Happy New Year …again!!! Happy Chinese New Year, that is! Following the Chinese zodiac, 2017 is the Year of the Rooster. The 12 zodiac symbols possess different character traits, and cycle every 12 years. People born under the sign of the Rooster are believed to be very observant, hardworking, resourceful, courageous, talented, and have a lot of confidence! If you were born in any of these years, you’re a rooster: 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017. The websites below have some fun facts about the different Chinese New Year traditions, including the zodiac traits. Check out the year of your birth on one of the sites and see if your personality matches the characteristics!
Here are a few of the animal personality traits from Infoplease.com:
- Rat: quick-witted, smart, charming, and persuasive
- Ox: patient, kind, stubborn, and conservative
- Tiger: authoritative, emotional, courageous, and intense
- Rabbit: popular, compassionate, and sincere
- Dragon: energetic, fearless, warm-hearted, and charismatic
- Snake: charming, gregarious, introverted, generous, and smart
- Horse: energetic, independent, impatient, and enjoy traveling
- Sheep: mild-mannered, shy, kind, and peace-loving
- Monkey: fun, energetic, and active
- Rooster: independent, practical, hard-working, and observant
- Dog: patient, diligent, generous, faithful, and kind
- Pig: loving, tolerant, honest, and appreciative of luxury
This year’s celebration began on January 28th and will last until February 11th. Most families begin the celebration with housecleaning before the New Year to sweep away and clean out the previous year’s bad luck. Then, there is a family celebration dinner, which includes fish to bring good luck. In fact, many customs and traditions relate to ensuring good luck for the year. Instead of wrapped presents, red envelopes with money are given as gifts for good fortune. Firecrackers are lit to scare away bad luck and welcome the new year. Even wearing red underwear is said to keep away bad luck! The Lantern Festival closes out the celebration with the famous Dragon Dance in many places. Lanterns are hung as decorations, carried in parades, sent skyward, or set afloat in water. Watch the video below from History.com:
Of course, we have books for you to learn more about Chinese New Year and the culture of this area. Here are a few:
These are just a few of many books we have available if you are interested in exploring this culture. And don’t forget to look around online at CultureGrams on our website.
It’s a great resource to learn about other countries and their customs. Stop in to see us, tell us about your celebration, and Gōng hè Fat Choy!!