The Chinese or lunar New Year ( guó nián 过年 ) in China is part of the Spring Festival (Chūnjié 春节) and takes place over fifteen days, ending with the Lantern Festival (Yuánxiāo jié 元宵节). This festival is celebrated across Asia, in places like Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan and Indonesia, and is different in every one, even within China there are many differing cultural traditions depending on region. There are a very wide range of customs atached to the Luna New Year and the Spring Festival , for example, people will clean their house to sweep away misfortune, and bring them good luck. Everyone covers their homes in decorations, such as papercuts, lanterns and spring couplets, most of them are gold and red. In China red is symbolic of good luck!
There are twelve animal Zodiacs (Shēngxiào 生肖), whose history is rooted in hundreds of years of folklore. The origin of the Zodiacs is ingrained in an old legend which has many different interpretations. In short this myth, tells the story of the Buddha, who to settle the animals argument (regarding who will take what year) challenged them to a swimming race across the river. The cunning rat, who tricked the ox into giving him a ride, was victorious, and thus took the first year, and then it progressed down the line until it reached the last animal, which inevitably was the lazy pig! Each Zodiac has a personality; this year’s animal is the horse (Mǎ 馬). The horse as a zodiac animal is known for being very brave, strong, athletic, but also quite stubborn. Horses were very important in Ancient Chinese society, as they were a rare commodity, therefore they were a symbol of power. Although horses were almost entirely restricted to the wealthy, they were not restricted to gender, many woman have been depicted riding horses in paintings, and particularly playing polo, a sport the Chinese invented.
Flying Horse, East Han Dynasty, 25-220 BC, Bronze, h 34.5cm, China.
Horses were so revered some were even buried in their own tombs! They have also been used in many forms of symbolism; in Buddhist text for example they often represent purity and loyalty.
Do you want to learn more? The MEAA´s education team put together a teacher´s booklet (free to download) with everything you need to know about the LUnar New Year and the horse here.
Here, you can also discover more about our future plans and what we do as a Musem by visiting our website: http://www.meaa.org.uk
For more information about this or other education projects please contact our Eduation and Development Officer: celia.dominguez@meaa.org.uk
Glossary:
Horse – Mǎ 马
Lantern Festival – Yuánxiāo jié 元宵节
Luna New Year – Guò Nián 过年
Spring Festival – Chūnjié 春节
Zodiac – Shēngxiào 生肖
How do you say happy new year in Chinese?
新年快乐
Mandarin: Xīnnián kuàilè
Cantonese: Gong Hei Fat Choi
Museum of East Asian Art (MEAA) 