Rainbow Stamp Club: Lunar New Year

Hi ! This lunar new year is the Year of the Ox which begins on 26 January 2009. Many Postal administrations have issued beautiful stamps to celebrate Lunar New Year, which is the most important of the traditional Chinese festivals. The Ox symbolises loyalty and tenderness and is highly respected in traditional Chinese society signifying prosperity through fortitude and hard work. Here are few stamps issued this year to mark Chinese Lunar Year of Ox. In the second part of the Post two Meghdoot Post Cards bearing a cancellation without "P" in the word Philatelic in Date Cancellation This error has been noticed by Mr. S.P. Bansal of Firozabad (U.P.) This is all for Today !.....Till Next Post .....Have a Great Time !

Date of Issue : 8 January 2009

Chinese Lunar Calendar
The Year of the Rat stamps were issued in 2008. The Year of the Ox begins Jan. 26, 2009, and ends Feb. 13, 2010. The ox is the second of 12 animals associated with the Chinese lunar calendar. According to a legend, a race across a river determined their order in the cycle. The rat crossed by riding on the back of the ox, jumping ahead at the last minute to win the race.

Born in the Year of the Ox

People born in the year of a particular animal are said to share characteristics with that animal. Individuals born during the Year of the Ox are said to be hardworking, tolerant, and persistent. They are also thought of as strong and sometimes a bit stubborn. A sampling of noteworthy individuals born in the Year of the Ox include Diana, Princess of Wales; President-elect Barack Obama; former President Richard Nixon; former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher; artist Vincent Van Gogh; singer Bruce Springsteen; boxer Oscar De La Hoya; and actors George Clooney, Bill Cosby, Jane Fonda, Morgan Freeman, Richard Gere and Dustin Hoffman.

Date of Issue : 5 January 2009

20th Century Lunar New Year Calendar: Year of the Ox

Feb. 19, 1901 to Feb. 7, 1902

Feb. 6, 1913 to Jan. 25, 1914

Jan. 25, 1925 to Feb. 12, 1926

Feb. 11, 1937 to Jan. 30, 1938

Jan. 29, 1949 to Feb. 16, 1950

Feb. 15, 1961 to Feb. 4, 1962

Feb. 3, 1973 to Jan. 22, 1974

Feb. 20, 1985 to Feb. 8, 1986

Feb. 7, 1997 to Jan. 27, 1998

The lunar new year is celebrated primarily by people of Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Tibetan and Mongolian heritage in many parts of the world. Parades, parties, and other special events are common. Images associated with some of these widespread customs are depicted in the Celebrating Lunar New Year series.

The occasion is marked in various ways across many cultures. Dancers wearing a lion head such as the one depicted in the US stamp art, often made of papier-mâché and bamboo, perform for delighted crowds. Lucky foods are eaten — pork sausage with cabbage is one example — and loud noises from firecrackers and drums are used to scare off evil spirits and welcome this time of renewed hope for the future. Festive lanterns — in red, for luck — are common decorations at such celebrations, where they are frequently hung in rows. Lanterns were depicted on the stamp issued in 2008 for the Year of the Rat.

Date of Issue : 8 January 2009

Australia issues stamps, minisheet and zodiac sheetlet. The minisheet depicts Laozi, a prominent thinker in ancient China. A native of Chu, a southern state in the Zhou dynasty, he served as a keeper of archival records at the court.