HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR:

Today is the first day of the 15 day celebration of New Years according to the traditional Chinese calender. Also known as the Spring Festival, it is the most important celebration in the Chinese year. In pinyin it is referred to as "Nongli xinnian". Traditionally it begins on the first day of the first lunar month in the Chinese calender, and it ends on the 15th day. This 15th day is referred to as the Lantern Festival (pinyin yuanxiaojie - Mandarin). This is considered to be year 4705 in the traditional lunar calender, though there is considerable dispute about when the actual Chinese calender began. It is possible that it began with month 1 during the Xia dynasty, month 12 during the Shang dynasty or month 11 during the Zhou dynasty. The final fixing of the New Year was established by Emperor Wu of the Han dynasty in 104 BC. Intercalary months were added to keep the festival in line with the solar year at various times. Today Chinese New Year falls anywhere from January 21st to February 20th. The date of Lichun is a traditional Chinese solar term marking the beginning of spring, and usually falls on either Feb 4th or 5th. Yes, the Chinese have both a lunar and solar calender.

In ancient myth the man-eating beast from the mountains, the Nian, could enter houses to prey on humans. It was said that this beast, something like a Sasquatch with a toothache, could be scared away by loud noises and the colour red. Hence the origin of a lot of the customs of Chinese New Year, from the traditional firecrackers and fireworks to the wearing of red clothes. Sad to say firecrackers have been banned in most countries today for "safety reasons", an example of where "social management" is hardly confined to western managerial societies. Molly can remember them from her youth, and she never suffered anything more than a slightly burned hand. They were always coloured red in those days, by the way. But, once more, "the people" have to be protected from themselves by their supposed betters. Too bad- I always liked firecrackers.

Back to the subject. Chinese New Years is a statutory holiday in many countries in the world. In the Peoples' Republic of China the first 7 days are stats, in Taiwan the first 5 days, in Hong Kong and Macao the first 3 days, in Malaysia and Singapore the first 2 days and in Brunei and Indonesia the first day only. The Vietnamese usually celebrate their New Year of Tet on the same day as the Chinese, but because of the time zone difference between Beijing and Hanoi it is occasionally on a different day. This year it was a day early, on February 17th. Korea officially follows the Gregorian calender, but the date of the lunar New Year is a three day holiday(as opposed to one day for Jan 1st). The Japanese have the first three days of the Gregorian calender as holidays. They changed the date of their celebrations in 1873.

More on Chinese New Years tomorrow the second day of the celebration.

Molly.

PS:

Hopefully more on Carnival and the upcoming Shrove Tuesday as well.