It’s 2024! Happy new year! What better way to start than with a post about what Zodiac year is upon us? As stated in early reports, the next sign is the dragon, making 2024 the year of the dragon (辰年, tatsudoshi in Japanese). A mythical creature from lore, it is extremely popular in pop culture due to its strong symbolism of power. Let’s take a look at the dragon sign’s specifics, and how it was used in the past:
- Zodiac number: 5th sign
- Zodiac character: 辰
- Pronunciation: tatsu
- Animal/creature: dragon (竜/龍, ryū in Japanese)
- Direction: around south-east
- Time: Around 8 am / within the 2 hour period 7 am ~ 9 am
- Month: 3nd (based on the old calendar)
- Ying/Yang: yang (positive or light)
- Element: Wood (木)
The dragon is the 5th creature of the 12 Zodiac animals, and falls on the 5th year of the current Zodiac cycle (十二支, Jūnishi in Japanese). The Zodiac system played a significant role in Japan’s society in the past, both symbolically, systematically, and in practical applications. Today, this dependency is not as pronounced due to the modern direction driven by technology society is headed. However, classical rituals & practices such as the Zodiac calendar help keep these ancient lessons alive.
WHAT THE DRAGON SIGN REPRESENTS
Most people who are familiar with Chinese characters would write “龍” or “竜” to represent the dragon sign. However, in reality the character “辰” is the correct sign used in the Zodiac calendar. As mentioned in the other articles that are on the same topic here on Light in the Clouds, the only connection the Zodiac sign has with dragon is pronunciation; when the idea to make it more accessible to the common folks by having a particular creature represent each sign is when the dragon image started to be used.
So what is the actual meaning of this year’s sign? Let’s look at what the Chinese character “辰” actually means. The pronunciation of this sign is generally “tatsu” when related to the Zodiac, and its meaning is defined as something shaking or waving¹. This understanding comes from research from classical documents such as “Kansho Ritsurekishi” (漢書 律暦志), an ancient manuscript on Chinese Astrology. This connects with the overall theme of the Zodiac system and its imagery of the cycle of plants growing, where this sign represents a bud that is extending upward from its seed out through the ground, vibrating with life as it takes the shape of a plant.
A popular phrase describing this year used on Japanese sites is ”陽気が動いて、万物が振動しながら活力旺盛になって大きく成長する年”, which translates as “a year to grow healthy & prosper with vitality, as everything in life is blanketed in the flow of positive energy”². This goes hand-in-hand with what the tatsu character expresses for the new year.
FORTUNE FORECAST FOR 2024
Out of the 12 Zodiac animals, the dragon is a mythical creature that has abilities that are far more extraordinary. This plays a part in the type of energy forecast that goes into each dragon year. For this year, the energy of the dragon is positive. Due to this, it is predicted that good fortune awaits everyone in every endeavor they uptake, with positive results being evident with each step in the process.
Those of the dragon sign are viewed as energetic, powerful, and have great vitality³. These individuals are viewed to be destined to achieve great things, including being competent leaders. However, it is also stated that they have a short temper, and to cross individuals like these can bring unwanted trouble. A phrase that best describe this personality is “gekirin ni fureru” (逆鱗に触れる). Full interpretation is “do not touch the scales under the dragon’s throat, lest you want to face its wrath”. We can relate this to angering one’s boss, or a dangerous individual like a gangster, or even our parents. However, this year is viewed as an especially good year, so people of the dragon sign will be less prone to throwing fits.
ADDITIONAL SIDE TO THE ZODIAC YEAR
As mentioned in other articles, the Zodiac calendar isn’t only made up by the 12 Zodiac signs. Now let’s turn to the 10 Stems (十干, Jikkan in Japanese), which also plays a role in the Zodiac calendar. This time around we get “ki-no-e” (甲), which is a character that stands for “shell” or “hard covering”. A commonly used character, it’s usually associated with words that describe something hard and gives fortified protection, such as armor. For a seed, this fits perfectly as well.
There is another meaning for ki-no-e in relations to the auspicious nature of the Zodiac system. Here, it represents a seed, but not interpreted in its physical appearance. Instead, the idea of the seed represents growth, which perfectly aligns with the forecast of this year.
OLD DRAGON SAYINGS
The dragon symbolism is very strong in Asia. On a cultural level, its influence can be seen in almost all walks of life in the past, especially in conversations. It is not unusual to hear phrases and expressions of all types that make reference to this creature to communicate a concept. As one can imagine, there are plenty of interesting old sayings using the dragon in Japanese.
The following are a few examples of dragon-inspired old sayings. I will include the Japanese text and its literal description, followed by its interpreted meaning and further explanation.
・ Ryū no hige wo naderu (龍の鬚を撫でる, stroke a dragon’s whiskers)
MEANING: Don’t awaken the beast! Don’t go looking for trouble there.
Dragons are known as wise and powerful creatures. At the same time, they can easily come to a wrathful behavior if bothered. Touching their sacred hairs (to steal) is considered suicide; even just coming face to face is risky, as it’s advised to leave asap if possible. This old saying is to caution a person to refrain from doing something that will get them into trouble.
・Ryū no hige wo ari ga nerau (龍の鬚を蟻が狙う, an ant will seek the whiskers of a dragon)
MEANING: Those in a weaker position will take the risk to rise to a greater status
This phrase refers to when you want greater power to achieve a goal. It uses the idea of a dragon’s whiskers being special, and that anyone would seek it to gain great fortune, including a tiny ant. As an example, when an inferior person seeks to surpass a superior person.
・Ryū no agito no tama wo toru (龍の頷の珠を取る, steal the jeweled orb from the dragon’s territory)
MEANING: Getting involved in something very difficult
This is a phrase used when someone’s embarking on a risky/dangerous task. It’s similar to the first old phrase mentioned above, where one risks their life to obtain a valuable jeweled orb dragons are rumored to possess by trespassing into their lair. You can say it has the same usage as another popular phrase that incorporates the tiger⁴, the sworn rival of the dragon.
・Ryū gin sureba kumo okoru (龍吟ずれば雲起こる, when the dragon bellows, clouds stir up)
MEANING: When in need, you will attract the right people
An interesting one, this has a meaning of meeting the right people who will be beneficial to you. In a folklore-type example, it is like when a hero sets out on a journey, they have the tendency to run into like-minded people that will eventually join them. This is applicable to almost any type of scenarios, such as when starting a new business.
・Ryū no mizu wo euru gotoshi (龍の水を得る如し, like a dragon in water)
MEANING: Gaining more resources to accomplish greater things
Dragons are said to have a natural connection with water and its many forms in nature. This includes clouds, rivers, rain, and waterfalls. When a dragon is in its element, so to speak, it can demonstrate its power at greater folds. This phrase plays on the idea of gaining something to do even better. It can be anything that can grant an individual more success.
CONCLUSION
We end this article with a look at the start of the year. Here’s hoping that the 2024 forecast comes to fruition. There’s much history behind the lore of dragons, most of which couldn’t make it into this article. At a later date, there are plans to publish a few more articles related to the dragon theme, so look out for them.
1) Some things to point out is that this character is pretty old, and isn’t formally used that much outside of ancient practices like the Zodiac. While in older documentations, the idea of its meaning to shake or wave is evident, but nowadays this character is outdated and is not used in this manner. In modern dictionaries it is not unusual to see “dragon” as one of its meanings, which is based on its (limited) usage in present day.
On another note, “tatsu” is more of a Japanese phonetic. The Chinese phonetic is “shin” (chén in Pinyin), and is another way of reading this character. Since “tatsu” is another phonetic for “dragon” for both the more familiar Chinese characters “竜” and “龍”, this just makes it easier to connect this to the Zodiac character “辰”…at least in Japanese.
2) It must be stated again that this is just a prediction, one made a few months in advance before the New Year. In reality, we hope for a healthy and positive year, but we must also accept that there as already been fatal tragedies all around the world, where in some cases happened on New Years day.
3) There are more traits, but for this article I will focus on the ones that come up the most in relations to the Zodiac sign.
4) You can find it in the following post here.