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唯一一份專屬聖路易華人的精緻溫馨中英文社區報紙
The only newspaper dedicated to the St. Louis Chinese community.
Issue: 754   Date: 02/03/2005
Happy New Year!
February 9, 2005 is the Chinese New Year's Day
Year of the Rooster

There are three ways to name a Chinese year:

By an animal (like a mscot). The new year is known as the Year of the Rooster.
There are 12 animal names; so by this system, year names are re-cycled every 12 years. More.
By its Former Name.
The new year is the year of Yiyou. By this system, the Name of the Year is repeated and re-cycled every 60 years.

It is Year 4702 by Chinese calendar.

Year of the Rooster

Chinese New Year, pronounced in Chinese as 'xin nian', occurs on the first day of the first month of the lunar calendar. There are different versions of the story behind the development of the Chinese zodiac, but all the versions are based around a race called by an Emperor to determine the animals to be represented. The cunning Rat hitched a ride on the back of the Ox and crossed the winning line first. The Rat was followed (in order) by Ox (Cow), Tiger, Rabbit (Cat), Dragon, Snake, Horse, Ram (Goat, Sheep), Monkey, Rooster (Chicken), Dog and Pig (Boar).

According to the Chinese zodiac, you take on the characteristics of the animal associated with the year of your birth, but those characteristics are also influenced by what time of day you're born, what fixed element you belong to (water, metal, wood, fire, earth), as well as the influence of Yin and Yang.

The Year of the Rooster in 2005

The major elements in the Green Rooster (Chicken) are Wood and Metal. The Chinese believe there is conflict between these two elements, as metal will destroy wood. To this end any unfinished business from 2004, either good or bad, should be dealt with promptly in 2005.

People born in the Year of the Rooster are capable, talented and conscientious. They always think they are right and more often than not are! They can be seen to be selfish and outspoken but are always interesting and can be extremely brave. They have a reputation for diligence and hard work. They have a love for life and enjoy the high life.

Some famous roosters include D H Lawrence, Goldie Hawn, Errol Flynn and Steffi Graf .

Rooster years in the last hundred years were 1909, 1921, 1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981 and 1993.

The Chinese calendar

In the Chinese calendar an ordinary year has 12 months, a leap year has 13 months. An ordinary year has 353, 354 or 355 days and a leap year 383, 384 or 385 days. Leap years are determined by counting the number of new moons between the 11th month in one year and the 11th month in the next year. If there are 13 full moons then a leap month must be inserted.

The other interesting thing about the Chinese calendar is that it doesn't count years continuously as the Gregorian calendar does. It works in 60 year cycles and each year has a name made up of two parts. The first part is a Heavenly stem and the second part is a Earthly branch.

These different calendars mean that Australians, with a diverse multicultural community, always have something to celebrate!




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