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If you've ever noticed how much the Chinese New Year moves around relative to the Western (Gregorian) calendar, you may have wondered why. The answer is pretty simple: the first day of the Chinese year is determined not by the sun, but by the moon. Chinese New Year is always the second new moon after the winter solstice, which happens within a few days of December 21st. The Chinese calendar, unlike some other lunar calendars, includes leap months to keep it from drifting too far from the sun, but the moon is still the important part. Chinese New Year, therefore, can occur anywhere from late January to late February.

The years are named for animals, which follow a 12-step cycle that's analagous to Western astrology's sun signs; a person's personality and fortunes can be determined by the year in which he or she is born. In fact, parents have been known to try to speed or slow down the birth of a child to cause it to enter the world in a more fortunate year! The twelve animals are the Rat, the Ox, the Tiger, the Rabbit, the Dragon, the Snake, the Horse, the Sheep, the Monkey, the Rooster, the Dog, and the Pig (in that order; Rat got his premiere place through trickery, and Pig was too lazy to come any earlier in the sequence). Complicating this system is the addition of the five Chinese elements, Earth, Metal, Water, Wood and Fire, which interact with the animals to form a 60-year cycle-and of course the months and hours of the day have animal associations too: one could be born in the Year of the Fire Dragon, the month of the Sheep, and the hour of the Monkey, and have a different personality from another Dragon born in a Wood year, the Horse month and the Dog hour.

The current year began on January 26th 2009, a Year of the Earth Ox, and it's well-omened, as Earth governs the Ox and has many similar qualities. It will be a good year for patient, methodical work and for achieving one's goals through persistence rather than flashy coups. Leadership will be a good quality-the Ox is an excellent leader-as will ambition and the upholding of tradition. But watch out for stubbornness, narrow-minded clinging to hidebound ways, and materialism, all possible flaws of the Ox. Earth can make the Ox's leadership turn to tyranny, as well, but if things are kept in balance the two faces of the year can work very well together.

The quick overview of the Chinese calendar presented here is of course only scratching the surface, but resources for further learning are easily available-start with the articles linked to the animal names above, and learn more about this fascinating method of timekeeping.

Learn more about this author, Carrie Schutrick.
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