The Galloping Horse

Peter Ma, UNOG Staff member

On the 12th this month, the Chinese horse will jump out of the starting gate and kick off the Lunar New Year. To be precise, 2002 is the 4699th Chinese year. It’s believed that the most famous tribe-chieftain in the Chinese history was Huang Di or the Yellow Emperor (Don’t mix him up with the commonly better-known first emperor, Qin Shi Huang who had the construction of Great Wall completed some 200 years before Christ showed up). His inauguration was reportedly held in the spring of 2697 B. C. The calendar of his time used the winter solstice day as the first day of the year. And the first winter solstice was sometime around December 23rd 2698 B. C. Today’s January 1st had no meaning at that time, so if some extra eight days in 2698 B. C. were counted for a year, then 2002 could be considered as the 4670th Chinese lunar year.

In China, the Lunar New Year, which always falls on between January 21 and February 21, is also called Spring Festival because it begins at the time when the new Moon is closest to Li Chun, the beginning of the spring.

While the solar year has about 365.25 days, the lunar one counts 354 days, some 11 days less, because a lunar month is about 29.5 days. For this reason, the Chinese New Year leaps 11 (sometimes 10 or 12) days earlier than the previous one. For example in 2000 the lunar year started on 5 February and that of 2001, on 24 January. However, if that would take the spring festival outside the 21/Jan- 21/Feb. ranges, a leap month will have to be added to help solve the problem. The leap month like a temporary staff comes irregularly and in any month but of course only when some requirements and the conditions are met. Fortunately neither budget nor approval is necessary. Leap month can obtain maximum one contract in a year but not every year. And because of this leap month Chinese New Year then jumps back 19 (sometimes 18) days later than the previous one. Anyway leap or jump, the Chinese New Year always remains within that range.

Normally, at the time of the New Year, a lunar year fortuneteller would like to predict what the New Year would bring to us. However, since the editor in chief in the January issue had his astrologer foretell us a very rosy picture ahead, no fortuneteller could do any better. Yet his astrologer perhaps because of his unawareness that the coming year is the year of horse, has forgotten one little detail that things or to be politically correct and to use a catchy word, reform will move a lot faster than usual since horse is capable of galloping. To illustrate this point, just one example will suffice. With the intended removal of all those harmless obstacles, such as those toothless APB, APC, ACDP and Departmental Panels, replaced by a very much enhanced, strengthened and awesome paper tiger, the Central Review Board (CRB), the promotion of those few more equals and privileged and the recruitment of friends and cousins will be put on a galloping horseback. So good luck and cheers to those who can elbow through, charm the line dictators and climb onto the horseback.