新年快乐 Chinese New Year

Dear all,

It’s Chinese New Year on 10th February and we’ve been marking the occasion with our Chinese Enrichment Week. In Monday’s assembly, we learned about some of the traditions associated with the Lunar New Year festival, including the Chinese Zodiac. Here is a copy of the reading:

‘New Year – 春节 or chūnjié (pronounced Chun-jaye) as it’s known – is the biggest holiday of the year for many people in China and across Asia. There are a number of slightly different practices and traditions across East Asian culture and the broader term for this collection of holidays is the Lunar New Year.

This year, the Lunar New Year falls on February 10 and the celebrations begin the previous night – New Year’s Eve – on Friday 9th February. Families will come together to enjoy a feast of foods that represent good wishes for health, prosperity, togetherness, happiness, laughter, and progress.

People wear red, regarded as the colour of good luck, and visit family and friends with gifts of oranges and other fruits, flowers, and particular traditional foods. It is also the custom for adults to give red envelopes filled with lucky money to children and elders, whilst – much as we see in the Western World on New Year’s Eve, there will be firework displays and parades to usher in the New Year. Unlike here, the celebrations in China go on for two whole weeks, ending with a Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the New Year.

Each year in China is associated with one of the 12 animals that make up the Chinese signs of the Zodiac. 2024 is going to be the Year of the Dragon. Whereas we might consider Dragons as fearsome or sinister creatures, in China they represent power and authority. People born in the Year of the Dragon are said to be charismatic, intelligent, and confident as well as being naturally lucky. They are also said to do everything to the very best of their ability. 

However, as well as the 12 different animals, each year is also associated with one of the five elements of metal, water, wood, fire, and earth. Just as the different animals have different characteristics, so do the elements. 

Wood is meant to denote creativity and imagination; Fire represents passion and adventure; Earth – patience and stability; metal – persistence and ambition; and water – agility and eloquence.

This means that it takes 60 years to complete the years of the Chinese Zodiac. 2024 is the Year of the Wood Dragon and the last time that was the case was 1964.’

The last time it was the Year of the Dragon was 2012 and this is always preceded by Year of the Rabbit. So, our Year 7 students were born in one of those years – the Year of the Rabbit (between September 2011 and 22nd January 2012), which is said to be characterised by a calm and peaceful nature or the Year of the Dragon if born on or after 23rd January or later. Those in Year 8 were either born in the Year of the Dragon or, if born after 9th February 2013, the Year of the Snake, said to be characterised by intelligence and quick-thinking. And so it goes on. If you’d like to know your own Chinese Zodiac sign you can work it out here (as well as what kind of character traits you may have!)

For anyone celebrating over the next few weeks, a very Happy New Year – or 新年快乐 – to you all!

Best wishes

Michael Bond