Honoring Dogs During Chinese New Year Festival

February 11, 2010

The fifteen day Chinese New Year Festival is a time of celebration and fun. Most of the activities center around family and friends.

This is a time for people to get together and renew bonds with family and friends. With the economic changes in China this takes on a somewhat added importance as millions of people, especially young people, have left their villages to seek opportunities in the cities.

For many, the fifteen day holiday is the one time in the year when these people have the time to return to their villages visit their family and friends. As a result, the roads, trains and buses are clogged with people heading home for the holiday.

New Year's Eve and New Year's Day are traditionally a day when families gather to celebrate and renew bonds with each other as well as honor their ancestors who have passed from this life.

Day two of the festival is traditionally a time for married daughters to visit and spend time with the families they came from. A time to reconnect with the relatives of their youth, as traditionally a woman's focus turned to her husband's family following her marriage and this has been the one time many women have traditionally had to visit with their families.

For many, days three and four are a continuation of sorts of the Day 2 tradition as these two days are a time for husband's to pay respects to their wives' parents.

However, it is not just people with whom connections are re-established. According to tradition Day 2 is also considered to be the birthday of all dogs. On this day people are extra kind to dogs in honor of their birthday.

Dogs, of course, have had a long relationship with humans in all parts of the world. While dogs have long been used as helpers and workers assisting humans in such activities as herding and helping to manage cattle and sheep, in hunting, defending and guarding property, etc. In modern times dogs have been best known as pets and companions for humans.

Because dogs have such a close relationship with humans and, in many cases, considered as a part of the families they live with, it is not surprising that they should be honored during the Chinese New Year Festival.

Dogs are one of the twelve animals used to name years on a rotating basis in the Chinese calendar. The Year of the Dog occurs once every twelve years and is between the Year of the Rooster and the Year of the Pig.

This year, the Year of the Tiger, the birthday celebration for dogs will be Monday February 15, 2010 which is the second day of this year's Chinese New Year Celebration.

So, be extra nice to any dogs in your life on this day.  Give your dog a pat on the head, take it for a walk or, better still, throw a birthday party for your pet.