Chinese New Year is the festival that celebrates the beginning of a new year on the traditional lunisolar Chinese calendar. It was traditionally a time to honor deities as well as ancestors, and it has also become a time to feast and to visit family members. Celebrations of Chinese New Year traditionally last for 16 days, starting from Chinese New Year's Eve to the Lantern Festival. A period of public holidays is observed in many Asian Countries. Chinese New Year beings in 2023 on January 22nd.
In Auckland, the Chinese Lantern festival has a new home at the Manukau Sports Bowl and will again host hundreds of handmade Chinese lanterns on display, along with cultural music and dance performances, food stalls, traditional craft demonstrations from the 2nd through the 5th of February 2023. This usually ends with a spectacular fireworks display on the last night.
Chinese New Year has a history of over 3,000 years and is associated with several myths. A popular legend tells of the mythical beast Nian (/nyen/, which sounds the same as 'year' in Chinese), which shows up every Lunar New Year's Eve to eat people and livestock. To scare away the monster, people displayed red paper, burned bamboo, lit candles, and wore red clothes. These traditions have been continued until the present time.
Each Chinese year is associated with an animal sign according to the Chinese zodiac cycle, which features 12 animal signs in the order Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig. Each zodiac sign also has its own element: Earth, Wood, Fire, Metal, and Water.
2023 will be the year of the Rabbit, more specifically the water rabbit, which occurs once every 60 years. Recent years of the rabbit are 1915, 1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011, however the last time it was the year of the water rabbit was 1963.
The rabbit symbolizes peace, prosperity, and vigor in the Chinese zodiac and is regarded as being a lucky year for most people. Unlike the rush and fierceness of the year of the water tiger in 2022, the year of the water rabbit promises hope, calmness and many Chinese believe it is a good year to travel, start a new business or family because the benevolent rabbit brings lots of happiness. The rabbit according to Chinese astrology represents the emblem of longevity, also the rabbit symbolizes grace, good manners, sound counsel, kindness and sensibility.
Whether the year indeed brings forth any of the rabbit traits remains to be seen, looking back at history, there is a mixture of events during water rabbit year. If we look at 1903 for example, the first silent film, The Great Train Robbery, introduced moviegoers to robberies, chase scenes, and gun shoot-offs. It was the first successful powered flight by the Wright Brothers. In 1963, 250,000 people marched for civil rights in the US, JFK was assassinated and Martin Luther King gave his famous speech. In Australia, indigenous Astralians gained the right to vote in a Federal Election. In New Zealand, the Queen visited, and a National majority Government was sworn in.