[ **up: [[Chinese calendar]]** ] --- # Blind Year (Chinese calendar) A Blind Year is when the [[Lunar New Year]] and [[Lichun]] (the traditional start of Spring) don’t line up in a favourable way… leaving you a year which, technically, *does not have a Lichun* (Spring).[^1] A year without Lichun (Spring) = a year lacking in yang energy. > \[It] is considered unlucky for marriage due to the absence of the … solar term, symbolizing a lack of masculine energy.[^2] > The name comes from Chinese beliefs that a year in which the “Spring Start Festival” has not been held, is called a “Blind Year,” or a “Year of the Widow.”[^3] The connection between widowhood and the Blind Year is, of course, the perceived *lack of masculine energy* (…like a wife facing the early loss of her husband). --- 2024, for example, was a Blind Year. Many people in China rushed to marry prior to the Lunar New Year, to avoid this.[^3] [^1]: Mandy Zuo, ‘As China’s “Year of the Widow” threatens marriage rate, can “dragon babies” boost births?’, *South China Morning Post*, 4 February 2024, https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3250753/chinas-year-widow-threatens-marriage-rate-can-dragon-babies-boost-births. [^2]: ‘Explainer: What is a “Widow Year” and why some Chinese are wary about it’, 3 February 2024, *The Times of India*, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/china/explainer-what-is-a-widow-year-and-why-some-chinese-are-wary-about-it/articleshow/107380653.cms. [^3]: Renato Marques, ‘“Blind Year” Will Be Hindering Wedding Organizers Businesses This Year’, 25 March 2024, https://macaudailytimes.com.mo/blind-year-will-be-hindering-wedding-organizers-businesses-this-year.html.