Guest guest Posted February 19, 2007 Report Share Posted February 19, 2007 The popular conception of the year of the Boar/Pig seems to be associating it with gold (metal). The California Lotto calendar-poster depicts pig images against golden coins. It's supposed to be a year of abundance, first metal-pig year in 69 years. All three of my (randomly selected/bought) books, and the current Wikipedia info on Chinese astrology all agree that it's a Ting-Hai year, yin orientation and Fire element. The native element for Boar/pig is water, which does associate with money (e.g. the fish tank near the cash register), but that seems a little stretched, and pertains to the pig-year every 12 years, not just across the 60-year cycle. I checked and double-checked this, as the first information I had was from a teacher, who said it's an earth-pig year. (Yet another correspondence system). Another recent bit of information is that a/some Taiwanese calendar system in fact correlates 2007 with the earth (tu) element. That might help to explain why the mainlanders are so big on the metal correspondence. (My step-daughter spent a week there in ShenYang and Beijing in January, and reports that public display of the pig-gold-money imagery is being played up there big time. That suggests governmental policy.) Anyone know where the discrepancy may arise? -- Version: 7.5.441 / Virus Database: 268.18.1/691 - Release 2/17/2007 5:06 PM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 19, 2007 Report Share Posted February 19, 2007 Hi Chris - There is an article in the Asia Times Online about this question. Here is a brief quote from the article and a link to it: >>>In Hong Kong too, a baby boom is expected. The number of newborn babies in this Year of the Pig could reach 73,000, more than 1% of the territory's total population of nearly 7 million. This may ease the worry about the continuous decrease of birth rate in the special administrative region (SAR). This lunar year, however, is fraught with an especially strong dose of astrological Viagra because it is believed to be the Year of the Golden Pig, which - depending on the astrologer you consult - comes once every 60 or 600 years. Either way, it's a rare pig. Or is it? Serious Hong Kong practitioners of the ancient art of feng shui, or geomancy, have debunked the notion that this is a golden year, writing it off as a commercial invention fostered by shopkeepers to boost business. The next golden pig year, they say, will not come around until 2031.<<< http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Chin a/IB17Ad02.html Happy New Year to all - Kim Blankenship < wrote: The popular conception of the year of the Boar/Pig seems to be associating it with gold (metal). The California Lotto calendar-poster depicts pig images against golden coins. It's supposed to be a year of abundance, first metal-pig year in 69 years. All three of my (randomly selected/bought) books, and the current Wikipedia info on Chinese astrology all agree that it's a Ting-Hai year, yin orientation and Fire element. The native element for Boar/pig is water, which does associate with money (e.g. the fish tank near the cash register), but that seems a little stretched, and pertains to the pig-year every 12 years, not just across the 60-year cycle. I checked and double-checked this, as the first information I had was from a teacher, who said it's an earth-pig year. (Yet another correspondence system). Another recent bit of information is that a/some Taiwanese calendar system in fact correlates 2007 with the earth (tu) element. That might help to explain why the mainlanders are so big on the metal correspondence. (My step-daughter spent a week there in ShenYang and Beijing in January, and reports that public display of the pig-gold-money imagery is being played up there big time. That suggests governmental policy.) Anyone know where the discrepancy may arise? -- Version: 7.5.441 / Virus Database: 268.18.1/691 - Release 2/17/2007 5:06 PM Access over 1 million songs - Music Unlimited. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 20, 2007 Report Share Posted February 20, 2007 see chinesepod <http://www.chinesepod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=11458#11458> forum for an explanation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 20, 2007 Report Share Posted February 20, 2007 Hi Chris, Here's what I've heard. It is indeed a Fire Pig year, but Fire Pig Year is also known as Golden Pig Year. Back in the early Tang dynasty Emperor Zhen Guan ruled over one of the most peaceful eras in the nation, and one year in particular, a Fire Pig Year, was especially prosperous and was called Gold Money Year (Jin Zhu Nian & #37329; & #29664; & #24180; & #65289; & #65292; which happens to be the same pronounciation as Gold Pig Year & #65288; & #37329; & #29482; & #24180; & #65289;. So you see golden pigs all over the place here in China (there's a 40 foot one down the street from my house!). Best, Greg Chinese Medicine , < wrote: > > The popular conception of the year of the Boar/Pig seems to be > associating it with gold (metal). The California Lotto > calendar-poster depicts pig images against golden coins. It's > supposed to be a year of abundance, first metal-pig year in 69 years. > > All three of my (randomly selected/bought) books, and the current > Wikipedia info on Chinese astrology all agree that it's a Ting-Hai > year, yin orientation and Fire element. The native element for > Boar/pig is water, which does associate with money (e.g. the fish > tank near the cash register), but that seems a little stretched, and > pertains to the pig-year every 12 years, not just across the 60-year cycle. > > I checked and double-checked this, as the first information I had was > from a teacher, who said it's an earth-pig year. (Yet another > correspondence system). Another recent bit of information is that > a/some Taiwanese calendar system in fact correlates 2007 with the > earth (tu) element. That might help to explain why the mainlanders > are so big on the metal correspondence. (My step-daughter spent a > week there in ShenYang and Beijing in January, and reports that > public display of the pig-gold-money imagery is being played up there > big time. That suggests governmental policy.) > > Anyone know where the discrepancy may arise? > > > > > -- > > > Version: 7.5.441 / Virus Database: 268.18.1/691 - Release Date: 2/17/2007 5:06 PM > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 21, 2007 Report Share Posted February 21, 2007 Thanks for the inputs on this topics, especially the link to the discussion group (ChinesePod). <http://www.chinesepod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=11458#11458> Tue, 20 Feb 2007 09:11:37 0000, " Greg A. Livingston " <drlivingston wrote: >> Back in the early Tang dynasty Emperor Zhen Guan ruled over one of the most peaceful eras in the nation, and one year in particular, a Fire Pig Year, was especially prosperous and was called Gold Money Year (Jin Zhu Nian… The problem with the 600-year golden pig theory is that this year is then only the second such event. According to one of my books (by Derek Walters, who has top credentials and assiduously cites historical documents and other evidence through his book; 11 page bibliography of Western sources and 8-pages listing Chinese sources) the use of the 12 animals in the calendar system (as we know it today) dates from the late Tang, early Song era. I.e. the 12 animals were then worked into association with the far older Earthly Branch 12 year system. One of the earliest documents is a depiction of 12 deity figures with the animal emblems on their hats, dated 978 C.E. Prior there were various and elaborate animal systems with 36 or 28 kinds. But, if one believes in scientific history, the 12-animal system was not in use in 807 (600 years increments from 1407 and 2007). One entry in the ChinesePod forum (by daodeyao, China) offers interesting information, i.e. that the golden pig may have arose in connection with some imperial monetary changes. He/She also mentions Han and other pre-Tang references to DingHai ZhuNian (years) and the transformation from Huo (fire) to Jin (metal/gold). I would like to see the historical basis here. One possibility is that there was a pig-year association independent of a full 12-animal system. Another possibility, the older historical citations are back-dated mythology, which we know in the medical corpus is more common than many would like to believe. Anyway, the golden pig as a boon to business, while maybe evident in Tang times, is certainly alive and well today. -- Version: 7.5.441 / Virus Database: 268.18.3/694 - Release 2/20/2007 1:44 PM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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