The Chinese Calendar
THE CHINESE CALENDAR is nearly 4,650 years old according to Chinese records, but it is still sought out today throughout China and many parts of eastern Asia and the world with Oriental heritage.
The Chinese calendar has its origin in 2637 B.C., the year in which the legendary ruler Huang-ti supposedly invented it. The oldest existing relic describing the calendar was found on oracle bones dating back to the Shang Dynasty (1600-1100 B.C.).
The calendar is lunisolar, incorporating elements of a lunar calendar with those of a solar calendar. The Chinese year is based on the movement of the moon and generally consists of 12 months. Each month begins at new moon and has 29 or 30 days. To cope with the solar year, extra months are added during each 19-year period, ensuring that the calendar stays approximately in line with the seasons.
For more than 2000 years since the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D. 220), the month containing the winter solstice has almost always been the 11th month. This means the New Year starts on the second new moon after the winter solstice unless there is an intercalary month, in which case it starts on the third new moon. The calendar is divided into cycles of 60 years, ruled by five elements —metal, wood, water, fire and earth — and 12 animals.
According to legend, before leaving earth, Buddha called on all the animals to come to him. Only 12 did — the first to come was the rat, then the ox, the tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, and finally, the boar. In gratitude, and to reward the faithful animals, Buddha named a year after each animal in their order of arrival.
The five elements and 12 animals are used together to form a cycle of 60 counting systems which begin with Wooden Rat and end with Water Pig. Each successive year in the cycle is designated by a symbol combination formed from two series of terms — one from the five elements and the other from the 12 animals. In Western astrology, the Chinese New Year is celebrated at the first new moon after the sun enters Aquarius — sometime between January 21 and February 19. - Ernee Lawagan
Enter the Dragon
• 2012 is the Year of the Water Dragon, but it doesn’t begin until January 23 — the Chinese New year. It will end on February 9, 2013.
• There are more babies born on Dragon years than in any other animal years. Chinese and other Asians believe that babies born under the sign of the Dragon are lucky.
• How do you say “Happy New Year” in Chinese? It depends on the dialect: Xin nyan kuai le! (Mandarin), Sin ni khoai le (Fukien), Xhlin nen fai lok (Taishanese), and San nin fai lok (Cantonese).
• Unlike its western counterpart, the Chinese zodiac is not affected by the addition of the 13th zodiac constellation Ophiuchus.
