We were informed that “Gong Xi Fa Ca” is a traditional New Year’s greeting in Mandarin that means “Wishing you prosperity.” If it means, instead, “Let the web searcher beware,” very sorry about that.
2012 is the year of the dragon, according to the 12-year horoscopic cycle of animals, but not just a dragon, a water dragon. In some places, it’s termed a black water dragon, which sounds even more excellent. Now begin 15 days of celebration, commemoration, blessing, feasting, gathering, and gift-giving, culminating in a lantern festival. Celebrated by billions worldwide, it’s an all-out, roll all the Western-style holidays together blow-out of festivity with rich social, cultural, and religious underpinnings.
However, we talk about crime stories here, so besides any other celebrations in which you might partake, you could think about reading some crime fiction by Chinese authors over the next couple of weeks. One suggestion is Playing for Thrills by Wang Shuo, which we posted about here, “hooligan literature” that edgily co-exists with party censorship.
Two more options, from Catherine Sampson’s list of top Asian crime in the Guardian, include Death of a Red Heroine by Qiu Xiaolong and Blood Crime (Crime De Sang) by He Jiahong.
If you’ve read these or any others, or want to talk about great Chinese crime movies, let’s chat! And may you have a healthy, lucky, and prosperous New Year!
Image via Smashing Tube.