Chinese year
officially begins on the first day of the
first lunar month, but the actual
commencement of a Chinese new year is the
Start of Spring (立春), the day when the sun enters
the 315 degree on the tropical zodiac, and
the season greets the first of the
twenty-four calendrical solar terms.
The frosty
season, startinging since the winter
solstice, is divided into nine sections in
Chinese calendar, each consisted of nine
days, with 81 cold days in total. The Start
of Spring happens to be on the first day of
the sixth section.
Usually the
SOS appears a few days after the Chinese New
Year’s Day, like the Year of the Dog 2006;
but occasionally it goes other way round, and
the Year of the Pig 2007 is just such a year.
So despite the Chinese New Year’s Day is
yet to come on 18 February, the Piggy has
already been here with us since February 4th,
at 1:18 pm to be precise.
Ancient
Chinese used to hold a state-sponsored prayer
ritual to honour the actual commencement of
the year since that was, and still is, viewed
as the most important seasonal turning point.
From that day on, the temperature in most
part of China begins to rise, and the earth
in the middle and low reaches of the Yellow
River, the cradle of Chinese culture and the
birth place of Chinese calendar, starts to
defrost; although given the vast size of
China, in the up north that includes Beijing,
the tangible signs of spring can not be
detected until March (lunar February), while
in the semitropical southern tips like
Guangdong and Hainan, talking about the start
of spring might seem a bit meaningless as the
winter never truly descends there.
The earliest
written reference to the SOS ritual, found in
the Yinxu burial site, dates back 3000 years
in the classic golden age of the Zhou
Dynasty. It started by the emperor fasting
for three days prior to the occasion, then on
that very day he would lead his court
officials marching eastward eight lis
(four kilometres) out of the capital city to
personally welcome the arrival of the spring,
and to negotiate a joint effort of making the
coming year a prosperous one.
During the Han
Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD), the Start of
Spring became a nationwide social event, with
ploughing ox receiving a VIP status and being
the central theme of the whole festivity. A
young man with a build as robust as a bull
would be chosen to play the roll of the
Spirit of Spring (芒神); wielding a willow
branch that by the time of SOS had a colour
of tender gold and quality of silk floss, he
would parade alongside the sculpture of the
VIP ox. In later days, this elaborate ritual
was replaced by a less theatrical
performance: hanging a painting that depictes
a ploughing ox driven down the farmland by a
boy cowherd. This kind of painting is still
quite popular until this day and can be found
in most Chinese calendar books published
every year.
On February 4
this year, the attempts to observe the SOS
rituals were made by some people in China. In
Beijing, for instance, a group of college
students wearing the flowing Han-style robe
flied kites in the Purple Bamboo Park - a
time-honoured way of sensing the first breath
of spring. Coincidentally - or not
coincidentally at all – the temperature in
most part of China did soar considerably on
the day, with 16 degree C recorded in
Shanghai and 20C reported in Changsha.
Pig is chiefly
a Yin Water agent (癸), but also contains
traces of Yang Water ren (壬) and Yang Wood jia (甲). As Yin Water sigh, the Pig is
succeeded by Yang Water sign Rat, and Yin
Earth sign Ox that functions as the storage
or tomb for Metal signs, which makes the Pig
Year the turning point from the three-year
Metal circle, formed by Monkey (2004),
Rooster (2005) and Dog (2006), to the
three-year Water circle that includes Pig
(2007), Rat (2008) and Ox (2009).
Year 2006 bingshu
(丙戌)is a Yang Fire Dog
year
(Heavenly Stem bing for Yang Fire
and Earthly Branch shu for Dog). As
Dog is the firehouse in the Five Agents, bingshu
year virtually turned the world into a
giant oven and everything is getting hotter
and burning, from gunfire, bushfire to
soaring temperature. It is also believed that
the rapid development and wide usage of
computer/internet/mobile phone do not help
the matter but further reinforce the power of
the Fire.
The Pig Year
2007 has the Heavenly Stem ding (丁), which is Yin Fire,
and the Earthly Branch hai (亥), which is Yin Water,
and that practically puts the Heaven and
Earth on a direct collision course. In the
first half of the year, mainly governed by
the Heavenly Stem, the effect of the Fire
could get even more potent. Being Yin Fire, ding
may not burn your house down as open
Yang Fire (such as bushfire) might do, but a
slow-baking internal fire (such as fever) can
generate truly poisonous atmosphere.
When Water
meets Fire, usually it is the Water that puts
out or subdues the Fire; and when the Fire is
on the top and the Water below, it often
means that the forces at lower positions will
give the forces occupying higher positions a
real hard time. Bearing this in mind when
reflecting the world affairs, you may feel it
is not too far off the mark to predict that
we are going to see increased incidents of
disadvantaged and/or suppressed individuals,
groups or nations taking more initiatives
against their oppressors; and those
privileged and/or powerful individuals,
groups or nations, though trying hard to hold
their ground, may eventually have to
recognise that they can no longer take
everything for granted.
But just as
the situation seemingly couldn’t get any
hotter and messy, a refreshing breeze would
come to cool the burning air. When the Yang
Water ren in the Earthly Branch
encounters the Yin Fire ding in the
Heavenly stem, which is to occur in the
second half of the year, a new energy with
Wood trait will emerge, acting as the
mediator between the Water and the Fire, with
a potential to turn a destructive
relationship into a nurturing liaison,
transforming conflict into harmony.
Year of the
Pig is generally viewed as auspicious and
prosperous, and it is said that when you bump
into the Pig you run into fortune (逢猪必发). The Pig Year 2007 is
particularly fortunate in the eye of many
Chinese, for being, rather mysterously, a Golden
Pig year - a wonderful year
like this one may only have a chance to
encounter once in a lifetime since it turns
up every sixty years. When the Golden Pig
showed up last time in 1947, as some Chinese
experts like to point out, it was the year
when the United States came out of the Great
Depression. Some oracle men further forecast
a boom in gold-related businesses, such as
jewellery, finance, banking, stock market and
insurance.
The Pig is
also one of four zodiacs** that ride a Fortune Horse (驿马), which is a big plus
for activities or businesses that require a
lot of movement, and that is why some masters
anticipate that anything to do with martial
arts, sports, transportation and tourism
shall expect a smooth run in 2007.
And of course,
it will be, as many Chinese believe or hope
or wish or aspire, a year of the golden
piglets, and the piglet-boom will,
understandably, present a golden opportunity
for all baby-related business ventures.
So, welcome to
the Year of Piggy! May you be as happy and
prosperous as the piggy deserves to be!
* Fire Pig
Year 2007 is also year 4704 in Chinese
calendar, counting from the year when the
Yellow Emperor, the founder of the Chinese
nation, ascended the throne in 2697 B.C.
** Four
zodiacs with a Fortune Horse are: Tiger,
Snake, Monkey and Pig.
