The 2023 Lunar New Year starts Sunday. Here’s why green, red are in and yellow is out
One of the most important holidays in Asian cultures begins on Sunday, taking the leap from the Year of the Tiger to the Year of the Rabbit.
The Lunar New Year is known worldwide for its zodiac calendar and the corresponding animals, but the holiday is much more. Billions of people worldwide, including in Boise, celebrate Lunar New Year, which starts on Sunday, Jan. 22 this year.
The two-week celebration marks the start of the new lunar year, determined by the lunar calendar, which is based on the moon’s cycle. Lunar new year starts on the first new moon of the lunar calendar and ends on the next full moon. Because of this, the date of the new year on the lunar calendar changes every year.
Sunday will mark the beginning of the Year of the Rabbit, the fourth of 12 calendar animals that correspond to a lunar year. This year will also be known as the Black-Rabbit Year, or the Yin Water Rabbit, according to the University of Sydney, which can be associated with bad luck.
This is because aside from the 12-animal calendar, the Chinese also have a second layer of categorization incorporating five elements: water, metal, earth, wood and fire. This year’s rabbit matches up with the water element, which is associated with the color black, making it a Black-Rabbit Year. This only occurs every 60 years, with the last one being in 1963.
To avoid bad luck, some common practices include keeping green plants in offices, living rooms and bedrooms, wearing emerald rings and necklaces and obsidian bracelets. Wearing anything red is often seen as good luck at all times in China, but wearing something yellow in a Black-Rabbit year could bring misfortune or even disaster, according to Xiaohuan Zhao at the University of Sydney.
The history behind the Lunar New Year
The oldest lunar calendars date back as far as 34,000 years ago, but the lunar calendar as we know it — often called the Chinese calendar — dates back to approximately 3,500 years ago.
The Shang Dynasty of ancient China — the earliest recorded dynasty in China — is credited with first celebrating what was called the Chinese New Year, according to the Lam Museum of Anthropology at Wake Forest University. Later dynasties in the following years continued to celebrate the holiday until the Chinese government abolished the calendar in 1912 and adopted the Gregorian Calendar — the most widely-used global calendar.
But many people, including those outside of China, continued to celebrate the Lunar New Year. Each day of the festival has a different title and meaning. For example, day four is the Day of the Sheep and is considered the day for prayer and giving offerings, while the 11th day is called Son-in-Law Day, when fathers are expected to treat or entertain their son-in-laws.
The celebrations end with the Lantern Festival on Feb. 5 this year, which includes lighting lanterns and is a final day to celebrate and eat with friends.
The Legend of the Zodiac
Sunday will see the passage into the Year of the Rabbit. According to Chinese culture, men born in the Year of the Rabbit are polite and like organizing and decorating, while women born in the same year are social and extreme in their love.
The order of the zodiac comes from a legend about which the Jade Emperor of China called for a race of animals on his birthday to create the zodiac, according to the University of Washington.
The animals had to cross a rapid river, and only the first 12 to finish would be included in the zodiac. The order in which they finished would then decide the order of the zodiac calendar.
The rat ultimately won the race when it, and the cat, jumped on the back of the ox, which crossed the river with ease. During the crossing, the rat pushed the cat off the ox and into the river, which resulted in the cat not being included in the calendar. When the ox reached the far bank, the rat jumped off its back and reached the shore first to win.
The eventual order of the race, and therefore the calendar, became: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.
Celebrating the Lunar New Year in Boise
The Idaho State Museum and Idaho Chinese Organization are hosting a celebration at the museum on Saturday from noon to 5 p.m., which will include music, food, performances, activities, and a special pop-up exhibit.
Activities include rabbit and dragon puppet making, traditional paper cutting, traditional Chinese tea demonstrations and tastings, and face painting by the Idaho AAPI Youth Alliance. The Sushi Bros food truck will also be on-site.
The Boise State University Chinese Club will also host its annual “China Night: a celebration of Chinese culture” event on Jan. 26 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Student Union Building. The event will include traditional Chinese dances, songs, and a Gong Fu show, a type of Chinese tea ceremony.
If you want to cook your own food or eat at a restaurant to celebrate the Lunar New Year, History.com details the different foods eaten worldwide to celebrate the new year.
In Chinese cultures, fish is often included in the final course on New Year’s Eve for good luck, while rice ball soup, moon-shaped rice cakes and dumplings are eaten throughout the celebration.
In Vietnam, five-fruit platters are eaten to honor ancestors, while Koreans eat sliced rice cake soup and dishes made from grains.
