Powers of the Eastern New Year Dragon

By John Chan

Find out about the most revered Chinese symbol and its connection to the important events of the Chinese New Year.

Two things that have immense significance in Chinese culture are the images of the dragon and the event of the Chinese New Year. These things have been part of Chinese heritage for thousands of years and continue to have their presence up till today. Furthermore the two things have a deep interconnection between them.

The dragon is an integral part of Chinese culture. The westerners only happened to know about it through their explorations into martial art movies and Chinese art work. Whereas, for the Chinese, this dragon image stands for a immensely revered mythical creature that is prized for its beauty, uniqueness and spiritual abilities.

With due respect to the Chinese custom, firstly we must recognize the fact that the Chinese New Year does not coincide with the Western celebrations of the New Year. The cause behind this is that the western world follows the Gregorian solar calendar and the Chinese have always followed the lunar calendar. Thereby, the cycle of the moon decides the date on which Chinese New Year event is celebrated and this is completely on a different day from the Western New Year.

The New Year event is a magnificent time to be in China. People are high on festivity and enjoyment. As the ancient Chinese culture goes, these people associate animal symbols with the change of time and year. There are twelve animal signs in total which keep repeating after every twelfth year. So the sign of dragon comes into full force and fresh spirituality after the end of every twelfth year.

The dragon sign is supposed to be a symbolism of immense power. Moreover, the image of a dragon is mostly considered as a symbol of mystical power and anger. The anger of a dragon is always mysteriously justified and hence it signifies the correction of any mistake. So in this case, the angry dragon image is not evil but it plays a role of inspiration.

They say the streets have rights upon you. If you hang around on the streets and see some evil you then it is upon you to block it with your hands if you have the might. If you don't then at least make an attempt to stop it with your tongue. And if you cannot even do that then at least in your heart know that the act is evil and this is a very low level of trust.

The image of the fuming dragon seeks to repress the wrong doers. It does not represent wrong doing. Rather quite the opposite. The best of deeds is to avoid evil and discourage it while engaging in good deeds and encouraging them. Hence the Chinese New Year of the Dragon is all about bringing about a revolution through peaceful and festive means. - 30294

About the Author:

Sign Up for our Free Newsletter

Enter email address here