This month marks the start of the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese zodiac calendar.
On 23 January, the world will cease to be in the Year of the Rabbit and move on the bigger, badder dragon – specifically, the water dragon.
Hong Kong’s prominent feng shui master Raymond Lo explains that 2012’s Year of the Dragon is symbolised by two conflicting elements – with water sitting on top of earth.
In the Chinese zodiac, which runs in a 60-year cycle, five elements (wood, fire, earth, metal and water) are associated with each of the 12 animals (rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig) of the zodiac, so while there is a Year of the Dragon every 12 years, the water dragon only makes an appearance every 60 years.
“According to the cycle of birth and destruction, which governs the inter-relationship between the elements, earth is the destroyer of water and so they are on the destructive cycle and have [a] conflict relationship. This aspect is [the] same as the Year of [the] Rabbit in 2011, which is metal over wood, also conflicting elements,” says the feng shui master.
Master Lo says this means that 2012 won’t be a peaceful year, but will not be as violent as the previous metal wood years of 2011 and 2010.
Quakes
However, the Year of the Dragon is likely to bring more natural disasters, such as flooding and earthquakes, he says.
Dragon year earthquakes have included the second biggest earthquake on record of Richter Magnitude Scale 9.2, which happened in Alaska in 1964 (Year of the Wood Dragon), and a devastating earthquake in Tangshan, China that killed more than 250,000 people in 1976 (Year of the Fire Dragon).
The dragon is a potent symbol in Chinese culture. It was historically the symbol of the Emperor of China.
Those born in the Year of the Dragon are said to be innovative, enterprising, self-assured, brave, passionate, conceited and quick-tempered. They’re driven, unafraid of challenges and willing to take risks.
Famous people who have been born in the Year of the Dragon include Colin Farrell, Courtney Cox, Courtney Love, Isabella Rossellini, Reese Witherspoon, Sandra Bullock, Bing Crosby and Matt Damon.
Dancing in the street
Regular visitors to China or to the many Chinatowns around the world will be no stranger to “dragon dances”, where a large puppet dances around the street, usually accompanied by fireworks and Chinese crackers. However, what many think are dragon dances are actually lion dances.
How do you tell the difference? A lion puppet has only two people operating it, while a dragon needs a lot more manpower and several poles are needed to hold it aloft and to wind its way though the dance.
Eating
Chinese New Year, also known as Lunar New Year or the Spring Festival, is celebrated in China over a two-week period. It’s a time when many specialty dishes are served for good luck.
Whole chickens and fish are served during the Chinese New Year season to symbolise family togetherness, while noodles represent a long life (it’s considered bad luck to cut them), and the shapes of clams and spring rolls symbolise wealth.
Some foods, like tangerines and oranges, are passed out freely because their names sounds like luck and wealth in Chinese.
Pomelo is also popular at Chinese New Year because the Cantonese name for the fruit sounds similar to the word prosperity.
A favourite dish during Lunar New Year is steamed turnip cake, called “lo bak goh”, which tastes considerably better than it sounds as it contains a wealth of ingredients including dried shrimp, pork, Chinese sausage, mushroom, ginger, garlic and rice flour. The turnip in question is daikon or long radish.
And where would any good Chinese meal be without dumplings? During New Year celebrations, the ubiquitous dumpling or “jiao zi”, is known as “yuan bao” and is made of pork and cabbage wrapped in delicate dough, which is boiled, steamed or pan fried, and then served with vinegar and soy sauce. Yuan bao is an ancient ingot-shaped Chinese coin and eating the dumplings is supposed to be bring prosperity.
Whether you’re seeing in the Chinese New Year by eating lots of Chinese food, dancing with dragons or fearfully watching out for earthquakes, “Kung hei fat choi!”.
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