What is “Lunar New Year”?

Lunar New Year celebrates the changing of the lunar calendar, a calendar that determines days off of the phases of the moon. It’s an umbrella term that includes the cultural celebrations from most commonly East Asian countries including China, Korea, and Vietnam. Lunar New Year is on the second new moon after the winter solstice on Dec. 21. Since the lunar and Gregorian 12 month calendars aren’t synced, the holiday can fall anywhere between Jan. 20 and Feb. 20.

What are the differences between Korean New Year, Chinese New Year, Lunar New Year, etc.?

Lunar New Year refers to all celebrations of the new  lunar calendar year. Chinese New Year is also called “Chunjie” or Spring Festival. New Year is known as “Seollal” in Korea and “Tet” in Vietnam. Although they are all “lunar new years” each has its own unique traditions and food. For example, red envelopes with money (hongbao) are only for Chinese New Year, eating tteokguk (rice cake soup) is specific to Korean New Year, and Vietnamese New Year features unique foods such as mứt (candied fruit).

What is the origin of Chinese New Year traditions?

While there are many, the most agreed upon origin story of Chinese New Year is about a mythical monster named Nian, the Mandarin word for “year.” At the start of every year, he would terrorize the villagers and eat their crops until they found out Nian was afraid of the color red, loud noises and bright lights. Every year after that, villagers would use lots of red decorations, loud firecrackers and red lanterns to keep Nian away. These turned into the modern-day traditions that accompany Lunar New Year today, used to ward off bad luck and usher in prosperity and a lucky year.

For the Chinese, there are 12 zodiac animals which are given by year, every 12 years. 2025 will be the Year of the Snake, a celebration for those born in 2025, 2013, 2001, 1989, 1977, etc. The 12 animals are rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. According to Chinese legend, the animals and their orders were determined when the Jade Emperor (ruler of heaven) organized a race among all animals, promising the first 12 animals to cross the finish line a year in the zodiac cycle. There are lots of interesting details in the story of the race showing why certain animals didn’t make it, and how some did, including the rat’s betrayal to the ox and cat. While other countries have animal zodiacs, they tend to differ slightly such as the Malaysian zodiacs.