Our Year of the Dragon

On the way to school yesterday, my middle grandson reminded me that soon it was going to be Chinese New Year. It was time to open the windows to let the old year get away. In our households, this means that numerous small red envelopes will begin surfacing, with two crisp new bills tucked into each. The boys will be the beneficiaries of this tradition and look forward to this each and every year. This is of particular interest to middle grandson, though, as he was born in The Year of the Dragon, a status he wears proudly. He was given a golden dragon charm when he was only a toddler, which he wears round his neck on a gold chain, and has dragon symbols all over his room. He loves being a Dragon.

Honoring Pigs and Roosters, Too

I am a Pig. When I first came into the family, there was much support for my inclusion – the family, it seems, needed another Pig. I was unsure how to receive this information since there is so much disrespect and misunderstanding of this animal. Pigs, it seems, are symbols of fidelity, honesty, and are symbols of peace and harmony; they are said to be the best friends around. Oldest grandson is also a Pig.

Youngest grandson is a Chicken or Rooster. Chickens are wonderful, civilized, gentle animals with a fierce protectiveness and display great bravery, but they are possibly even more mistreated in the real world than fellow beings, the pigs. Youngest grandson would prefer to be a Dragon and does not wear his gold chicken charm. His room sports no Rooster symbols, even though Roosters are believed to be handsome, independent, with the ability to exorcise evil spirits. One of his smiles can certainly get rid of any personal demons I am carrying at any given time, but I cannot vouch for his other traits just yet. It is easy to feel underappreciated when you are a Chicken and your brother is a Dragon.

What Year of the Dragon Means

From Travel China Guide:

The dragon enjoys a very high reputation in Chinese culture. It is the token of authority, dignity, honor, success, luck, and capacity. In ancient China, a dragon was thought to speed across the sky with divine power. Emperors entitled themselves exclusively as ‘dragon’; their thrones were called ‘dragon thrones’, their clothes ‘dragon gowns’.

Chinese are expected to be particularly prolific in this year of power and wealth, believing that it will bless their families. In an era of ballooning human overpopulation, this is not good news for the environment or other animals– particularly since China is increasing their consumption of animal others. Following ancient traditions is a double-edged sword. While it is respectful of ancestors and generations, it may also keep people trapped into prejudice and irrational beliefs. I think of kindergartens, filled with children of perceived matching traits — what a prospect for their teacher!

I love being able to be part of this ancient tradition and enjoy the colorful imagery of animals, even a mythical animal like the dragon. But I will not be able to celebrate the Year of the Dragon fully until such a celebration is actually done with respect for the real animals of this world, the ones whose traits have been employed to represent human characteristics. I will celebrate when The Year of the Pig actually honors all pigs and when the Year of the Chicken honors chickens everywhere. And, when all those goodies prepared around the world to celebrate days like today will be vegan. Until then, as a Pig, I am going to do all I can to be an effective advocate for peace and harmony among all beings.

May The Year of the Dragon bring peace, prosperity and happiness to you and to all our fellow beings!

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Want to discover what your Chinese Zodiac sign is?

Here is a vegan Chinese Won Ton recipe to get you in the mood. And here is Vegan Dad’s version of the same. Need more? Here is Chow Vegan’s idea of a feast for Chinese New Year!

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Tags: Chinese New Year, year of the chicken, year of the dragon, year of the pig, year of the rooster

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 21st, 2012 at 9:51 am and is filed under Celebrations, Tradition. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.