Happy Year of the Ox
Tomorrow, January 26, 2009, the Year of the Ox officially begins!
To celebrate, I thought I’d turn my 2009 Kids Year of Ox design into a coloring book page that you can download with your kids.
About the Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year (or Spring Festival) is an important holiday for the Chinese people, and traditionally begins on the first day of the lunar month in the Chinese Calendar.
Origins of the Chinese New Year:
According to legend, the Chinese believed that on the first day of every new year, a mythical beast called, Nian (or “year” in Chinese) would rampage the countryside, devouring livestock, crops and villagers — especially children. To stop the beast, the villagers put food in front of their doors; they believed that if the Nian ate the food, he wouldn’t attack them.
They also discovered the the Nian was afraid of the color red, so red lanterns and spring scrolls were hung over the windows and doors to guard their houses, and firecrackers were used to frighten the monster away.
Eventually the Nian was captured by a monk, and he never troubled the villagers again.
The Year of the Ox
1901 - 1913 - 1925 - 1397 - 1949 - 1961 - 1973 - 1985 - 1997 - 2009
Roughly equivalent to the western zodiac sign of Capricorn, people born under the Year of the Ox are responsible, dependable and honest. They are very practical people and hard workers. With high intelligence and a caring nature, ox people make wonderful parents, and teachers of children.
Like everyone, they do have a darker side. Ox people can be pretty stubborn and sometimes possessive & materialistic. They definitely don’t like being told what to do! They might be inflexible and afraid to try new things. However, people born under this sign have the most beautiful faces out of all the other signs in the zodiac!
Download the 2009 Kids Year of Ox coloring book page now…
Source: Wikipedia.org
