The legend of the golden pig

Happy New Year, everyone! Last Sunday was the start of Chinese New Year. This is the year of the golden pig...or is it? (More on this later.) Sadly, I have to admit that I know very little about my culture. I was born in Hong Kong, but was raised in America since the age of five. As a kid, I hated being Asian. The other kids made fun of the clothes I wore, the language I spoke, and the food I ate. For the last time, I have never eaten dog meat. No, I’m not related to the other Asian kid in class. Nope, I don’t know kung fu either.

It wasn’t easy growing up Chinese in a Caucasian world. As a kid, I didn’t want to know about my culture. Now that I’m a parent, I want to know about China — it’s customs and history. And I want my kids to know too. That’s why I wrote this post. It’s not about being a dad; it’s about my research on something I want to share with my kids. I think you might find it interesting too, so read on.

This is supposed to be the year of the golden pig. The golden pig only occurs once every 60 years. However, if you factor in the principles of ying and yang (I admit it, I don’t understand this part), this is a super lucky golden pig year — one that occurs only once in 600 years. As a result, having a baby this year is considered very lucky.

But according to my research, this year is actually the year of the fire pig. At first, I thought golden pig and fire pig meant the same thing. Kinda like using the word boar or hog instead of pig. But golden pig and fire pig are not the same thing.

For those of you who don’t know, the Chinese lunar year is associated with one of 12 animals (rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig). In addition, each lunar year is associated with one of five elements (metal, wood, water, fire, and earth). As a result, there are 60 possible combinations in the Chinese lunar cycle, which repeats every 60 years. Last year was the year of the fire dog. This year it’s the year of the fire pig, not the year of the metal (gold) pig. The last golden (metal) pig year was in 1971 and the next one will be in 2031.

So, why are there so many people calling this the year of the golden pig? There are several reasons for this. First, fire is associated with the colors red and yellow. In Chinese culture, red also means wealth. Hence, a fire pig is a red pig, which in turn could be interpreted as a golden pig (wealth). In addition, gold is yellowish in color.

There’s also a theory that involves the Korean government. According to this theory, the Korean government is calling this the year of the super lucky golden pig to encourage people to have babies. South Korea has one of the world’s lowest birth rates. Unless families have more babies, the population in South Korea is expected to decline in the future.

Finally, there’s marketing. Guess which is easier to market, the fire pig or the golden pig? That’s right, the golden pig. It’s much easier to sell products and services associated with wealth and gold than products related to fire. This marketing emphasis isn’t limited to just the states. It applies to China as well. Even though China is still a communist country, it has become much more market driven.

So, there you have it. The legend of the golden pig is just that, a legend (at least for this year).