Year of the Rooster!
A Silver-laced Wyandotte rooster. Photo Credit: By ripperda – wyandotte haan, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10682244
According to the Lunar calendar, January 28th will mark the new year – the Year of the Rooster. Poultry is a popular livestock choice in Nebraska and those of us at the museum felt this is a great opportunity to showcase the rooster and its role in the Lunar New Year.
This year is more than just the year of the rooster, but it’s the year of the fire rooster. There are twelve animals in the zodiac and five elements (metal, wood, earth, fire and water). The rooster is 10th in this cycle. Each zodiac year is associated with one of the five elements. The five elements and the 12 years create a sixty year cycle, so the last year of the fire rooster was in 1957.
While the Lunar New Year is sometimes referred to as the Chinese New Year, many other countries in East Asia also celebrate this event. As people from these areas have immigrated to the United States, these beliefs have followed – even into Nebraska.
We invite you all to come learn about the Lunar New Year Roosters! Lobby display will be up starting next week into late February. If you like our display, then you’ll love our chicken game in the Main Exhibit Hall!