大寒 Major Cold / Great Cold /
On the Chinese luni-solar calendar, we have reached the 24th and final solar term of the 24 solar terms cycle for the year of Gǔi Mǎo, the Water Rabbit of 2023. The solar term is called Major Cold / Great Cold / Dà Hán 大寒 and it started on 20th of January at 22:07 hours.
立春 Lì Chūn or Spring Begins
In 15 days from Dà Hán, the first of the 24 solar terms of the year of Jiǎ Chén, the Wood Dragon of 2024, will be Lì Chūn or Spring Begins 立春 on 4 February 2024 at 16:26 hours.
For those who have consulted with me, they will know that I use Li Chun as the cross over point for the year of birth.
Chinese Lunar New Year
The first day of the lunar year lands on the 10th of February this year, 6 days after the Li Chun Spring Begins solar term had started. This is the traditional festive New Year holiday celebrated by Chinese people around the world.
龙头兔尾 Dragon Head Rabbit Tail
For those born in the days between the Li Chun day and the Lunar New Year in 2024, they are called "Dragon Head Rabbit Tail".
Year of the Wood Dragon / Jiǎ Chén / 甲辰
Besides the 12 zodiac signs that are made popular around the world with annual horoscope predictions, each zodiac sign have an accompanying element from the Chinese 5 Element Theory of Water, Wood, Fire, Earth and Metal. For the year of Jiǎ Chén, it is the Wood element accompanying the Dragon sign.
Chén or Dragon itself, has the elements of Earth, Water and Wood.
A common question asked around this time of the year is "what is my lucky element for the new year?". The year itself has 3 elements of Wood, Water and Earth. The favourable element for you is better off being calculated using your Ba Zi chart (based on your date and time of birth).
