馬年吉祥

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恭賀新年。今天是春节，又称农历新年、华人新年，是中国传统历法（农历）中的岁首，也是华人及全球汉字文化圈一年中最重要的传统节日。在历史上，“春节”一词曾并非指代农历正月初一，而是立春日。中华民国成立后，开始引入格里历（公历），并将公历1月1日定为“元旦”。为了兼顾民间传统，于1914年正式批准将农历元旦定名为“春节”。

馬到功成。今年是丙午馬年。十二生肖或十二年獸中漢文化為鼠、牛、虎、兔、龍、蛇、馬、羊、猴、雞、狗、豬。 它們依次與十二地支（子、丑、寅、卯、辰、巳、午、未、申、酉、戌、亥）相配，形成子鼠、丑牛、寅虎、卯兔、辰龍、巳蛇、午馬、未羊、申猴、酉雞、戌狗、亥猪。

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Today is Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival (春节), marks the beginning of a new year on the traditional lunisolar Chinese calendar which uses a 13th month periodically to align with the seasons, whereas a pure lunar calendar (e.g., Islamic calendar) has 12 months, resulting in a 354-day year that drifts through seasons. Therefore Chinese New Year and Lunar New Year dates may differ. For example, the strictly lunar new year in 2026 is June 16 due to the shifting of 11~12 days earlier each year relative to the Gregorian calendar.

The Chinese calendar defines the lunisolar month containing the winter solstice as the eleventh month, meaning that Chinese New Year usually falls on the second new moon after the winter solstice (rarely the third, if an intercalary month occurs, as in 2026 since the 2025 winter solstice was Dec 21).

The Chinese zodiac, as an essential part of Chinese culture, started to take shape during the Han Dynasty. This era formalizes a twelve-year cycle, where each year is associated with a specific animal, as part of a timekeeping system. This system, known as the zodiac cycle, combined the twelve Earthly Branches (地支) with the ten Heavenly Stems (天干) to create a total of a 60-year cycle. Each Earthly Branch was linked to an animal, and to the twelve zodiac signs: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig.