» 01/20/2012 16:19 ASIA Year of the Dragon: many newborns and political changes by Wang Zhicheng A boom in births anticipated in the Chinese world. Doubts about presidential elections in the U.S., France and Russia. Silence on the changes at the top in China. The growing engagement of civil society against totalitarianism. The Chinese dragon is similar to an angel or an archangel in Christian tradition.
Beijing (AsiaNews) - On 23 January next the Far East is celebrating the start of the Year of the Dragon. Along with China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, Vietnam, Japan, Korea, Singapore and Chinese communities all around the world, from New York to Toronto, from Melbourne to Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia will celebrate....
The Dragon is the luckiest sign in the Chinese zodiac because it is the only mythological animal of the 12 signs (the others are all earthly animals: rooster, snake, rabbit, etc ...). This makes it a powerful celestial sign, which brings wealth, virtue, harmony and longevity. It is not by chance that the dragon has always been the symbol of the Emperor and the Chinese are known as "the sons of the dragon."
Chinese astrologers and their predictions have been fighting for some time against the Mayan predictions, which for 2012 foresee - no one knows how - the end of the world. For Eastern futurists, however, this year will fix the troubles of the past years in the spheres of economics and love.
2012 is a year of the "water" Dragon (the influence of one of the 5 original elements). Another similar year was 1952, when Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, Singapore Premier Lee Hsien Loong, the tennis player Jimmy Connors were born. Other "dragons" are the famous actor and martial artist Bruce Lee and the leader Deng Xiaoping.
That, and the promise of happiness and wealth was enough to stir in much of the Chinese world to "rush" to have a child in the year of the Dragon! In China, experts are already predicting a 5% increase in births - even with the heavy limitations of the one-child law - and a 27% growth in sales of diapers. In Hong Kong 70% of households would like a child this year, similar percentages in Korea, Japan and Vietnam. In Taiwan and Singapore a 20-30% jump in births is expected, two countries which have among the lowest birth rates in the world (0.9 and 1.13).
Also according to Chinese astrologers, the Dragon leads to rapid changes. This year there will be elections in the U.S. (with Obama running for the possibility of another term), Russia (Vladimir Putin's controversial presidential candidacy) in France (with a serious risk for Sarkozy) and there will be political changes in China, with the resignation of President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao. Interestingly, Chinese astrologers stretch to see a difficult future for Obama, Putin, Sarkozy, but say nothing about the future of China!
Almost on the eve of the Chinese New Year, Wen Jiabao has reiterated that his country still needed "political reform" and that leaders must listen to the population. Will the Year of the Dragon usher in democratic change in China? Maybe not. The skeptics say that Wen is trying to be remembered in history for something positive after 8 years of enslavement of the people under the corruption and totalitarianism of the party.
One thing is certain: this year will see civil society struggle even more in China to defend their rights against the excessive power of the economic and political oligarchy and that the Party will continue its policy of arrests of dissidents, lawyers, bishops and religious figures to avoid any "Arab Spring" made-in-China.
Finally, the Christians. The previous year of the Dragon was the Jubilee of 2000, which marked a revival of religion and faith in the world and in China. Nausea of materialism and the witness of Christians has produced much fruit, even if the government is trying in every possible way to divide the churches and communities.
Despite what many think, the Dragon is on the Christians side. It is true that in the Apocalypse the dragon tries to devour the child of the Woman (Revelation 12: 1-10), but the Chinese dragon is the not dragon of the West. In China, the dragon is one of the sources of the universe’s energy and the swift messenger of the Lord of Heaven. "Translated" into Western culture, a dragon would be closer to a guardian angel or an archangel, and therefore, the Chinese dragon works for the children of the dragon, but also for the Church!
