Happy Chinese New Year!

I can't believe I almost forgot, Happy Year of the Dragon! Six is a really lucky number in Chinese culture, so parents always give their kids some money amount that includes the number 6, i.e., $66, in a red envelope and kids are supposed to sleep with it under their pillows for good luck and a good year. The dragon is one of the most desirable zodiac animals to be, as far as I can tell... probably because the dragon is one of the favorite animals of the Chinese. Since Chinese New Year follows the Lunar calendar, it's different every year, but usually falls around the beginning of February, so I was just on the cusp of being a dragon, but instead, I'm a snake.

According to Wikipedia, the dragon is the 5th animal of the zodiac:


Dragon – 龍 / 龙 (辰) (Yang, 1st Trine, Fixed Element Wood): Magnanimous, stately, vigorous, strong, self-assured, proud, noble, direct, dignified, eccentric, intellectual, fiery, passionate, decisive, pioneering, artistic, generous, loyal. Can be tactless, arrogant, imperious, tyrannical, demanding, intolerant, dogmatic, violent, impetuous, brash.

and snake is the 6th:

Snake – 蛇 (巳) (Yin, 2nd Trine, Fixed Element Fire): Deep thinker, wise, mystic, graceful, soft-spoken, sensual, creative, prudent, shrewd, elegant, cautious, responsible, calm, strong, constant, purposeful. Can be loner, bad communicator, possessive, hedonistic, self-doubting, distrustful, mendacious, suffocating, cold.


It's important to note that each animal has its positive and negative qualities. Although I've never heard about this, Wikipedia also says that each hour of the day is represented by an animal (24 hours, each animal covers two hours). This is supposed to represent your truest nature. Mine is Dragon (I was born at 7:30 AM).

I will have to ask my parents about that one, because I've really never heard of that custom. They also haven't mentioned Yin/Yang to me before, so I don't know significant that actually is in modern-day culture either. However, there are many traditions related to animals of the zodiac. For example, females who are tigers are not allowed to attend weddings because it brings bad luck to the couple. I remember that when I was a kid and my aunt and uncle got married, one of my cousins, who is a Tiger, was not allowed to attend. The adults didn't portray it like that back then and even tried to play it off, by also giving her a flower girl dress and getting her hair done, but it was later explained to me that she wasn't allowed to come, much less be a part of the wedding, because of her zodiac sign. My family never seemed very superstitious to me, so it seemed strange, but I suppose some superstitions aren't worth the risk!

The origin story of the animals is also interesting- they participated in a Great Race and had to cross a river- their final placement in the race determined their numbers. Interestingly, the snake rode on the horse and jumped off at the last second, scaring the horse, who finished 7th, after the 6th place snake. (This is interesting to me because my brother is a horse and I am a snake). The cat, who had ridden on the Ox with the Rat, finished in 13th place and did not make the Zodiac because the Rat pushed the Cat into the river at the last moment. What's your Zodiac sign? For me, growing up, knowing your zodiac animal was the same as knowing your birthday. Very strange not to know it!

This reminds me that I've been wanting to visit China for awhile. I always go to Taiwan and had never wanted to stop by China before, but discussed it with some family friends who visited recently and am totally interested in the idea now. I really want to see Heaven's Stairs, pictured above. But to me, the big opening "to heaven" just looks like Taiwan. (Insert political commentary? Nah.)