If you’ve already broken 9 of those 10 resolutions that you made on Jan. 1, you have another opportunity to make them again.
Chinese New Year, also known as the Lunar New Year, is celebrated by over a billion people across the world.
The start of the new year varies according to when the sun hits a position in the sky each year. This also signifies the start of Spring and a new lease on life. Jan. 23 marked the start of the new lunar year, the year of the dragon.
The Chinese zodiac follows a twelve year cycle, with each year represented by a different animal. In Chinese mythology, the dragon is the most powerful animal, symbolizing both strength and wisdom. In ancient times, the dragon was the symbol of the emperor, and only he and his sons could wear closing emblazoned with the animal.
Liu Yu, a visiting faculty with the Chinese Flagship Program, said because China is an agricultural country, wind, and water have always been sacred, and people have always hoped that there will be no floods or hurricanes.
“The Chinese people thought of a power that would overcome these natural disasters,” Liu said. “This power was the dragon that they hoped would help them overcome disasters.”
Dragons have long been in Chinese culture and history and cave drawings have been found that date back to the Neolithic period.
Wang Shu Pei, professor of Chinese Language and Literature explained that Chinese tradition says Chinese people are the descendants of dragons. The old Chinese clans used dragons as their symbol.
“The Han Chinese, ancestors of the modern-day Chinese, fought with different clans and won the war,” Wang said. “So dragons perpetuated in their own dynasty, and their traditions spread out.”
The Chinese dragon is described as such: legs of a deer, head of a camel, eyes of a rabbit, neck like a snake, scales of a fish, claws of an eagle and ears like a cow’s.
David Honey, professor of Chinese, said the Chinese believe the dragon is the most power of all animals, which is why the emperor’s symbol was the dragon. His throne was also known as “The Throne of the Dragon.”
“The dragon is not sinister like in western culture. A lot of Chinese parents plan their births to be in this year, so that their children can become like dragons,” he said. “Not that they want them to be royalty, but they want them to be powerful in whatever field their in.”
Chinese idioms state while the Chinese hope their daughters become like a phoenix, they hope their sons become dragons.
This year, the year of the dragon starts in the spring of 2012 when compared to the Gregorian calender. This implies more prosperity this year because spring symbolizes a new lease on life. Dragons are at the center of everything in Chinese culture.
- Oracle bones, which were used to help people make decisions and predict the future were called dragon bones.
- Ever heard of feng shui? Chinese geomancy is built on the theory that the world is built on dragons. If you build on the head of a dragon, you’d better move or it’s bad luck.
- Don’t pound the ground too much, or you might hurt the back of a dragon and end up with an earthquake under your feet.
