Enter the dragon

At midnight tonight, the skies above China will explode with over a billion fireworks.¹ The Year of the Dragon will begin.

The Lunar New Year² is the world's biggest festival. It lasts fifteen days. Over two billion people celebrate it, around a quarter of the entire world.³

China will erupt in celebration. Its cities, towns and villages will be covered in red decorations to bring good fortune. Dragons will dance in the streets.⁴

Families will gather to eat spring rolls, dumplings and rice cakes. Prayers and sacrifices will be offered to ancestorsThe people related to us who lived a long time ago. . People will give their friends, relatives and employees red envelopes stuffed with money. Billions of such exchanges will take place.

The New Year sparks the world's biggest migration. In China alone, an estimated 200 million people travel long distances to meet their families.

Years on the Chinese calendar are named after the twelve zodiacThe term derives from a Greek word for a sculpture of an animal. animals.⁵ Each animal grants its own attributes to people born in its year. The dragon is the most reveredHighly respected. of these creatures. People born during dragon years are thought to embody honour, leadership and success.

Chinese dragons are god-like beings. They resemble snakes, fish and turtles. Some protect China's great rivers and lakes. They can control the weather, leading to both fertile fields and natural disasters. Others signify imperial power and authority.

Dragons are mythical creatures. Few believe they actually exist. But many still think they have a symbolic power. AstrologerSomebody who studies the movements of the moon, sun and stars in the belief that this has influence on people's lives. Charlotte Frejya-Richwoods, for instance, believes that the Year of the Dragon will "see many changes to leadership within countries."

Sceptics claim that these predictions are hogwash. This year will see a record two billion people voting in 50 elections, a world record. You do not need a dragon to guess that some governments will change.

Yet even if dragons are just myth, they do play a role in our lives. Stories about dragons can shape how we think.

As the historian Arthur M Schlesinger claimed: "Science and technology revolutionise our lives, but memory, tradition and myth frame our response." 

Can dragons really help us?

Yes: Human society is made of stories. They give communities shared understanding, illustrate examples and teach us valuable lessons. And dragons star in legends all over the world, from Japan to Norway.

No: Dragons have been with us for centuries: in 1755, French writer Denis Diderot wrote "There are already all too many fabulous stories of dragons". If they could help us they would have done so by now.

Or... Dragons may not be able to help us directly. But that they hold such a large place in human imagination suggests that they must have an enormous significance. We might not have found it yet.