Chinese New Year is the most important holiday for Chinese people living in China and around the world. It is like when we celebrate Christmas - families get together, people feast, and there are gifts and fireworks.
The day is celebrated on the first day of the first month on the Chinese calendar which is between January and February. The festival date changes every year. It is also called the Spring Festival. It is the start of a different animal’s Zodiac year.
The Zodiac year is a “turntable” of 12 animals that took part in the great race. The great race was invented because the Emperor wanted to keep track of time. The animals in order of first and last were: 1. Rat, 2. Ox, 3. Tiger, 4. Rabbit, 5. Dragon, 6. Snake, 7. Horse, 8. Sheep, 9. Monkey, 10. Rooster, 11. Dog and finally in 12th place is the Pig. The cycle changes every 60 years because of the heavenly stems and earthly branches.
There are many Chinese myths, but a popular one was about a beast called Nian. The beast would ravage towns and cities in search of food, it would eat livestock (mostly cattle), crops, and occasionally people! The people were terrified of the beast and would put food on their doorstep so it wouldn't harm them or their animals. Once they found out the beast was afraid of the color red, they would hand out red lanterns and other red things to scare the beast away. They used fireworks to warn the beast not to come. After they did this Nian would not come to the towns and cities anymore. They would continue with this tradition but they only did it on New Year to celebrate Nian not coming.
In conclusion, the Chinese New year is globally celebrated by one-sixth of the world population.
By Harry
Great work Harry! You have clearly put a lot of research into this. I found the story of the Nian interesting. I always loved the red lanterns but didn't know the significance of them. I wonder if we have any traditions which are similar?
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