Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 07, 2008
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Online edition of India's National Newspaper Thursday, Feb 07, 2008 ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version |
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RINGING IT IN: People at a temple fair on lunar New Year’s Eve in Beijing on Wednesday. Beijing: Calling someone a “rat” is usually a nasty insult, but in China it can simply indicate a person’s year of birth. On February 7, China’s 1.3 billion people will end the Year of the Pig and ring in the lunar Year of the Rat. There are 12 animals in the 12-year cycle of the Chinese zodiac, and the rat is the first in this series. Legend has it that all the animals concerned were in a race to cross a broad river. Displaying the canniness characteristic of its species, the rat rode on the back of an ox and jumped off to finish first. While in India a rat might evoke disgust, in China it is believed that those born in a Rat Year share the positive attributes of the animal. They are thus considered to be clever, ambitious, hard- working, quick and sociable. Wang Wanying, a thirty-six-year-old journalist, is a “rat.” However, he believes the Year of the Rat is a misnomer that should properly be called the Year of the Mouse. In Chinese, the character used to refer to the animal is “shu,” a word that is applicable to a mouse and a rat. “A mouse is small and even quite cute, while a rat is big, ugly and vicious,” he says. Regardless of such distinctions, the fact is that in China the popularity of rodents in general is suddenly on the rise. Supermarkets and malls are filled with rat/mouse-themed jewellery, apparel and knick-knacks. Pet stores are reporting record sales of hamsters and mice. Animal activists are also taking the opportunity to educate people about the virtues of the rat, calling on everyone to treat the rodents with kindness and respect. According to the Asia Pacific chapter of the non-governmental organisation People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), contrary to popular perceptions rats are sociable, intelligent and likeable, if only given a chance. It is thus calling for an end to cruel practices involving the killing of rats at homes and in laboratories. In China, the lunar new year will kick off a week-long period of celebration marked by fireworks, hanging red lanterns and eating dumplings. The period sees one of the largest domestic movements of people in any part of the world: millions of migrant workers who toil in factories along the country’s eastern seaboard return home to spend the holidays with their families. Tens of thousands of students making similar trips home for their university vacation join them. This year, however, unusually heavy snowfall in central and southern China means hundreds and thousands of migrants are stranded on their way home in train stations and elsewhere. But although for some the Year of the Rat might have begun with adversity, if anyone knows how to cope with tough times, it is the rat. Famous “rats” include William Shakespeare, Winston Churchill, Hugh Grant and John F. Kennedy Jr.
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