Chinese New Year 10-year cycle of heavenly stems. Each of the ten heavenly stems is associated with one of the five elements of Chinese astrology, namely: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. The elements are rotated every two years while a yin and yang association alternates every year. The elements are thus distinguished: Yang Wood, Yin Wood, Yang Fire, Yin Fire, etc. These produce a combined cycle that repeats every 60 years. For example, the year of the Yang Fire Rat occurred in 1936 and in 1996, 60 years apart. Many people inaccurately calculate their Chinese birth-year by converting it from their Gregorian
Chinese New Year more important than the first day of the Chinese New Year. Come midnight of the eighth day of the new year, Hokkiens will offer thanks to the Emperor of Heaven. A prominent requisite offering is sugarcane. Legend holds that the Hokkien were spared from a massacre by Japanese pirates by hiding in a sugarcane plantation during the eighth and ninth days of the Chinese New Year, coinciding with the Jade Emperor's birthday. Since "sugarcane" (Hokkien: "甘蔗 kam-chià") is a near homonym to "thank you" (Hokkien: "感謝 kám-siā") in the Hokkien dialect, Hokkiens offer sugarcane on the eve of his birthday,