LEARN | Lunar New Year The Lunar New Year, in ancient China, marked the onset of the beginning of lunar calendar, which was developed to track the agricultural patterns through celestial observations. Its origin can be traced back as early as to Xia Dynasty (21st to 16th centuries BCE), and was fixated to a special date, the day of the first new moon after the sun enters the 11th sign of the solar zodiac, or the second new moon after the winter solstice, in Han Dynasty (206 to 220 CE). As the Lunar New Year is the transition from the past to the future, traditions practiced on that date are closely related to recollection/reflection/farewell of the past (e.g. seeking out old friends and spring cleaning) and supplications for good fortune (e.g. writing duilian and red-package exchanges). Nowadays, as global immigrations become a norm, the Lunar New Year as a cultural celebration can sometimes be politicized and become a field of contest for individual identities. You can read more on this topic through this link. |
