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July 18, 2010
Marriage and the "Widow Year"
2010 is the year of Tiger. It is also
a "Widow Year". The Chinese
believes that marriage in a "Widow
Year" is inauspicious.
First, what is a "Widow Year"?
To understand this, we need to appreciate
the two types of calendars: the
solar calendar and the lunar calendar.
The solar calendar is based on the
movement of the earth around the
sun. The lunar calendar (¹A¾ú),
on the other hand, is based on the
movement of the moon around the
earth. The first day of the solar
calendar is known as "Li Chun"
(¥ß¬K) which
falls mostly on 4 February. The
first day of the lunar calendar,
on the other hand, is the first
day of the lunar Chinese New Year.
The difference in the time cycle
of the two calendars means that
the first day of the two calendars
rarely occurs on the same day. So
whenever "Li Chun" occurs
before the first day of the lunar
Chinese New Year, the lunar year
will not have a "Li Chun".
The absence of "Li Chun"
in a lunar year is known as a "Widow
Year".
For the lunar year 2010, "Li
Chun" falls on 4 February 2010
while the first day of the lunar
Chinese New Year falls on 14 February
2010. In other words, the 2010 lunar
year does not have a "Li Chun".
Since there is no "Li Chun"
for the 2010 lunar year, the 2010
lunar year is a "Widow Year".
The "Widow Year" is not
a rare occurrence. If one were to
look up the thousand year calendar,
you will see that the "Widow
Year" occurs quite frequently
throughout the years.
How did the name "Widow Year"
come about? The name "Widow
Year" came about because superstition
has it that a woman who marries
in a "Widow Year" will
bring pre-matured death to her husband.
It is also for this reason that
a lunar year with no "Li Chun"
is called a "Widow Year".
From a Chinese metaphysical prospective,
the absence of "Li Chun"
in a lunar year, which is purely
due to the difference in the time
period between the two calendars,
should not have any influence on
people marrying in a "Widow
Year".
Below is the list of lunar years
with no "Li Chun".
2005 (Year of Rooster)
2007 (Year of Pig)
2008 (Year of Rat)
2010 (Year of Tiger)
2013 (Year of Snake)
2015 (Year of Goat)
2016 (Year of Monkey)
2018 (Year of Dog)
2019 (Year of Pig)
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