February 9, 2005 is the first day of the Chinese new year ! (-_-) There are three ways to name a Chinese year: 1. By an animal. The new year is known as the Year of the Rooster. There are 12 animal names; so by this system, year names are re-cycled every 12 years 2. By its Former Name. The new year is the year of Yiyou. By this system, the Name of the Year is repeated and re-cycled every 60 years. 3. It is Year 4702 by Chinese calendar. Chun lian is a special type of Duilian, or couplet. It is used only during the Chinese New Year as part of its celebration. While duilian is permanent, chunlian is a temporary decoration to be placed on the entrance of the house, somewhat akin to Halloween and Christmas decorations. Duilian comprises of a couplet written on vertical strips of red paper in the best calligraphic style one can muster. The first (called upper) line is posted on the right side of the front door. The second (called lower) line is posted on the left side of the front door. In addition, a third horizontal piece may be posted across and on top the door. Typically, the chun lian writes an happy, hopeful, uplifting message about a better New Year to come, like the one on my collage : Word-for-word translation of above: Top (Horizontal across) : Whole Earth Returns Spring Left (Vertical) line : winter gone mountain clear water sparkles Right (Vertical) line: Spring comes bird sings flower fragrant During the Spring Festival (Chinese New Year), it is traditional to decorate the homes with many New Year Graphics; the best of which are from Yangliuqing. (see an example below in the middle of my collage) Yanliuqing paintings were first produced between 1573 and 1620. I took the pictures on the right in Chinese restaurant Hang Chow in Arlon ! (-_-)