Happy Lunar New Year from the Birmingham Public Library

Three children's books about Lunar New Year on a blue background with starfruit popping through

Happy New Year! Photo by Cheyenne Trujillo.

Red envelopes bless others with a little extra fortune this week. Tuesday, February 1, 2022, begins the Lunar New Year!

2022 is the Year of the Tiger—do you know if it is your year? Keep reading to find out.

You may know this holiday in the United States as Chinese New Year. But this celebration is observed in many countries under different names, including:

Chūnjié in China
Losar in Tibet (which is in March 2022)
Seollal in Korea
Têt in Vietnam

Another generalized name for this holiday is Spring Festival since Lunar New Year can be confused with other festivities by the same name.

Traditions and the date of this holiday also differ depending on the country and its lunar calendar. For this blog, I am writing about the Lunar New Year (Chinese New Year) customs that are common here in the United States.

Locally, the Birmingham Chinese Festival Association is hosting their celebration virtually on Zoom this Thursday, February 3, from 6:45—8:45 p.m. You can join their Chinese New Year on February 3 with this link here.

Lunar New Year Legends and Traditions

This holiday typically falls between January and February, depending on what date the new year in the traditional lunisolar calendar falls in the Gregorian calendar. Festivities can last for 15 days and end with the Lantern Festival.

Briefly mentioned earlier, some traditions for Lunar New Year are passing out lucky red money envelopes to family and friends to ensure prosperity and eating lucky foods, like longevity noodles. Other traditions include:

cleaning the house before the new year
wearing red for good luck
watching dragon dancers in parades
setting up the money tree
decorating with red and gold colors

Chinese legends claim that Chinese New Year started with the fight against a mythical beast called Nian (also the Chinese word for "year").

People were helpless against Nian as the beast devoured their livestock, crops, and villagers on the first day of the year. Villagers left food outside their doors, hoping Nian would take their offerings instead of their children.

But the people figured out that Nian was scared of the color red!

They decorated their homes in red, wore bright red clothing, and lit red firecrackers annually to scare Nian away. The beast never bothered the village again!

Year of the Tiger

Unlike monthly astrology signs, years designate the animal zodiac. Both calendars have elements that are assigned as well. 2022 is a water tiger year.

The years follow the order of a legend about a great race or banquet. Characters, animals, and the setting differ slightly depending on the country. But the order of the animals roughly stays the same.

The legend says that 13 animals competed in a race across a river to reach the emperor, who would award them with a place on the calendar in the order they arrived. But there are only 12 spots on the calendar.

Who didn't make it?

The most notable difference between lunar calendars is the inclusion or exclusion of the cat. The rat tricked the cat on the day of the race, preventing the cat from competing.

Coming in first place on the calendar is the rat. The rat rode on the back of the ox (or water buffalo) across the river, jumping off right at the finish line. The ox got second place. The tiger came in third place, followed by the rest of the animals.

The pig or boar comes in last because the pig stopped for a snack and a nap.

Every 12 years, a tiger year occurs, like 2022! If you were born during any of these years, then you are a tiger:

1950
1962
1974
1986
1998
2010

Tigers are brave, competitive, adventurous, and passionate. However, some of these traits can clash with one another. Negative traits for tigers are being intense, self-righteous, and overly self-confident.

While Fruits Basket is a popular choice centered around the zodiac legend, our catalog has other great Lunar New Year finds. Check out one of these books to celebrate with the Birmingham Public Library (BPL)!