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With love and passion, everyone can have a nice garden...Elaine Yim

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Count The Garden By The Flowers, Never By The Leaves That Fall.
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..... Author unknown.

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Saturday, February 4, 2012

Lichun (Lap Chun) 2012 - The start of a new zodiac sign



Today, 4th February 2012 is Lichun (立春) which signifies the first day of spring according to the Chinese calendar. This year, Lichun starts at 6:22 pm Malaysian time. It is based on the the Xia / Hsia (Solar/Farmer) Calendar. Lichun marks the begining of another cycle. For Feng Shui, 4 Pillar Destiny Chart or Phat Chee reading purposes, the Year of the Dragon starts on Feb 4th. It takes over from the animal zodiac sign of Rabbit.

“Lichun (Lapchun) 2012 - The start of a new zodiac sign”, a copyrighted post, was written for My Nice Garden blog by Autumn Belle @ http://www.mynicegarden.com/ on February 4th, 2012.

In 2010, I wrote a post about Lichun and our tradition of making an egg stand on this day (click here).

Updated on 5 Feb 2012: Eggs do stand on their ends - New Straits Article read here.






About The Year of the Dragon 2012:
  • This is a year of double Lichun, it is also know as "shuang chun" (双春) meaning double spring. This is considered very auspicious, hence many people believe that this year will be good for starting new ventures, marriage and childbirth. The lunar new year started on 23 Jan 2012 and ends on 10 Feb 2013, hence the year of the dragon will experience the first lichun on 4 Feb 2012 and the second lichun on 3rd Feb 2013. 
  • It is a leap year with February 29th according to the western calendar 
  • There are 13 months with a total of 384 days in our Chinese lunar calendar, the extra/leap month being in month no. 4. A Chinese lunar month has either 29 or 30 days.
According to geomancers and fengshui masters, only babies born after Lichun, 4 Feb 2012, 6:22pm local time are considered to be under the zodiac sign of the dragon. Therefore, a baby born on 3 Feb 2012 is a rabbit, NOT a dragon! To be a real dragon baby, he/she must be born after 4 Feb 2012, 6:22pm local time.

So, my dear friends, if your birthday is in January and February, are you sure you've got your zodiac sign correct?



Scientific name: Kalanchoe blossfeldiana
Synonym: K. coccinea var. blossfeldiana

Common name: Kalanchoe, Flaming Katy
Malay name: Setawar kacukan

Family: Crassulaceae
Origin: Madagascar
Photos takan at: My home garden

Category: Cactus and succulents, tropical and tender perennial plant


I purchase these kalanchoes to decorate my home for the new year celebrations. I think they are sweet and beautiful. These flowers are very popular during this season. I'll explain why:

Kalanchoes are called "wan zi qian hong" ( 万紫千红)  -  "million purple thousand red" which translates to mean 'an abundance of wealth and prosperity'. In Cantonese, 'zi' for purple colour also sounds like money (银纸 - ngan zhi) and son (子 - zi). The pronunciation of "wan zi qian hong" also rhymes with "a million offsprings, a thousand fame and honour".

This will certainly appeal to people wishing for a dragon child this year and to those who wish for more wealth, fame and honour.



Today, we can conduct prayers at an auspicious hour to welcome the Wealth God and Nobility God after 6:22pm. Good times are 5-7 pm, 9-11 pm and 11 pm -12 midnight, depending on which zodiac sign you belong to. 

Some people believe that wearing red and banking in money on this day brings forth a continuous flow of money and income throughout the year!

You can read more about our Chinese calendar here. But, if you are confused, hope you could enjoy my kalanchoe flowers. This Sunday is Prophet Mohammad's Birthday for muslims. On Monday, it is Chap Goh Meh (lunar 15th day and last day of CNY, also called Lantern Festival or Chinese Valentine's Day) and Tuesday, it is Thaipusam, a Hindu celebration.

Happy Lichun!
Happy Chinese Valentine's Day!
Happy Thaipusam!
Selamat menyambut Maulidur Rasul!
Happy Holidays!

23 comments:

  1. Dziękuję za wiadomości o chińskim kalendarzu i śliczne zdjęcia. Pozdrawiam. *** Thank you for the news of the Chinese calendar and beautiful pictures. Yours.

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  2. I did not know about this! Cool info and photos. I hope you enjoy your holidays!
    I posted some snow photos, and since I know you like to see snow, feel free to stop by.

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  3. Oh, I love Kalanchoes. I didn't know they signify wealth, fame, and honor--but all the more reason to enjoy them! ;-) Happy Year of the Dragon! Thank you for sharing all the great information!

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  4. Happy Holidays to you too! Lovely pic n description. The Flaming Katy in our garden is putting up a good show early this spring, while i wait for the other flowers to bloom. They sure do look like a floral carpet of red stars!

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  5. Very interesting information. I had not heard about the Year of the Dragon not starting until Feb. 4. Pretty photos, too.

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  6. Giga, the beautiful pictures in your blog brightens up my mood too!

    Rosey, yay, thank you very much for inviting me to the Rocky Mountains in Colorado to enjoy snowfall. I really loved your post.

    PlantPostings, Kalanchoes signifies abundance of offsprings and fertility too. There are so many flowers, baby plants and ease of propagation.

    EverGreenTree, yes, red stars indeed. My flaming red Kalanchoe bursting with blooms too.

    HolleyGarden, the start of zodiac sign from 4 Feb is the cut-off point for fengshui and geomancer calculation purposes.

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  7. My daughter is a dragon. We like to tell her this makes her special because it is the only animal that is mythical and extraordinary. Everyone tells her otherwise. She was born in January before the CNY and others seem to automatically label her as a snake. You are right about the confusion surrounding dates near the new year.

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  8. Hi Autumn Belle, now that the celebrations are over, maybe you can now take some rest now. May i know what your zodiac year is, i might have asked you before but i forgot! My close friend here is also Chinese and she is also very knowledgeable about Feng Shui, she even attended one of Lilian Too's seminar in KL. Sometimes, this friend give us some readings too. We are also given some things a few years back, like a foot long Wu Lu, the pair of guardians (forgot the name), auspicious bracelets, etc.

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  9. Bom, I do agree that many who are born in Jan/Feb are faced with such confusion, by others as well as themselves. I too often blunder on this matter. Hopefully mothers-to-be who plan the delivery of their baby by inducing/ceasarian method will get it right. I have a cousin sister who we thought was a snake when she was actually a dragon; and an ex-school mate born on 4 Feb whom we thought was an ox but she is actually a rat because she was born before the hour of Lichun.

    Andrea, today is the 15th and last day of CNY. Hopefully, I can complete all my real life backlogs and datelines, leaving more time for blogging. Haha, regarding my zodiac, I'll tell you again via personal email. Hint: You are my zodiac ally ;-)

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  10. Happy Year of the Dragon to you. Yeah, many people are not aware of that, up to the time before li chun the baby follows the animal of the previous year. Also the praying to Tai Sui, should be done after li chun for the current year one. Lovely kalanchoes. Though not so pretty like yours, I do miss the plain single petaled ones that was popular when I was a kid.

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  11. Great photos, I was born in the year of the Dragon, so glad its come round again!

    Our garden is currently full of snow, (its been a cold spell in the uk recently), so thinking of warmer places is a great way to spend the time!

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  12. Sean, Happy Dragon year to your too! You are right about when to pray to Tai Sui - thanks for the reminder. I think the single petal kalanchoes are just as beautiful too.

    Mark and Gaz, a dragon? How lucky! Yeah, I have seen the huge amount of snowfalls in UK from the news and friends FB photos. It must be so cold over there.

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  13. well, I think my daughter (02/02/05) technically has a monkey tail and a rooster head. Something like that. My niece will be born this spring. My father called my sister to tell her how happy he was that the Chinese dragon that performed at her school/work, spit the lettuce on her!

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  14. Happy holidays to you. I love reading about them. Thanks for all the very interesting information.

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  15. Ahh, verily I learn a lot when coming your site :) Thanks for posting this...the kalanchoes are beautiful!! Do they bloom again after CNY?

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  16. Looks like everyone likes a dragon. However, many are not aware that dragons are one of the 'four store' (四库) animals (cow, dragon, goat, dog) - they can be quite 'difficult' and attain success late in life. The number and position of 'ku' in the four pillars affect the personality.

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  17. Wendy, yes! My dad told me the same thing too - about the Lion spitting lettuce on you during a lion dance performance. The lettuce or "sang choy" in Cantonese (sheng cai in mandarin) sounds like "growing in wealth" which is indeed very auspicious. The cai in vegetables (菜)sounds like cai in wealth (财). This past weekend, while enjoying a lion dance performance at a shopping centre, the lion spit oranges to the audience and guess what? I got a whammy - which is an orange smack in my left eye. Luckily my eye didn't turn black, just a wee bit of swelling. The mother and son next to me caught the orange and just grin at me rubbing my eyes :(

    L. Ambler, thank you very much for trying to understand our culture and traditions.

    Tantoot, I don't think the kalanchoes will be able to bloom as profusely as these ones.

    Sean L, I don't know about the "four store" animals too. The geomancers and fengshui masters as reported in the press didn't give an optimistic forecast but it didn't prevent people from having positive hopes in times of gloom. Also, statistics of the past have shown that there is indeed an increase in babies during any dragon year ;-) I have read from the news that some countries like Singapore are already preparing their education system to handle an influx of dragon kids when they are ready to enter elementary school in a few years time.

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  18. Happy Lichun to you too! At the local Chinese restaurant the place mats had printed on them the list of astrological signs and their years, to celebrate the year of the Dragon. I am no Dragon, but a Rat. Ha!

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  19. Ouch, that must have hurt, a mandarin orange to the eye! Maybe can buy 4D number for orange or eye?! The branches of the four pillars are grouped into three groups of fours - the store group, the 'horse' group and the peach blossom group.

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  20. Interesting information for dragon year! I have Kalanchoes in my garden which refuse to flowers! sigh...

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  21. Patty, you are a rat? Wow, smart!

    According to legend, the rat outsmarted the ox in a race for the 12 animal zodiac lineup by convincing ox to carry him all the way to finishing line and finally when they reached there, the rat jumped over and took first placing. That's how the rat is no. 1 and ox no. 2 in the cycle!

    Sean, how nice if can get some windfall but I don't gamble or buy 4D - how to 888? But then again...
    BTW Sean, thanks for the additional info about the four pillars grouping of zodiac animals which again I don't know about.

    Malar, the good thing about kalanchoes is that even if they don't flower much, they can reproduce easily and we can propagate them from leave cuttings.

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  22. Thanks for the explanation on Lap Chun, Autumn Belle! Happy Chinese New Year to you! Ha ha..I am still in the festive mood.

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  23. JC. thank you very much for the CNY wishes. Now that the season has ended, I will always look back with this feeling, "another year has gone by". My grandma used to tell me, "You are now 1 year older"

    Time to start another year and make it more meaningful than the previous one, yeah :)

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