ChineseNewYear

　　ChineseNewYear,knowninChineseastheSpringFestivalortheLunarNewYear,isthemostimportantofthetraditionalChineseholidays.ThefestivalproperbeginsonthefirstdayofthefirstlunarmonthintheChinesecalendarandendsonthe15th,ontheLanternFestival.

　　ChineseNewYear'sEveisknownasChuXi.Chuliterallymeans"change"andximeans"eve".

　　CelebratedinternationallyinareaswithlargepopulationsofethnicChinese,ChineseNewYearisconsideredamajorholidayforChineseaswellasforethnicgroupswhowerestronglyinfluencedbyChineseculture.ThisincludesJapanese,Koreans,Miao(ChineseHmong),Mongolians,Vietnamese,Tibetans,theNepaleseandtheBhutanese(seeLosar).

　　ChineseNewYearisalsothetimeofthethelargesthumanmigration,whenoverseasChineseallaroundtheworldtravelhometohavereuniondinnerswiththeirfamiliesonChineseNewYear'seve.

　　●NewYeardates

　　TheChineseNewYeardatesaredeterminedbythelunisolarChinesecalendar,whichisalsousedincountriesthathaveadoptedorhavebeeninfluencedbyHanculuture,notablytheKoreans,theJapanese,theTibetans,theVietnameseandthepaganBulgars.

　　ChineseNewYearstartsonthefirstdayofthenewyearcontaininganewmoon(somesourcesincludeNewYear'sEve)andendsontheLanternFestivalfourteendayslater.Thisoccursaroundthetimeofthefullmoonaseachlunationisabout29.53daysinduration.IntheGregoriancalendar,theChineseNewYearfallsondifferentdateseachyear,onadatebetweenJanuary21andFebruary20.IntraditionalChineseCulture,Lichunisasolartermmarkingthestartofspring,whichusuallyfallsoneitherFebruary4or5.

　　ThedatesfortheSpringFestivalfrom1996to2019(intheGregoriancalendar)arelistedbelow,alongwiththeyear'spresidinganimalzodiacanditsearthlybranch.ThenamesoftheearthlybrancheshavenoEnglishcounterpartsandarenottheChinesetranslationsoftheanimals.

　　Manynon-ChineseconfusetheirChinesebirth-yearwiththeirGregorianbirth-year.AstheChineseNewYearstartsinlateJanuarytomidFebruary,theChineseyeardatesfrom1JanuaryuntilthatdayinthenewGregorianyearremainunchangedfromthepreviousGregorianyear.Forexample,the1989yearofthesnakebeganon6February1989.Theyear1990isconsideredbysomepeopletobetheyearofthehorse.However,the1989yearofthesnakeofficiallyendedon26January1990.ThismeansthatanyonebornfromJanuary1to25January1990wasactuallybornintheyearofthesnakeratherthantheyearofthehorse.

　　ManyonlineChineseSigncalculatorsdonotaccountforthenon-alignmentofthetwocalendars,incorrectlyusingGregorian-calendaryearsratherthanofficialChineseNewYeardates.

　　SeeChineseastrologyforalistofChineseNewYeardatesforeveryyearfrom1900to2020,coveringonefullsexagesimalcycle(1924–1983)andportionsoftwoothers.

　　●History

　　ItisunclearwhenthebeginningoftheyearwascelebratedbeforetheQinDynasty.Itispossiblethatthebeginningoftheyearbeganwithmonth1duringtheXiaDynasty,month12duringtheShangDynasty,andmonth11duringtheZhouDynastyinChina.Weknowthatintercalarymonths,usedtokeepthelunarcalendarsynchronizedwiththesun,wereaddedaftermonth12duringboththeShangDynasty(accordingtosurvivingoraclebones)andth