[Annotation updated 12/18-29/01]: From Shelly Wu comes this well written page on the Year of the Water Horse.  Hint to the wise: since I just added an 11th hour addendum to Shelly Wu's eerily accurate words on the 2001-2002 Year of the Metal Snake -- aspects I ignored 11 months ago when I first launched that page, you might want to pay extra attention to her Horse Year page and read everything she writes, not just the excerpts I offer below:

Horse years are notorious historical turning points. Turbulent, untamed, and chaotic. Every 12 years the Horse comes around asking its pinching question "Are you awake?"

The Yang force is at its peak during Horse years, requiring action and movement. Of the 5 elements, the Horse is accompanied by Fire. This can bring to a boil the Water element of 2002, which can flare-up when least expected. Rigor and severity are also chronicled with unusual excesses befalling governing forces. The oratory Horse leads crowds with convincing speeches and egotistic agendas....

...Ceaseless motion, decisiveness and control flavor this active year. A spirited, fiery, heedless, time to move forward and to advance causes. Even the most avid procrastinators (Snake, Pig, Rabbit) will boldly move ahead with plans. The pulse of 2002 is fast and wildly variable.  Non-conformists rule now. Love of social contact can be expected also even for the most reticent personalities....  Political muscle flexing, resignations, and fits of geological temper occur more often during Horse years.

My advice, is to think and reflect, "look before you leap" in 2002. Seek a healthy balance between deliberation and action, and avoid excessive physical or emotional escapades....

After discussing the overall meaning of the Horse Year, Wu offers her comments on what it'll mean to the other signs.  (To find out what your animal and element is, go to her monthly horoscope page and fill in the brief pop-up chart at: http://www.chineseastrology.com/wu/monthly.html) [Note: Wu's home page is double-listed on my Star Lore page.]

[28 December 2001 & 12 January 2003: this site is still in transition and some links are no longer available, including the above page on Lunar New Year.   Meanwhile, I'm keeping the following annotation for the Snake Year as a baseline.  Here is also the new home page (with links to harvest/thanksgiving festivals) so that you can keep checking for future updates: http://www.familyculture.com/]:

From "Asian Family" comes another fine site on Lunar New Year.  About this Snake Year:

...The Millennium Dragon brought us wild up and down swings.  To bring life back to balance and harmony, the Snake will give us a chance to rest and reassess our personal situation. It's time to think about finances, career goals, and relationships.

But be cautious before making any commitments. Snake years are usually mysterious to most zodiac animals. Visibility is low.  You need to do due diligence and cover your bases....

Included in the page's general information is a fascinating Arts & Crafts section for children -- also Resources: if you click on the link, you'll find essays plus many family and classroom-oriented, annotated links to dragons and/or serpents, festive lore, customs, food, photos, Asian astrology, and much more.  Here are the most important categories:

1.
http://www.familyculture.com/holidays/chinese_new_year_resources.htm:
[12 January 2003: link updated]

This page provides an exceptionally wide range of annotated links to Chinese New Year: history, lore, lanterns, food, dance, dragon costumes, art, games, cards to send, and much more.  For a good essay on Chinese New Year, including tradional symbolism and do's and don'ts, click here: http://www.asianfamily.com/holidays/chinese_new_year.htm:

2.
http://www.familyculture.com/holidays/korean_new_year_resources.htm:
[12 January 2003: link updated]

These are annotated links for Korean New Year -- I only had time to check the first two but found the first one (Click Asia) informative and beautifully illustrated, and the second one (Korean Insights) a great resource for children, especially the delightfully illustrated folk tales.  There are also links to more academically oriented data.  For a brief essay on Korean New Year, click here:
http://www.asianfamily.com/holidays/korean_new_year.htm:

 3.
http://www.asianfamily.com/tet_resources.htm:
[12/28/01: broken link -- see above]

This an extensive collection of annotated links to the Vietnamese Tet celebration -- the links include folklore, customs, the Vietnamese zodiac, food, art, and college term papers with many well researched details (and bibliographies).  Of those I checked, the quality was first rate.

This page has annotated links to Japanese New Year: there are fewer links here because many Japanese celebrate the New Year from January 1-3 instead of using the more traditional lunar calendar [see below].  Nevertheless, though few, the links are well chosen, especially those for children on special New Year's toys and games.

[Added 1 March 2001]: A few days ago Dharma Publishing sent customers an e-mail of special bargains for Tibetan New Year (beginning 24 February 2001 and lasting for a week).  They included great data on traditions connected with this celebration.  I checked their website to see if they had a page on this.  They did not.  I wrote to see if they planned to launch one and, if not, could I?  They gave me their gracious permission to reprint their e-mailed material.  I created a special page for this -- the above link will take you there.  Enjoy!  <smile> [12/28/01: note -- I've e-mailed for an update on the Horse Year since this page currently only considers the Snake Year.]

Don't miss this page from Jun Shan, the Chinese Culture guide at about.com, who tells an ancient tale of a fierce monster named Nian and a wise old man who saved his people from Nian.  This story lies at the root of Chinese New Year.  (Note: this tale is mentioned briefly on other sites but this is the only place where I found the full story.)

[12/28/01: addendum -- since about.com has recently been recklessly slashing their excellent guides' sites, I'm going to rescue this psychologically astute story lest it too vanish:]

...The legend says, long ago, there was a monster called Nian. It was born to be very ugly and ferocious, which looked like either dragons or unicorns. On the first and the 15th of each lunar month, the monster would come down from the mountains to hunt people. So people were very much afraid of it and locked their doors early before sunset on the days of its coming.

There lived an old wise man in a village. He thought it was the panic in people that made the monster so bold and furious. Thus the old man asked people to organize together and to conquer the monster by means of beating drums and gongs, burning bamboo, and lighting fireworks in purpose of making large noises to threaten the hateful monster. When he told people about the idea, everybody agreed on it.

At a moonless and freezing cold night, the monster, Nian, appeared again. The moment it opened its mouth at people, burst out the frightening noises and fire made by people, and wherever the monster went, it was forced to back off by the terrible noises. The monster couldn't stop running until he fell down with exhaustion. Then people jumped up and killed the evil monster. Savage as the monster was, he lost in the end under the efforts from the cooperation of people.

Since then, people have kept the tradition by beating drums and gongs, and lighting fireworks at the coldest day in winter to drive the imagined monsters away and to celebrate the victory over it. Today, Nian refers to the New Year's day or the Spring Festival. People often say Guo Nian, which means 'live the festival.' Furthermore, Nian also means the year. For an example, the Chinese often greet each other by saying Xin Nian Hao, which means Happy New Year! Xin means new and Hao means good....

Again from Jun Shan comes a charming page on each household's "Kitchen God" (a kind of cosmic spy), whose feast falls a week before Chinese New Year.  On this day the deity returns to heaven to make a report on the family's good or ill deeds over the preceding year.  Read the page to find out how the family makes sure the report is in their favor.  It gives a whole new meaning to the concept of "sacrifice."

[12/28/01: addendum -- again, since about.com has recently been slashing their guides' sites, I'm going to rescue the passage I mentioned above, lest it too vanish:]

...Traditionally the Spring Festival actually begins its course a week before the Chinese New Year (the 23th of the last month from Chinese lunar calendar), with the practice of offering a sacrifice to the Kitchen God, a god sent from Heaven to each family to take charge of family's affairs and make a report on what the family has done in the past year to Heaven annually on the date of the 23th. Strangely enough, the sacrifice to the Kitchen God is a lotus root-like sticky cake made of a kind of confection, a typical Chinese traditional candy, instead of the usual cows, pigs or sheep. The purpose of the practice is compromising, for people are making full use of the sticky cake to prevent the Kitchen God from speaking ill of the family in Heaven by sticking his mouth. Of course, it seems to be quite a tacit agreement between the Kitchen God and his prayers; he is always accepting the sweet food from the people around. This tradition is no longer popular in cities now, but may still be observed in some areas of countryside....

Note:  both this page and the one directly above are two among many interesting links on Jun Shan's index for ChineseNew Year's found at: http://chineseculture.about.com/culture/chineseculture/library/weekly/topicsub1.htm

[Update 12 January 2003: this is now a subscriber-site if you want access to the archives.  In these next 3 links, I'm keeping my annotations from when this material was free]:

From Inside China Today comes another page on Chinese New Year.  Once you scroll past the news headlines, you'll find an opening essay plus a number of excellent related links on Chinese astrology and festive traditions.  Although as of 17 January 2001, this page still focused mostly on the Year of the Golden Dragon, hopefully, information on the upcoming year will soon replace this [note: 12/28/01 -- portal page was never updated but rest of the links are fine].  Direct links to lovely pages on "Peach Wood Charms" and the "Lantern Festival" will be found below........

This is "Peach Wood Charms and Evil Spirits, a reference to red papers adorning Chinese doors at Lunar New Year.  The red papers replace charms originally carved or painted on peach wood:

...According to legend, two brothers, Shennai and Yulei, lived on a beautiful mountain and grew a large grove of peach trees. They often helped the poor fight against monsters and demons. After their death, the two brothers became gods in heaven and were ordered by the Supreme Deity of Heaven to punish the evil spirits. The story says the spirits were so scared of the two brothers that even the mere sight of the peach trees they had planted would be enough to scare the spirits away, hence the peach wood charms....

This brief page from Inside China Today looks at the lantern festival held in China on the 15th day of the first lunar month:

...In ancient China, new year celebrations started from New Year's Eve and reached a second climax during the Lantern Festival....

The page looks at the charming legend of the Lantern Festival -- it involves  firecrackers, a city full of red lanterns, and a dumpling-making heroine (a palace maid named Yuanxiao).

This is a small and select collection of annotated Chinese New Year links from the Open Directory.  This is a great place to browse if you're looking for more in-depth explanations of Asian beliefs, calendars, astrology, and lore.

From China the Beautiful comes a page of lovely graphics which are traditionally hung throughout the house for Chinese New Year's.  The best are from Yanliuqing, which were first produced between 1573 and 1620. There are 3 linked pages here.

Note: China the Beautiful has a wide selection of exceptionally well-done pages focusing on art, literature, culture, and history.  For a listing, go here: http://www.chinapage.com/china-rm.html

This is an exquisite page on Vietnamese Tet.  It's available in both French and English.

This is an engaging little essay by Japanese American, Dean Toji, on many pan-Asian New Year celebrations -- these range from November to mid-April.

As far as I can tell, although New Year's is now generally celebrated January 1-3 in Japan, many of the customs connected with this celebration have simply been shifted from the much older lunar New Year.  Thus, I am including this link on this page as well as on my Solstice/Yuletide page.  This enjoyable site looks at Japanese New Year's customs and offers a wide range of clickable photos depicting decorations, symbols, foods, and much more.

________________________________________________________

ASIAN ATTITUDES TOWARD HORSES
[Section added 30 December 2001]
________________________________________________________

A painting of Three Horses
Xu Beihong (1895-1953)
National Palace Museum, Taipei

From China the Beautiful comes "Blessing or Bane," a short Taoist teaching-story involving a lost horse.

From China the Beautiful comes this touching "Ode of Mulan" (anonymous, c.5 A.D.), an ancient text involving a heroine who dresses as a male and takes her father's place in war.  After many years, spurning all honors for her bravery and skill, she asks only for a horse to take her back home:

...  The Khan asks her what she desires.
     "Mu-lan has no use for a minister's post.
     I wish to ride a swift mount
     To take me back to my home" ....

The horse, in other words, allows her to escape from a constrained present in which everyone believes her to be a man. The horse allows her to return to an abandoned world where she can be herself, a world of the past which will now become her truest future.

...  "I open the door to my east chamber,
     I sit on my couch in the west room,
     I take off my wartime gown
     And put on my old-time clothes."
     Facing the window she fixes her cloudlike hair,
     Hanging up a mirror she dabs on yellow flower powder
     She goes out the door and sees her comrades.
     Her comrades are all amazed and perplexed.
     Traveling together for twelve years
     They didn't know Mu-lan was a girl....

Again from China the Beautiful comes poetry on many subjects by Li Bai.  Included is this lovely one in which the horses of two friends express what their riders cannot:

        Farewell To A Friend

Blue mountains to the north of the walls,
White river winding about them;
Here we must make separation
And go out through a thousand miles of dead grass.

Mind like a floating wide cloud,
Sunset like the parting of old acquaintances
Who bow over their clasped hands at a distance.
Our horses neigh to each other's
        as we are departing.
                                                                   [tr. Ezra Pound]

From the International Museum of the Horse comes "The Legacy of the Horse: A Chronological History of Humans and Their Relationship with the Horse."  It is a fascinating journey, covering both east and west, with special sections on China.  There are fine illustrations and sketches throughout.

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 OTHER RELEVANT Myth*ingLinks PAGES:

To the Current Lunar New Year page

To the 2001-2002 Year of the Metal Snake page

To the 2000-2001 Year of the Dragon page

To the Asia menu-page

To Common Themes: Time
(Calendars, Millennial Issues, etc)