Chinese New Year 2011 fell on February 3, this past Thursday.
The Chinese New Year is celebrated as the symbol of spring’s celebration. In fact, in China it is still called the Spring festival. It is celebrated after the fall harvest and before the spring planting season.
The date of the Chinese New Year is always changing and is dependent on the Chinese calendar that was invented by Emperor Huangdi or Emperor Wu of Han in the year 2637 B.C. It is a lunisolar calendar which is obtained by marking the months (degrees) first by Moon (the lunar portion of the calendar) and then making each month an equal 30 days.
This year, 2011, is the Year of the Rabbit and lasts from February 3, 2011, to Jan 22, 2012.
How the Chinese calculate each new year is first they determine the dates for the new moon .
The new moon is the black moon that happens when the moon is in conjunction with the sun. The date of the new moon is taken as the first day of the new month.
Then when the sun’s longitude is the multiple of 30 degrees is determined. These dates are termed as Principal terms and are used for determining the number of each month.
The Principle term 1 takes place when the sun’s longitude is 330 degrees, and the 2nd Principle term occurs when the sun’s longitude is about 0 degrees.
The 3rd principle term occurs when the sun’s longitude is 30 degrees, with each principle term taking up the next 30 degrees so that the principle term 11 occurs when the sun’s longitude is 270 degrees and the final and 12th principle term occurs when the sun’s longitude is 300 degrees. and ends at 330 degrees.
The current 60-year cycle in the Chinese calendar started on 2nd February 1984. Given below are some dates for the past Chinese New Year and future Chinese New Years — may you all live to enjoy them all in happiness and great health.
- 4698 Dragon February 5, 2000
- 4699 Snake January 24, 2001
- 4700 Horse February 12, 2002
- 4701 Sheep/Ram February 1, 2003
- 4702 Monkey January 22, 2004
- 4703 Rooster February 9, 2005
- 4704 Dog January 29, 2006
- 4705 Boar February 18, 2007
- 4706 Rat February 7, 2008
- 4707 Ox January 26, 2009
- 4708 Tiger February 10, 2010
- 4709 Hare/Rabbit February 3, 2011
- 4710 Dragon January 23, 2012
- 4711 Snake February 10, 2013
- 4712 Horse January 31, 2014
- 4713 Ram/Sheep February 19, 2015
- 4714 Monkey February 9, 2016
- 4715 Rooster January 28, 2017
- 4716 Dog February 16, 2018
- 4717 Boar February 5, 2019
- 4718 Rat January 25, 2020
