“Poetry is like the dragon,” Zhao wrote, “when you see the head, you miss the tail, within the clouds you catch a glimpse of a claw or a scale.”
This might also be the case with the inner circle of China’s government, or with successful business leaders, but clearly the dragon is a creature of mystery and power, and that on the whole seems to be regarded as a desirable thing among women wishing to have children.
But what exactly does a Chinese dragon look like? According to legend it is something of a conglomeration of the animal kingdom: the eyes of a prawn (think District 9), the horns of a deer, the mouth of a ox, the nose of a dog, the whiskers of a catfish, the mane of a lion, the tail of a snake, the scales of a fish, and the claws of an eagle. It seems distinctly hard to imagine, and that of course might be the idea in the first place.
Looks are clearly not what really matters about the dragon in any case. It is colorful and playful, as represented in the dragon dance so popular during the New Year, but not really being part of the mundane world, it can easily ascend to heavenly heights after the fun and games are over. Much has already been made of the fact that Wang Lee-hom (王力宏) was born in the Year of the Dragon (1976). He has recorded his own (truly dreadful) version of Descendants of the Dragon and his career is currently making a credible leap toward international stardom. Wang is the poster child for this Year of the Dragon, and will doubtless be cursed by thousands of kids who never hit the big time.
The moral of the tale is: don’t get too hung up on the mythical beast that doesn’t look like anything you’ve ever seen. It’s one in a million who rise to the heavenly heights of super stardom, and for the rest, Year of the Dragon kids have still got to make their way in a very un-heavenly world.
Having put the dragon in perspective, the Taipei Times wishes all our readers, and everyone else, a very happy, prosperous and successful Year of the Dragon.
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