Think Tank

Why Chinese zodiac signs and Spring Festival are popular worldwide

2024-01-25   

According to media reports, the United Nations Postal Administration issued a special edition of the Chinese Lunar New Year stamp, the Dragon Ticket Edition, on January 19, 2024 in New York to celebrate the arrival of the Chinese Lunar New Year. Since 2010, the United Nations Postal Administration has been issuing zodiac stamps with the theme of "Chinese Lunar New Year". After the first round of issuance of the twelve zodiac stamps, on January 21, 2022, the United Nations Postal Administration began the second round of issuance of Chinese Lunar New Year stamps. It is gratifying that on December 22, 2023, the 78th United Nations General Assembly unanimously passed a resolution to designate the Spring Festival (Lunar New Year) as a United Nations holiday. These two measures reflect, on the one hand, the United Nations' practice of diverse and inclusive cultural values, and full of respect for the excellent traditional Chinese culture; On the other hand, it interprets the beauty of cultural exchange and mutual learning, providing inspiration for enhancing the dissemination and influence of Chinese civilization. One year brings one auspicious beast. The twelve zodiac animals not only reflect animal personalities one by one based on human character, but also incorporate the Chinese nation's outlook on life, world, universe, and time, becoming a unique landscape in traditional Chinese culture. In terms of dissemination effect, the Chinese zodiac culture conforms to the universal psychology of humans who love animals and are willing to integrate into nature, and is easily accepted and recognized by people around the world. With its friendly image and rich connotations, the Chinese zodiac is highly favored by people all over the world. Countries have issued zodiac stamps on the eve of the Chinese New Year, allowing New Year blessings to fill the "square window". As the saying goes, "Embrace the world in every inch, collect stamps to explore the past and present.". Nowadays, more than 100 countries and regions around the world issue zodiac stamps every year. As a unique cultural symbol in China, the Chinese zodiac has been widely and diversely presented, giving rise to countless artistic masterpieces that combine Chinese and foreign elements, becoming a model for promoting cultural exchange and mutual learning. Although the Lunar New Year is a traditional Chinese festival, festive activities spread throughout the world and have become a global cultural event. According to incomplete statistics, folk activities during the Spring Festival have blossomed in nearly 200 countries and regions around the world. Nearly 20 countries have designated the Spring Festival as a legal holiday, and about one-fifth of the world's population celebrates the Lunar New Year in different forms. There are two important factors that contribute to the extraordinary charm of the Spring Festival. On the one hand, as a cultural symbol, the Spring Festival has rich connotations and distinct characteristics. For non Confucian cultural circles, whether it is window decorations, couplets, red lanterns, New Year's Eve dinner, New Year's money, or other auspicious things that symbolize the Spring Festival; Visiting temple fairs, listening to traditional Chinese opera, watching performances, observing New Year's greetings, offering sacrifices to ancestors and gods, and other unique customs during the Spring Festival are full of exotic charm, which can arouse curiosity and interest from cultural outsiders due to novelty, and thus deeply attract them to the culture of the Spring Festival and Chinese culture. On the other hand, the Spring Festival contains emotions, expectations, and values shared by all humanity. Driven by the Spring Festival sentiment, Chinese people, even if they are at the ends of the earth, have to trek mountains and rivers back home to celebrate the New Year, even creating an annual scene of the world's largest population migration. As a cultural phenomenon, the Spring Festival embodies the common longing of people to return to their hometowns, reunite with their families, bid farewell to the old and welcome the new. It expresses the concern and concern for precious people such as family and friends, and carries the blessing of peace for everyone

Edit:Luo yu Responsible editor:Wang er dong

Source:GMW.cn

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