Chinese New Year
The Chinese New Year, known in china as spring festival, is the country’s most important holiday. The Chinese New Year is based on a calendar established about 4,700 years ago. Various legends explain the origin of the Chinese New Year. One describes how people dreaded the New Year because a fearsome beast named Nian annually terrorised the population and devoured children. Then one year a child appeared dressed in red. The beast, frightened by the color, fled and never returned. That’s why the Chinese New Year traditionally features red lanterns and noisy firecrackers to ward off evil spirits. The Chinese New Year is based on a calendar that calculates time using both lunar and solar events. Time passes in 12- year cycles, with each year represented by an animal of the Chinese zodiac. Traditionally, people prepare special foods and hope for a future of good luck. They attend many family dinners, starting with a New Year’s Eve feast. Travel home for the family reunion produces a mass migration. The New Year period culminates in the lantern festival, a joyful celebration around the first new moon in the lunar New Year.
The Year of The Monkey
Chinese Astrology Believers in Chinese astrology attribute a person’s personality characteristics to the profile of their birth year animal. It’s not that simple of course. According to the Chinese view of the world as being composed of opposites, the animals of the zodiac are divided equally: yin animals and yang. They are also linked with similar animals into categories called trines. In addition, each animal is connected to one of five elements: wood, fire, earth, metal and water. The possible combination of animals and elements produces a 60-year cycle and a complicated system of astrology. People who are born in the Year of the Monkey are believed to have the following characteristics: They tend to be inventors, motivators, problem solvers and improvisers. They are quick-witted, inquisitive, flexible, innovative, self-assured and polite. They can also be egotistical, arrogant and reckless.