Lunar New Year, also known as the Chinese New Year today, February 1st!

This holiday comes from the ancient Chinese lunar calendar, which served as a religious, dynastic, and social guide. Oracle bones inscribed with astronomical records indicate that the calendar existed as early as 14th century B.C., when the Shang Dynasty was in power.

The calendar’s structure wasn’t static: It was reset according to which emperor held power and varied from one region to another.

The Chinese calendar was a complex timepiece. Its parameters were set according to the lunar phases as well as the solar solstices and equinoxes. Yin and yang, the opposing but complementary principles that make up a harmonious world, also ruled the calendar.

Chinese New Year typically begins with the new moon that occurs between the end of January and the end of February, and it lasts about 15 days until the full moon arrives with the Festival of Lanterns.

This is a federal holiday in China; offices, banks, factories, shops, and most non-essential services will close doors for a week’s holiday. Hotels and large retail outlets stay open and may even be busier than usual! School holidays are four weeks long and migrant workers abandon their factory and construction jobs for weeks to return home.

Each year in the Chinese calendar is represented by one of 12 zodiac animals included in the cycle of twelve stations or “signs” along the apparent path of the sun through the cosmos. The 12 zodiac animals are the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig.

The year 2022 is slated to be the year of the water tiger. The tiger is known as the king of all beasts in China and the zodiac is associated with strength, exorcising evils, and bravery.

You can find your zodiac here! Comment your Chinese Zodiac sign on our IG @titanuniversecsuf.