If you’ve recovered from the western New Year’s festivities, you might like to start preparing for the Chinese New Year, cleaning the house thoroughly to remove dust and bad luck, and hanging lucky red objects like lanterns and paper cut-outs. It won’t be over in one night, though; beginning on February 17, it will last until the next full moon on March 3. In the Chinese lunisolar calendar (a calendar that combines monthly lunar cycles with the solar year), each year is represented by an animal and an element – this new year will farewell the year of the Wooden Snake and welcome in the year of the Fire Horse.
Whereas the Wooden Snake represented resilience, flexibility, and tolerance, the Fire Horse will sweep in with passion, vitality, independence, and activity. The sign is also known as the Red Horse, an encouraging title since red is considered to be very lucky. A traditional part of the celebration is giving (and hopefully receiving) hongbao, red envelopes containing money. Care must be taken, though; even amounts – except numbers with four in them – are preferred; uneven amounts are traditionally associated with funerals – except number nine. Not surprisingly, the digital age has seen the development of e-hongbao through social networking platforms.
Legend has it that the horse won its place in the zodiac because of its endurance and speed, evident in the character mă 馬 (horse), with its arched neck, flowing mane, and four flying hooves.
Lions are also considered auspicious animals, and lion dancing, complete with cymbals and drums, is an essential part of the celebrations. It’s a martial arts-based art form, and the sheer athleticism of the dancers is probably necessary, considering the responsibilities laid on them: to usher in good fortune, positivity, joy, and wealth, and to chase away evil spirits.
If you like to have an each-way bet on fortunes in 2026, some western astrologists pick Cancer as the luckiest sign of the zodiac, followed closely by Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius – the fire signs. Coincidental, that.
