chinese calendar defines the lunar month containing the winter solstice as the eleventh month, which means that Chinese New Year usually falls on the second new moon after the winter solstice (rarely the third if an intercalary month intervenes).In more than 96 percent of the years, Chinese New Year's Day is the closest date to a new moon to lichun (Chinese: 立春; "start of spring") on 4 or 5 February, and the first new moon after dahan (Chinese: 大寒; "major cold"). In the Gregorian calendar, the Chinese New Year begins at the new moon that falls between 21 January and 20 February.
2021 12 Feb Ox Friday
2022 1 Feb Tiger Tuesday
2023 22 Jan Rabbit Sunday
2024 10 Feb Dragon Saturday
2025 29 Jan Snake Wednesday
2026 17 Feb Horse Tuesday
2027 6 Feb Goat Saturday
2028 26 Jan Monkey Wednesday
2029 13 Feb Rooster Tuesday
2030 3 Feb Dog Sunday
2031 23 Jan Pig Thursday
2032 11 Feb Rat Wednesday