Monday 30 January 2012

DRAGON OR RABBIT BABIES?


I find it amusing to read newspaper reports of children born on or after the 23rd of January being referred to as Dragons.  A similar situation happened to my Aunt Linda (pictured with me above) who was born 30 January, 1936 which falls on the 7th day of the 1st lunar month.  She had assumed that she was born in the year of the Rat for 70 years and only realised that she was born in the year of the Pig as her birthdate was before February 4.  As far as people who are in Feng Shui and Chinese astrology savvy, the year of the Dragon only begins on February 4, 2012.
Here is another article about this confusion.

Year of the Dragon to only begin on Saturday, claim feng shui experts

NEWBORNS Jamie Kao, Tristan Chen and Louise Tan clinched bragging rights for being the first three Dragon babies born this year. Or did they?

Well, not according to the Wan Nian Li or Ten Thousand Years Calendar. This calendar is an invaluable reference book used by masters, practitioners and students of feng shui, bazi (four pillars of destiny), Chinese zi wei dou shu astrology (Purple Star), yi jing (I Ching) and Date Selection specialists.

The commonly held belief is that babies born on or after the first day of the Chinese New Year – which fell on Jan 23 – take after the zodiac animal of that new year.

But social worker Au Hoi Ting, in a letter to The Sunday Times, sought to shed more light on when a Dragon baby is actually a Dragon baby. Au, 29, said: “The Wan Nian Li says that the new year begins at the start of spring. This year, it falls on Feb 4.”

Other geomancers agreed. John Lok said the Chinese calendar was actually a combination of lunar and solar calendars, based on the 12 seasonal festivals.

Another geomancer, Adelina Pang, said: “In the study of feng shui, baziand astrology, we use the solar calendar. The first day, or li chun, varies each year. This year, the Dragon Year starts only on Feb 4 at 6.24pm.”

When interviewed, most Singa­poreans born on Chinese New Year took the information in their stride.

Housewife Mary Tan, 29, born on the second day of Chinese New Year, had always thought she was born in the Year of the Dog.

As revised, she should be a Roos­ter. “Now that explains why I am an early riser,” the former teacher said, laughing. — The Sunday Times / Asia News Network

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