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 Chinese New
Year comes in the winter new moon after the midwinter, particularly between
January 21 and February 21. Every time the beginning of the year is determined
individually, considering dates of new moons and the Sun longitude.
Each year
of the 12-year cycle is named after one of the original 12 animals. Each animal
has a different personality and different characteristics, color and element.
We are not going to discuss all of them, but accentuate the one animal that is
in charge of us in the year 2009, that is Ox! This year the Ox is not the simple
animal but it is of Earth element, meaning that it is strongly intensified with
its element and natural brown color. That is why the Ox will be quite straightforward
and will show its best and worst features: lastingly gentle, peace-loving with
rare flashes of intensive anger; persistence, patience, insistence, solid, without
flexibility, inertia.
It is interesting
that it was the Chinese who invented so western like entertainment staff like
petards and fire crackers - fire flashes beautified the sky and entertained the
public, also they exorcised the demons that, as it was believed, were looking
for new housing on the eve of the New Year. And the Chinese people believed
that they could succeed in it by noises and cracks. There is another Chinese tradition
to face off evil spirits; this is to celebrate New Year in the red clothes that
will scare away evil spirits and bad fortune and to contain the appetite of a
monster that gets off its cage to regale itself on delicious people. Though
when celebrating the New Year party we do not advise that you wear in red since
it is obvious color for the monster, but the Ox hates this color and you only
enrage the animal.
Take it as normal
if you get two tangerines when leaving the house in China. If you don't, then
you made a mistake when you failed to give your two tangerines to the hosts,
when entering the house. The point is that the phrase «a couple of tangerines»
sounds as «gold» in Chinese language, moreover the fruit's color is quite the
same. Thus, when you bring tangerines to the host house, you bless their house
and attract wealth to it, and leaving the house, you have a portion of warm
wishes, as it is believed.
When
meeting a New Year, the Chinese serve the table with traditional dishes from
poultry, pork, vegetables or fish, sweet rice pies. Festive New Year dinner is,
first of all, re-union dinner and even if a member of the family fails to attend
the dinner, the place at the table is kept anyway. At the end of the dinner it is also common for
adults or young couples to give red envelopes or red packets to children with «happy
money» since it is supposed that New Year notes will attract fortune to you
during the whole year. And cleaning the house on or just after the New Year is
frowned upon since the Chinese believe that modest and humorous Gods make gifts
in form of dust and they are afraid to clean it away.
According
to the Chinese tradition New Year is the reason to show the fortitude, even if
you are seriously sick. It is widely believed that it is a bad luck to meet New
Year in the bedroom; if you stay in bed- you will have bad luck within seven
years. So, try your best to dress up, to apply makeup and go to the table and
enjoy the holiday, and the fortune will follow you.
The Chinese
do not use scissors or knives on the first day of the New Year; they believe
that they could cut their luck that way.
It is interesting
that the Chinese New Year is also known as the Holiday of Spring. And this is however
reasonable since as Spring symbolizes revival of the nature and renewal, so
people want to consider the new year as the new stage in their life where they
are more successful, richer, happier and smarter. And be sure that even the
most adventurous dreams come true!
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