The date for the Chinese New Year in 2013 is February 10th.
The Chinese Calendar 2013
2013 is the year of the Snake. It is the guĭ-sì 癸巳 year (Water Snake). Guĭ (Yin Water) is the tenth of the ten celestial stems and Sì (Snake) is the sixth of the twelve terrestrial branches and marks this 10/6 the year of the Snake.
Calculating ‘When is the Chinese New Year in 2013’
The fact that the date of Chinese New Year varies within about a month is a clue that it’s linked to the new moon. A rough, and almost infallible guide is that the Chinese New Year falls on the second new moon after the winter solstice. The winter solstice always falls on December 22nd, the next new moon is on January 11th 2013, and the second new moon is on February 10th 2013.
Will and Guy admit that the precise rules for determining ‘When is the Chinese New Year’, are far more complex. For example, one problem with any lunar calendar system is that some years there are 13 new moons. The Chinese deal with this by slotting in an extra intercalary month.
If the year ends in 0 it is Yang Metal.
If the year ends in 1 it is Yin Metal.
If the year ends in 2 it is Yang Water.
If the year ends in 3 it is Yin Water.
If the year ends in 4 it is Yang Wood. If the year ends in 5 it is Yin Wood.
If the year ends in 6 it is Yang Fire.
If the year ends in 7 it is Yin Fire.
If the year ends in 8 it is Yang Earth.
‘When is the Chinese Valentine’s Day in 2013?’, is sure to be a mean question in pub quizzes. So prepared, know the date, and remember the rule, 7th day of the 7th month of the Chinese calendar.
Some Interesting Trivia For The Chinese Year of the Snake – 2013
Since Snakes are born under the same Animal Sign, they often share likes and dislikes. Following are similar likes and dislikes of the Snake personality.
Snakes Likes:
- Colour Preference: Red
- Gems and Stones: Topaz, Jasper, Bloodstone
- Suitable Gifts include: binoculars, Tarot cards, oils and lotions, stamp collection
- Hobbies and Pastimes: Astrology, painting, touring, photography
Snakes Dislikes:
- Being interrupted, being mislead personally or professionally, failure.
Five Further Thoughts from Will and Guy
- If a rich man ate a snake, they would say it was because of his wisdom; if a poor man ate it, they would say it was because of his stupidity. – Saudi Arabian Proverb
- Kill the snake of doubt in your soul, crush the worms of fear in your heart and mountains will move out of your way. – Kate Seredy
- Snake is a sign in the Chinese Zodiac. People born in the Year of the Snake tend to be calm, determined, passionate. [1917, 1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013]
- Native Americans associate the shedding of a snake’s skin with rebirth.
- Chinese Zodiac Snakes are rich in wisdom and charm, are romantic and deep thinking and your intuition guides you strongly. Avoid procrastination and a stingy attitude towards money. Keep a sense of humour about life. The Snake would be most content as a teacher, philosopher, writer, psychiatrist and fortune teller.
The Snake
Mine is the wisdom of the ages.
I hold the key to the mysteries of life.
Casting my seeds on fertile ground,
I nurture them with constancy and purpose.
My sights are fixed.
My gaze unchanging.
Unyielding, inexorable and deep,
I advance with steady, unslacked gait, the solid earth beneath me.
I am the snake.
By Theodora Lau
Chinese Phrases
干净免费笑话,故事图片、视频剪辑 means clean free jokes, stories pictures and video-clips.
Will and Guy’s Amusing and Funny Chinese Fishing Story
Wang Chien-Ming, (王建 in Mandarin), having settled down to fish at the edge of the river in Guangdong province, soon realized that he had forgotten to bring any bait.
Slightly annoyed with himself, Wang noticed a little snake passing by who had caught a worm. Knowing it was the year of the snake, Wang grabbed the snake and robbed him of his worm. Then later, feeling sorry for the little snake with no lunch, he snatched him up again and poured a little beer down his throat. Then he continued happily with his fishing.
An hour or so later Wang felt a tug at his trouser leg. Looking down, he saw the same snake with three more worms in his mouth………………
Chinese Proverbs
20 Number 6
The Man Who Helped Millions to Read with Pinyin Chinese
Zhou Youguang helped invent Pinyin, a writing system that turns Chinese characters into words using letters from the Roman alphabet. This makes it easier to learn how to pronounce Chinese words, and is credited with helping raise literacy rates in China. Students struggling to learn Chinese might not know it, but their task has been made easier because of the work of one man.
Despite his achievements, Mr Zhou remains largely unknown in his home country say Will and Guy, which comes as a major surprise.
Perhaps that is because the 106-year-old is a defiant character, refusing to take much credit for his work or pander to the Chinese Communist Party. He is critical of the party that governs China; and old enough not to care who is listening to what he has to say. Mr Zhou has remained optimistic about life despite going through tough times.
When he started work on developing Pinyin, 85% of Chinese people could not read or write.
Now, we can state that is just a few per cent of Chinese who cannot read.
See the Chinese New Year of 2014 »
Please write to Will and Guy if you have any interesting stories about the Chinese New Year 2013.
