Chinese New Year

The First day of the Chinese New Year of 2012 is 23rd January.  2012 is the year of the Dragon.

A dragon is a legendary creature. All Legendary stories about Chinese dragons are formthe sky, which means heaven in China.

After 581 AD Chinese emperors began to wear imperial robes with dragon symbols. Between the 17th and 20th Centuries dragons became significant features in Chinese archetecture.

According to legend the Dragon had nine sons. He sent his  nine sons to help the first emperor of Ming Dynasty to conquer China. After completing the mission, nine dragons were preparing their journey to return to heaven. But the emperor wanted them to continue to help the Ming Dynasty. The nine dragons wouldn't stay and the emperor couldn't stop them. However, the emperor decided to play a trick on the most powerful dragon, the 6th son. He tricked the sixth dragon son to carry a magic stele with a carved inscription, which could suppress any ghost, spirit or evil creature. The 6th dragon couldn't move under the magic stele, and all of his other brothers wouldn't leave without him. However, they wouldn't work for the emperor anymore. They decided to no longer show their dragon identities and turned themselves into evil creatures. Since then, the nine dragons have stayed in China.

• The 1st son loves music.
• The 2nd son loves fighting.
•  The 3rd son loves adventure and keeping guard.
• The 4th son loves howling.
• 5th son loves quietness, sitting, fire and smoke.
• The 6th son has the power of strength.
• The 7th son loves to seek justice.
• The 8th son loves literature.
• The 9th son loves water.

Brynteg Books would like to wish everyone celebrating Chinese New Year a happy  celebration. Our book  list may give you some ideas to use in school.