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CHINESE NEW YEAR
Chinese
New Year is the longest and the most important celebration in the Chinese
Calendar. Chinese will begin celebrating on the New Year's Eve and the celebrations will last for about 15 days.
Chinese New Year is the first day of the lunar calendar. It is also the start of the Spring Season, hence it is also known as the Spring Festival.
History tells that the Chinese started celebrating the Chinese New Year from about 2000 BC. They started to celebrate Chinese New Year on the first day of the lunar calendar based on Emperor Wu Di's almanac of the Han Dynasty.
Legend has it that there was a beast called the Nian that come out to eat people on New Year Day. An old Chinese man had killed it and to commemorate this event, the Chinese have started to celebrate the New Year.
The lunar calendar is represented by twelve animals. Each year is represented by one animal. The 12 animals in order are: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, ram, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.
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