The roots of Lunar New Year as an annual celebration are believed to go back thousands of years to ancient farming communities looking forward to the coming of spring and future harvests. A standardized system is said to have been put in place in China 2698 B.C. This system involves counting the years in cycles of 12 that correspond to the Chinese Zodiac.
The Chinese Zodiac is made up of 12 animals: rat; ox; tiger; rabbit; dragon; snake; horse; sheep; monkey; rooster; dog; and pig, although some of the animals vary in other cultures. Each year corresponds to one creature — 2024, for example, shall be the Year of the Dragon. The zodiac is repeated five times in the traditional Chinese lunar calendar, with different names for each year, 60 years in total, after which the years are repeated. The traditional Chinese lunar calendar also has a different system for leap years, with a 13th month being inserted in certain years depending on the number of new moons.
