Submitted by: Jimmy Spann

The Chinese New Year is almost upon us. This year the celebration starts on January 26th and is the year of the Ox, also known by is formal name Ji Chou. The cycle, which is similar to our century, lasts for 60 years and this year will be the 4706th year of celebration. The celebration consists of 15 days of festivities. Some of which are days of rest. The Festival of Lanterns concludes the celebrations on the 15th day where different types of lanterns light the streets.

Now you may be wondering why the Chinese New Year is on a different day than our New Year. The Chinese New Year is based off of the Lunar Calendar and is always the second new moon after the winter solstice. As an ancient legend goes, at the end of winter, the beast Nien would come attack and kill villagers. The villagers would use the color red, loud noises, and bright lights to scare off the beast. These are still seen today with fireworks and bright red costumes and scenery. Families would all come together to see who had survived the past year and to celebrate the upcoming year.

There are many traditions that come along with this celebration. One is that a fish and chicken will be served at the meal. Both will be served with its head and tail in tact, to represent the beginning and end of the year. The Fish symbolizes abundance, while the Chicken symbolizes good luck. After dinner Red Envelopes, called ?hong bao? in Mandarin, are filled with money and given out to little children.

The History Channel had short little video that provided some insight on this topic. You can view it here as well as it has some other information about the Chinese New Year. You can also find a calendar to find out which animal coincides with your own year of birth.

I know that the Cal Poly Chinese Student Association, puts on a New Year?s celebration. This year it is taking place on January 27th form 11:00 am to 12:00 pm in UU 217 (MCC Lounge). The admission is free and more information can be found here.

Attached is a copy.

Some other links that I used to gather information about this topic were:

http://www.chinapage.com/newyear.html
http://www.educ.uvic.ca/faculty/mroth/438/CHINA/chinese_new_year.html
http://www.studentlife.calpoly.edu/mul/events.asp?dept=mul
http://www.history.com/content/chinesenewyear