2009 is the Year of the Ox,
which is also known by its formal name of Ji Chou. 己丑
(printable monthly calendar) 2009 Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec
Last modified: 1-15-2009
- Chinese calendar has been in continuous use for centuries. It predates the International Calendar (based on the Gregorian Calendar) in use at the present, which goes back only some 430 years. Basically, a calendar is a system we use to measures the passage of time, from short durations of minutes and hours, to intervals of time measured in days, months, years and centuries. These are fundamentally based on the astronomical observations of the movement of the Sun, Moon and stars.
Days are measured by the duration of time of one self rotation of the earth. Months are measured by the duration of time of rotation of the moon around the earth. Years are measured by the duration of time it takes for the earth to rotate around the Sun. Read more about it.
- 2005 Feb 9
- 2006 Jan 29
- 2007 Feb 18
- 2008 Feb 7
- 2009 Jan 26
- 2010 Feb 14
- 2011 Feb 3
- 2012 Jan 23
- January 26, 2009 is the first day of the Chinese new year.
There are three ways to name a Chinese year:
- By an animal (like a mscot). 2008 is known as the Year of the Rat.
2009 is the Year of the Ox.
There are 12 animal names; so by this system, year names are repeated every 12 years. More. - By its Formal Name (Stem-Branch).
2008 is the year of Wu Zi.
2009 is the Year of Ji Chou.
In the 'Stem-Branch' system, the years are counted in 60-year Cycles, so that the Name of the Year is repeated every 60 years.
2008 is the 9-th year in the current 60-year Cycle.
2009 is the 10-th year in the current 60-year Cycle.A "Cycle" is analogous to a "century" in the International Calendar system which is 100 years long.
- 2008 year is Year 4705 in the Chinese Calendar.
[A few Chinese astrological/zodiac websites believe this year should be considered as Year 4706 for zodiac calculations.]
2009 is Year 4706 in the Chinese Calendar.
- It was a Leap Year! Unlike the western calendar, where one extra day is added in February, one whole leap month is added in a Chinese Leap Year.
Just think. If you get paid by the month, instead of working an extra day for nothing, you would get an extra month's pay !!!
This time around, the Leap Month comes after the regular 7-th Month. The "Leap Second Month" begins on August 24,2006. Read more about this here And here.
- February 1, 2003. It was the first day in the Year of the Ram (sheep, goat).
This is Year 4700 by Chinese calendar.
- February 12, 2002. It was the first day in the Year of the Horse.
It is Year 4699 by Chinese calendar.
For those interested in astrology, it is the year of the Black Horse.
- January 24, 2001. This was the first day in the Year of the Snake.
This is Year 4698.
[Some says this is Year 4638, which is also plausible.
Others claim this year to be either 4699 or 4399, which are almost certainly wrong.]
- It was a Leap Year! Unlike the western calendar, where one extra day is added in February, one whole leap month is added in a Chinese Leap Year.
Just think. If you get paid by the month, instead of working an extra day for nothing, you would get an extra month's pay !!!
This time around, the Leap Month comes after the regular 4-th Month. The "Leap 4-th Month" begins on May 23, 2001. More about this...
- February 5, 2000. It was the first day in the Year of the Dragon.
That year ended on January 23,2001.
- Each year is also designated by one of the 12 Animals For instance, 2005 is Year of Rooster; 2006 is Year of Dog; and 2007 is the Year of Pig.
2008 is the Year of the Rat This system is extremely practical. A child does not have to learn a new answer to the question, "How old are you?" in each new year. Old people often lose track of their age, because they are rarely asked about their present age. Every one just have to remember that he or she was born in the "Year of the Dog" or whatever. Since 2008 is the Year of the Rat, any one who was born in the Year of the Rat is either 1 or 13, 25, 37, 49, 61, 73, 85 or 97 years old.
When 2009 comes, the person is still born in the Year of the Rat. but he/she is 2,14, 26, 38, 50, 62, 74, 86 or 98 yeas old.
Thus, instead of asking the question "How old are you?", ask the person "In which (animal) year were you born?" More about this.
- Colorful calligraphy called 'chun lian' (Spring couplet) are as popular as those for Halloween or Christmas.
- The Chinese word for "Spring." The Chinese calls the New Year's Celebration the "Spring Festival." This particular calligraphy is a reproduction of the work by one of master calligrapher Zhao Mengfu
(1254-1322) who wrote it more than 600 years ago. More on calligraphy
- There are colorful posters! Traditional.
- New Year's card
- Posters with the word 'luck' is often seen around the New Year's. Make one yourself.
- For monthly calendar of 2008 and 2009(designed by Mr. Meng Zhuo of CWR Univ.)
2008 Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec
2009 Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec
- In Chinese calendar, one of the scheme for counting years is a 12-year cycle. One counts from Year 1,2,3,... up to 12. Then starts over from Year 1. (In modern mathematics, this is modulo 12.) Instead of inventing 12 special symbols for this purpose, 12 animals are used to represent these 12 years. Rabbit (hare), for example, is the 4-th year of the cycle.
See more about this.
- For more about Chinese dragons, go to the Dragon page
- For a bit of fun, look at this. [Chinese BIG5] [Chinese GB] [English]
- In one sentence, the Chinese New Year is the second New Moon after the winter solstice.
It is based strictly on astronomical observations, and has nothing to do with the Pope, emperors, animals or myths. Due to its scientific and mathematical nature, we can easily and precisely calculate backward or forward for thousands of years.
- One explanation by Rudy Chiang
- Allen Tsai's site has more details: about Year 2007 and
- The Japanese word for "New Year's Greetings" is Kinga Shinnen.
2009 is the Year Heisei 21 in Japan.
Heisei is the current emperor. Japan is the only country in the world which still number the calender years starting from the ascession of its emperors.
- Some of these sites may be worth a visit. More facts than you ever want or need. But interesting!
To China the Beautiful
New Year Graphics