4704, Year of the Dog (#57; Topic K)

Sunday, January 29, 2006, marks the 4704th New Year's Day according to the lunar calendar; it is the Year of the Dog. On that day, every one's age is incremented by 1. From that day onward to the eve of the next lunar New Year's Day, a new-born baby is a Dog-year person, or, simply, a Dog. The Chinese zodiac, 12 in number, repeats itself every 12 years; thus, any one born in 2006, 1994, 1982, 1970, 1958, 1946, 1934, 1922, 1910, is a Dog-year person. While it is considered impolite to ask about a person's age in USA, this is not taken so seriously in China. In any case, in China, there is a euphemistic way of getting the needed information. One simply asks: To which animal do you belong? When one answers: "I am a Dog," that person, if a pre-teen, was born in 1994; if a senior in college, in 1982; if a young professional, in 1970, etc. This is comparable to one's asking, in USA: In which year did you graduate from high school? The US approach, however, is less precise -- one may skip a year, another may have left school before graduation, etc. The 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac are ranked. So, it is easy to figure out whether A is older than B by simply asking for the animal to which each belongs. A couple of days ago, at a year-end banquet for retirees of Chinese ancestry, sitting two seats to my right is a Rabbit, which ranks just above the Dragon (I am one); thus, he is a year older than I; sitting two seats to my left is a Snake, which ranks just below the Dragon; thus, he is a year younger than I -- we are, as of yesterday, 80, 79, and 78 years old, respectively, according to the lunar calendar.
Posted 11:15 pm, Monday, January 30, 2006