Every year there is the largest human migration of which most of the Western World has little to no knowledge. Even more labyrinthine is that this migration happens at different times each year. Nearly three billion people travel during an approximately 40-day period surrounding it for this event. Have you guessed what it is yet? (Maybe the article title gave it away!) It’s the Chinese New Year.
The Chinese Calendar
To understand the history of the Chinese New Year and its effect on the holiday that is celebrated today, it’s good to know a little about how time was and is calculated in antiquity and today. For example, weeks in ancient China were typically 10 days long. And, a month alternated between short months (consisting of 29 days) or long months (lasting 30 days). Further, months began, according to the lunar cycles—hence why the Chinese New Year is sometimes known as the Lunar New Year—at the appearance of the new moon as it follows its circumnavigation of Earth. By mid-month, the full moon shows, and then it slowly disappears again over the balance of the month in preparation of the next new moon. Each lunar year is made up of alternating 12- and 13-month cycles, hence why the year doesn’t quite synchronize with the Gregorian calendar.
The Chinese New Year Celebration
That, of course, brings us to the holiday itself and its purpose. Borne out of lore and fear, the ancient Chinese believed that a lion-esque monster (Nian, or “year” in Chinese) was preying upon villagers. And, to vanquish the formidable foe, a wise villager told others to hang red paper cutouts outside their homes and make loud noises (such as drumming and firing off firecrackers) to scare away the beast. It was by doing so, the villagers were able to conquer Nian and the date of his death marks the new year. Some story, eh? But, that’s where the color red, adorned homes, firecrackers and general noisemaking that have come to be synonymous with the new year for the Chinese.
Of note is the fact that back in the age of dowries, women were married to their husbands and usually moved away to wherever the family of the husbands were settled. This meant that the only time a woman and her children saw her family and her children saw their maternal family was during this time of year. The migration I spoke of is the familial tradition of returning home and sharing time with one’s family.
All of this brings us to 2018, the Year of the Dog. On the 12-year Chinese Zodiac cycle, each year represented by an animal which dominates your personality traits, the Year of the Dog covers 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, and 2018 birth years. If you were born in one of these years, one fun fact is that rose, oncidium, cymbidium, and orchids are your Lucky Flowers.
The celebration of the Chinese New Year lasts 15 days, and relating back to our discussion about the lunar cycles, starts on the first day of the new year and goes until the next full moon. Now you can understand why it was called the Lunar New Year, since the Chinese (and many other Asiatic) people track their new year festival period by the phases of the moon.
Chinese New Year is marked by two symbolic festivals, the Spring Festival starts celebrations and the Lantern Festival closes them out. Spring Festival is a seven-day marathon week of…relaxation. Yes, it’s seven days of leisure (but for drinking and feasting with family) and is enjoyed by everyone in China. After all that comes to the Lantern Festival when the skies over villages, towns and cities become alight with paper lanterns floating up into the air by one and all. It’s truly a view when thousands and thousands of lights adorn the evening’s sky, to celebrate the start of the new year.
Reflections on Your Personal Renewal
Our Olympians performing in the XXIII Olympic Winter Games will have the unique opportunity to witness Lunar New Year traditions in Pyeongchang, South Korea. So, while Chinese New Year is not necessarily your cultural tradition, it is a time to stop and reflect on renewal. It is the perfect time to reflect on the New Year’s resolution or intention that you made for 2018. Is the resolution or intention working for you? How else might you refresh your life? How can you find unique ways to ward off any Nian, the emotional monsters that might be preying on you? Can you start anew this month in some way?
I would love to hear how you might be including the Chinese New Year into your life. Take a moment to let me know. And, enjoy!