People clean their homes and open their door to let good luck enter. Many children receive “lucky money” in red envelopes. “Good Luck” is also a common theme of the New Year. See our recipe for Longevity Noodles.Īnother popular recipe for New Year is Chinese Dumplings, symbolizing good luck and wealth. Families wrap them up and eat them as the clock strikes midnight. Of course, much delicious food is made and served! For the New Year, it’s traditional to serve long noodles, symbolizing a long life. The festivities continue for two weeks, finishing with a special lantern festival, which signals the end of the New Year celebration period. There are dragon dances, performances, and festival parades with music and acrobatics. Man-made paper lanterns are hung by the hundreds in public areas, bringing good luck to the new year.
(Occasionally, the date celebrated may differ by one day or even one moon cycle due to time zones and other factors.) How Is Lunar New Year Celebrated?Īs with many winter solstice celebrations, the symbolic darkness of night is banished by the light of fireworks, lanterns, and candles. Lunar New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, is the most celebrated and longest of all Asian festivals, and is observed by millions of people around the world.Ī number of other countries in East Asia, including Vietnam, Korea, Japan, and the Philippines, hold their own new year celebrations at this time. ( Note: China follows the Gregorian calendar for daily business, but still follows the Chinese calendar for important festivals, auspicious dates such as wedding dates, and the Moon phases.) Who Celebrates Lunar New Year?Īlthough this holiday has commonly been called “Chinese New Year” in the West, China is not the only country to observe it. Just like New Year according to the Gregorian calendar (January 1), Lunar New Year celebrations start on the night before the first day of the new year. The Chinese lunisolar calendar shares some similarities with the Hebrew calendar, which is also lunisolar, and it has influenced other East Asian calendars, such as those of Korea and Vietnam.īecause the Chinese calendar defines the lunar month containing the winter solstice as the 11th month, Lunar New Year usually falls on the second new moon after the winter solstice. This ancient calendar dates back to 14th century BCE (whereas the Gregorian calendar was introduced in 1582). The traditional Chinese calendar is a lunisolar calendar, which means that it is based on astronomical observations of the Sun’s position in the sky and the Moon’s phases. See our Moon Phase Calendar for local times.) Why Are There Different New Years? (Note: Due to the difference in time zones, the new Moon may technically occur one calendar date earlier or later in United States. In 2022, this new Moon occurs in China on Tuesday, February 1, marking the start of the Lunar New Year. Knowledge is power and while we cannot change our BaZi or our Qi Men Destiny Chart, we can use Feng Shui to support or mitigate areas of weakness in a chart.Lunar New Year begins on the date (in East Asia) of the second new Moon after the winter solstice, which always takes place in late December. This means that the first day of the Lunar New Year can occur anytime between January 21 and February 20. They can also give insights into career, relationships and health. What can we tell from your charts? Many things! First and foremost we can get a sense of personality traits, strengths and weaknesses which can help you know what to focus and capitalize on for success. This chart gives you insight on the many aspects of your life and has the added bonus of providing personal spiritual insights as well. When used with your BaZi chart it can give an even greater depth of information about your core personality and inner nature. Your Qi Men Dun Jia destiny chart, which is one of thousands of possible combinations, is also highly individual. With 25,920,000 possible combinations of animals and elements each BaZi chart is very specific for each person. Most people know the Chinese zodiac animal of their year of birth but we in fact have 4 animals, one for each of these 4 pillars and each animal is accompanied by one of 10 elements. The moment you took your first breath, your ‘Heaven Luck’ was imprinted upon you through both your BaZi or 4 Pillars Astrology Chart and your personal Qi Men Dun Jia Destiny Chart as well.īaZi means 8 words or 8 characters and is also known in English as 4 Pillars Astrology.