Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year starts with the New Moon on the first day of the new year and ends on the full moon 15 days later. The 15th day of the new year is called the LanternFestival, which is celebrated at night with lantern displays and children carrying lanterns in a parade.
The Chinese calendar is based on a combination of lunar andsolar movements. The lunar cycle is about 29.5 days. In order to "catch up" with the solar calendar the Chinese insert an extra month once every few years (sevenyears out of a 19-yearcycle). This is the same as adding an extra day on leap year. This is why, according to the solar calendar, the Chinese New Year falls on a differentdate each year.
New Year's Eve and New Year's Day are celebrated as a family affair, a time of reunion and thanksgiving. The celebration was traditionallyhighlighted with a religious ceremony given in honor of Heaven and Earth, the gods of the household and the family ancestors.
The sacrifice to the ancestors, the most vital ofall the rituals, united the living members with those who had passed away. Departed relatives are remembered with great respect because they were responsible forlaying the foundations for the fortune and glory of the family.
The presence of the ancestors is acknowledged on New Year's Eve with a dinner arranged for them at thefamily banquet table. The spirits of the ancestors, together with the living, celebrate the onset of the New Year as one great community. The communal feast called"surrounding the stove" or weilu. It symbolizes family unity and honors the past and present generations.

Bruno Geniz Morales.
Examen final.
Ingles III.
12/08/2011.