Chinese New Year Celebrations:

We love to celebrate special occasions that are meaningful to our local, national and international communities.

Chinese New Year is a challenge for us because it starts well before school does - beginning this year on January 15 for example.

Nevertheless, we are doing the best we can to recognise this important event on Thursday 9 February. 

(Friday is Point Erin Pools trip day for middle and senior school, and Fun Day for our Junior school.)

The rabbit is the symbol of longevity, peace, and prosperity in Chinese Culture, thus 2023 is predicted to be a year of hope.

Here is a more detailed explanation of the Chinese New Year and its origins from one of our families. It provided a great opportunity for me to learn more about the nature and origins of Chinese New Year - something that dates back thousands of years. I hope you find it as interesting and informative as I did.

The Chinese New Year comes from the Chinese calendar, also called nongli (agricultural calendar). All the traditional Chinese festivals come from this calendar. The Lunar calendar and the Chinese calendar are not the same. 

Lunar comes from the Latin word “Luna”, which means moon. Moon calendar calculates days by observing the moon. On the contrary, Solar Calendar, also called the Gregorian calendar, is based on observation of the sun. Approx 29.53 days per cycle for the moon; 12 cycles count as a year (354.36 days). 

The Gregorian calendar counts one year when the earth revolves around the sun for one cycle. The ancients used the winter solstice with the shortest sunshine time, or the vernal equinox when the day and night were evenly divided, to determine the time of a circle.

That's about 365.24 days a year. Just like the Moon calender, the Gregorian Calendar divides the 365.24 days into 12 months. However, because of the 0.24 (which is 6 hours), leap year was created. 

The Gregorian Calendar is great for defining the four seasons but doesn't show the moon's movement. The lunar calendar has a greater deviation in the calculation of dates, so the Chinese created a calculation method called “置闰”, which means place leap. This meant adding one extra month every three years. This is why every Chinese New Year is always around one month after winter in China; it indicates the coming of spring. Also, the reason it is called Spring Festival(春节). Hopefully, this explains that the Lunar calender is not the Chinese Calendar. The Chinese Calendar is a calendar that uses the waxing and waning of the moon as a month to assist the correction of the twenty-four solar terms caused by the sun.

There is an archaeological site called “Taosi”(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taosi), it references an astronomical observatory that proves that ancient Chinese started calculating dates and making calendars 4000 years ago.

The meaning of Chinese New Year is to unite, get together, and share - something we look forward to celebrating on Thursday, 9 February.

Xīnnián hǎo                 新年好

Gong hei fat choy      恭喜发财 

Wishing you happiness and prosperity.