2022 Lunar New Year/Spring Festival
Lunar New Year typically begins with the new moon that occurs between the end of January and the end of February, and it lasts about 15 days, until the full moon arrives with the Festival of Lanterns. Though many Western nations refer to the Lunar New Year/Spring Festival holiday as Chinese New Year, bear in mind it's celebrated not just in Chinese communities all over the world but other Asian nations such as Vietnam, Singapore and South Korea. It is a popular holiday usually spent visiting and celebrating with family. Maggie Hiufu Wong, CNN Travel
It's called the Lunar New Year because it marks the first new moon of the lunisolar calendars traditional to many east Asian countries including China, South Korea and Vietnam, which are regulated by the cycles of the moon and sun. As the New York Times explains, “A solar year—the time it takes Earth to orbit the sun—lasts around 365 days, while a lunar year, or 12 full cycles of the Moon, is roughly 354 days.” As with the Jewish lunisolar calendar, "a month is still defined by the moon, but an extra month is added periodically to stay close to the solar year." Therefore, the new year falls on a different day within that month-long window each year. Samantha Vincenty, Oprah Magazine
The Chinese Calendar + Zodiac
The Chinese calendar also included the Chinese zodiac, the cycle of twelve stations or “signs” along the apparent path of the sun through the cosmos. Each new year was marked by the characteristics of one of the 12 zodiac animals: the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. 2022 is he year of the Tiger.Tigers are the third of the Chinese zodiacs. According to legend, Tiger was confidant that no one could compete with its speed and vigor for the celestial race that would decide the order of the zodiacs. However, when tiger climbed out of the river, thinking it was first, it was informed that Rat placed first for its cunning and Ox placed second for its diligence. This left the king of the jungle having to settle for third place. Year of the Tiger: Fortune and Personality — Chinese Zodiac
Like their eponymous zodiac animal, people born in years of the Tiger are vigorous and ambitious, daring and courageous, enthusiastic and generous, self-confident with a sense of justice and a commitment to help others for the greater good.
Family Celebrations
Countries that observe Lunar New Year often offer three to seven days of public holidays, but celebrations aren't complete until the 15th day of the first lunar month, also known as the Lantern Festival. (Lunar New Year in 2021 lasts from February 12 to February 26.) Families tend to have different sets of rules and traditions, but most will bless each other with auspicious words like "san tai gin hong" or "shen ti jian kang" to wish you good health. Maggie Hiufu Wong, CNN Travel
The main Lunar New Year activities include putting up decorations, eating reunion dinner with family on New Year's Eve, firecrackers and fireworks and giving red envelopes containing money. In many Chinese cities, from New Year's Day, traditional performances can be seen such as dragon dances, lion dances and imperial performances like an emperor's wedding. Food for the New Year emphasizes lucky symbolic meanings such as fish, which sounds like the Chinese word for surplus. These foods are eaten during the 16-day festive season, and particularly for the New Year's Eve family reunion dinner. The luckiest Chinese New Year foods (and their symbolic meanings) are: fish (an increase in prosperity), Chinese dumplings (great wealth) and Glutinous rice cake (a higher income or position). chinahighlights.com
To learn more about the Lunar New Year/ Spring Festival or ways to celebrate some resources are provided below:
You can find Smithsonian celebrations on the following dates:
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