Mandarin 12 CNY

Question 1

What are most of the important Chinese holidays based on?

Answer 1

the traditional Chinese lunar calendar

Question 2

What is the name of the traditional Chinese lunar calendar?

Answer 2

阴历

yīn lì

Question 3

How old is the Chinese lunar calendar (阴历) and what is it based on?

Answer 3

more than 4000 years based on the movement of the moon

Question 4

How does the Chinese lunar calendar differ from the Gregorian calendar?

Answer 4

it is about a month later

Question 5

What is the Gregorian calendar based on and what is it referred to as?

Answer 5

the movement of the sun and is referred to as the solar calendar

Question 6

What are the 3 different Chinese names of the Gregorian calendar and why?

Answer 6

阳 历
yáng lì

夏 历
xià lì (because it was invented during XIa Dynasty)

农 历
nóng lì (agricultural calendar for farming use)

Question 7

What is the formal name of Chinese New Year and what does it mean?

Answer 7

春 节

Spring Festival

Question 8

When does Chinese New Year fall?

Answer 8

正月
(the first day of the first month)

but can also fall on any day about a month later on the regular calendar

Question 9

What does 过年 mean (past and present)?

Answer 9

past (according to folklore): passing or surviving the Monster Nian
present: celebrating the Chinese New Year

Question 10

What does 拜 (bài) 年 mean (past and present)?

Answer 10

past: worshipping or praying to the Monster Nian
present: loved ones visit each other and wish each other a happy Chinese New Year, can be used to wish anyone a happy Chinese New Year

Question 11

What are the Chinese New Year’s main activities? (4)

Answer 11

• hang red couplets or posters
• light up firecrackers
• watch lion or dragon dances
• eat popular traditional Chinese food such as fish and 年糕 (sticky rice cake)

Question 12

What is the popular idiom associated with fish?

Answer 12

年年有余

fish rhymes with “surplus”

Question 13

What is the lucky meaning of 年糕?

Answer 13

going up higher each year, such as promotions or general personal improvement

糕 rhymes with 高 which means “tall, high, happy”

Question 14

How is each year on the lunar calendar given a formal name?

Answer 14

by orderly combining one of the elements from the 10 Heavenly Stems 天干 with one of the elements of the 12 Earthly branches 地支(zhī)

Question 15

How many years is an entire combination circle?

Answer 15

60

Question 16

What was the formal name of last year?

Answer 16

戊 戌 年

wù xū nián

Question 17

What is the formal name of this year?

Answer 17

己亥年

jǐ hài nián

Question 18

What is combined to name each year in the folklore?

Answer 18

12 elements for the Earthly Branches and 12 Chinese Zodiacs, every year one of each is combined to give a NON-FORMAL name for the Chinese year

Question 19

What is the name of the Lantern Festival

Answer 19

元 宵 节

yuán xiāo jié

Question 20

When is the Lantern Festival and what does it mark the end of?

Answer 20

on the 15th of the first month

marks the end of the celebrations of the Chinese New Year

Question 21

What do people usually eat on the day of the Lantern Festival?

Answer 21

a special kind of sweet round dumplings called

元宵 汤圆
yuán xiāo OR tāng yuán

Question 22

What activities are done on the day of the Lantern festival other than eating 元宵/汤圆? (2)

Answer 22

• make all sorts of colourful lanterns
  做灯笼
  zuò dēng lóng
• guess riddles
  猜谜语
  cāi mí yǔ

Question 23

What is the popular saying about the Lantern Festival?

Answer 23

正月十五闹花灯
zhēng yuè shí wǔ nào huā dēng

(having fun with colourful lanterns on Jan 15th)

Question 24

Why does the Spring Festival take place on a different day every year?

Answer 24

because it is based on the lunar calendar

Question 25

What was the Spring Festival traditionally a time for?

Answer 25

to honour deities as well as ancestors

Question 26

Where is the Lunar New Year celebrated?

Answer 26

most important holiday in Chinese culture around the world

Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, the Philippines, each with their own unique traditions

Question 27

What do all variations of centuries-old legends on the origins of Lunar New Year celebrations have?

Answer 27

• story of a terrible mythical monster, a lion-like monster named 年, who preyed on villagers
• a wise old man who counsels the villagers to ward off evil 年 by making loud noises with drums and firecrackers and by hanging red paper cutouts and scrolls on their doors because 年 is scared of the colour red
• villagers took the old man’s advice and 年 was conquered

Question 28

How is the Lunar New Year celebrated? (7)

Answer 28

• lighting firecrackers
• watching traditional lion/dragon dance
• going to the temple fair
• visiting friends and relatives (拜年)
• giving red envelopes stuffed with “lucky money”
• pasting new scrolls (spring festival couplets)
• eating dumplings and other special foods

Question 29

What are the 12 animal Zodiacs?

Answer 29

rat
ox
tiger
rabbit
dragon
snake
horse
sheep
monkey
rooster
dog
pig