Year of the Dragon!

January 23, 2012
by Floyd

International

Today is the first day of Chinese New Year 2012 and the corresponding zodiac animal is the Dragon, the Water Dragon specifically. Unlike western culture where we celebrate the New Year on January 1st with the dropping of the ball in Times Square, we celebrate the New Year depending of the lunar calendar.

My understanding of the folktale of the zodiac animals came from my grandmother’s stories she told me when I was little. Thousands of years ago, the Buddha decided to designate animals to the lunar calendar to help the farmers know when the best times to plant and harvest crops. He devised a huge race and invited all the animals throughout the land. The first 12 to cross the finish line would be given spot on the zodiac in the order of crossing. During the middle of the race, there was a long river which many of the animals could not cross, so they had to take time in traveling around the riverbed. Rat and Cat were best friends and decided to venture the race together. The cunning and devious Rat knew that Ox could ferry across the river with ease, so he asked Ox to help ferry Cat and him across the river in exchange for his clear sight and the cat’s sense of direction. Ox had poor vision, so he gladly obliged to ferry them across the river. In the middle of the river, Rat thought to himself that he wanted first place, but worried that Cat would be faster than him. So, being devious and knowing that Cat hated water, Rat pushed Cat into the river while Ox was oblivious due to his poor sight. When they reached land, Rat jumped off Ox and was the first to cross the finish line, following by the Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and finally, the Pig. When Cat finally reached the finish line, Buddha sadly told him that all the spots were taken already and that he would not be able to be part of the zodiac. Cat was furious and swore revenge on Rat, which is why cats are always out for the hunt for rats nowadays.

Happy Chinese New Year!

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