In this issue  Chinese New Year Dates  Origin of Chinese New Year Celebration  New Year Practices   Foods  Year of Pig/Boar  A Story about Chinese Zodiac   Attributes of Pig/Boar Type People

Dear Language Friend,

Time sure flies by. It's another year! Have you noticed that people of different ethnicities celebrate their New Year at different times of the year?

Dig into this issue of our newsletter and find out WHEN Chinese people celebrate their New Year, WHAT festive foods they eat, HOW they celebrate it, and WHY they follow certain customs.

No matter on what date you celebrate the New Year, we sincerely wish you a fortunate and prosperous year!

Now, enjoy the reading,

Lenka de Graafova, Managing Director
 

 Chinese New Year Dates

Lunar Calendar vs Chinese Calendar

Have these two terms confused you? Sometimes even Chinese people cannot tell the fine difference between the two!

Lunar calendar, as its name suggests, is a way of counting days, weeks, months and years according to moon phases. However the Chinese calendar, which originated several thousands of years ago, is a lunisolar calendar that combines features of both lunar and solar calendars to suit agricultural purposes. In fact, the Chinese calendar is also referred as an "agricultural calendar." To summarize, a lunar calendar and the Chinese calendar are actually two different systems.

In Taiwan, Hong Kong and China the Governments follow the Gregorian calendar as the official system. However, people still consult the Chinese calendar when it comes to determining traditional Chinese holidays, such as Chinese New Year, Dragon Boat Festival, or picking auspicious dates.

Chinese New Year, also known as Spring Festivals and Lunar New Year, starts from the first day of the new year of the Chinese calendar, and ends on the fifteenth day of the year. Just like in Western culture where people reunite with their families on Christmas Eve, the Chinese gather with their families on New Year's Eve and engage in various activities according to traditional customs. 

Origin of Chinese New Year Celebration

New Year Practices

Foods

Year of Pig/Boar

Another way of dealing with the Chinese Years is being aware of what animal is in charge in a particular year.

This year is the year of the pig/boar. This animal symbolizes fortune and virility. It is also associated with doing well at exams.

But to name them all, there are: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep/Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog & Pig/Boar in the animal sign system. Each sign repeats once every twelve years.

Are you curious about why are there just these 12 animals included in the Chinese animal zodiac? Why is the rat the first of the 12?  How come the cat is not included? Why is the pig/boar the last animal among the twelve? Read along and you'll find the answers!

A Story about the Origin of Chinese Zodiac

Although different versions of stories about the twelve animals are told, the most common one is as follows:

One day, Jade Emperor, the ruler of Heaven in Chinese mythology, announced a banquet for selecting the twelve animals for zodiac signs. Only the first twelve animals would be selected. He assigned the rat the task of delivering the invitation to other animals. Back at that time, the cat and the rat were friends but the rat tricked the cat into believing the banquet was held on a different day. As a result, the cat didn't make it and took an oath to hunt rats down ever after.

This banquet was a matter of honour and dignity and competition among animals was very fierce. Fierce to that extent that the rat, extremely disadvantaged by its tiny body, came up with a cunning trick. He went to the strong and kind ox and begged the ox to carry him. Of course the ox agreed to help. When the two approached the finishing line, the rat jumped ahead from the ox's head and was claimed as the champion of the race. Other animals arrived later on and the personalities of each animal determined their order of arrival.

Now, are you wondering if the pig arrived last because he was lazy and distracted by food on the way to the finishing line?

Actually, the above story is just one of the humorous explanations of the order. Although the exact reason of this particular order is untraceable, a more logical explanation is that the 12 animals, which are commonly seen in ancient China, are categorized according to odd or even toe and also arranged according to the time of a day they are most active. Basically, rats search for food around midnight and their front limbs are even and rear limbs odd. Therefore, the pig is the last of the twelve animals because it is even-toed and is considered being most active in the hours before midnight.
 

Attributes of Pig/Boar Type People

Were you born in 1911, 1923, 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, and 1983? Check out your personality traits according to Chinese Zodiac!

These people are usually honest, straightforward and patient. Because of their modest personality traits, they prefer working behind the scenes. The boar type is supportive when others are desperate, therefore they are very trustworthy. While having a wide social circle, they tend to share inner thoughts and feelings with close friends. They are never vengeful and try their best to avoid causing arguments. However, this does not mean they are weak. They are the type of people who are ready to defend themselves or protect people close to them when a situation arises.