China: Year of the Rabbit is coming – January 22 is Chinese New Year

The Lunar New Year, known as Chinese New Year, falls this year on Sunday, January 22, 2023.

Chinese New Year is the biggest celebration in China and also for the Chinese diaspora. It has no fixed date because the Chinese calendar is lunar.

It begins on the day of the second new moon, after the winter solstice. In 2023, celebrated on January 22, Chinese people everywhere enter the Year of the Rabbit, or the year 4721 of the reign of the Yellow Emperor (3rd millennium BC).

What does the rabbit symbolize for people

Legend has it that in the olden days, the Buddha asked all the animals to meet him on Chinese New Year. Only 12 responded to his challenge – Rat, Buffalo, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig.

So Buddha named each year after one of the animals. Every 12 years, therefore, one of these animals has its due.

The Buddha made it known that every person born in the year of one of the 12 animals will have some of the characteristics of that animal.

For example, those born in the Year of the Rabbit are polite, avoid conflict, maintain self-control, and are generally conservative in their views.

Women born in the Year of the Rabbit are kind, social and thoughtful. They care about their public image and hate violence and confrontations.

Who celebrates the Lunar New Year?

Although this holiday is commonly called “Chinese New Year” in the West, China is not the only country that celebrates it.

The Lunar New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, is the most celebrated and largest of all Asian holidays and is observed by millions of people around the world.

Some other East Asian countries such as Vietnam, Korea, Japan and the Philippines hold their own New Year celebrations at this time. (Occasionally, the date celebrated may differ by a day or even a cycle of the moon, due to time zones and other factors).

How is the Lunar New Year celebrated?

As with many winter solstice celebrations, the symbolic darkness of night is banished by the light of fireworks, lanterns and candles.

Handmade paper lanterns are hung by the hundreds in public places, bringing good luck for the new year.

There are dragon dances, performances and festival parades with music and acrobatics.

Festivities continue for two weeks and conclude with a special lantern festival, which marks the end of the New Year celebration period.

New Year’s food

Of course, very tasty food is made and served.

For the New Year, it is traditional to serve noodles, which symbolize longevity.

Another popular recipe for the New Year is Chinese Dumplings, something like Italian ravioli or gnocchi, which symbolize good luck and wealth. Families wrap them up and eat them when the clock strikes midnight.

The good luck of the year

“Good luck” is also a common New Year’s theme. Many children receive “lucky money” in red envelopes. Sometimes, offerings are made in temples.

People clean their houses and open their doors for good luck to enter.

According to tradition, no one should pick up a broom, lest they sweep the New Year’s good luck out the door!