I would venture to guess that most people have heard of Chinese New Year (aka Chinese Lunar New Year or Spring Festival). This celebration dates back more than 4,000 years, and coincides with the beginning of the crop cycle. It’s considered as the end to winter and welcomes a new season, namely “Spring Festival” and the most significant celebration in China. Chinese New Year is celebrated by millions of people worldwide. Every year it starts with the first New Moon (between January 21 and February 20 in the Gregorian calendar) of the lunar calendar and ends with the Lantern Festival on the Full Moon.
The legal holiday is 7 days long, from the Lunar New Year's Eve to the 6th day of the first lunar month, however, some companies and public institutions celebrate up to 10 days or more. New Year's Eve on January 28th and the New Year's Day on January 29th are the peak times of celebration, although the Chinese people believe the festival lasts from the Lunar New Year's Eve to the 15th day of the first lunar month (Lantern Festival), February 12, 2025. That makes celebrations pretty fluid!
Do you know the origin story of the Chinese (Lunar) New Year? Legend has it that there was a fierce monster called ‘Nian’. Nian would appear every 365 days or 366 days to feast on humans. After a while, people noticed that Nian always came at night. Best of all, they discovered that he was afraid of the sound of firecrackers and the color red. That began a tradition of wearing red clothes and making red decorations, in addition to setting off firecrackers to drive away the monster. From then on, the Chinese New Year was also called “Guo Nian”, as in defeating the monster!
When does a new moon occur? The new moon occurs when the moon is approximately in between the Earth and the Sun, meaning it’s lost in “our star’s glare” from our viewpoint. This year it starts on Wednesday, January 29 and lasts until Wednesday, February 12 - the Lantern Festival - with the rising of the full moon. This year the full moon is called the “Snow Moon”. February — Snow Moon (12 February 2025) when the cold month of February is set to get warmer. The Snow Moon will bring abundance, joy, and excitement to all. This is a good time to go on the vacation/holiday, take up a new hobby or sport, or do anything that brings you joy.
What determines the date of the Chinese (or Lunar) New Year? The last new moon of 2024 was on Monday, Dec. 30 and was a rare black moon, according to Timeanddate. The black moon is a rare quirk of the calendar when two new moons occur in the same month. This happens because there’s a new moon every 29.5 days. The name “black moon” is usually applied to the second of the two new moons. For most of the world, December 2024 had two new moons: one on December 1 and one on December 30. This began a countdown to one lunation later on Wednesday, January 29, 2025. January’s new moon is the beginning of the Year of the Snake. The New Year celebration last 15 days in accordance with the traditional Chinese lunisolar (combining lunar and solar cycles) calendar. Lunasolar is based on both the Earth’s orbit around the sun and the moon’s phases.
A lunar month averages 29.5 days. A year is typically made up of 12 lunar months. In order to align with the solar calendar’s 365-day cycle, every 2 to 3 years, an additional month is introduced. This calendar is used to determine important dates and holidays, etc. It has roots dating back to the Shang Dynasty (14th century BCE). 2025 will be the year of the Wood Snake until February 16, 2026, when the Year of Horse begins.
Naming the animal and the elements of the year: The Chinese Zodiac uses a 12 year cycle of animals and each year also incorporates one of the five elements (wood, fire, Earth, metal, water). Animals repeat every 12 years. However, this creates a 60 year cycle where the animal and the element repeat. In other words, 1965 was the last “Year of the Wood Snake”. All this can be a bit confusing!
2025 is the Year of the Wood Snake. The Snake is Yin and has an analytical and grounded nature. It is also transformative in that it sheds its skin - like letting go. Yin is surrender, receptive, soft, and goes with the flow! Yin relates to the moon - the dark side! Because it’s cold blooded, the snake spends most of the time resting and “basking in the sun” to conserve its energy.
For 2025, the Wood Snake represents growth, transformation, and introspection, wisdom, intuition, and intelligence. The wood element symbolizes flexibility, creativity, and personal growth. It may be time to listen to your inner voice and rid yourself of people, situations, or habits that are holding you back from being yourself or finding your joy in life. However, like the snake, conserve your energy, be flexible, and move slowly towards your goal(s).
Correct hand gesture for New Year greeting - I don’t think I have covered this in previous years!
New Year greeting hand gestures are very important etiquette. If you are not using the correct one, it is considered very rude. You may not be surprised to find that the gestures of males and females differ! Men make a fist with the right hand (which means attacking in Chinese culture) and put the left hand over it to show good will. Women reverse the greeting because when reversed the meaning is different! Hmmm! For women, the right hand wraps around the left hand which is loosely bent. See a picture at https://www.hillslearning.com/articles/chinese-new-year-explained.
The 10th day of the New Year is considered the “Day of Stone” (its birthday). This is an old tradition but still popular in some rural areas. To show respect, people do not move any stone or use any stone tools, otherwise the crops will be damaged by the God of Stone. Some areas even worship the stone and provide a sacrifice of baked pancakes!
By the way, a version (there are a few) appearing in ancient Chinese medical books says that if you don’t get your hair cut in the first lunar month and let it grow freely in the Spring, it will benefit a lot of people! Obviously, not the hair stylists or barbers!
I tried not to repeat the same information on Chinese New Year. If you would like to check some facts (both fun and educational), check out my previous blogs:
https://balancedlifetaichi.com/blog/2024-the-year-of-the-wood-dragon
https://balancedlifetaichi.com/blog/when-is-chinese-new-year-2023
https://balancedlifetaichi.com/blog/chinese-new-year-2022
https://balancedlifetaichi.com/blog/legends-and-myths-of-chinese-new-year 2021
https://balancedlifetaichi.com/blog/2020-the-chinese-new-year-of-the-rat
In case you are wondering, here are the years of the Snake: 1917, 1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013, 2025, 2037...
I hope you enjoy a wonderful Chinese New Year holiday full of health and happiness! CTM
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