Chinese New Year 2014
People
often wonder why the date for Chinese New Year changes each year.
The Chinese calendar is a combination solar/lunar calendar, based on a
number of rather complex astronomical calculations, including the
longitude of the sun. Chinese New Year falls on the second new moon
after the winter solstice (all months begin with a new moon). Chinese
New Year is the longest and most important celebration in the Chinese
calendar. The Chinese year 4712 begins on January 31, 2014.
How did Chinese New Year come to be celebrated?
According to an ancient
legend, people were once tormented by a beast called a Nian - a
ferocious creature with an extremely large mouth, capable of swallowing
several people in a single bite. Relief from the Nian came only when an
old man tricked the beast into disappearing. In reality, New Years
festivities probably evolved from a desire to celebrate the end of
winter and the fertility and rebirth that come with the spring, much
like the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia. Today, New Years is about
family reunions and wishing everyone good fortune in the coming year.
The Year of theHorse
Legends and mythology are a big part of Chinese culture, especially in
relation to the Chinese Zodiac. The depiction on a circular chart of 12
different animals representing the 12-year cycle of the Chinese lunar
calendar was built on the foundation of astronomy and Chinese astrology
which has existed for over 5,000 years.
Horse 1906, 1918, 1930, 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014, 2026, 2038
The Horse (馬 午) is one of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar. There is a long tradition of the horse in Chinese mythology.
Certain characteristics of a "horse" nature are supposed to be typical
of or to be associated with either a year of the horse and its events or
in regard to the personality of someone born on such a year. Horse
aspects can also enter by other chronomantic factors or measures, such as hourly.
The horse is symbolic of energetic and financial volatility and
impulsiveness, including taking on various new projects with variable
success, and borrowing and spending money. The year of the horse is said
to be the year for divorce and/or marriage.
Persons with "horse personalities" are said to have the following
characteristics: very active, tireless in racing towards their own goals
on their own timelines, possessed of mental thought processes
characterized by lightning-quick speed to the point of faultiness,
multi-taskers, self-confident, ambitious, fond of exercise, liable to
physical and mental exhaustion, side-steppers of issues and others'
concerns, and temperamentally impatient to the point of explosiveness.
People
often wonder why the date for Chinese New Year changes each year.
The Chinese calendar is a combination solar/lunar calendar, based on a
number of rather complex astronomical calculations, including the
longitude of the sun. Chinese New Year falls on the second new moon
after the winter solstice (all months begin with a new moon). Chinese
New Year is the longest and most important celebration in the Chinese
calendar. The Chinese year 4712 begins on January 31, 2014. 
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