In Dragon countries, Lichun (立春 /lee-chwnn/) means ‘Start of Spring’. The date of Lichun in 2022 is February 3rd. There are many traditions for this special day. Some of them have a history of more than 3,000 years!
Li-Chuen’s anthropological story … Li-Chuen comes from a complex story of historical significance.
One day the Japanese came to our house. I was twelve years old at the time. In those days the bathrooms had big tanks of water because we couldn’t waste water. My mother and I hid in our water tank. We kept our heads under the water, not breathing so that there were no bubbles.
Luckily they didn’t find us. I was too young to be terrified. My mother must have been. All my mother did was push my head down so that I didn’t resurface to breathe. This remained a big fear for me but in my case, at that time, I was small and I didn’t look my age. I looked younger. Quite a number of my friends weren’t so lucky.
Pek-Lin Chiew Wong - Oral History
4th February is Lichun, the day halfway between winter solstice and spring equinox in the northern hemisphere. Yes, spring is approaching even though it is still cold.
Historically in East Asia, the new moon day around Lichun was New Year’s Day. Lichun is also the beginning of the 24 solar terms (二十四節気), an East Asian calendar purely based on the location of the sun seen from the earth.
The 24 solar terms make a lot more sense than the Gregorian calendar year which starts from 1st January for no obvious reason. The location of the sun in the sky affects the life of us throughout the year via temperature, food availability, and landscape. The 24 solar term reminds us of this simple fact often forgotten in modern society.
Legend has it that a long time ago, mankind was ignorant, to the extent of not knowing how to count or tell apart the years. The ever-benevolent Jade Emperor wanted to help mankind out. From there, the idea of a 12-year cycle and naming each year of the cycle after an animal was born.
But how should the Jade Emperor choose 12 animals from among so many animals in the living world, while remaining impartial? To resolve this equitably, the Jade Emperor decided to hold a race involving all animals on his birthday. The first 12 animals to cross the river and reach the Heavenly Palace will have a year named after them, in the order of how they finished the race. The race became known as The Great Race and the 12-year cycle was named the Chinese Zodiac.
News of the Great Race soon reached every corner of the animal kingdom. Every animal harboured ambitions of making it into the final 12. Among them were the closest of friends, the Rat and the Cat. Unfortunately for them, both were small in stature and also did not know how to swim. After a brainstorming session, they decided to seek the help of the mild-mannered Ox, actually a water buffalo and therefore a strong swimmer, of carrying them across the fast-flowing river. The ever-affable Ox acceded to their request.
On the night before the race, the Cat reminded the Rat to wake it up in the morning, so that they may participate in the race together. Early morning on the Jade Emperor's birthday, the Rat was already wide-awake and pestering the groggy Cat to wake up. Tried as it might, the Cat remained unmoved. The Ox was fixated on achieving number one in the race and urged the Rat to forget about the Cat and get moving. So off they went.
As expected, the Ox was a very strong swimmer and made it across the river at a steady and brisk pace. Sprinting towards the finishing line, the honest Ox had clean forgotten about the Rat on its back. In fact, the adaptable Rat had spotted the opportunity and climbed quietly onto the Ox's head. At the moment as the Ox was about to cross the finishing line, the Rat took a great leap off the Ox's forehead and stole first place. The hapless Ox could only settle for second.
Shortly after the Ox, the confident Tiger, still drenched from the swim, leapt across the finishing line to claim third. It was not as strong a swimmer as the Ox and struggled slightly with the strong currents of the river. It nonetheless made it across on its own power.
Next came the Rabbit, as it bounded across the finishing line for fourth. When asked by Jade Emperor how it managed such a great feat, the tactful Rabbit explained it employed the strategy of hopping from rock to rock. Halfway across, the alert Rabbit spotted a floating log drifting by and grabbed onto it for its dear life. The log drifted fortuitously and speedily towards the opposite bank and that was how the Rabbit completed the race.
Just as the Rabbit completed its story, the powerful Dragon descended from the skies to claim fifth. The Jade Emperor was naturally perplexed as to how the Dragon, which can soar through the skies, not finished the race first. The Dragon explained that it had to complete its duty of bringing rain to the people before embarking on the race. As it was flying across the river, the magnanimous Dragon spotted the Rabbit struggling with a log and did the good deed of blowing it to the opposite bank. The Jade Emperor was most pleased with the Dragon's acts of kindness.
After a short wait, galloping and neighing could be heard. The dynamic Horse came into view and was making a beeline for the finishing line. Unbeknownst to the Horse, the Snake was coiled around one of its hooves. Just as the Horse was about to make for the finishing line, the intuitive Snake uncoiled and launched itself in front of the Horse. This caused the Horse to rear and fall back in fright, while the Snake slithered calmly across the finishing line to claim sixth. The zealous Horse, after recovering, could only make seventh.
Next came a rowdy trio, made up of the Goat, Monkey and Rooster. The observant Rooster had spotted a wooden raft along the river bank and pointed it out to its friends, the Goat and Monkey. The amicable Goat followed the quick-witted Monkey to clear the reeds around raft and all three climbed aboard. With the Rooster providing directions, the Goat and Monkey rowed the raft across the river. The Jade Emperor approved of their teamwork and named the Goat eighth, the Monkey ninth and the Rooster tenth.
The next arrival was the Dog. It scampered over the finishing line and was relieved to find it had made it into the 12. The loyal Dog admitted to being a good swimmer but had played along shallows of the river bank for a little too long. Upon realising the time, it swam across with all its might to find itself finishing eleventh.
It was late in the day before the last to make it into the 12 arrived. It turned out to be the Pig. Partway through the race, the generous Pig had indulged itself in a sizable snack and an after-meal nap. Nonetheless, the Pig was pleasantly surprised to find itself in the top 12 and in the Chinese Zodiac.
Just as the Jade Emperor declared the final results and a close to the day's proceedings, the careless Cat huffed its way across the finishing line. It immediately enquired about the position it finished in. The Jade Emperor shook his head gravely and informed the Cat that it was too late and had not made it into the top 12. Extremely angered by the result, the Cat turned on the Rat with its sharp claws, accusing it of not waking the Cat up for the race, as promised. The Rat immediately scurried away to save its own life.
As a result of this little drama, though the Rat made it into first place in the Chinese Zodiac, it would spend most of its time hiding from the Cat, in dark holes or ceiling beams, and fearing the Cat's vengeance.
Chinese Legends of Zodiacs & Dragons 🐉