What is Lunar New Year?

Lunar New Year is celebrated by many East Asian cultures (Korean, Vietnamese, Japanese etc), but vastly believed to originate from China. It marks the beginning of the lunisolar calendar, following the moon phase and time of the solar year; usually fluctuating between the end of January to mid February. Akin to Western Christmas, but instead of presents you give red-pockets (money/cheques). 

It signifies the beginning of Spring and the end of Winter.  The whole duration is about 15 days with specific customs, rituals, traditions and beliefs depending on each culture.  


GENERAL INFO:
Below is a quick run through of information that I have gathered from my own biased experience as a CBC (Chinese Born Canadian) and the interwebs.  I hope that it will help you better understand LNY in order to draw flash.  I truly want you all to have fun, as all LNY is really about celebrating happiness/prosperity/health and wealth.  Anything goes as long as it serves to one of those sectors. 

I am here as a guide, but I encourage to just draw flash/the zodiacs however you like and in your own style.  This mini information page is just to help with making the ideas/drawings more fun :) 

What are Zodiacs?
Each year brings a new zodiac, akin to western astrology but is based on the “earthly branch” scientific research. Historians believe it to be a Chinese mnemonic to remember 60 years broken into 12 branches with 5 elements (Water, Earth, Fire, Water and Metal). Why did they choose these zodiacs? Not too sure, probably just the animals that existed at the time; and the Dragon being the only mythical creature. 

  • zodiacs each have different character traits that will affect personal careers, marriages, relationships, and personalities, etc.  
  • other popular myth: the animals were chosen to race each other by an emperor who was searching for guardians/guards 
  • further info of origin + sources: https://chinesenewyear.net/heavenly-stems-and-earthly-branches/

2024 Zodiac: 
  • Wood Dragon:
    • 5th animal/branch after the Rabbit, before the Snake
    • Birthdates: 2024, 2012, 1988, 1976, 1964, 1952
    • Personality: intelligent, attractive and loved, success comes very easily as they are resourceful

  • General Dragon Attributes:
    • Personality & Strengths: diplomatic, righteous, goal oriented, powerful, energetic, charismatic, generous, visionary leaders, very self aware, independent but yearn for support and love
    • Weaknesses: self-centered, gullible and over-confidence
    • Symbols: nobleness, China’s mythical creature for longevity and honour
    • Female Dragon: passionate, admired for professional visions, impatient though and anxious goal setters
    • Male Dragon: appear domineering but sensitive, empathetic, and caring
    • Best Partner/Compatibility: Monkey & Rats
      • Will Settle For: Roosters, Snakes’, Pigs & Horses
      • Worst Match: Goas, Dogs & Ox’s  

  • More about the animals source: https://chinesenewyear.net/zodiac/dragon/  

2024 Fan Tai Sui/God of Fortune: 
For those who might not want to draw a dragon, I have something special for you! 

Fan Tai Siu is a Guardian God/Duke of Jupiter that oversees the feng shui for the year.  FTS is akin to Mercury Retrograde in western astrology, except that the selected zodiacs are punished for the whole year. It follows the earthly branch research/ the rotation of Jupiter. 

There are many types of fan tai sui, but overall they all affect your luck, feng shui, health and career/relationships. I can go further into it but I thought it would be fun and inclusive to add more animals to our flash event. 

The following animals punished this year -- Dragon, Ox, Rabbit and Dog 

Popular Customs from Kaman’s Gen Z Perspective: 

Note from Kaman: “Since there are 15 to 16 days of celebration, each day is quite exhausting with a new customs. I don’t follow all of them, nor does my family since Western societies do not see LNY as a federal holiday. In China, this is the longest holiday for them so they have the luxury to properly celebrate! Some also are too old to be followed and I believe it is okay to create my own traditions.”  

Below are just some that I follow that I think are reasonable/fun.

  1. Spring Cleaning before New Year Day: to make room for good vibes, good enery, happiness and luck, people throw out bad vibes, bad energy and garbage that no longer serves you; including outstanding large debts, cutting & washing your hair. It is considered bad luck to spring clean after new year! 

  2. New Year Day: Firecrackers, to greet neighbours, incense burned inside and outside home for the Gods (I just do it for the smell) and eating vegatarian food which is believe to bring you luck for the rest of the year. 

  3. Red/Red Pocket: LNY’s main colour is red, which symbolizes happiness, prosperity and also believed to deter bad energy/ omens/demons. Decorations are inside and outside of homes. White should be avoided, as it represents death.  

    Red Pockets: “Hong Bao” are given by usually elders and married couples to singles/children to increase their luck/happiness. Overall, it follows the belief that in order to receive luck, its also given.  If received, the politeful custom is to give your blessings of happiness, fortune, health or wealth to the giver and to never look at the amount in front of them! 

    Amounts in Red Pockets: anything goes, except for the number 4 = phonically sounds like “death” in Chinese. 
    Lucky numbers: 8 sounds like “rich”, 6 sounds like “smooth sailing”, 3 = “alive”.   

    (Bonus Story Rea) Sui Monster Myth/Story: red pockets were originally made to ward off evil or a monster named Sui.  Sui would come during the night to touch the heads of sleeping children.  These children received a high fever and develop intellectual disabilities... all except for the one kid playing with copper coins and a red paper bag. That red bag ended up under his pillow which created a blinding golden light, too bright for Sui to see when she tried to touch him. What an awful story! 

  4. Dragon/Lion Dances: to originally ward off evil but is now modernly seen as an art/performance-- hong kong has made it a business ritual to bring in luck/wealth; businesses would hang red pockets and lettuce like a mistletoe for lions to come collect. Its super fun, they usually spit out the lettuce at the front entrance as they dance and keep the money lol Victoria also does this too! 


  5. Other Customs: 
    - no breaking ceramics/glass = bad omen 
    - no final destination sayings/predictions/pessimistic views 
    - no crying/fighting allowed 
    - not allowed to give your blessings to someone in bed or you risk them of being sick all year 
    - lantern festival is usually the last day of celebration 
    - dumplings are made and eaten a lot (my favourite) 
    - a few popular foods from harvest:  whole fish “yu” = symbolizes abundance/surplus, dumplings = gold nuggets, new year cake, rice ball desserts represent harmony, longevity noodles for longevity/health, fruits that look like gold 


Sources: 
- terrible google searches with lots of ads 
- https://chinesenewyear.net/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_New_Year
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_New_Year
- https://www.discoverhongkong.com/ca/explore/culture/chinese-new-year-do-and-dont.html
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthly_Branches. 
- https://asia.si.edu/whats-on/events/celebrations/lunar-new-year-celebration/