This year does not appear to be an auspicious one for China. So far, the
country has been dogged by a spate of misfortunes: the unusual snowstorms in
late January, bloody riots in Tibet in March, a deadly train collision in
April, the Sichuan earthquake in May, and now devastating floods in the south.
While science remains ineffective in predicting or explaining the occurrence of
natural disasters, some Chinese feng shui fortunetellers are trying to
offer their own explanations for the unfortunate events. Superstitious or not,
such "explanations" have been spreading fast among people anxious to understand
the unknown.
According to Chinese numerology, eight is a lucky number
meaning "fortune". In China and Hong Kong automobile license plates or mobile
telephone numbers with eights - or 38 (flourishing and prosperous), 88 (double
fortune), 138 (prosperous in life), 168 (prosperous forever) - command big
prices.
But the year 2008 doesn't seem especially lucky for the country, and many are
scrambling to figure out why.
According to the philosophy in Yi Jing (The book of Change) and
that of ancient philosopher Laozi (Laocius), things will take a reverse course
when developing to an extreme. A situation with all yin or all yang is very
unstable and risky.
By this doctrine, the Beijing Summer Olympic Games may have exploited the luck
of the number 8 to the extreme: the event is set to open at 8 pm, on August 8,
in the year 2008 - or 08.08.08. It may be too perfect, and something too
perfect needs to be complemented by some imperfections.
The climax of the snowstorms that devastated east and south China was on
January 25, or 1.25. The sum of the three digits is eight. The bloody riots in
Lhasa, Tibet's capital, happened on March 14, or 3.14. Again, the three figures
add to eight. Then the 8-magnitude earthquake hit Sichuan on May 12, or 5.12,
with the sum of the three digits also being 8. Moreover, the tremor struck 88
days before the opening of the Beijing Olympics.
The only exception in this numerological series was the train collision on the
Jinan-Qingdao railway on April 28 (4.28) that killed at least 70 people. But,
it could be argued that it was an accident caused by human error rather than
Mother Nature.
Feng shui telling is normally based on the lunar calendar. Thus, August
8 this year is the eighth day of the seventh month in the Year of the Rat. No feng
shui master so far has offered an explanation for why the ancient
Chinese doctrine can also apply to the solar calendar which was imported from
the West in modern times.
Looking back, Chinese masters and fortunetellers now say that the official
mascots of the Beijing Olympics could have been identified as omens for the
misfortunes.
The mascots, Fuwa (kids of fortune), were designed to symbolize the
Olympics' sacred flame, and four of China's most popular animals - the fish,
the panda, the Tibetan antelope, the swallow - were chosen to embody the vast
landscape of the nation.
But, despite the good intentions behind the Fuwa, the mascots have been
interpreted as harbingers of calamities. Some say the Olympic flame is related
to the train collision. In Chinese, flame is called huo and train is hou
che, or fire-powered vehicle.
The antelope has been equated with the bloody riots. The epicenter of the
Sichuan earthquake was near home of the panda. Fish cannot live without water,
hence the devastating floods in south China.
But views differ in what the swallow represents. Some say it signals bird flu,
which has been reported in Hong Kong and Guangdong. On June 11, Hong Kong had
to launch a city-wide poultry cull after the deadly H5N1 avian influenza virus
was found in four wet markets. But others argue that since the swallow is a
bird more common in north China, it may signal that something will happen in
the north.
According to feng shui masters, the structure of Beijing has been
likened to a hidden dragon for centuries. It has allegedly remained the
country's because it could accommodate so many living dragons (in history, an
emperor was revered as a living dragon). Now, the construction of the Olympic
venues and some massive demolitions have been altering Beijing's feng shui.
The hidden dragon, believers say, has been exposed and badly hurt and it had to
take young boys and girls to heal its wounds. The superstitious say this was
manifested by the many innocent primary and secondary school pupils who died
during the Sichuan earthquake.
With the spread of such superstitions, some families, particularly in parts of
northern China, light firecrackers near their homes to scare off the roaming,
wounded dragon.
So, does all this mean the Summer Games are a bad omen and won't have a happy
ending? Not necessarily, feng shui masters and fortunetellers say. As
Laozi himself said: "Good fortune lieth within bad, bad fortune lurketh within
good."
The Olympic organizers might have been too ambitious in trying to capitalize on
every symbol of good luck. But now, the situation of pure yang or pure yin has
changed with the year's many misfortunes. Through their interaction, yin and
yang will eventually reach a balance and result in harmony. Therefore,
according to the feng shui experts, the Beijing Olympics are likely to
be successful, and this may reverse China's bad luck in the last half of the
year.
Zhou Yi is a Chinese freelance writer.
(Copyright 2008 Asia Times Online (Holdings) Ltd. All rights reserved. Please
contact us about
sales, syndication and
republishing.)
Head
Office: Unit B, 16/F, Li Dong Building, No. 9 Li Yuen Street East,
Central, Hong Kong Thailand Bureau:
11/13 Petchkasem Road, Hua Hin, Prachuab Kirikhan, Thailand 77110
