Chinese New Year which falls typically on the New Moon day which is the first day of the New Year and ends on the full moon day, 15 days later is the occasion to signify renewal and revival. New Year is the time to show respect to the deceased family members and to God and therefore reunion, family get-together followed by the thanks giving are the basic crux of the tradition of Chinese New Year. Age old beliefs, antique tradition coupled with the rich heritage of the ethnic Chinese braids the Chinese New Year as an event of utter enthusiasm.
The Chinese animal signs are generally used to date the years. Chinese New Year animal therefore quite ideally represents the cyclic concept of time which is in sharp contrast to the Western elongate concept of time. |
There are 12 animals in Chinese astrology hence each Chinese year is named after one of the animals representing the significance of Chinese New Year animal. According to the legend of Chinese New Year animal, all the 12 animals quarreled once as to decide who to lead the cycle. A contest was held to reach the opposite bank of the river to decide on that. The animal that will reach first will lead the cycle and it was decided that the animals would receive their years according to their finish. Eventually as the ox was about to leap on shore, the rat jumped off the ox's back, and ideally won the race. The pig, which was very lazy, ended up last. That is why the Chinese New Year animal represents the rat as the first year of the animal cycle, the ox second and the pig last.
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