Don’t dread the dragon!

Aylin Öney Tan

Dragon days have kicked in! Chinese New Year started on Feb. 10, and now we are in the dragon days as 2024 is the year of the Wood Dragon according to the Chinese Zodiac. The legendary dragon seems like a fierce animal with fire spewing from its mouth, but do not dread the dragon, on the contrary, the dragon might well be your protective angel.

As well known, the Chinese zodiac is based on a 12-year cycle, and each year is associated with an animal sign. What is less known is that there is also an old 12-animal Turkish calendar, which is also based on the cyclic turn of 12 animal signs. The Turkish-Chinese cultural interactions are complex and intertwined, and there have been ongoing debates between the scholars on which calendar came first. Some suggest the Turkish 12-animal calendar was a predecessor of the Chinese one. The majority of sinologists here seem to be inclined to regard it as of Turkish origin. Hungarian turcologist László Rásonyi suggests the animal calendar originated in Central Asian Turkic communities, but was later adopted and elaborated by the Chinese who were advanced in astrology, and then it was re-borrowed by the Turks at a later stage. The old Sino-Turkish animal cycle of 12 solar years is still followed in great geography in Asia, but in Türkiye, nobody seems to recognize it anymore. However, just a brief look at our monuments and art history will give hints about animal signs, especially in Seljuk period tiles we see a parade of all those 12 animal signs, and our art history is full of inspirations from our Asian past which was greatly influenced by Chinese culture. Needless to say, depictions of the feared dragon are everywhere, the most famous one being the 13th-century door handle from Diyarbakır, Cizre Grand Mosque (Cizre Ulu Camii) depicting a pair of dragons.

Dragon Symbol

Interestingly, though the 12-animal calendar is no longer prevalent, the concept of the dragon in Turkish culture holds a strong standing. When discussed in the context of the Chinese zodiac, it carries similar connotations, such as strength, wisdom and luck. Given the cultural exchange along the Silk Road, it’s plausible that some aspects of this Sino-Turkish zodiac influenced Turkish traditions, and certain symbolic significances remained regardless of their original context. The dragon is one of those symbolic figures, worth a mention as a shared cultural significance in the past.

According to the 12-animal Turkish-Chinese calendar, dragon years are considered auspicious years. In Turkish cosmology, there are mentions of two dragons: Earth dragons belonging to the underworld, and sky dragons belonging to the skies and the cosmic world. The earth dragons are related to soil, and they were believed to be found under the ground or in deep waters. They emerged from the ground in the spring, formed scales and horns, rose to the sky and blended into the clouds. Thus, they contributed to fertility and prosperity by enabling the rain to fall. In a way, it represented the yearly cycle of the four seasons.

The dragon had various symbolic values in Turkish culture in early periods. As the symbol of the sky and the universe, the dragon was the giver of order, the mightiest of all animals. Dragons appeared in Seljuk art with rosettes, planets and zodiac symbols, which were thought to regulate the administration, harmony and movement of the firmament. They symbolized the universe and were regarded as symbols of fertility and harmony. Maybe that’s why we almost always see double dragons in depictions, always in a balanced harmony, as in the case of the Cizre Ulu Camii, mosque door handle, now on display in the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts in Istanbul. Symmetrical, mutual depictions of a pair of dragons in mouth-to-mouth form or reverse were frequently used in Seljuk art. With their open mouths facing each other, they form the lozenge motif, the symbol of the moon, which is also known as the symbol of darkness. In this situation, the dragon pair symbolizes goodness and light by swallowing the moon. It is also thought that the dragon was used in inns and palaces to prevent evil, scare the enemies and ward off diseases from entering protected places.

Auspicious foods

If the Chinese people fold endless dumplings for the new year, we do the same for our weekend family meal. Dumplings in Chinese New Year are believed to bring wealth because their shape resembles ancient Chinese gold ingots. The ubiquitous Turkish dumpling mantı undoubtedly has Central Asian origins, and the Turkic mantou in Asia might have well influenced its Chinese counterparts. Nevertheless, we do not have an attribution to Turkish mantı being auspicious, or attain any other symbolism to it, still there are awkwardly similar practices. Hiding a coin inside one of the dumplings still prevails as fun practice, usually done to entertain kids, the one who finds it is the lucky one, as if having a lucky pull from a family lottery.

We do not have dishes or foods considered to be lucky for the new year, but the first 10 days of the first month of the Islamic calendar calls for a dish that must be cooked at every household, and that is the sweet wheat porridge aşure, the ultimate call for plenty. Aşure has a grain base, that is hulled wheat berries, and some pulses such as beans and chickpeas, and a serious selection of dried fruits and nuts. The main idea is to call for the plenty by making a sweet concoction of grains, pulses, dried fruits and nuts, all representing the bounty of nature. One must celebrate, admire and respect, and also finish off the produce of the last harvest year, so as to open space and call for the generosity of nature, to wish for the abundance of a fruitful new harvest year, again celebrating the cycle of seasons. In translation, it is named Noah’s Ark Pudding, as it is attributed to the great flood, when Noah saved all the animals, mankind, and the World. Aşure is believed to have been the last dish cooked on Noah’s ship with a bit of everything, of all the last handfuls of food that remained on board. Miraculously, the message comes with a dove that lands on the ship carrying an olive branch holding in its beak, indicating that the shore is close by, and they will be safe once again. Interestingly, there is a New Year’s tradition in certain parts of China, on the eighth day of the last lunar month, a strikingly similar dish is prepared to call for plenty. Known as the Laba porridge, it is akin to aşure with grains, fruits, nuts and seeds, and the better-known eight-jewel rice pudding has the same concept of mixing all the bounty of earth, again calling for plenty. Well, apparently the cycle of the seasons and the harvest year is definitely the shape of celebration traditions in regard to food, so why not welcome the Year of the Dragon with a bowl of Turkish aşure, after all the dragon is supposed to bring us a fortune and keep evil away!