I read an interesting article today by Didi Kirsten Tatlow titled "China Braces for Turbulent Year." This is the Year of the Dragon, starting January 23, and apparently Chinese people get a little anxious during this part of the astrological calendar. Part of this anxiety comes from the fact that Dragon years are often characterized by change. This fall China will select new leaders and apparently their is a lot of infighting to determine who will get the nod. Tatlow points out that this would be "only the fourth leadership change since the Communist Party seized power in 1949." Tatlow also notes that there is a lot of Chinese apprehension regarding the domestic and global economy. Other Dragon years have seen changes like the deaths of Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, and Zhu De, the fall of the Gang of Four, and a deadly earthquake in northern China (1976). Sometimes Dragon years are turning points that forecast things to come in China, like Tiananmen Square in 1989, and sometimes events happen in other parts of the world, like 9/11 (2000). Still, the domestic economy and political uncertainty are enough to make many Chinese uneasy. Tatlow previews many of the upcoming political changes. "China will get a new president, a new prime minister and a new head of the legislature, as well as scores of new military and provincial leaders. Seven of the nine members of the Politburo Standing Committee, the inner circle of power, will step down." I was intrigued by the parallel between the zodiac cycle and significant events in the Year of the Dragon. I was thinking it might be a neat idea to have my students come up with significant events that happened during their zodiac cycle and compare them to things happening in Asia at the same time. We'll see how it goes.
edited by straylor on 1/12/2012
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