Wishing You Lots of Luck This Rabbit Year 兔 年 大 吉
Xīn Nián Kuài Lè 新年快乐 - Fú Dào Le 福到了
A Peranakan Chinese New Year
How the creatures in the Chinese Zodiac found their place
The wily rat made sure it won the race
You may be wondering why the lunar years, as they are known, each bear the name of a different creature - and why there are twelve of them. It's based on an ancient tale, and it goes a little like this.
Why was there a race? The story goes that a race was organised by the Jade Emperor - one of the most important gods in traditional Chinese religion - who invited all the animals in the world to take part. Twelve species turned up at the start line: a pig, dog, rooster, monkey, sheep, horse, snake, dragon, rabbit, tiger, ox and rat.
As a reward for turning up, the Emperor named a year in the zodiac after each one, while the race would determine the order each animal would be placed.
Year Of The Rabbit 2023: Predictions For All 12 Chinese Zodiac Signs
2023 is Year of the Rabbit. According to the Chinese Zodiac, also known as ‘Shengxiao’, we are all assigned a powerful animal – ‘Shuxiang’ – based on the year we are born based on the Luni-Solar calendar that has close ties with Chinese philosophy.
Legend has it that the Great Jade Emperor – Yu Di – ruler of the heavens, wanted to devise a way to measure time. So, he organised a race, where he challenged all the animals to cross the mighty river. The first twelve, would not only earn a spot on the calendar and zodiac, but would also be the guards of his heavenly realm.
Thus, these 12 animals represents the cycles of the Chinese zodiac – the rat, the ox, the tiger, the rabbit, the dragon, the snake, the horse, the sheep, the monkey, the rooster, the dog, and the pig.
The 15-Day Celebration of Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year starts with the New moon on the first day of the first lunar month and ends on the Full moon 15 days later.
First day, zhengyue, ’Birthday of Chicken’
Second day, zhengyue, ‘Birthday of Dog’
Third day, zhengyue, ‘Birthday of Pig’
Fourth Day, zhengyue 4, ‘Birthday of Sheep’
Fifth day, zhengyue, ‘Birthday of Ox, Cattle’
SIx day, zhengyue, ‘Birthday of Horse’
Seventh day, zhengyue, ‘Birthday of Men’
Eighth day - The Completion Day
Ninth day
Tenth to the Twelfth Day
Thirteenth day
Forteenth day, The Lantern Decoration Day
Fifteenth day, Lantern Festival
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