History and Origins of the Chinese New Year

History and Origins of the Chinese New Year

To fully understand the historical significance of the Chinese New Year, it is important to understand the Chinese lunar calendar. The Chinese calendar is the world’s oldest historical chronological record. It dates back to 2600 B.C. when Emperor Huang Ti introduced the first cycle of the zodiac. One legend regarding the origin of the Chinese calendar states that thousands of years ago, Buddha summoned all of the animals in the kingdom previous to his departure from earth. Only twelve animals answered his call, and Buddha rewarded each of these twelve animals with a year of it’s own coinciding with the animals’ order of response to the call of Buddha. The Chinese calendar resembles our Western calendar in the sense that they both use a year as a standard measure. The main difference is that the progression of the Chinese calendar coincides with cycles of the moon unlike the Western ca...