After a supposedly docile Year of the Sheep, astrologists expect 12 months of greater uncertainty with the arrival of the Monkey today.
Common lore in China predicts the Year of the Monkey will bring some disharmony, especially at sea. With Beijing on a collision course with its neighbours over its assertive territorial claims in the South China Sea, some astrologers predict a difficult year for the region.
But the New Year might have a silver lining, they say. It will also be easier to resolve such conflicts. This dual personality reflects people born in the Year of the Monkey, the ninth member of China’s 12-animal astrological cycle. Monkeys are said to be cheerful, energetic, confident and flexible, and they can also be arrogant, crafty and restless.
Compared to the Year of the Sheep – an animal many Chinese people consider overly docile and passive – the monkey oversees a generally auspicious year of the zodiac. Many prospective parents in China are planning to have children this year.
The animals in the zodiac are linked each year to the binary opposition of yin and yang, and to one of the five elements – metal, fire, wood, earth and water.
According to the lunar calendar, this monkey year will be presided over by yang fire and metal. That combination could foment “international conflicts and clashes”, according to popular Hong Kong-based astrologer and feng shui master Raymond Lo, who also sees other strong yang influences.
“Yang water is powerful ocean water with aggressive energy. As such, it also indicates clashes related to the ocean or conflicts at sea. So it will not be surprising is the tension about disputed territories in the South China Sea escalates,” he says. China claims sovereignty over nearly all of the sea, including areas controlled or claimed by other nations.
However, 2016 will be “comparatively less violent than 2014 and 2015”, since metal can bend with fire’s heat, Lo says. “As such, it will be easier to reach agreements and treaties to resolve conflicts and struggles.”
That matches the kind of forecasts made by other well-known Chinese astrologers. “People born in monkey, snake, tiger and pig years will all need to take care of themselves, avoiding the bad and looking for the good,” Song Shaoguang says in a fortune-telling.
The most famous monkey in Chinese lore is the Monkey King, the rambunctious and quick-witted main character in the epic 16th-century novel “Journey to the West”. Julius Caesar and Leonardo da Vinci were both monkeys, as was former US president Harry Truman and actress Elizabeth Taylor.
Married couples traditionally give cash-filled red envelopes to children and unmarried adults of the families they visit over the 16-day Spring Festival coinciding with New Year.
Most children will be disappointed this year if they open an envelope to find it doesn’t contain at least one red, 100-yuan note (Bt540). The New Year celebrations continue until the Lantern Festival on February 22.
This source first appeared on The Nation Life.