Lunar New Year
By Riley Dixon (1-17-25)
Lunar New Year is an Asian holiday that happens between January and February every year. They assign an animal to each year, 2025 is the year of the snake. In this article I will cover the history of the Lunar New Year, the story behind the animals, and traditions.
History
Lunar New Year most likely started during the Shang Dynasty or around 1600 - 1046 BCE but the exact date is not yet known. It started when people first held a ceremony at the beginning and end of the Chinese year. These ceremonies were to worship gods and ancestors. Many cultures have celebrations similar to these today. Lunar New Year celebrates the start of a new year in the Chinese calendar.
The Story Behind The Animals
Long ago the Jade Emperor held a great race on his birthday for all the animals. The animals would get years named after them in order of their rank in the race. In order to win the animals had to cross a rapid river. The cat and the rat were friends, but both bad swimmers. Though they were smart, they figured out that the fastest way across the river was on the back of an ox. The ox agreed to carry them across. They both jumped up, in the middle of the river the rat pushed the cat into the water (the cat never made it.). Then the rat scurried ahead and won first place. The ox then came in second. The tiger came in at third. Then the rabbit was hopping on the rocks but slipped so it got fourth place. Everybody thought the dragon would get first place but he had to stop to help villagers on the way, it also gave the rabbit a little push helping it get forth. Thus the dragon got fifth place. The horse approached the finish line but the snake was on the horses foot the whole time. The snake slithered forward and got sixth, leaving the horse to seventh. The sheep,monkey, and rooster helped each other get across the river. The rooster found a raft and the sheep and monkey hopped on. The sheep got eighth, the monkey got ninth, and the rooster got tenth. The dog was a great swimmer but had to take a bath before starting the race, therefore the dog got eleventh place. As the jade emperor was about to close the race when an oink came from behind him. It was the pig. The pig got twelfth place. The order of the animals is as follows: rat, ox, tiger, hare, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig. Now we still use this same order today.
Traditions
During this time of year many people use fireworks and firecrackers to celebrate and parents give kids red pouches full of money. People dress as a Chinese dragon and perform. People wear red clothes. Dead relatives and ancestors are honored and people eat a big feast. But the focus is to bring luck and prosperity into the new year. In Vietnam the main figure in the lunar new year celebrations is Mua lan, a unicorn, lion, and dragon hybrid. In Korea traditionally they wear the formal hanbok. But now people prefer to wear more informal clothing. Korea also has a tradition called Sebaetdon, which is offering money in silk pouches with traditional markings on it. And in china at night they end with a big glowing lantern festival. Where everyone either floats a lantern on the water or floats the lantern into the air. The lanterns tradtionly have a dragon depicted on them. The dragon is a symbol of good luck to come.
Hopefully now you know everything you need to know about the lunar new year. I relly enjoyed learning al ogf this in the process of writing this. I hope you liked it as much reading it. Remember the 2025 lunar new year is on wednesday january 29th, and this is the year of the snake. Thanks for reading this. Bye stingers. (Buzzzz)
History
Lunar New Year most likely started during the Shang Dynasty or around 1600 - 1046 BCE but the exact date is not yet known. It started when people first held a ceremony at the beginning and end of the Chinese year. These ceremonies were to worship gods and ancestors. Many cultures have celebrations similar to these today. Lunar New Year celebrates the start of a new year in the Chinese calendar.
The Story Behind The Animals
Long ago the Jade Emperor held a great race on his birthday for all the animals. The animals would get years named after them in order of their rank in the race. In order to win the animals had to cross a rapid river. The cat and the rat were friends, but both bad swimmers. Though they were smart, they figured out that the fastest way across the river was on the back of an ox. The ox agreed to carry them across. They both jumped up, in the middle of the river the rat pushed the cat into the water (the cat never made it.). Then the rat scurried ahead and won first place. The ox then came in second. The tiger came in at third. Then the rabbit was hopping on the rocks but slipped so it got fourth place. Everybody thought the dragon would get first place but he had to stop to help villagers on the way, it also gave the rabbit a little push helping it get forth. Thus the dragon got fifth place. The horse approached the finish line but the snake was on the horses foot the whole time. The snake slithered forward and got sixth, leaving the horse to seventh. The sheep,monkey, and rooster helped each other get across the river. The rooster found a raft and the sheep and monkey hopped on. The sheep got eighth, the monkey got ninth, and the rooster got tenth. The dog was a great swimmer but had to take a bath before starting the race, therefore the dog got eleventh place. As the jade emperor was about to close the race when an oink came from behind him. It was the pig. The pig got twelfth place. The order of the animals is as follows: rat, ox, tiger, hare, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig. Now we still use this same order today.
Traditions
During this time of year many people use fireworks and firecrackers to celebrate and parents give kids red pouches full of money. People dress as a Chinese dragon and perform. People wear red clothes. Dead relatives and ancestors are honored and people eat a big feast. But the focus is to bring luck and prosperity into the new year. In Vietnam the main figure in the lunar new year celebrations is Mua lan, a unicorn, lion, and dragon hybrid. In Korea traditionally they wear the formal hanbok. But now people prefer to wear more informal clothing. Korea also has a tradition called Sebaetdon, which is offering money in silk pouches with traditional markings on it. And in china at night they end with a big glowing lantern festival. Where everyone either floats a lantern on the water or floats the lantern into the air. The lanterns tradtionly have a dragon depicted on them. The dragon is a symbol of good luck to come.
Hopefully now you know everything you need to know about the lunar new year. I relly enjoyed learning al ogf this in the process of writing this. I hope you liked it as much reading it. Remember the 2025 lunar new year is on wednesday january 29th, and this is the year of the snake. Thanks for reading this. Bye stingers. (Buzzzz)
