Chinese Festivals & Dragon Lore Chinese New Year   Chinese Lantern Festival Animals of the Chinese Calendar (Zodiac) Dragon Lore Lesson Plans, Clip Art, Games, Free Stuff   CHINESE NEW YEAR Chinese New Year is a very old celebration, a time for repaying debts, enjoying feasts, giving "red envelopes" of lucky money to friends and relatives, and remembering ancestors.   Yan Yat  - The seventh day of the Chinese New Year is called Yan Yat, "Everybody's Birthday." There are many old and delightful ancient superstitions surrounding this holiday. A wonderful school site in Holland shares some funny ones: Chinese New Year superstitions.  Here's one of my favorites!  Once upon a time .... Long ago, in Han times, there was a monster whose name was "Nian". This monster came once each year to a little village and scared everyone! One day, just by luck, the villagers discovered that "Nian" had a couple fears of his own. He was afraid of the color red and even more afraid of scary loud noises!  The villagers prepared. When "Nian" appeared, everyone in the village ran for the red banners and noise makers they had made. They waved their banners and rattled their noise makers. This scared "Nian" so much that "Nian" ran away and was never heard from again!      Which explains why people in China believe the color red signifies joy and luck, and why noise makers are rattled on Chinese New Year. At midnight, firecrackers, paper dragons, noise makers, the waving of red ribbons and banners all help to drive away any lingering evil spirits from the old year. (In case "Nian" is still lurking about somewhere!)     Superstitions On Chinese New Year Eve, parents encourage children to stay awake as long as possible, because legend says that the longer children stay awake the longer their parents will live. The Kitchen God was an important ancient deity. Once each year, right before the new year, this god's job was to make an annual report about the behavior of the household to his boss, the "Jade Emperor". Today, as part of the Chinese New Year celebration, sweets are often exchanged so that the kitchen god's report will be sweet and flattering. (Nobody believes in the kitchen god anymore, but almost everyone likes the treats!)   Sweeping during Chinese New Year is very unlucky as you might sweep the new year luck out of your house!        CHINESE LANTERN FESTIVAL   This holiday is celebrated approximately 15 days after the start of the Chinese New Year. Chinese Lantern Festival is very old.   Legend says . . There are many wonderful stories about how the Lantern Festival first began. One story is that in ancient times, people would go in search of spirits with burning sticks. They thought the spirits could be seen during a full moon. Another is about a lonely young girl, in Han times, who tricked an emperor into having a wonderful festival just so she could visit with her family! The emperor had such a good time, he decided to make this festival an annual event! By T'ang times, many families simply set aside one evening, during the first full moon after the new year, to honor the moon. They would sit outside, and gaze up, in awe and delight. Today, people wear white in honor of the moon, lanterns are hung in the malls and markets, and children carry paper lanterns to school, to light their way to a bright and happy future.   Make a Chinese Paper Lantern     DRAGON LORE Dragons are an important part of many Chinese festivals, including Chinese New Year. In ancient China, dragons did not breathe fire. Dragons were wise and caring. They guarded the wind, the rain, the rivers, precious metals and gems. Many countries use dragons in their art, especially China, Korea and Japan. It's easy to tell the difference between Chinese, Korean and Japanese dragons. Just count the dragon's toes. Of course, you have to get really close. Sometimes it looks as if they have 3 toes, when they really have 5 - some are hidden from sight. But, for a quick rule of toe ... Chinese dragons have five toes!   Korean dragons have four toes! Japanese dragons have three toes! Legend says . . The farther dragons travel from their home in China, the more toes they lose! Fortunately, when wandering dragons return home to China, all their missing toes grow back. But, as most dragons would prefer to keep all their toes, all the time, few dragons ever wander very far from home. For more about dragons, see:  Dragons For Kids The Red Envelope Game Countdown to Chinese New Years  Clean Sweep Game The Story Maker Animals of the Chinese Calendar  Get your free Chinese name here Musical Lanterns Tangrams  Counting Koi  Play Chinese New Year Games  Make a lucky poster Animals of the Chinese Zodiac Fun with Chinese Zodiac Animals What each day signifies Superstitions Dragons in Ancient China Learn more about Chinese New Years Wonderful FREE Chinese New Year Clip Art Free Ecards, Clip Art & Games from Crayola Kids For Teachers Ancient China Units & Lesson Plans Chinese Festivals Free Presentations in PowerPoint format        All Rights Reserved Counter start date January 2006     Clip Art Credit: Phillip Martin & Dragons from Malathar Have a great year!