Chinese Culture

It’s Lunar New Year – what is your sign? (2024)

I wrote this post in honour of Lunar New Year and the changing of the zodiac from Rabbit to Dragon. When I was growing up, deriving the date for Lunar New Year (LNY) was akin to dark magic. We never understood when it was, and my grandparents kept track by consulting their Chinese lunisolar calendar. They also followed it for their birthdays, so we had three important events we couldn't understand. Here's is help in understanding the Lunar New Year, its zodiac, and capped with a story about the Chinese Mother of Dragons - Lung Mo.

Chinese Culture

It’s Chinese New Year – what is your sign?

I wrote this post in honour of Chinese New Year and the changing of the years from Tiger to Rabbit. In 2023, I feel we could all use some good fortune. And it doesn't matter if you believe or don't believe in astrology. What matters is if your ancestors believed. Chinese culture has long associations with ideas around luck and prophecy, governing every aspect of life from birth to death. I like to check the signs of the people I'm researching, to get a sense of what they might have thought. The next topic I'd like to tackle is the belief system that added a year to a newborn's age. What was that all about? Until next time!