{"id":2222,"date":"2026-03-04T09:15:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T09:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.whs-blogs.co.uk\/linguistica\/?p=2222"},"modified":"2026-03-05T12:38:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T12:38:12","slug":"year-of-the-horse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.whs-blogs.co.uk\/linguistica\/2026\/03\/04\/year-of-the-horse\/","title":{"rendered":"Year of the Horse"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ms Bishop explores the culture and language of China in the Year of the Horse 2026<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

According to the lunar calendar, we enter the Year of the Horse <\/strong>on February 17th, 2026. The date marks Lunar New Year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Celebrations of the Lunar New Year extend across East and Southeast Asia. In Korea, it is a major national holiday marked by ancestral rites and family reunions, while Vietnam <\/strong>observes T\u1ebft, which shares parallels with the Chinese Spring Festival while retaining distinct local traditions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Singapore, <\/strong>the Lunar New Year is an official public holiday widely celebrated \u200bby the Chinese diaspora within a multicultural society. By contrast, Japan adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1873, and the Lunar New Year is no longer a national holiday, though some lunisolar traditions persist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spring Festival<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Celebrated from the first day of the first lunar month, the Spring Festival is regarded as the most important festival of the year in Chinese culture. During the festival, people hold family reunions and honour their ancestors. The lion dance is performed in public and red envelopes of money are placed in the lion’s mouth for good luck. It is traditional for grandparents to give their grandchildren red envelopes with money inside: this is called ya sui qian<\/em>. These days the envelopes are just as likely to have cartoon characters on them as traditional symbols.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

x\u00ed s\u00fa y\u01d4 chu\u00e1n t\u01d2ng\u200b<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u4e60\u4fd7\u4e0e\u4f20\u7edf <\/strong>Customs and Traditions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Y12 <\/em>\u739b\u96c5<\/em>\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u6625\u8282\u6709\u5f88\u591a\u7684\u4e60\u4fd7\uff1a\u6bd4\u5982\u4f60\u5bb6\u91cc\u7684\u8001\u4eba\u4f1a\u7528\u7ea2\u5305\u5305\u538b\u5c81\u94b1\u9001\u7ed9\u4f60\uff0c\u4f60\u4eec\u8ddf\u4f60\u7684\u5bb6\u4eba\u4e00\u8d77\u5403\u5e74\u591c\u996d\uff0c\u4e00\u8d77\u653e\u70df\u82b1\uff0c\u653e\u7206\u7af9\u3001\u5305\u997a\u5b50\u548c\u5403\u997a\u5b50\u7b49\u7b49\u3002\u4e2d\u56fd\u65b0\u5e74\u5f88\u597d\u73a9\uff01\u5728\u6625\u8282\uff0c\u4f60\u53ef\u4ee5\u5bf9\u5f7c\u6b64\u8bf4\u201c\u65b0\u5e74\u5feb\u4e50\u201d\u548c\u201d\u606d\u559c\u53d1\u8d22\u201d\u3002<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are many traditions during the Spring Festival. For example, elders in the family give red envelopes with lucky money inside. Families eat a New Year\u2019s Eve dinner together, set off fireworks and firecrackers, make dumplings, and eat dumplings. The Chinese New Year is a lot of fun! During the Spring Festival, people say \u201cHappy New Year\u201d and \u201cMay you be prosperous\u201d to each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

x\u012bn ni\u00e1n h\u00e8 c\u00ed<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u65b0\u5e74\u8d3a\u8bcd <\/strong>New Year Greetings<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

x\u012bn ni\u00e1n ku\u00e0i l\u00e8\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u65b0\u5e74\u5feb\u4e50\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Happy New Year <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

g\u014dng x\u01d0 f\u0101 c\u00e1i\u200b
\u606d\u559c\u53d1\u8d22\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wishing you prosperity<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

sh\u00ed \u00e8r sh\u0113ng xi\u00e0o<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u5341\u4e8c\u751f\u8096 <\/strong>Zodiac<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The date of Chinese New Year changes from year to year. It corresponds to the new moon (black moon) in either late January or February. Traditionally, celebrations last for fifteen days, ending on the date of the full moon. \u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In China the public holiday lasts for seven days. The Chinese calendar is made up of a cycle of twelve years, each of them being named after an animal. This is very like our signs of the zodiac. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

ni\u00e1n y\u00e8 f\u00e0n y\u01d4 y\u00f9 y\u00ec<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u5e74\u591c\u996d\u4e0e\u5bd3\u610f <\/strong>New Year Foods & Their Symbolism<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u86cb\u7cd5 <\/strong>(<\/strong>d\u00e0n<\/strong> <\/strong>g\u0101o<\/strong> \u2013 Cake)<\/strong> \u2013 Growth & progress\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u6854\u5b50 <\/strong>(<\/strong>j\u00fa<\/strong> zi \u2013 Tangerines)<\/strong> \u2013 Good luck & wealth\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u9c7c<\/strong> <\/strong>(<\/strong>y\u00fa<\/strong> \u2013 Fish)<\/strong> \u2013 Abundance & surplus\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u9762\u6761 <\/strong>(<\/strong>mi\u00e0n<\/strong> <\/strong>ti\u00e1o<\/strong> \u2013 Noodles)<\/strong> \u2013 Longevity\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u997a\u5b50 <\/strong>(<\/strong>ji\u01ceo<\/strong> zi \u2013 Dumplings)<\/strong> \u2013 Wealth & prosperity\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u70e4\u9e21 <\/strong>(<\/strong>k\u01ceo<\/strong> <\/strong>j\u012b<\/strong> \u2013 Roast Chicken)<\/strong> \u2013 Family unity<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u5e74\u7cd5 <\/strong>(<\/strong>ni\u00e1n<\/strong> <\/strong>g\u0101o<\/strong> \u2013 Sticky Rice Cake)<\/strong> \u2013 Success \u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u83ca\u82b1\u8336 <\/strong>(<\/strong>j\u00fa<\/strong> <\/strong>hu\u0101<\/strong> <\/strong>ch\u00e1<\/strong> \u2013 Chrysanthemum Tea)<\/strong> \u2013 Health & longevity \u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u200bChinese New Year dishes symbolise good luck, wealth, happiness, and family unity for the coming year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

yu\u00e1n xi\u0101o ji\u00e9<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u5143\u5bb5\u8282 <\/strong>The Lantern Festival<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The celebrations end on the fifteenth day with \u2018The Festival of Lanterns\u2019. Everywhere is decorated with lanterns of different sizes and in the streets, there is music and dancing. \u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The making of lanterns in China is a tradition which goes back 500 years.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Thailand<\/em>, the Lantern Festival is celebrated with vibrant lantern displays, dragon or lion dances, and traditional foods such as \u6c64\u5706 <\/strong>tangyuan or sweet rice dumplings. Major Chinatowns across the United States, Canada, Australia<\/em>, and the RHS Wisley Garden in the UK <\/em>also host spectacular lantern festivals featuring parades, cultural performances, and festive exhibitions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

f\u00fa<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u798f\u201c <\/strong>New Year Decorations: Good Luck Couplets<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  • \u201c\u798f\u201d means good fortune, happiness, and blessings, and is displayed to welcome luck for the new year. \u200b<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Spring couplets (\u6625\u8054) are poetic phrases on red paper placed beside doors to express good wishes and hopes for prosperity, health, and peace in the coming year.\u200b<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    \"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Ms Bishop explores the culture and language of China in the Year of the Horse 2026. According to the lunar<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[52,211,215,166,174],"class_list":["post-2222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised","tag-culture","tag-festivals","tag-mandarin-2","tag-lunar-new-year","tag-mandarin","comments-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.whs-blogs.co.uk\/linguistica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2222"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.whs-blogs.co.uk\/linguistica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.whs-blogs.co.uk\/linguistica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.whs-blogs.co.uk\/linguistica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.whs-blogs.co.uk\/linguistica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2222"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.whs-blogs.co.uk\/linguistica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2222\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2233,"href":"https:\/\/www.whs-blogs.co.uk\/linguistica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2222\/revisions\/2233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.whs-blogs.co.uk\/linguistica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.whs-blogs.co.uk\/linguistica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.whs-blogs.co.uk\/linguistica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}