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Wednesday marks start of Chinese Lunar New Year
Erin Madsen
- Staff Reporter
For those of you who have already abandoned your New Year's resolutions, tomorrow marks the arrival of redemption for your failed attempts.
Wednesday is the start of the Chinese Lunar New Year. Across the world, billions of people will celebrate the shift of the lunar cycle to 2001s Year of the Snake.
"(The Year of the Snake) is also called 'O Little Dragon' because it follows the Year of the Dragon," said Hong Yang, director of the University's China Center.
The Chinese Lunar calendar is the longest chronological record in history -- dating back to 2600 B.C. when Emperor Huang Ti introduced the first cycle of the zodiac.
Yang said there is no exact date for the start of the new year because of the fluctuations in the moon's cycle.
"The Lunar New Year shifts from time to time, anywhere from late January or early February," Yang said.
"(The Chinese New Year) is more significant than the New Year's on Jan. 1 because there is a tradition," he added.
This is not to say that the western New Year does not have tradition. After all, it does involve resolutions, wishing others prosperity and celebrating with champagne, kisses and Dick Clark in Times Square.
The tradition Yang speaks of involves a month-long preparation usually initiated around mid-December. At that point, people start buying gifts, decorations, festive clothing and food.
This time also marks a clean-up process in many Chinese homes. The idea is that by cleaning the houses thoroughly, all traces of bad luck will be swept away.
Fresh coats of red paint are then applied to clean windowpanes and doors, along with paper cutouts and couplets with themes of happiness, wealth and longevity printed on them. Use of the color red is meant to ward off evil spirits.
On the Chinese New Year's Eve, families celebrate with dinners intended to produce prosperity and longevity throughout the new year.
When the New Year finally arrives, an ancient custom called Hong Bao, meaning Red Packet, takes place. Married couples give these packets, typically containing money, to children and unmarried individuals as an act of well-wishing.
The conclusion of the Chinese New Year festivities occurs with the Festival of Lanterns as people take part in singing, dancing and lantern shows.
Yang said people who are born under the zodiac sign of the snake have similar characteristics to those under the sign of the dragon.
"People born under the snake sign are usually very intelligent," he said. "They are also handsome or beautiful."
Other personality traits supposedly apparent in the Year of the Snake crowd are their charming demeanor and desire to be accepted in peer groups and public sectors. Snakes are typically well-mannered and polite, but they do not deal with rejection well.
Snakes need ample security and are known as seducers in the zodiac. They tend to be extremely jealous and possessive with their lovers, even after they've gone their separate ways.
The snake is one of 12 characters in the Chinese zodiac and, not coincidentally, appears every 12 years. Those born in 1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989 and 2001 are reputed to exude snake-like qualities, according to the zodiac.
Yang said he is looking forward to the Chinese Lunar New Year, for it will be his first since he became the China Center's director.
"I'm excited -- pretty sure there will be a large celebration," Yang said.
Erin Madsen covers culture and diversity and welcomes comments at emadsen@daily.umn.edu. She can also be reached at (612) 627-4070 x3223
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