Xīnnián Kuàilè / Sun Nin Fai Lok
Happy New Year !!
Happy New Year !!
Year 4722 in the Chinese Lunar Calendar (solar year 2024) is the year of the Wood Dragon, 木龍 (mù lóng). This year the first day of the lunar year is 10 February. Also known as the Spring Festival, 春節 (chūenjié), this holiday is celebrated for 15 days, culminating in the Lantern Festival. (Lantern Viewings and Chinese New Year Celebrations are ongoing at Lan Su Chinese Garden - see here)
The Spring Festival, is the most important traditional holiday in Chinese culture. Chinese New Year symbolizes the start of a new lunar year, providing an opportunity for people to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new one with hope, optimism, and fresh starts. It's a time for setting new goals and making resolutions.
This is a time for families to come together, no matter how far they may be from each other. Many people travel long distances to reunite with their families for the holiday, making it the largest annual human migration in the world.
The holiday is rich in cultural traditions and customs, including cleaning and decorating homes to welcome good luck, giving red envelopes (紅包 hóngbāo) containing money to children and unmarried adults, lighting fireworks and firecrackers to ward off evil spirits, and enjoying special foods like dumplings,
fish, and rice cakes.
The Year of the Dragon in the Lunar New Year holds great significance. The dragon is the only mythical creature in the Chinese zodiac and has long been associated with prosperity and imperial power. Dragons are also associated with fertility and new beginnings, making the Year of the Dragon an auspicious time for starting new ventures, getting married, or having children.
As a celestial and divine creature, the dragon has the ability to control natural elements as in wind and water and represents positive qualities such as strength, good luck, and wisdom. The dragon also symbolizes courage, indomitable spirit, unity, harmony, innovation, and development.
This lunar new year 4722 has the element of wood representing spring, and symbolizing the desire to pursue and achieve goals. It also embodies the human spirit, with opportunities for growth from failure and frustration. Consider wood in nature; it expands, grows, shrinks, breaks, and mends until it becomes something strong and beautiful.
Because the dragon is the most potent—and most desired—zodiac symbol, when the Year of the Dragon arrives, birth rates in China tend to boom as many parents believe that a child born during this year, a lucky dragon baby, will be destined for success. Those born in Dragon years are often considered confident, ambitious, and charismatic. They exude energy and passion, achieving remarkable accomplishments due to their inherent fortune and gifts. Those born as Wood Dragons are believed to possess mystical powers, closely linked to their connection with nature. They harness the energy of the forest, enabling them to heal and restore balance to both the environment and individuals.
The Year of the Wood Dragon is a time of power, renewal, growth and upward energy, where the mystical energy of the forest intertwines with the Dragon’s strength and fortune. It is a year encouraging people to take their destiny into their own hands - to pursue dreams, express ideas, and expand horizons. It is also a year to be generous, compassionate, and loyal to friends. 🐉🌿
The Spring Festival, is the most important traditional holiday in Chinese culture. Chinese New Year symbolizes the start of a new lunar year, providing an opportunity for people to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new one with hope, optimism, and fresh starts. It's a time for setting new goals and making resolutions.
This is a time for families to come together, no matter how far they may be from each other. Many people travel long distances to reunite with their families for the holiday, making it the largest annual human migration in the world.
The holiday is rich in cultural traditions and customs, including cleaning and decorating homes to welcome good luck, giving red envelopes (紅包 hóngbāo) containing money to children and unmarried adults, lighting fireworks and firecrackers to ward off evil spirits, and enjoying special foods like dumplings,
fish, and rice cakes.
The Year of the Dragon in the Lunar New Year holds great significance. The dragon is the only mythical creature in the Chinese zodiac and has long been associated with prosperity and imperial power. Dragons are also associated with fertility and new beginnings, making the Year of the Dragon an auspicious time for starting new ventures, getting married, or having children.
As a celestial and divine creature, the dragon has the ability to control natural elements as in wind and water and represents positive qualities such as strength, good luck, and wisdom. The dragon also symbolizes courage, indomitable spirit, unity, harmony, innovation, and development.
This lunar new year 4722 has the element of wood representing spring, and symbolizing the desire to pursue and achieve goals. It also embodies the human spirit, with opportunities for growth from failure and frustration. Consider wood in nature; it expands, grows, shrinks, breaks, and mends until it becomes something strong and beautiful.
Because the dragon is the most potent—and most desired—zodiac symbol, when the Year of the Dragon arrives, birth rates in China tend to boom as many parents believe that a child born during this year, a lucky dragon baby, will be destined for success. Those born in Dragon years are often considered confident, ambitious, and charismatic. They exude energy and passion, achieving remarkable accomplishments due to their inherent fortune and gifts. Those born as Wood Dragons are believed to possess mystical powers, closely linked to their connection with nature. They harness the energy of the forest, enabling them to heal and restore balance to both the environment and individuals.
The Year of the Wood Dragon is a time of power, renewal, growth and upward energy, where the mystical energy of the forest intertwines with the Dragon’s strength and fortune. It is a year encouraging people to take their destiny into their own hands - to pursue dreams, express ideas, and expand horizons. It is also a year to be generous, compassionate, and loyal to friends. 🐉🌿
We thank our generous speakers, valued volunteers, and loyal and new attendees. First Saturday PDX wishes you all a fulfilling new year with good health, good fortune, prosperity, happiness, success, kindness, and adventure !
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Images courtesy of The House of Scalamandré and the Boston Museum of Fine Art
Information courtesy of The Smithsonian Institute Magazine, The SCMP, The God of Wealth, The Chinese Zodiac.
