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By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
Colorful dragon figurines from Iida's Ala Moana Center mark
the Year of the Dragon. The above sells for $32.50.

The Japanese version has three toes, the Korean or Indonesian has four, the Chinese has five. They may be blue, black, white, red or yellow -- and they often carry a pearl, the source of their power.

Here be dragons.

Feb. 5 begins the Year of the Dragon, a particularly auspicious time under the Chinese zodiac. The celebration begins Saturday with "Night in Chinatown," really a day-to-night street party sponsored annually by the Chinese Merchants Association. But this year is special, because not only is it a dragon year, it is a metal dragon year, and it is the dawning of a new millennium.

NIGHT IN CHINATOWN
MORE DRAGON LORE

By Betty Shimabukuro
Star-Bulletin

A dragon is said to carry the spirit of many animals: It has the body of a snake, scales of a carp, head of a camel, horns of a giant stag, eyes of a hare, ears of a bull, neck of an iguana, belly of a frog, paws of a tiger, claws of an eagle.

Each one has 117 scales -- 81 infused with yang (good) and 36 infused with yin (bad) -- to give it an even temper. And it is often pictured holding a pearl, apparently the source of its power.

Remember, this is an Asian dragon, considered intelligent and kind, despite all its strength.

By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
This dragon from Iida's sells for about $185.

The Western-style dragon is a fire-breathing, winged creature, usually the bad guy -- for example, the one slain by St. George, or the one from "Beowulf" that kills the hero while being killed itself. Western dragons eat once a month -- a sheep or ox, or perhaps a virgin human maiden.

Asian dragons eat roasted sparrows.

Some nice dragons exist in Western lore -- "Puff, the Magic," for one -- but by and large, they are mean, bloodthirsty and hoard jewels in their dark lairs.

THE Chinese zodiac comprises 12 animals, the fifth of which is the dragon. What's more, dragon years cycle through five elements: metal, water, wood, fire and earth. Metal, representing precious elements such as gold and silver, is the strongest of this most powerful sign.

In the last dragon year, 1988, George Bush became president. The Grammy-winning record of the year was "Don't Worry, Be Happy."

You were born in a dragon year if you turn 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72, 84, 96 or 108 this year. If you are turning 60, you were born in the last metal dragon year. (Although, technically, if you were born in January or February, you may actually have been born in the Year of the Hare. It depends on the cycle of the moon in the year of your birth).

James Brown, Robin Williams, Rosemary Clooney and Dr. Seuss are or were dragons. John Lennon was a metal dragon.

MALE dragons sometimes mate with other kinds of animals. A dragon fathers an elephant when he mates with a pig; a racehorse when he mates with a mare.

Night in Chinatown When: 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday Place: Maunakea Street and Maunakea Marketplace Featuring: Food, craft, cultural booths and entertainment Parade: 5 p.m. Saturday from the state Capitol to Aala Park, along Hotel and River streets Call: 595-6417 Other events Vietnamese New Year Festival: Dragon dances, entertainment, food and craft booths, cultural displays, ancestral ceremonies. Takes place 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Jan. 30, Kapiolani Park. Call 536-0590. Market City Shopping Center: Firecrackers, lion dance, parade, 10 a.m. Feb. 5, lower parking lot on Kaimuki Avenue. Extra parking available at Kaimuki High School. Call 734-0282. Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center: Lion dances, 6 to 9 p.m. Feb. 4. Entertainment and cooking demonstrations 5 to 9 p.m. Feb. 5, Fountain Courtyard. Call 922-0588. Lantern Festival: Food and craft booths, entertainment and finals in the Lion Dance and Drum Ensemble Competition. Runs 9 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Feb. 19 and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Feb. 20, Chinatown Cultural Plaza. Lantern parade begins 5:30 p.m., State Capitol to Aala Park, on Hotel, Maunakea and Beretania streets. Call: 595-6417

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MORE DRAGON LORE

Dragon year
portends leadership

SUN Hung Wong, executive director of the Chinese Merchants Association, says this year's celebration is more elaborate than usual because it is such a special year. The party will continue through Feb. 19, when the association plans a Lantern Festival and a parade of more than 1,000 lanterns, the first of its kind to take place here in more than 10 years.

"Everyone feels excited because it's a dragon year and the end of an old century," Wong says.

"Traditionally, for the Chinese, the dragon always represents a powerful year ... it's a time when something internally gives you a push to do a lot of things. It gives all of us incentive to move forward."

It is a year for leadership, Wong adds.

draconian.com
Dragons have been depicted in all forms, from majestically
fearsome, as shown above, to playfully goofy, below.

Saturday's event will have more food and craft booths than usual, and the parade will feature 30 or more marching units representing many Asian groups, not just Chinese. The parade marshall is from the Puerto Rican community, because this is the centennial year of their immigration to Hawaii.

The pre-new year event is in keeping with the Chinese tradition of ringing out the old well before ringing in the new. "You get together with friends," Wong says. "Thank your friends for their help in the year that's going to pass."

MOST of the nuggets of dragon lore printed here come from Internet web pages designed by Jennifer Walker (http://www.draconian.com) and Suzanne Holland (http://www.lair2000.simplenet.com).

These pages are an amazing compendia of everything you never knew you never knew about these great beasts.

Holland was born in 1940, the last metal dragon year, and has been collecting figures and images of dragons ever since a teacher suggested the hobby 27 years ago.

Walker's interest dates to childhood and was born of admiration for the power and beauty of all the different types of dragons. The most intriguing thing she's learned about them? "That they could be watching us right now."

To celebrate the Year of the Dragon, Walker plans to get a tattoo. "Everyone should adopt a dragon," she says.

ALAN Johnson, a psychic counselor in Kaneohe, is an ox, not normally considered compatible with a dragon, but that hasn't stopped him from marrying two of them.

Johnson says his first marriage, of 25 years, was to a metal dragon; his current marriage, of nine years, to a water dragon. He knows the characteristics of the dragon type very well, thank you very much.

They are usually outspoken, aggressive, focused and honest, but fixed in their beliefs, he says. "They are inclined to feel that if they've given it thought, then that's the truth and anybody else's thoughts don't really fit."

A female dragon-type may face challenges in life due to a strong masculine side. "What happens is insecure men feel challenged by their energy."

Johnson uses the Chinese zodiac as a way of helping his clients understand their natures and the possible reasons for their problems.

Not everyone born in a dragon year is going to have the same personality, of course. (Imagine, in three years, a preschool class full of metal dragons, all fearless, convinced they are right and yelling, "Mine! Mine! Mine!")

Factors such as month and time of birth are also important, Johnson says, and it's all theoretical, anyway. His two dragon wives were very different, he says. The water-influenced one, although still outspoken and honest, was more diplomatic and more likely to flow, like water, around obstacles.

"All the very positive things I mentioned are really very attractive," he says. "They are very attractive people. It's just that they're not easy-going."

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