Lunar New Year 2022: Know the date, history, significance of Chinese New Year

Lunar New Year 2022: Also known as Chinese New Year and Spring Festival, it is celebrated by Chinese communities across the world. This year it will be observed on February 1.

Lunar New Year 2022: Not done with your New Year 2022 celebrations yet? You can very well extend it with Lunar New Year which is falling on February 1 this year and the celebrations will last for two weeks! Also known as Chinese New Year and Spring Festival, it is celebrated by Chinese communities across the world with traditions slightly varying from the other. The celebration begins with the rising of the second moon after winter solstice.

Date of the Lunar New Year 2022

Lunar New Year is celebrated with much fervour and the main days of celebrations this year would be January 31 (New Year's Eve) and February 1.

The Lunar New Year doesn't fall on the same date each year and is observed as per the cycles of the moon. It usually falls between January 20 to February 21 each year as per Gregorian calendar. Each year is associated with one of the 12 zodiac animals - rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig. The year 2022 is the year of tiger, while 2021 was the year of ox.

Celebrations

People clean their houses and hope to be blessed by luck and prosperity, leaving behind the sorrows and bad luck from the past year. The colour red holds a lot of significance for Chinese people and on this day, houses are decorated with bright red banners and children are given money in red envelopes. People exchange gifts, host grand feasts and get-togethers and mark their new year celebrations with a lot of fireworks, firecrackers, dancing dragons and lions.

The celebrations last for two weeks and this year it will conclude on February 15 with the lantern festival, on the day of the full moon.

History and significance

Chinese New Year is said to date back to 14th century BC. Legends have it that in ancient times there was a monster called Nian which attacked people and spread much terror. He was however terrified of the colour red, the sound of firecrackers and the sight of fireworks. People used these things to scare him and chase him away.

From that day onwards, people are believed to celebrate Chinese New Year.

Other countries that celebrate Lunar New Year

East Asian countries also celebrated this day with pomp and fervour. Countries like Vietnam, South Korea, North Korea, and Mongolia celebrate it on the same day albeit with different names and traditions.