Year of the 羊 (Yáng) 
The 羊 radical is considered an auspicious character because it forms the component for the character 祥 (Xiáng) "Auspicious" and 善 (Shàn) "Kindness". The auspicious connotation of 羊 is the main reason for celebration, not the specific type of animal, a sheep or a goat. Depending on which other Chinese characters 羊 is combined with, it could mean 山羊 (Shānyáng) "Goat", 绵羊 (Miányáng) "Sheep", or 黄羊 (Huáng yáng) "Mongolian Gazelle".
The Lunar New Year starts on February 19th, 2015 and lasts until February 7th, 2016. In China, the Lunar New Year is also known as the Spring Festival and is the longest festival in the Chinese calendar. The Lunar New Year's eve is a time for families to gather for the annual reunion dinner which includes dumplings, chicken, pork, and fish. The fish is intentionally left unfinished because of the Chinese phrase "年年有魚" (nián nián yǒu yú) "Every year there is fish" which is a homophone for the phrase meaning "Be blessed every year". Similarly, a type of black hair-like algae: 髮菜 (fǎ cài) is also featured in many dishes because its name sounds similar to 發財 (fā cái) "Prosperity".
In addition to culinary traditions, there are gift giving traditions such as the giving of 红包 (hóngbāo) "Red Envelopes". Red envelopes originated in the Qin Dynasty where the money was referred to as 壓祟錢 (yāsuì qián) "Money that ward off evil spirits" and was believed to protect the younger generation from illness and death. Red evenlopes became prevalent when printing presses became more common and is now written with the homophone for suì that means "Old Age" instead of "Evil Spirits": 壓歲錢 (yāsuì qián). Today, Red Envelopes are given from married couples or the elderly to unmarried juniors or children. Often red envelopes contain cash in even denomenations because odd numbers are associated with cash given during funerals. The number 8 is considered lucky for its homophone for "wealth". The number 6 (liù) is also very lucky because it sounds like "Smooth": 流 (liú), for having a smooth year.
Other traditions include dressing in red attire because the color red is believed to scare away evil spirits and bad fortune. Additionally decorating with oval shaped red paper lanterns, flowers, papercuts and performing dragon and lion dances are all part of the Lunar New Year celebrations. Thus, in the spirit of the Lunar New Year celebration, we wish all of our friends from around the world a Year of the 羊 brimming with prosperity, health and benevolence!
- Vocabulary:美 Měi | "Beautiful"
- Category:Radical, Word
- Formation Method:Ideograph
