Chinese New Year 2023: Which animal is it this year, why is it called Lunar New Year and what is the history behind the Chinese holiday?

Chinese New Year is a festival which celebrates the beginning of a new year on the traditional lunisolar Chinese calendar. In Chinese the holiday is commonly known as the Spring Festival; the spring season historically begins with lichun, the first of the 24 solar terms which the festival celebrates around the time of the Chinese New Year.

This marks the end of winter and the beginning of the spring season, events and celebrations usually take place from New Year’s Eve, the evening ahead of the first day of the year to the Lantern Festival, which is held on the 15th day of the year. The first day of Chinese New Year starts on the new moon that appears between January 21 and February 20.

Chinese New Year has strongly influenced Lunar New Year celebrations of its 56 ethnic groups, such as the Losar of Tibet, including Korean New Year and the Tet of Vietnam, as well as in Okinawa. It is also observed worldwide in regions and countries that houses significant Overseas Chinese or Sinophone populations including Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam and beyond Asia, particularly in Australia, Canada, Mauritius, New Zealand, Peru, South Africa, UK, US, as well as many European countries.

What is the 2023 Chinese New Year animal?

2023 is the year of the Rabbit.

It is the symbol of longevity, peace, and prosperity in Chinese culture, meaning that 2023 is predicted to be a year of hope.

The Chinese calendar defines the lunar month containing the winter solstice as the 11th month, meaning that Chinese New Year is usually held on the second new moon after the winter solstice (which is uncommonly the third if an intercalary month intervenes).

The last year of the Rabbit was 2011, as well as 1999, 1987, 1975, 1963, 1951, 1939 and 1927.

Last year was the year of the Tiger and next year will be the year of the Dragon.

What is the history of Chinese New Year?

According to legend, the holiday began with a mythical creature called the Nian, a beast that lives under the sea or in the mountains, during the annual Spring Festival.

The Nian would eat villagers, especially children in the middle of the night. In one year, all the villagers decided to hide from the beast. An older man appeared before the villagers went into hiding and said that he would stay the night and would get revenge against the Nian.

The old man put red papers up and set off firecrackers; the day after, the villagers came back to their town and saw that nothing had been destroyed. They believed that the old man was a deity who came to their rescue. The villagers understood that Yanhuang had discovered that the Nian was afraid of the colour red and loud noises.

Then the tradition became more popular when New Year was approaching, and the villagers would wear red clothes, hang red lanterns, and red spring scrolls on windows and doors and used firecrackers and drums to frighten away the Nian.

From that day on, Nian never returned to the village again and was eventually captured by Hongjun Laozu, an ancient Taoist monk.

The holiday is thought to be traced back to the Warring States Period between 475 BC to 221 AD.

Why is it called Lunar New Year?

Chinese New Year is sometimes referred to as the Lunar New Year because the celebration dates follow the phases of the moon.

Since the mid-1990s people in China have been given seven days in a row off work during the Chinese New Year.

Lunar New Year begins the lunar calendar or lunisolar calendar year, which months depend on moon cycles.