Chinese New Year is next Sunday (14th Feb)! It is the year of the Tiger! (在虎! hǔ​ nián!) Happy New Year!! (新年快樂!! xīn nián kuài lè!!)

Chinatown in London will celebrate Chinese New Year on the following Sunday 21st Feb 2010 between 12pm-6pm. There will be dragon dancing, lion dances outside shops and firecrackers to mark the event.

In China the mythical creature Nian (年兽, nián shòu) is a beast that lives underground or in mountains (it also shares the name of a year). Once a year, around the time of spring and new year Nian is said to come out of hiding to devour livestock, crops,and even villagers, especially children. It is thought that loud noises and the colour red scare the Nian, which is where the Lion dance (not to be confused with the dragon dance) and loud firecrackers are thought to stem from.

That is the myth of the creation of Chinese New Year. The truth may be much more prosaic. In the middle of the long winter months, a bang up celebration is a good way to cheer everyone's spirits. Noise and fireworks always make a party go with a bang, and the colour red is the colour of celebration in China.

Here are some phrases that may be useful next weekend:

Hours (时辰 shíchen) within the Four Pillars of Destiny represent the final and most personal pillar. The secret animal is thought to be a person’s truest representation, since this animal is determined by the smallest denomination. It is used by fortune tellers that use the Four Pillars as the pillar representing information about one's kids or late age.

The hours are represented by the helpful 12 Earthly branches (and the same animal mnemonic as years, months and days within the four pillars) which were determined by Chinese scholars who charted the orbit of Jupiter. The Earthly branches also determine the calendar and compass points.

• 23:00–01:00: 子 rat
• 01:00–03:00: 丑 ox
• 03:00–05:00: 寅 tiger
• 05:00–07:00: 卯 rabbit
• 07:00–09:00: 辰 dragon
• 09:00–11:00: 巳 snake
• 11:00–13:00: 午 horse
• 13:00–15:00: 未 ram
• 15:00–17:00: 申 monkey
• 17:00–19:00: 酉 rooster
• 19:00–21:00: 戌 dog
• 21:00–23:00: 亥 pig

What is your secret animal? And what does it mean to you?

The day is the third of the Four Pillars of Destiny and in Chinese fortune telling represents information about the person him/herself, his/her adult and married life.

The sexagenry cycle was used in China since the second millennium BC (Shang Dynasty), as a means of naming days (just as western cultures use the days in the week). This use of the cycle for days is attested throughout the Zhou dynasty. More recently this is not as popular but is still used in Almanacs and calendars.

The 1st day of a new year in the sexagenary cycle should be the Lichun (節氣 lìchūn). The Lichun is the 1st solar term. It begins when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 315° and ends when it reaches the longitude of 330°. It more often refers in particular to the day when the Sun is exactly at the celestial longitude of 315°.

In the lunisolar calendar, New Year's Day might be before or after Lichun. A year without Lichun is called 無春年 wú chūn nián (no spring year). 無春年 is also known as 寡婦年 guǎfu nián (widow year) in northern China or 盲年 máng nián (blind year) in southern China. Marriage is believed to be unlucky in a year without Lichun.

I have found it hard to find the corresponding elements and animals of the days themselves, however you can use the calculator to find out your day on my post about the Four Pillars...

Four Pillars Year & Sexagenary Cycle
六十花甲 liùshí huājiǎ or
干支gānzhī

Within the Four Pillars (Ba Zi) Years are the largest element. They are the most generic and least personal in fortune telling. The years are based off of the Ten Heavenly Stems (十天干 shí tiāngān) and Twelve Earthly Branches (十二地支 shí'èr dìzhī).

There are 5 'Elements', 五行 wǔ​xíng​ in Chinese Astrology,

* Wood 木 mù
* Fire 火 huǒ
* Earth 土 tǔ
* Metal 金 jīn
* Water 水 shuǐ

These 5 elements combine with yin and yang to make the Ten Heavenly stems 天干 tiāngān.

The 12 earthly branches were devised from the orbit of Jupiter (the twelve years of the Jupiter cycle also identify the twelve months of the year, directions, seasons, months, and Chinese hour in the form of double-hours.)

The more commonly known animals of the zodiac provide a mnemonic for remembering them. The animals of the zodiac in addition to the Ten Heavenly Stems give us 60 years with each animal and each element pairing up only once in the sexagenary cycle.

To explain how this cycle works, lets give both stems and branches by their numbers. We denote 1 by (1,1) or (甲,子), 2 by (2,2) or (乙,丑) and so on up to (10,10) or (癸,酉). But now we have run out of stems, so we denote 11 by (1, 11) or (甲,戌) and 12 by (2, 12) or (乙,亥). Now we have run out of branches, too, so 13 becomes (3, 1) or (丙,子). We continue in this way through 6 cycles of stems and 5 cycles of branches up to 60, which is (10, 12) or (癸,亥). The next number is then (1,1) or (甲,子), which starts a new sexagenary cycle.

Within the Four Pillars, the year is the pillar representing information about the person's ancestry or early age.

You can download the table below by clicking the image and saving the pdf. It provides the full sexagenary cycles between 1924-2044 with the associated elements and zodiac animals.

Four Pillars of Destiny

Even today, when people talk about Chinese Astrology, it is a common misconception that the animals assigned by year are the only signs of the zodiac. Many western descriptions of Chinese astrology draw solely on this system. In fact, there are also animal signs assigned by month (called inner animals) and hours of the day (called secret animals).

Four Pillars of Destiny is a Chinese term that comprises of four elements of a person’s destiny or fate. The four components are taken from the moment of birth. They are the year, month, day, and time (hour). Each of these elements are important in Chinese astrology, the zodiac and fortune telling.

The term Four Pillars of Destiny come from the Chinese:

琵琶 (pípá) Pipa is a Chinese folk instrument, often called the Chinese lute.
The pipa has a pear-shaped wooden body with a varying number of frets (between 12–26). Although it may be colloquially known as a lute because it looks a bit like one, in fact, the instrument does not have an actual neck. Instead, the soundboard body spans the entire strings to the head of the instrument.



Nearly two thousand years old, the pipa is one of the most popular Chinese folk instruments. The pipa appeared in the Qin Dynasty and developed by the Han Dynasty. There is even statues in the terracotta army of pipa players.



The name "pípá" is made up of two Chinese syllables, "pí" (琵) and "pá" (琶). These are the two most common ways of playing this instrument. "Pí" is to push the fingers of the right hand from right to left, thus more than one finger can be used at a time striking multiple notes, and "pá" is to pull the thumb of the right hand from left to right, in the opposite direction.



Originally played using a large plectrum in the Tang Dynasty, the pipa gradually began to be played with the fingernails of the right hand. The softer twisted silk strings of earlier times have been exchanged for nylon-wound steel strings, which are far too strong for human fingernails, so false nails are now used, constructed of plastic or tortoise-shell, and affixed to the fingertips with elastic tape.

One of the most notable pipa players of modern times is Liu Feng (刘芳), a virtuoso musician, the video below gives you an idea of quite how varied and exciting this instrument is. Tuneful and rhythmical it is more versatile in playing style than western lutes would have been played.

The first video is a famous pipa piece called 十面埋伏 (Shí Mìan Maí Fú) "Ambushed from Ten Sides"



天山之春 (Tiānshān zhī chūn) "The Spring on the Tianshan Mountain" again performed by Liu Feng, and accompaniment on some traditional Chinese drums.



This is a famous poem from the Tang Dynasty about the Pipa. Bai Juyi's "Pipa Xing" (Pipa Play) describes a chance encounter with a female pipa player on the Yangtze River:

大絃嘈嘈如急雨 : The bold strings rattled like splatters of sudden rain,
小絃切切如私語 : The fine strings hummed like lovers' whispers.
嘈嘈切切錯雜彈 : Chattering and pattering, pattering and chattering,
大珠小珠落玉盤 : As pearls, large and small, on a jade plate fall.

In contempary rock music, Incubus have featured the pipa in their 2001 song "Aqueous Transmission,".

Giving gifts is an important part of Chinese tradition. This custom ranges from a house-warming gift to rites of passage, important events and festivals. Giving and receiving gifts plays a big part in maintaining guanxi, or good relations, and this principle applies to personal as well as business relationships.

The Chinese believe that a gift is in the thought, rather than the expense or extravagance of a gift. This way of thinking came about because the receiver will feel a big debt of gratitude if a gift is too much. There is almost a game to play when it comes to gift giving. If you are the giver, it is important that you present the gift with both hands and to downplay the value of what you are giving. If you are receiving the gift, you should act as if you think you do not deserve a present and politely refuse a few times, before accepting the gift. Remember that to refuse a gift is the height of rudeness because it shows that you are overlooking the gift-giver's sincere gesture. However to take the gift immediately is a sign of a person’s greed.

This also serves as a second lesson; never take a Chinese person's 'No, thank you' literally, if they still refuse after twice, it may be worth asking a third time. Good manners and respect for one another characterizes the Chinese practice of giving and receiving presents. The rules of the game also say that presents are not to be opened right away. This is to show that it is not the present, but the gesture that matters. This also helps avoid awkward situations in case the gift does not really please the receiver.

First found by the wonderful guys over at NEOCha. Beijing based Ray Lei (雷磊) animted this lovely and peculiar short. In a wonderful world, where everyone has rubiks cubes as heads, this animated short is fun.



Whilst you won't learn any Chinese through this video, it is a bit of fun, and has a great soundtrack written by by Li Xingyu (李星宇), a mix of 8 bit computer sounds and any of you familiar with Pink Floyd are in for a treat too.

I present to you Magic Cube & Ping Pong:

Magic cube and Ping-Pong from RAY on Vimeo.

Border Project from RAY on Vimeo.

Sodagreen have got a new song: 狂熱 (fever?) It is ridiculously catchy. It is not as calm and relaxed as the songs I posted last week.

Sodagreen have a new album due out soon, and a world tour upcoming.

As I have been wasting time in between being insanely busy, I came across this great animation. I first want to Introduce you to the kickass Super Baozi.



Here is the first great Video of him beating up Sushi Man.

Super Baozi vs Sushi man from sun haipeng on Vimeo.

Dragon Fist from sun haipeng on Vimeo.