Chinese New Year

CHINESE HAPPY NEW YEAR COMPETITION

If you are born in the Year of the Rooster, you are a deep thinker, capable, and talented. You like to be busy and are devoted beyond your capabilities and are deeply disappointed if they fail. Lucky old you! Here's Sean's (6L) and Jessica's (7B) winning posters in the Chinese Happy New Year competition. As you can see, this year, 2005, is the Year of the Rooster. Click on the calendars for the full size version.

Sean's Calendar

Jessica's Calendar

CALENDAR:
The Chinese Lunar New Year is the longest chronological record in history, dating from 2600BC, when the Emperor Huang Ti introduced the first cycle of the zodiac.
Like the Western calendar, The Chinese Lunar Calendar is a yearly one, with the start of the lunar year being based on the cycles of the moon. Therefore, because of this cyclical dating, the beginning of the year can fall anywhere between late January and the middle of February.

This year it falls on February 12th. A complete cycle takes 60 years and is made up of five cycles of 12 years each.

The Chinese Lunar Calendar names each of the twelve years after an animal. Legend has it that the Lord Buddha summoned all the animals to come to him before he departed from earth. Only twelve came to bid him farewell and as a reward he named a year after each one in the order they arrived.

The Chinese believe the animal ruling the year in which a person is born has a profound influence on personality, saying: "This is the animal that hides in your heart."

YEAR OF THE ROOSTER

CHINESE NEW YEAR:
The oldest and most important festival in China is the Spring Festival, more commonly known in the West as Chinese New Year. Like all Chinese festivals, the date of the new year is determined by the lunar/solar calendar rather than the Western (Gregorian) calendar, so the date of the holiday varies from late January to mid February.
The Spring festival celebrates the earth coming back to life, and the start of ploughing and sowing. In the past, feudal rulers of dynasties placed great importance on this occasion, and ceremonies to usher in the season were performed.

Preparations for the New Year festival start during the last few days of the last moon. Houses are thoroughly cleaned, debts repaid, hair cut and new clothes bought. Doors are decorated with vertical scrolls of characters on red paper whose texts seek good luck and praise nature, this practice stemming from the hanging of peach-wood charms to keep away ghosts and evil spirits. In many homes incense is burned, and also in the temples as a mark of respect to ancestors.

On New Year’s Eve houses are brightly lit and a large family dinner is served. In the south of China sticky-sweet glutinous rice pudding called 'nian gao' is served, while in the north the steamed dumpling jiaozi is popular. Most celebrating the festival stay up till midnight, when fireworks are lit, to drive away evil spirits. New Years day is often spent visiting neighbours, family and friends.

The public holiday for New Year lasts 3 days in China, but the festival traditionally lasts till the 15th day of the lunar month and ends with the ‘Lantern Festival’. Here, houses are decorated with colourful lanterns, and yuanxioa, a sweet or savoury fried or boiled dumpling made of glutinous rice flour is eaten.

THE YEAR OF THE ROOSTER:
The optimism of the Monkey year overlaps the year of the Rooster, but the Rooster tends to be overconfident and is prone to come up with nonsensical plans. While the colorful Rooster brings bright and happy days, he also dissipates energy. Better stick to practical and well-proven paths. No get rich quick schemes this year, please! It may require a great deal of effort this year to resist going off on wild goose chases. Refrain from making speculative ventures. Disappointments and conflicts will result. The Rooster likes to flaunt his authority and a lot of trouble can come from his domineering attitude. But since he also symbolizes the good administrator and conscientious overseer of justice in the barnyard, the peace will still be kept. Everything will be precariously balanced in the Rooster's year, as his dramatic personality can set off all kinds of petty disputes. This year we may have to expend maximum effort for minimum gain. Try not to fuss too much. Details do need looking into, but don't forget to view the whole picture. Be cautious. Do not aim too high. One is liable to get shot down.
Politics will adhere to hard-line policies. The diplomatic scene will be dominated by philosophical orators who rave a lot about nothing. Governments will be found flexing their muscles at each other, but just for show. There may be no real confrontations. It is just that everyone will be too occupied with himself to hear or care what the other person is saying. The self-conscious influence of the Rooster will cause us to take offense at the smallest slight. This will be a buoyant year in spite of the Rooster's knack for making simple things complicated. One thing is for sure: he sledom comes up empty-handed. This is the year of one very self-sufficient bird that will never go hungry. Just keep your eyes open and your mouth shut and check facts and figures before making unprecedented moves. We should all get by without too much hardship. Our pockets will not be empty although our nerves may be a bit frayed.

1921, 1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005
People born in the Year of the Rooster are deep thinkers, capable, and talented. They like to be busy and are devoted beyond their capabilities and are deeply disappointed if they fail. People born in the Rooster Year are often a bit eccentric, and often have rather difficult relationship with others. They always think they are right and usually are! They frequently are loners and though they give the outward impression of being adventurous, they are timid. Rooster people¡¦s emotions like their fortunes, swing very high to very low. They can be selfish and too outspoken, but are always interesting and can be extremely brave. They are most compatible with Ox, Snake, and Dragon.

Famous people born in the Year Of The Rooster: Michael Aspel, Yoko Ono, Rod Stewart, Mia Farrow, Eric Clapton

What year were you born in?

Rat 1924 1936 1948 1960 1972 1984 1996

Ox 1925 1937 1949 1961 1973 1985 1997

Tiger 1926 1938 1950 1962 1974 1986 1998

Rabbit 1927 1939 1951 1963 1975 1987 1999

Dragon 1928 1940 1952 1964 1976 1988 2000

Snake 1929 1941 1953 1965 1977 1989 2001

Horse 1930 1942 1954 1966 1978 1990 2002

Ram 1931 1943 1955 1967 1979 1991 2003

Monkey 1932 1944 1956 1968 1980 1992 2004

Rooster 1933 1945 1957 1969 1981 1993 2005

Dog 1934 1946 1958 1970 1982 1994 2006

Boar 1935 1947 1959 1971 1983 1995 2007

Click here for Rochedale State School's Page.
Page by Glenda Crew, February, 2005


Sean's Calendar	Jessica's Calendar
	CALENDAR: The Chinese Lunar New Year is the longest chronological record in history, dating from 2600BC, when the Emperor Huang Ti introduced the first cycle of the zodiac. Like the Western calendar, The Chinese Lunar Calendar is a yearly one, with the start of the lunar year being based on the cycles of the moon. Therefore, because of this cyclical dating, the beginning of the year can fall anywhere between late January and the middle of February. This year it falls on February 12th. A complete cycle takes 60 years and is made up of five cycles of 12 years each. The Chinese Lunar Calendar names each of the twelve years after an animal. Legend has it that the Lord Buddha summoned all the animals to come to him before he departed from earth. Only twelve came to bid him farewell and as a reward he named a year after each one in the order they arrived. The Chinese believe the animal ruling the year in which a person is born has a profound influence on personality, saying: "This is the animal that hides in your heart."

YEAR OF THE ROOSTER
CHINESE NEW YEAR: The oldest and most important festival in China is the Spring Festival, more commonly known in the West as Chinese New Year. Like all Chinese festivals, the date of the new year is determined by the lunar/solar calendar rather than the Western (Gregorian) calendar, so the date of the holiday varies from late January to mid February. The Spring festival celebrates the earth coming back to life, and the start of ploughing and sowing. In the past, feudal rulers of dynasties placed great importance on this occasion, and ceremonies to usher in the season were performed. Preparations for the New Year festival start during the last few days of the last moon. Houses are thoroughly cleaned, debts repaid, hair cut and new clothes bought. Doors are decorated with vertical scrolls of characters on red paper whose texts seek good luck and praise nature, this practice stemming from the hanging of peach-wood charms to keep away ghosts and evil spirits. In many homes incense is burned, and also in the temples as a mark of respect to ancestors. On New Year’s Eve houses are brightly lit and a large family dinner is served. In the south of China sticky-sweet glutinous rice pudding called 'nian gao' is served, while in the north the steamed dumpling jiaozi is popular. Most celebrating the festival stay up till midnight, when fireworks are lit, to drive away evil spirits. New Years day is often spent visiting neighbours, family and friends. The public holiday for New Year lasts 3 days in China, but the festival traditionally lasts till the 15th day of the lunar month and ends with the ‘Lantern Festival’. Here, houses are decorated with colourful lanterns, and yuanxioa, a sweet or savoury fried or boiled dumpling made of glutinous rice flour is eaten.	THE YEAR OF THE ROOSTER: The optimism of the Monkey year overlaps the year of the Rooster, but the Rooster tends to be overconfident and is prone to come up with nonsensical plans. While the colorful Rooster brings bright and happy days, he also dissipates energy. Better stick to practical and well-proven paths. No get rich quick schemes this year, please! It may require a great deal of effort this year to resist going off on wild goose chases. Refrain from making speculative ventures. Disappointments and conflicts will result. The Rooster likes to flaunt his authority and a lot of trouble can come from his domineering attitude. But since he also symbolizes the good administrator and conscientious overseer of justice in the barnyard, the peace will still be kept. Everything will be precariously balanced in the Rooster's year, as his dramatic personality can set off all kinds of petty disputes. This year we may have to expend maximum effort for minimum gain. Try not to fuss too much. Details do need looking into, but don't forget to view the whole picture. Be cautious. Do not aim too high. One is liable to get shot down. Politics will adhere to hard-line policies. The diplomatic scene will be dominated by philosophical orators who rave a lot about nothing. Governments will be found flexing their muscles at each other, but just for show. There may be no real confrontations. It is just that everyone will be too occupied with himself to hear or care what the other person is saying. The self-conscious influence of the Rooster will cause us to take offense at the smallest slight. This will be a buoyant year in spite of the Rooster's knack for making simple things complicated. One thing is for sure: he sledom comes up empty-handed. This is the year of one very self-sufficient bird that will never go hungry. Just keep your eyes open and your mouth shut and check facts and figures before making unprecedented moves. We should all get by without too much hardship. Our pockets will not be empty although our nerves may be a bit frayed.

1921, 1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005 People born in the Year of the Rooster are deep thinkers, capable, and talented. They like to be busy and are devoted beyond their capabilities and are deeply disappointed if they fail. People born in the Rooster Year are often a bit eccentric, and often have rather difficult relationship with others. They always think they are right and usually are! They frequently are loners and though they give the outward impression of being adventurous, they are timid. Rooster people¡¦s emotions like their fortunes, swing very high to very low. They can be selfish and too outspoken, but are always interesting and can be extremely brave. They are most compatible with Ox, Snake, and Dragon.
Famous people born in the Year Of The Rooster: Michael Aspel, Yoko Ono, Rod Stewart, Mia Farrow, Eric Clapton

Rat	1924	1936	1948	1960	1972	1984	1996
Ox	1925	1937	1949	1961	1973	1985	1997
Tiger	1926	1938	1950	1962	1974	1986	1998
Rabbit	1927	1939	1951	1963	1975	1987	1999
Dragon	1928	1940	1952	1964	1976	1988	2000
Snake	1929	1941	1953	1965	1977	1989	2001
Horse	1930	1942	1954	1966	1978	1990	2002
Ram	1931	1943	1955	1967	1979	1991	2003
Monkey	1932	1944	1956	1968	1980	1992	2004
Rooster	1933	1945	1957	1969	1981	1993	2005
Dog	1934	1946	1958	1970	1982	1994	2006
Boar	1935	1947	1959	1971	1983	1995	2007