Hopping Into The Year of the Water Rabbit

A few weeks ago, the world flipped a page when people went to sleep on December 31st, 2022, and woke up in 2023. And yesterday also marked a new year for the lunar calendar.

The Lunar New Year is also known as Chinese New Year, but don’t be mistaken because it gets celebrated worldwide. Many traditions surround this holiday, like wearing new (red) clothes, the reception of red packets, and on a larger scale, family gatherings. However, there’s more to it than just traditions.

The Chinese zodiac has a lot to do with Lunar New Year. Each of the Sheng Xiao, is represented by an animal in a rotating 12-year cycle which is in order: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. According to legend, the animals raced each other, and the ranking determined the order of the cycle. The strange thing is the exclusion of the Cat. Evidence shows that the Lunar New Year cycle originated during the Shang Dynasty, and cats hadn’t got brought to China then, so the Cat didn’t appear.

Anyway, the Year of the Tiger has ended, and the Year of the Rabbit has just started. However, the 12-year cycle is just the beginning because there’s a much more complex system of heavenly stems and earthly branches.

The earthly branches are the 12 zodiac animals, while a heavenly stem is one of the five elements (or Wu Xing, Gold or Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth or Soil) falling into yin and yang categories, making a total of 10 stems. The cycle is called the stem-branch cycle, and by pairing a heavenly stem with an earthly branch, there are a total of 60 combinations, so the entire cycle repeats every 60 years. The beginning year of the cycle is known as Jia Zi, or (yang) Wood Rat.

2023 is the Year of the Water Rabbit, the 40th year in the cycle, or “Gui Mao”, with “Gui” meaning water and “Mao” rabbit. The Chinese culture is full of tales of rabbits, like the legend of the Jade Rabbit, who accompanies the Moon Goddess Chang’e and makes the elixir of life. 2023 is the Ben Ming Nian (the zodiac year) of those born in the Year of the Rabbit. According to Chinese astrology, the year would have more disruptions and instabilities for them, though it may also be an opportunity. Who knows?

I hope you have had the chance to be with your family this Lunar New Year, as in the previous few years, the pandemic has disrupted many gatherings. And there’s a must-watch program on such an occasion: The CMG Spring Festival Gala.

The Spring Festival Gala (also known as “Chunwan”) this year, presented by China Media Group (CMG), beginning at Beijing time at 8 p.m. on January 21st, and lasting over midnight into a new lunar year. This year’s gala blended performances with high-tech augmented reality. The show’s mascot “Tu Yuanyuan” became the first original digital character to be designed from internet data analysis since the show’s 40 years ago in 1983.

Ultimately, the Lunar New Year season still isn’t over. Let us hop into the Year of the Water Rabbit full of joy and cheer! That’s the end of this production from the New News Newsminute. Thank you for reading, and I wish you and your family a happy Lunar New Year!