Chinese New Year 2023 - The Year Of The Rabbit
At Camera Obscura we’ll be lighting our building red to join in the celebrations. What will you be doing to celebrate Chinese New Year? Make sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram for some fun Rabbit related posts on Sunday 22nd Jan.
What is Chinese New year?
Chinese New Year 2023 falls on Sunday, 22 January and celebrations last up to 16 days. Preparations for the new year begin on 14 January, and last until New Years Eve, this time is known as ‘Little Year’. Chinese New Year officially begins on 22 January and ends on 1 February. Also know in China as the Spring Festival, the year is marked by the lunisolar Chinese calendar, which means the date changes each year. Festivities end with the Lantern Festival, preparations for which begin on the 2nd, and the Lantern Festival itself is held on 5 February.
Chinese New Year is full of superstitions that will apparently dictate how the next 12 months will play out for each of us.
According to superstition on the first day of the New Year you should avoid daily tasks such as washing clothes, using scissors, and sweeping floors. Shunning crying children is also on the list and on the more extreme end women should not leave the house, this sounds a lot like another lockdown!
According to Chinese beliefs, doing any of these will lead to bad luck for the entire coming year!
The Chinese Zodiac
2023 is the year of the Rabbit, which occupies the fourth position in the Chinese Zodiac. In Chinese culture, rabbits represent the moon. Some say it is because the shadows of the moon resemble a rabbit. Others say it is because of the rabbit’s pure characteristics. Rabbits are earnest with everything they do; they just ask that others treat them the same way.
The Chinese Zodiac is divided into 12 just like its western counterpart, but with the major difference that each house has a time-length of one year instead of one month. Each Chinese New Year is characterised by one of 12 animals. Your sign is derived from the year you were born in the Chinese lunar calendar. Remember, if you were born in January or February it may be slightly different as the new year moves between 21 January and 20 February.
• Rat: 2020, 2008, 1996, 1984, 1972
• Ox: 2021, 2009, 1997, 1985, 1973
• Tiger: 2022, 2010, 1998, 1986, 1974, 1962
• Rabbit: 2023, 2011, 1999, 1987, 1975, 1963
• Dragon: 2012, 2000, 1988, 1976, 1964
• Snake: 2013, 2001, 1989, 1977, 1965
• Horse: 2014, 2002, 1990, 1978, 1966
• Sheep: 2015, 2003, 1991, 1979, 1967
• Monkey: 2016, 2004, 1992, 1980, 1968
• Rooster: 2017, 2005, 1993, 1981, 1969
• Dog: 2018, 2006, 1994, 1982, 1970
• Pig: 2019, 2007, 1995, 1983, 1971
The years allocated to each animal are in a very specific order. According to an ancient Chinese folk story, the Jade Emperor called 13 animals to a meeting and announced that the years on the calendar would be named according to the order they arrived in. This led to ‘The Great Race’. Discover more about ‘The Great Race’ and why only 12 animals made it here.
What does your Chinese Zodiac sign mean?
Each sign of the zodiac has numbers, colours and unique characteristics associated with it. Lucky numbers for people born in the Year of the Rabbit are three, four and nine, and their lucky colours are red, pink, purple and blue. The Year of Rabbit, which means those who were born in previous Rabbit years will be “Fan Tai Sui”, indicating a year characterized by many fluctuations in luck, when your highs are very high, but lows can be quite devastating as well.
In Chinese astrology, the 12 animal zodiac signs each have unique characteristics. To find out the traits associated with your birth year visit this page.
We hope you’ve enjoyed discovering a bit more about Chinese New Year. To find out more about digital events happening and how you can celebrate go to Visit Scotland's page.
Image source: https://chinesenewyear.net/zodiac/rabbit/