http://www.chinesefortunecalendar.com/2003.htm

[Added 12 January 2003]: This is a page chockfull of odd bits of information ranging from Chinese dates for Lunar New Year  to unlucky rooms in 2003 according to Feng Shui (you are cautioned against doing any home improvements in SE rooms, for example).  About the year in general:

...2002 Black Horse is a pair of male Fire and male Water; 2003 Black Sheep has a pair of female Fire and female Water. The conflict between males always comes stronger than the one between females. Therefore, the impact of the conflict between Fire and Water in 2003 is much lesser than in 2002. This means 2003 will be more peaceful than 2002 and year 2003 continues the Five Element cycle flow from 2002. Any unfinished business in 2002 will carry over to the next year until the fall of 2003....

It seems unlikely at this point (12 January 2003), given the situation between Washington and Iraq, that 2003 will be more peaceful than 2002; nevertheless, perhaps we could be daring enough to hope (pray?) for some yin shift for the better.

http://www.raymond-lo.com/main/forecast03.asp

[Site added 21 January 2003]:  Master Raymond Lo also sees a more peaceful year ahead.  His is a comprehensive page covering a wide range of Goat Year issues.  These include international affairs, weather, health, economy, investments, and Feng Shui.  On the international situation:

...The Year of the Goat, 2003, in the Hsia calendar, is symbolized by two elements – with water sitting on top of earth. According to the cycle of birth and destruction, which governs the inter-relationship between elements, earth will destroy water. Therefore, water sitting on its destroyer – earth, is a symbol of disharmony and this may lead to international conflicts.... However, I am a little optimistic about 2003.... [I]n 2003, the water is yin , the very weak small drop of morning dew water.  This water cannot resist the powerful earth at the Earthly Branches. So I do not expect 2003 will bring a large-scale war. The nature of yin water is humble, tolerate, patient and accommodating. So there will be disharmony, but the situation is generally under control, and world leaders will be more patient to negotiate [peace] settlements on various important issues....

Here is more on Feng Shui:

...Feng Shui energies also changes from year to year. Therefore, it is necessary to watch out for the reallocation of good and bad energies at the beginning of each year, so that we can take necessary precautions if some bad energy happens to arrive at important locations of our residence or office. In the year of the Goat, the bad energy called “Five Yellow” – symbolizing obstacles and misfortune, arrives at the Southeast. If your bedroom or entrance happen to be in the Southeast of your house, it is recommended to hang a metal windchime there to dissolve this bad energy. The worst months will be in April and October. Another bad star number 2, symbolizing sickness, will arrive at the North in 2003. The traditional method to dissolve is to hang a string of 6 metal coins in the affected area in the North of the house. The Grand Duke this year is in the Southwest, hence it is not favorable to “Move earth” or making substantial construction work in the Southwest. It is also not suitable to sit with back against exact West as you will be sitting against the unfavorable energy called "Three shars” or “Three Killings”....

FYI: for another site carrying this lengthy lecture in a larger font size, see: http://www.fengshui-lo.com/goat.html

[Annotation updated 12 January 2003]: From Shelly Wu comes this page on the Year of the Water Goat:

...A feminine -Yin year of intuition, finesse, and good taste. As this hot-headed Horse year releases it's hold, the tranquillity-loving Goat offers elegance, delicacy, and the more aesthetic things in life.

The down-side is a risk of becoming lost in fantasy, brooding and lack of responsibility. Bills go unpaid, mundane work is detestable, and dependency on wealth and comforts abound. A lack of organization and resisting routine in all it's forms, also constitutes un-punctual Goat years.

The good-news is the Goat's "live and let live" attitude will be helpful in resolving the conflicts brewed up in the previous Snake and Horse years.

The Water element, which is with us again this year, has no form of it's own, and is forced to conform and take on the shape of what contains it. A lazier year, more dependent and changeable -- where outward appearances can be deceiving. All must avoid the sleeping, muddy waters of delays and inactivity....

After discussing the overall meaning of the 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: no response.]

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.  Regardless of what animal rules an individual year, this story still 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: unfortunately, 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.

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OTHER RELEVANT Myth*ingLinks PAGES:

To the 2002-2003 Water Horse 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)