cyanic-selkie/wikianc huggingface dataset:
Helena Blavatsky
Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (12 August 1831 – 8 May 1891) was a Russian born occultist. At the age of 17 she married a Russian nobleman, Nikifvor Blavatsky, but soon divorced.
In 1875, Blavatsky and Henry Steel Olcott established a research and publishing institute called the Theosophical Society. Blavatsky defined Theosophy as "the archaic Wisdom-Religion, the esoteric doctrine once known in every ancient country having claims to civilization". One of the main purposes of the Theosophical Society was "to form a nucleus of the Universal Brotherhood of Humanity, without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste or color". Madame Blavatsky saw herself as a missionary of this ancient knowledge. She travelled the world and wrote books about the occult including Isis Unveiled and The Secret Doctrine.
The Theosophical Society had an influence on Buddhist modernism and Hindu reform movements, and the spread of those modernised versions in the west. Blavatsky was important in the Western transmission and revival of Theravada Buddhism.
Wil Albeda
Willem (Wil) Albeda (13 June 1925 - 6 May 2014) was a Dutch politician. From 1966, he was member and from 1973 chairman of the Anti-Revolutionary Party group in the Senate. He was Minister of Social Affairs in the first cabinet Van Agt. After this he returned to the Senate. He later became chairman of the Scientific Council for Government Policy.
Albeda was born in Rotterdam. He died in Maastricht, aged 88.
Un medico in famiglia
Un medico in famiglia (in A doctor in the family) is an Italian drama TV series. It aired on Rai 1 and started in 1998. It is now in its ninth season.
The TV series focuses around the lives of the Martini family. They live in Rome. Lele Martini is a doctor and a widower with three children: Maria, Francesco "Ciccio" and Anna "Annuccia". He falls in love with his sister-in-law, Alice Solari. At the end of the second season, they get married and have two twins. Lele hires Cettina as their au pair. Cettina is a Neapolitan woman (she comes from Mondragone) who pretends to be Polish in order to be hired. Eventually the Martinis find out that Cettina is actually Italian, but they do not fire her. At the beginning of the third season Lele, Alice and their twins leave Italy in order to live in Australia. Lele puts his children in the hands of their grandpa, Nonno Libero. Cettina falls in love with Torello, a funeral director. They get married at the end of the third season. Maria falls in love with Guido, a doctor. They get married at the end of the fourth season.
In the sixth season Lele, who divorced from Alice, returns home with his children, Bobo and Elena. Cettina is disappeared in a shipwreck: she is supposed to be dead, but this is not true. In fact, she lost her memory and became a very rich woman in the United States. She decided to go to Italy for an holiday and here she meets the Martinis. She gradually recovers her memory and joins her husband and her son, Eros. Lele in this season has two girlfriends: the doctress Funny and the chocolate seller Bianca. Eventually he decides to get engaged to Bianca. Melina, Cettina's cousin, is hires as the Martinis new au pair. She falls in love with Dante Piccione, a gauche man who gambles on the horses.
Potters Bar
Potters Bar is a town in Hertfordshire, England. In 2011, 21,882 people lived there.
Twin towns
Potters Bar is twinned with:
Polisario Front
The Polisario Front (Frente Popular para la Liberación de Saguía el Hamra y Río de Oro, الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير الساقية الحمراء ووادي الذهب transliterates to al-dshabha ash-shaʿbīya li-tahrīr as-Sāqiya al-Hamrā’ wa-Wādī dh-Dhahab, translates to Popular Front for the Liberation of el Hamra and Río de Oro) is a rebel militia group and political party, which is active in Western Sahara. The movement succeeded the older movement called Movimiento para la Liberación del Sahara, which was active until the 1960s. The movement was founded in the early 1970s. It was first active fighting for the independence of the Spanish Sahara, which was a Spanish colony until 1975. After the Spanish left, Mauritania and Morocco annexed the Western Sahara, the Polisario, however, claimed the entire Western Sahara under the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.
Peter Firmin
Peter Arthur Firmin (11 December 1928 – 1 July 2018) was an British artist and television producer. He was the founder of Smallfilms, along with Oliver Postgate. They created a number of popular children's TV programmes, The Saga of Noggin the Nog, Ivor the Engine, Clangers, Bagpuss and Pogles' Wood.
Polisario Front
In 1991, the United Nations brokered a peace agreement. Nowadays, Western Sahara is split into two zones, separated by the Moroccan Wall. Morocco controls de facto most of the territory.
Peter Firmin
On 1 July 2018, Firmin died at the age of 89.
Charmoy
Charmoy is the name of the three communes in France:
San Saba, Texas
San Saba is a city in the U.S. state of Texas.
Chris Chelios
Christos Kostas Tselios (born January 25, 1962 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American retired professional ice hockey defenceman that played his playing career for the Chicago Blackhawks, Montreal Canadiens, Detroit Red Wings and Atlanta Thrashers of the National Hockey League (NHL). Chelios won the Stanley Cup in 2008 and was also the captain of the Chicago Blackhawks from 1995 to 1999. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on July 9, 2013.
Person County, North Carolina
Person County is a county in the U.S. state of North Carolina. In 2010, 39,464 people lived there. Its county seat is Roxboro.
Cherreau
Cherreau is a former commune. It is found in the region Pays de la Loire in the Sarthe department in the west of France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune of Cherré-Au.
Grandmaster (1972 movie)
Grandmaster (Гроссмейстер) is a 1972 Soviet drama movie directed by Sergey Mikaelyan. It stars Andrey Myagkov, Viktor Korchnoi, and Larisa Malevannaya.
Kris Kross
Kris Kross was an Atlanta-based hip hop duo. Its members were Chris "Mac Daddy" Kelly and Chris "Daddy Mac" Smith. Their most notable song was "Jump" in 1992. The duo also had other hits including "Warm it Up". They were noted for wearing their clothes backwards.
Their following albums did not do as well. The duo ended around 1998.
Member Chris Kelly was found unresponsive in his Atlanta home and was pronounced dead on May 1, 2013.
Nicholls State University
Nicholls State University is a university located in Thibodaux, Louisiana.
Courgenay (disambiguation)
Courgenay is the name of two several places in Europe:
Ebnath
Ebnath is a municipality in Tirschenreuth in Bavaria, Germany.
City TV (disambiguation)
Citytv may refer to:
Aubel
Aubel is a municipality in the Belgian province of Liège. In 2007, 4166 people lived there.
It is at 50° 42 North, 05° 51 East.
Berber languages
The Berber languages or Tamazight are a group of closely related languages mainly spoken in Morocco and Algeria. Kabyle and Tachelhit are Berber languages.
Otto Carius
Otto Carius (27 May 1922 – 24 January 2015) was a German former Nazi tank commander. He destroyed over 150 foreign tanks. He received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. After the war, Carius worked as a pharmacist. He also wrote books about his experiences during the war.
Carius was born in Zweibrücken, Weimar Germany. He died from a short illness in Herschweiler-Pettersheim, Germany, aged 92.
Heide Simonis
Heide Simonis (4 July 1943 – 12 July 2023) was a German author and politician. She was in the Social Democratic Party (SPD). She was minister of finance in Schleswig-Holstein from 1988, until she became minister-president of Schleswig-Holstein.
She was the first woman to serve as head of a state government in German history, and the only woman to do so in the 20th century. She served until 2005. She died on 12 July 2023, eight days after her 80th birthday.
Roosevelt University
Roosevelt University is a coeducational, private university with campuses in Chicago, Illinois and Schaumburg, Illinois. Founded in 1945, the university is named in honor of both former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. The university's classes is based on principles of social justice.
The university enrolls around 7,000 students between its undergraduate and graduate programs and is ranked #81 in U.S. News & World Report's "Midwest Universities -2012". Roosevelt is also home to the Chicago College of Performing Arts. The University's newest academic building, Wabash, is located in The Loop of Downtown Chicago. It is the tallest educational building in Chicago, the second tallest educational building in the United States, and the fourth -largest academic complex in the world.
President Charles R. Middleton was inaugurated in 2002, and retired in 2015. The current president, Dr. Ali Malekzadeh, started in 2015.
Finite impulse response
Finite impulse response is a method to obtain the response or the output of signal whose response comes in finite time.
Hereford Cathedral
Hereford Cathedral is a church in the town of Hereford. The present building was started in 1079. Before that there were two other cathedrals. It is the seat of the Bishop of Hereford.
The most famous treasure in Hereford Cathedral is the Mappa Mundi, a mediæval map of the world dating from the 13th century. The cathedral is a Grade I listed building.
The building of the cathedral
The first Hereford Cathedral was a stone building from the 7th century. After about 200 years it was changed, but then it was burnt down in 1056 by Welsh and Irish soldiers. The rebuilding started in 1079 and it was finished around 1140.
Many changes have been made since that time. The cathedral originally had Norman architecture, but not much of that has survived. By the end of the 13th century most of it had been changed. The changes continued in the 14th century when the central tower was rebuilt. Many other parts were added, the last big change was the adding of the main north entrance finished in 1535. This was mostly the cathedral we see today.
Iranian calendars
The Iranian calendar also known as Persian calendar or the Persian Calendar is a Shahanshahi Or King calendar. It is currently used in Iran and Persia. It is observation-based, rather than rule-based. Each year starts on the vernal equinox as precisely determined by astronomical observations from Tehran (or the 52.5°E meridian, which also defines IRST) and Tehran. This makes it more accurate than the Gregorian Calendar.
Hereford Cathedral
Today’s cathedral
The Norman columns and arches of the nave have some decorations. They are original, done in the early 12th century. In the south aisle of the nave there are two tombs dating from the 14th century tombs. They are for members of the clergy but we do not know who they are. There is a tomb for Sir Richard Pembridge who was a Knight of the Garter.
Iranian calendars
The current Iranian Calendar year is 2582 AP (AP = Anno Persico/Anno Persarum = Persian year).
Wang Yupu
Wang Yupu (1956 – 8 December 2020) was a Chinese businessman and politician. He was chairman of Sinopec, the world's second-biggest oil refiner.
Hereford Cathedral
Today’s cathedral
The tomb of the shrine of Bishop Cantilupe is built of Purbeck marble. The south transept may be the oldest part of the cathedral. The choir (the part of the cathedral where the choir sit), has many beautiful features. There is a reredos which represents Jesus on the cross. Two pointed arches show Christ with angels and the four evangelists. There is also a very strange, old Episcopal chair.
Wang Yupu
Wang was born in Xinmin, Liaoning. In September 2017, Wang was appointed as the Director of the State Administration of Work Safety.
Hereford Cathedral
Music
The organ was built in 1892 by Henry Willis. It is one of the best organs he made. Organists of the past include John Bull and Samuel Sebastian Wesley. Today the organist is Geraint Bowen. There has been a choir at Hereford Cathedral from at least as far back as the 13th century. Hereford Cathedral is one of the three cathedrals which house the Three Choirs Festival. In the tower there are 10 bells. They are often called the "Grand Old Lady".
Wang Yupu
He was appointed as the first Minister of Emergency Management in March 2018.
Hereford Cathedral
Special treasures
The famous Hereford Mappa Mundi (Map of the World) dates from the 13th century. It is the largest (except for one) map from that period drawn on a single sheet of vellum. It was ignored for many years, then in 1855 it was cleaned and repaired at the British Museum. It shows the world as round, with the ocean all around it. It was nearly sold in the 1980s, but money was found to build a library where it could be hung. This is where it is now.
Wang Yupu
Wang died on 8 December 2020 at the age of 64.
Hereford Cathedral
Special treasures
Another famous document is one of only four copies of the Magna Carta to survive. It is kept very carefully, and sometimes shown to the public in the library next to the Mappa Mundi.
Grant County, South Dakota
Grant County is a county in South Dakota in the United States. As of the 2020 census, 7,556 people lived there. Its county seat is Milbank. The county was created in 1873 and named for Ulysses S. Grant, 18th President of the United States.
Kirsten Fisher-Marsters
Kirsten Andrea Fisher-Marsters is a swimmer from Cook Islands. Fisher-Marsters competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics. She was born on 11 February 1998.
Brenno (disambiguation)
Brenno can mean:
Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year, known in China as the SpringFestival and in Singapore as the LunarNewYear, is a holiday on and around the new moon on the first day of the year in the traditional Chinese calendar. This calendar is based on the changes in the moon and is only sometimes changed to fit the seasons of the year based on how the Earth moves around the sun. Because of this, Chinese New Year is never on January1. It moves around between January21 and February20.
The Chinese New Year is one of the most important holidays for Chinese people all over the world. Its 7th day used to be used instead of birthdays to count people's ages in China. The holiday is still used to tell people which "animal" of the Chinese zodiac they are part of. The holiday is a time for gifts to children and for family gatherings with large meals, just like Christmas in Europe and in other Christian areas. Unlike Christmas, the children usually get gifts of cash in red envelopes (hongbao) and not toys, clothes and electronics.
Chinese New Year used to last 15 days until the Lantern Festival on the year's first full moon. Now, it is a national holiday in the Republic and People's Republic of China, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia. It is also celebrated in some parts of Thailand. In some places, only the first day or three days are celebrated. In the PRC, nearby weekends are changed to create a 7-day-long "Golden Week".
The traditional new years in Vietnam (Tet) and in Korea (Korean New Year) are almost always on the same day as Chinese New Year but are sometimes different. The Japanese New Year used to work the same way but has been very different since some changes in the 19th century. Losar and Tsagaan Sar, the traditional Tibetan and Mongolian new years, are very close to the Chinese New Year but different ways of thinking about the moon's changes and adding months can make them happen weeks apart from the Chinese festival.
Name
The Mandarin Chinese name of the holiday is Chūn Jié, which means "Spring Festival". This is why it is often called the "Spring Festival" by Chinese speakers of English, even though the holiday always occurs in the winter months of January or February. Its name is written 春節 in traditional Chinese writing and 春节 in the easier writing now used by mainland China and Singapore. The Republic of China began to use this name in the 1910s, after it began to use the European calendar for most things.
Before that, the holiday was usually just called the "NewYear". Because the traditional Chinese calendar is mostly based on the changes in the moon, the Chinese New Year is also known in English as the "Lunar New Year" or "Chinese Lunar New Year". This name comes from "Luna", an old Latin name for the moon. The Indonesian name for the holiday is Imlek, which comes from the Hokkien word for the old Chinese calendar and is therefore also like saying "Lunar New Year".
Another old name for the holiday was Lìchūn, meaning "Early Spring". In Chinese, this is also a special name for the sun's place from about February4 to 19 each year, when the sun is 45 to 30° ahead of its place on the 1stday of spring. The name is not often used to talk about the Chinese New Year any more. On Taiwan, the real Lichun has been called "Farmer's Day" since 1941. A year between two Chinese New Years without it is thought to be unlucky for marriages.
Day of the New Year
Chinese New Year always starts on a new moon, when the Moon is between the Earth and Sun and it looks all dark in the night sky. Because new moons happen about every 29.53 days but the year set by Pope GregoryXIII is 365.2425 days long, the Chinese holiday moves to different days each year. The Chinese calendar adds a 13th month every so often to keep the seasons in the right place, so the first day of the new year always happens between January21 and February20 on the 2nd or 3rd new moon after the 1st day of winter. The chart on the right gives the day of each Chinese New Year from 1996 to 2031.
Oaklands, New Zealand
Oaklands is a southern suburb of Christchurch. It is sandwiched in between Aidanfield and Halswell and had its first subdivision in the early 1960s. It has a primary school in the suburb.
Chinese New Year
Animals of the New Year
The Chinese used to keep time using 2 different lists of characters, known in English as the 10Heavenly Stems and the 12Earthly Branches. The stems were the 10 days of the week under the Shang dynasty, each with its own sun and a special gift to different dead family members of the king. The branches were parts of the almost 12-year path that Jupiter takes around the sun. Each is said to be yin (dark or female) or yang (bright or male), so that when they are put together they make a list of 60 pairs. (The current list began in 1984 and will end in 2043.) Later, each of the stems was also said to match one of the 5 Chinese elements—wood, fire, dirt, metal, or water—and each of the branches was said to be a different animal: Rat, Ox & Cow, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster & Chicken, Dog, and Pig. The Han Chinese list begins with the Year of the "Wood Rat"; the Tibetan list is much the same but begins with the Year of the "Fire Rabbit".
Paola Paternoster
Paola Paternoster (née Carotenuto; 22 December 1935 – 27 June 2018) was an Italian athlete. She competed in the discus throw at the 1956 and 1960 Summer Olympics and in the javelin throw in 1956, and placed 11th–20th. Paternoster won 17 national championships at senior level. She was born in Rome.
Chinese New Year
Animals of the New Year
Today, Chinese people don't use these lists to count hours, days, or years but many still pay attention to the animal of the year when someone was born. Just like with the European zodiac, some people think the year's animal can change how someone thinks and acts. They even think it can change whether a marriage will be a happy one or not. Newspapers pay writers to give them ideas for how lucky different animals will be during the coming week. Many parents even time their children's birth within a year or two to give them the best animal sign: a Chinese primary school might have full classrooms of "golden Dragon" students but noticeably fewer "dirt Rats". For those who do believe such things, it is important to notice that the traditional Chinese calendar's year starts at a different time from the usual year. People may say that 2017 is the "Year of the Rooster and Chicken" but the people born in January or early February 2018 will still be "Roosters" and "Chickens" and those born in the first few weeks of 2017 were still "Monkeys".
Paola Paternoster
Paternoster died on 27 June 2018 from colorectal cancer in Rome at the age of 82.
Chinese New Year
History
Chinese tradition said that the Chinese calendar began during the 60th year of the reign of the Yellow Emperor in 2637 BC, with New Year celebrations beginning in that year. As far as we now know, it's much less old than that. Parts of the old ways of counting time given above are at least as early as 1250 BC, during the Shang times. Most of it was known by the Zhou (11th–3rd centuries BC). The 5 elements and small points were set by the Han (2nd century BC–2nd century AD). From eastern China, the calendar and its new year spread to nearby places like Vietnam (111 BC), Korea (before 270 AD), Japan (604), and Tibet (around 641). It also followed the overseas Chinese to their new homes in Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, and other places.
The Shang kings (16th–11th centuries BC) gave special gifts to their gods and dead family members during the winter of each year. Under the Zhou, people were having harvest festivals like today's Mid-Autumn Festival by about 1000 BC. Over time, common people started to give gifts to their gods and their dead family members, just like the king. Parts of the harvest festival stopped being thanks and celebration of the last year. They moved to before the planting of the seeds and became wishes and celebration of good luck in the next year.
By the early Han, people were counting their birthdays from People's Day on the 7th day of the New Year. The order of animals' birthdays was said to be Roosters and Chickens on the New Year, Dogs on the next day, Pigs on the day after that, Goats on the 4th, Oxen and Cows on the 5th, Horses on the 6th, and then people. About the same time, people started burning bamboo to make loud noises to welcome the New Year and scare away bad things.
People started carefully cleaning their homes, having large family dinners, and staying up late on the day before Chinese New Year by the end of the Three Kingdoms (3rd century). By the end of the Jin in the 5th century, these things had become a common part of Chinese life. Some Taoist magicians may have made gunpowder as early as the Han or Jin, but they certainly had it by the 9th century at the end of the Tang. Over the next few centuries, fireworks and firecrackers replaced burning bamboo as a way to chase away anything bad and to welcome in the New Year.
Avelgem
Avelgem is a municipality in the Belgian province of West Flanders.
Chinese New Year
History
Dragon dances had appeared by the time of the Han. People thought that Chinese dragons like Yinglong and Shenlong were kinds of gods who had power over where the water in rivers and canals went and when the water in clouds would fall as rain. Because this was very important for farming, dragon dances could happen all through the year when rain was needed. Different parts of today's dragon dances began at different times, with some at least as old as the Song (about 1150) and others very new, like using special paint that glows under black light.
Avelgem
In 2007, 9523 people lived there.
Chinese New Year
History
Lion dances were probably newer. China has not had its own lions since the spread of people out of Africa into the rest of the world. The earliest lions in Chinese books were gifts to the Han emperor from Parthia and other people who lived along the Silk Road connecting Chinese and Roman businesses. There was lion dancing under the Tang and in Japan by the 8th century, but people still thought of it as a foreign dance used by Buddhists. Today, people talk about "Northern" and "Southern" kinds of lion dances. The special northern kind began under the Southern Song (12th–13th century). The special southern kind began in Guangdong later, maybe under the Ming (14th–17th century).
As part of other changes, the Meiji Emperor of Japan ordered in 1873 that the new year celebrations of his country would be held on January1. Today, even most of the traditional Japanese celebrations now occur on that day, not at the same time as Chinese New Year. In 1928, the Nationalist Party of China tried to change the Chinese celebrations to January1, too, but this completely failed as the Chinese people protested or ignored the new laws and continued as usual.
Avelgem
It is at 50° 46 North, 03° 26 East.
Chinese New Year
History
In 1965, some people tried to change Indonesia's government, making its army less powerful. They failed and Suharto said they were working for Indonesia's Communists, who were working with Mao Zedong's Communist China. In 1967, Suharto helped make laws against using Chinese language or culture, including any celebration of Chinese New Year. These laws were not changed until after the fall of Suharto in 1998. Indonesia made Chinese New Year a national holiday for everyone a few years later in 2003.
Origami
When the Japanese first folded origami, they used only one piece of paper. A different kind of origami called modular origami uses many small pieces that are the same, which are combined to form one large model. Also, many mathematical shapes can be made with origami.
Chinese New Year
History
In 1967, as part of Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution, the PRC's government did not celebrate or allow special time off work for the traditional new year. The State Council said that the people of China should "change customs" and have a "revolutionized and fighting Spring Festival". Public celebrations returned by the time of Deng Xiaoping's Opening Up Policy in the 1980s. In particular, the government helped with dragon and lion dancing, thinking that it was part of the special culture of Chinese people. Since the year 2000, Chinese New Year has been one of the PRC's Golden Weeks: there are three days of paid time away from work during the first few days and two weekends around it are moved to make a 7-day-long holiday. These Golden Weeks copied a similar Japanese idea.
Origami
History
The beginnings of origami are not clear. Paperfolding started in China in the 1st or 2nd century. It finally came to Japan in the 6th century. Instead of making models that looked exactly like things, the first origami models only looked similar to things. People often folded models and gave them to other people for good luck. For example, Shinto nobles celebrated weddings with sake in glasses decorated with origami butterflies, which gave good luck to the bride and groom.
Chinese New Year
History
In 2015, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah set out tough new laws about the celebration of Chinese New Year in Brunei. This followed earlier laws like it about Christmas and is part of introducing traditional Islamic law to the country.
Origami
History
There were also independent paperfolding traditions in other countries, like Germany and Spain. The earliest evidence of paperfolding in Europe is a picture of a boat in 1490. There was also a paper box from 1440. Finally, in 1845, Kan no mado was written, and it was the first book of origami models.
Chinese New Year
Mainland China
People in China usually try to be together with their family for at least the first few days of the holiday. Because of the large number of Chinese people and the many people who work away from their hometowns, all this "spring traveling" (chunyun) is the biggest movement of people in the world every year.
Origami
History
Recently, people have become more interested in origami. In 1954, Japanese paperfolder Akira Yoshizawa created rules to explain how to fold origami models. His instructions on paperfolding are now used in all countries.
Chinese New Year
Mainland China
Houses are cleaned completely. In former times, sacrifices were made to the gods and dead family members in the days before the holiday. A "reunion dinner" happens in the evening of the last day of the traditional year ("New Year's Eve"). Older and married people give younger ones cash in red envelopes known as hongbao in Mandarin Chinese or laisee in Cantonese. China Central Television puts on a long show with many star actors, singers, and dancers. It is usually the most-watched TV show in the world each year. Lately, its ads have also become some of the world's most expensive, although they are still behind those during the US Super Bowl.
Origami
Paper
Peter Engel, who is a well-known paperfolder, says "the best paper [for origami] is thin and crisp and absolutely square." Pre-cut origami paper is sold in many colors, sizes, and patterns. Duo paper, or paper with different colors on each side, is used by paperfolders because it makes areas of different color on the finished model. There are also special papers, like textured, metallic, and patterned.
Chinese New Year
Mainland China
Children don't need to go to bed early and stay up to midnight. Around 12 o'clock, the new year is welcomed with public fireworks and private firecrackers. Children are told that these remember a monster called "Nian" ("Year") who was scared away by a town's loud noises and bright lights on a Chinese New Year long in the past.
Origami
Paper
Many people like to make their own paper. Engel describes a process shown to him by Robert J. Lang that is "a sandwich of aluminum foil and two pieces of tissue paper." In this method, two pieces of paper are pasted to each side of the aluminum foil. Many people like origami because there is almost always paper. Copy paper, napkins, wallpaper, index cards, and even paper money can be used to make interesting and unique models.
Chinese New Year
Mainland China
During the first few days of the new year, many people visit the homes of their grandparents, parents, and other relatives, as well as their closest friends. More hongbao may be given. Temples also have special fairs with lots of street food. There are Peking opera and martial arts shows and lion and dragon dances in major cities. Lion dancers usually have two people inside each lion. People feed the lions green plants and hongbao, and the lions keep the money and spit out the plants. The dragon dancers usually hold the Dragon up on poles and chase a pearl held by another dancer. The dragons can be very long. So far, the longest was in Hong Kong in 2012. That one was a little over 5.6 km long. Hong Kong also has special horse races at its racetrack. A 100,000 people sometimes come to the big race on the 3rd day of the New Year, which has a lion dance and other shows. Guangzhou has several special flower festivals.
Origami
Tools
Many paperfolders prefer to use a flat surface to fold models on, but others, like the Japanese, fold in the air. Traditional paperfolders believe that only the hands should be used when folding, but many modern folders use other tools when folding. Tweezers and paper clips can be used to make very small folds. Some folders use rulers or other flat tools to make sharper creases in the models.
Chinese New Year
Mainland China
The day of the new year's first full moon is called the Lantern Festival. Many streets and homes are decorated with old paper lanterns. In the past, this was one of the few days of the year when the women of families with lots of money could go outside their homes. They walked the streets nearby with their maids and could say hello to people outside their family. This still causes the festival to make people think of young adults meeting their future husband or wife.
Origami
Types
New types of origami have been made because more people are making origami models.
Pureland
Pureland origami is origami with one rule: only one fold can be made at a time. British paperfolder John Smith started pureland origami for inexperienced paperfolders or for people with poor motor skills. Hard folds, like the inside-reverse fold, are not allowed in pureland origami.
Chinese New Year
Philippines
Chinese New Year is a national holiday in the Philippines. People do not get money without working, but anyone who does have to work on the "special non-working day" gets 130% of the usual pay. Binondo—sometimes considered the world's oldest Chinatown—sees a lot of traditional celebrations, such as lion and dragon dances. Its people also try to pay back any money that they owe before the New Year.
In 2001, Davao City stopped letting people use fireworks because its people were hurting themselves too much. Their leader Rodrigo Duterte became president of the country and said that he wanted to stop fireworks everywhere. As president, however, he has so far continued to let people use them.
Indonesia
Chinese New Year (Imlek) is a 1-day national holiday in Indonesia. Chinese people have lived there since at least the 15th century, when Zheng He's ships visited its islands for the Yongle Emperor of the Ming, and many more came when the Netherlands held the islands as a colony. Suharto stopped Chinese Indonesians from celebrating Chinese New Year in 1967. Some people had tried to change the government in 1965 and Suharto said Indonesian Communists and their friends in the PRC had done it. Things changed after the fall of Suharto in 1998, and Indonesia made Chinese New Year a national holiday for everyone in 2003.
Dragon and lion dances are common at shopping centers, which sometimes have special sales to let Chinese people buy new (often red) clothes to wear for the holiday. People cannot use fireworks in most of Indonesia, but some cities like Jakarta let people use firecrackers.
Some older Chinese traditions still survive in Indonesia. Like in the Philippines, people try to pay back any money they owe before the New Year. People also try not to lend any money during the holiday, because they think it will make them have to keep lending money for the whole year. Doors and windows are opened on the day before the New Year to "let the old year out", and people wake up early the next morning so they don't stay lazy the whole year. The red envelopes of money (Hokkien:âng-pau) are given on the morning of New Year's Day, not at dinner on the night before it. Many make special trips to one of Indonesia's Chinese temples at some time during the holiday.
Malaysia
Most of Malaysia gets two days off work for Chinese New Year: the New Year itself and the day after it. The largest celebrations happen around Petaling Street in Kuala Lumpur, at the Kek Lok Si Temple in George Town, in Ipoh, and on Jonker Street in Malacca. Some people still follow the tradition that the second day is used for married women to visit their parents, after visiting her husband's family on Chinese New Year's Day. Most Chinese Malaysians take the entire week off of work, despite the shorter length of the national holiday. Traditional Chinese use the 3rd day of the New Year to visit the resting places of family members who died in the last 3 years; people without a death in their family stay home.
An unusual tradition in Malaysia is the idea of "open house" dinners, especially on the 2nd and 3rd night of the holiday. Guests, friends, and even strangers from different races and religions can be let in to enjoy large dinners together. The Malaysian government even has its own "open houses" at community halls.
In addition to fireworks at the beginning of the New Year, many people light them on the 9th day of the holiday to celebrate the birthday of the Jade Emperor, the boss of the Chinese gods. The day was used for a special Hokkien New Year, the story going that, one time in the past, the Hokkien people had to hide from robbers for 8 days in a sugarcane field. Because of this story, lots of sugarcane is used for Malaysian decorations for Chinese New Year.
Teochew-style Yusheng, a fish-and-noodle dish, is extra common in Malaysia, where it is called "yeesang" or "prosperity toss". A restaurant in Seremban started getting people to eat it by throwing it high in the air for good luck in the 1940s, and people had so much fun that they have done it ever since. Properly, it should have 7 parts and be eaten on the 7th day of the holiday, but people now eat it in different ways, too. Another common dish is "steam boat", a kind of seafood hot pot. As in other Chinese places, eating and giving away oranges and tangerines is common in Malaysia. A special tradition is for women with no boyfriend or husband to throw an orange into the sea to find a man. Some now write their telephone numbers on the oranges they throw, and men will use boats to go out and get the fruit.
Many people in Malaysia who believe in Islam and Hinduism have also started giving red envelopes full of money—which Malaysians call "ang pow" from its Hokkien name âng-pau—during their own holidays, like Eid ("Syawal") and Divali ("Deepavali"). The Islamic ang pow usually have Arabic designs, and the Hindu ones are often purple.
Singapore
Holiday shopping and street shows are centered on Chinatown. Its Wishing Tree is filled with cards that tell people's hopes and dreams. The money from selling the cards is used for the area's activity center for the old.
Downtown, the holiday is used as a showcase for Chinese arts and customs. The Chinese Festival of Arts starts on the 5th day and runs for the rest of the holiday until the Lantern Festival. The National Gallery, Stamp Museum, and Asian Civilizations Museum let people in for free on some of the days of the holiday. For more than 10 years, Singapore has held a big lion dancing contest with teams coming from other countries across Southeast Asia. During the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the New Year, there is the River Hongbao show on the Marina Bay Floating Platform and along the waterfront.
Brunei
Chinese New Year, the day before it, the day after it, and the Lantern Festival are national holidays in Brunei. The country has had a large number of Chinese people since the 1930s and 40s, and the sultan sometimes comes to their New Year celebrations. Since 2015, however, Brunei has set out tough Islamic laws that try to stop Muslims from joining or even seeing the Chinese celebrations. Lion dances are allowed only at the last Chinese temple in Brunei, at Chinese schools, and at the homes of the Chinese. Only Chinese people can join the dance. People cannot use fireworks or firecrackers, and dances must stop during the hours of Islamic prayers. Breaking these rules risks as much as B$20,000 and 5 years of jail.
Korea
The Chinese New Year celebrations in North and South Korea are known as Korean New Year. The time in Beijing is 1 hour different from the time in the Korean capital cities of Pyongyang and Seoul. About one time every 24 years, this makes the Korean New Year start on the day after the Chinese New Year.
The Korean holiday is very close to the Chinese one, with families gathering, children being very nice to their parents and grandparents, and older people giving gifts of money to the young. The Korean holiday has different traditional foods and games, though.
Kim, Colorado
Kim is a small town. It is in Las Animas County, Colorado, United States. At the 2000 U.S. census, 65 people lived in Kim.
Chinese New Year
Vietnam
The Chinese New Year celebrations in Vietnam are known as Tet. Like the Korean New Year, it sometimes happens on a different day. In 1967, North Vietnam changed its time so that its capital Hanoi is now 1 hour different from Beijing. This means that the new moon happens a day earlier in Vietnam about one time every 24 years. Vietnamese people also add a 13th month to their calendar at a different time from the Chinese, who always try to put the 1st day of winter in their 11th month. In some years, this makes Tet happen in the month after the Chinese New Year.
Kim, Colorado
Rodeo star Lane Frost was born in La Junta in 1963. However, he spent some of his early days with his mother and grandparents in Kim, while his father was on tour.
Chinese New Year
Vietnam
Like in Korea, the Vietnamese New Year is mostly the same as China's, with families gathering, children saying nice things to their parents and grandparents, and older people giving gifts of money to the young. There are some different foods and traditions, like their New Year tree or special games. Some of the differences come from changes in China: Tet sees more people do nice things for their dead family members. In China, most of the traditions like that were moved to Tomb Sweeping Day at the beginning of April.
Kim, Colorado
Geography
Kim is at 37.24611°N, -103.35361°W (37.246129, -103.353643).
Chinese New Year
Other places
The largest US and Canadian celebrations happen in Chinatowns. People eat Chinese food, give gifts, and have dragon parades that sometimes include marching bands. There is no national holiday with time off work, but different events go on for the full traditional 2 weeks up to the Lantern Festival.
Kim, Colorado
Geography
The United States Census Bureau says that the town has a total area of 0.3 sqmi. All of it is land.
Chinese New Year
Other places
In the United Kingdom, the celebration in London's Chinatown and Trafalgar Square drew 500,000 people in 2015.
Kim, Colorado
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 65 people, 38 households, and 15 families living in Kim. The population density was 211.3 people per square mile (81.0/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 98.46% White, and 1.54% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 15.38% of the population.
Chinese New Year
Other places
The holiday is also so important to China that many world leaders will take time to send their good wishes to China and the Chinese people.
Kim, Colorado
Demographics
There were 38 households. 15.8% of these had children under the age of 18 living with them. 36.8% were married couples living together. 2.6% had a female living there with no husband. 60.5% were non-families. 60.5% of all households were made up of just one person and 15.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.71 and the average family size was 2.80.
Chinese New Year
Customs
Most traditional customs have to do with getting more good luck for the new year and staying away from anything unhappy.
Kim, Colorado
Demographics
In the town, 16.9% of the people were under the age of 18. 3.1% were from 18 to 24. 30.8% were from 25 to 44. 30.8% were 45 to 64, and 18.5% were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females there were 124.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 107.7 males.
Chinese New Year
Customs
People hang up decorations, especially pairs of Chinese poems (couplets) on either side of their doors. Some put pictures of Taoist gods on the doors to scare away bad things. Live plants suggest growth, and flowers suggest coming fruits. Pussy willow is common in some places because its Chinese name sounds like "money coming in". It is very common for big decorations to look like the animal for the new year, so that 2017 had Rooster and Chicken pictures and statues and 2018 will have Dogs.
People used to welcome the New Year with anything that made loud noises, including drums, cymbals, or even woks and pots. The exact traditions were different in different parts of China. Fireworks and firecrackers became more and more common everywhere, but lately many places have stopped letting most people use them because of the danger of people hurting themselves, of fire, and of dirt in the air that can make people sick. There are still big firework shows in most big cities with many Chinese people, but the city government will do everything and other people just watch.
There are some common things people say to wish good luck to each other, the most important being gōngxǐ fācái ("congratulations that you are now rich"). People try not to say bad words, tell ghost stories, or talk about death. Some even stay away from the number four, which sounds like "death" in Chinese. Crying babies are also thought to be bad luck, and family members will try to keep children happy during visits.
There are some old customs that only a few people or even no one does any more. People still do their "spring cleaning" before the holiday but, in old China, they did not sweep or wash clothes on New Year's Day itself. They were afraid of cleaning away good luck together with the dirt. For the same reason, some people did not wash their hair and were very careful not to break any tools. The 5th or 6th day after New Year, when they cleaned and threw away or burned all the trash, was a day for "sending off" the God of Being Poor, one of the sons of Zhuanxu. Today, it's more common to clean things as they get dirty, like on other days. Few do anything special about the God of the Poor. In the same way, people near Beijing thought that it was unlucky to cook or steam food for the first 5 days of the New Year. They would cook all of their next week of food 2 days before it, so it was ready for the reunion meal. They would add yeast to their dumpling skins the day before that, on the 28th day of the 12th month. The skins would have enough time to be ready but not enough time to go bad. Today, people cook or eat out all through the week. It is easy to buy ready-made skins at supermarkets, keep their homemade skins fresh in fridges, or just buy all their dumplings from nearby shops and there is nothing special about the 28th day. On People's Day, the 7th day of the holiday, people used to wear special headbands and thought good weather meant good luck for everyone in the coming year. Everyone used it to count their age, even when it was not their birthday. None of that is common any more.
Some traditions have been ended by the Chinese government. People used to run to be the first to set off fireworks and firecrackers at the beginning of the New Year at midnight, wherever they were. The dirty air this caused in big Chinese cities made children and old people sick. Now, the police stop people from doing this in many cities.
Taoist traditions that are less common now are giving gifts to the home's kitchen god on the 23rd or 24th day of the 12th month of the old calendar. People said the kitchen god watched the house for the Jade Emperor, the boss of the Chinese gods. The special decorations and gifts were given to him so that he would say nice things. The gods would then be nicer to the house for the next year. The kitchen god was thought to return to the house on the 4th day of the New Year. During the time he was "away", people used to feel they could get away from some hard rules about family life without anything bad happening. In the past, love matches would marry during those days with less rules and expense than a full wedding. Today, the days after the Chinese New Year are a common time for weddings but this is because everyone has time off work and not because of any ideas about luck or worry about the gods. In the same way, people used to give animals to Cai Shen, the god of money, on the 2nd or 5th day of the holiday. People used to take a break from visits on "Red Dog Day" (Chìgǒu Rì), the 3rd day of the holiday, when an angry god was said to bring bad luck to anyone walking around outside. Now, fewer and fewer people worry about those things.