Spurred by a severe drought in Canton province and the California gold rush, there was a large migration of Chinese to western United States in the 1850s. The tradition associated with this Chinese holiday was celebrated with the arrival of these new immigrants.
Much of the tradition and celebration of this holiday follow the precepts of Taoism including the Yin and the Yang. These precepts mean balance in all thingsthe male and female, good and bad, life and death, etc. Noise and lights are used by Yang to oust evil spirits of Yin that have built up from the past year.
The Chinese calendar is a complex combination of mathematical and symbolic tradition. It dates back to the twenty-seventh century B.C.. It includes twelve animals arranged in order based the animal's finishing position in a legendary race. The animals are the rat, ox, tiger, hare, dragon, serpent, horse, ram, monkey, rooster, dog, and boar. Related are five basic elements including wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. From the Han Dynasty, the calendar was arranged into 60 year cycles (12 animals times 5 elements) each with 29 or 30 days and a catch up month every 30 months.
