happy chinese new year !

[Guest guest]

Chinese New Year starts with the New Moon on the first day of the new

year and ends on the full moon 15 days later. The 15th day of the new

year is called the Lantern Festival, which is celebrated at night

with lantern displays and children carrying lanterns in a parade.

 

The Chinese calendar is based on a combination of lunar and solar

movements. The lunar cycle is about 29.5 days. In order to "catch up"

with the solar calendar the Chinese insert an extra month once every

few years (seven years out of a 19-yearcycle). This is the same as

adding an extra day on leap year. This is why, according to the solar

calendar, the Chinese New Year falls on a different date each year.

 

New Year's Eve and New Year's Day are celebrated as a family affair,

a time of reunion and thanksgiving. The celebration was traditionally

highlighted with a religious ceremony given in honor of Heaven and

Earth, the gods of the household and the family ancestors.

 

The sacrifice to the ancestors, the most vital of all the rituals,

united the living members with those who had passed away. Departed

relatives are remembered with great respect because they were

responsible for laying the foundations for the fortune and glory of

the family.

 

The presence of the ancestors is acknowledged on New Year's Eve with

a dinner arranged for them at the family banquet table. The spirits

of the ancestors, together with the living, celebrate the onset of

the New Year as one great community. The communal feast

called "surrounding the stove" or weilu. It symbolizes family unity

and honors the past and present generations.

 

from a web source

 

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guys and gals, if there are any chinese in this group, please come

forward and tell us all about how new year is celebrated ! you can

share any stories or anecdotes ! also, what about telling us about

chinese goddeses? this is a good occassion!

 

 

love to one and all

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To find out more about Chinese New Year,

 

 

click on each of the following topics:

 

 

 

 

The 15-Day Celebration of Chinese New Year