Why is the chinese new year so important
Chinese New Year for Kids
[Music]
you are in the place of learning Chinese
New Year facts for kids it's also known
as the Lunar New Year the Chinese New
Year Lunar New Year talking about the
same thing two ways of saying it we're
gonna share facts about this holiday you
might say I don't understand holiday I
don't understand the difference between
the Chinese New Year and maybe a new
year that you're more accustomed to
celebrating well you're in the right
place buckle in cuz this is gonna be
awesome it's interesting different
cultures have used different calendars
through the years
now the most common calendar to use in
the world is the Gregorian calendar this
is what the Gregorian calendar looks
like it's probably very familiar to you
there are always twelve months in a year
and New Year's is always on January 1st
now here is the Chinese calendar the
Chinese calendar is very different than
the Gregorian calendar this is
interesting sometimes the number of
months in a year can change some years
have 12 months in some years have 13
months we're going to explain why in
just a moment and New Year's is always
in January or February but truth be told
it changes from year to year and that
New Year's is the Chinese New Year or
the Lunar New Year which is what this
video is all about
[Music]
okay so why are the calendars different
well the Gregorian calendar is solar
meaning it's based on the Sun that is
why the Gregorian calendar is so similar
year by year and why the year always has
12 months with the Gregorian calendar
and why New Year's is always on that
same day on January 1st because it's
based on the Sun so there are less
changes in fluctuations from year to
year the Chinese calendar is lunisolar
meaning it's based on the Sun and the
moon which is why it can change a good
bit from year to year because it's not
just based on the Sun it's based on the
moon as well now this is interesting in
the Chinese calendar every year is given
a name instead of a number there are 12
animal names that rotate from year to
year and you can see in this wheel the
rotation of animal names at the current
moment making this video the new year is
going to be the year of the dog then the
following year is going to be the year
of the pig and then the year after that
will be the year of the rat and it keeps
going year by year along the wheel
through the animal names
all right so who uses the Chinese
calendar today in today's world China
and many other Asian countries use the
Chinese calendar for ceremonial reasons
or for planning special events and it's
not in just those areas across the world
there are people that still respect and
honor and use the Chinese calendar and
there are a lot of people that enjoy
celebrating Chinese New Year the Lunar
New Year
in fact over 1.5 billion people
celebrate Chinese New Year each year or
we're gonna move over 1.5 billion people
now some facts about the holiday itself
the full celebration lasts 15 days 15
days it's not just a one-day deal here
Chinese New Year is a huge event a
celebration that lasts 15 days it begins
with the reunion dinner on New Year's
Eve with the whole family and ends with
the Lantern Festival on the 15th day
which the lantern festival oh my god is
so beautiful so awesome we're gonna
share more about that in just a little
bit those 15 days are so important
because it's not just the celebration of
the new year but of a new season that's
why it's also called Spring Festival in
China this time of year is the beginning
of spring so this holiday really has
three names Chinese New Year Lunar New
Year and Spring Festival the beginning
of a brand new season the season of
spring
now if there is one word that marked
this holiday it would be the word luck
almost every tradition in the Chinese
New Year celebration goes back to luck
and getting good luck in the new year
for example the dragon dances are
thought to bring lots of good luck to
the community it is thought that the
longer the dragon dance the more luck
that will come to the people
participating and to the community where
the dragon dance is happening because
dragons are thought to bring good luck
other traditions that are thought to
bring good luck in the new year are
lucky money envelopes which are always
red red is the color of luck in China
they put money inside and they're
supposed to be lucky envelopes cleaning
your house that's interesting cleaning
your house everyone loves a clean house
it's meant to sweep away any bad luck
and eating lucky food some foods are
considered lucky and so all of these
traditions are supposed to bring good
luck in the new year it all ends with
the Lantern Festival the lanterns are of
course always red and there are hung up
symbolizing people letting go of their
past and often times people will buy a
new Lantern
that they will hang up in the next year
as a symbol of the hope of the upcoming
year that they will have good fortune
and that it will be a wonderful year for
them thanks for watching this home
school pop video on Chinese New Year the
Lunar New Year the spring festival we
hope it was informative and that you
enjoyed learning more about this
fascinating holiday
what was your favorite fact let us know
in the comments section below we would
love to hear from you and we hope to see
you next video thanks for hanging out
with us you are awesome in the middle of
the screen you could see there's a
button you can click to subscribe to our
channel or you can click one of these
two boxes to watch a different video but
don't stop learning now go ahead click
you
