Year of the Dragon

Poem on Selling Silliness” by Fan Chengda (范成大)
除夕更阑人不睡，厌禳钝滞迎新岁；
小儿呼叫走长街，云有痴呆召人买。
二物于人谁独无？就中吴侬仍有余；
巷南巷北卖不得，相逢大笑相揶揄。
栎翁块坐重帘下，独要买添令问价。
儿云翁买不须钱，奉赊痴呆千百年。

On New Year’s Eve, no one is asleep at midnight,
They pray to gods for blessings, and wait for the New Year to arrive.
A group of children hawk along the street, saying they have “silliness” for sale.
But who doesn’t have silliness? There’s enough in the city and more to spare.
From south to north in the alley, they laugh and banter, but couldn’t make a sale.
An old man sitting behind curtains asks: How much for your silliness?
The children answer: grandpa doesn’t need to pay money, you can be in our debts for hundreds and thousands of years.

Happy New Year to all those of you who, over the weekend, celebrated Chinese New Year and welcomed in the Year of the Dragon.

The two-week spring festival marks the beginning of a new lunar year, and a new animal in the Chinese zodiac to represent the next twelve months. In China, across the world and indeed here in Bromsgrove, billions of people have been celebrating, often wearing red clothes, decorating their homes with red lanterns (and you will have seen some around the School) and exchanging red envelopes. May the New Year bring you all happiness and good fortune.

The dragon is the fifth animal in the Chinese zodiac and dragons are significant in Chinese folklore. They’re associated with the ability to control the seasons, strength and power, prosperity and nobleness, good fortune and kindness; indeed, unlike its more intimidating European cousin, the Chinese dragon doesn’t breathe fire.

The poem that Molly and Trissie read to us was written by Fan Chengda who was born 900 years ago in the Song Dynasty. Following his retirement from his position as a senior government official, he wrote a series of 60 poems in 1186. If, like me, you are interested to read them for yourself and learn just a little more about Chinese culture, there is a translation called Stone Lake.

But what about the poem itself…Selling Silliness – what does that mean? Surely being silly is a bad thing, we need to be serious and focussed and indeed the poem tells how, during their New Year celebrations, children attempted to sell their inner silliness, hoping others would take it off their hands, leaving them smarter for the year ahead. But, we are told, no one wants to buy their silliness until eventually they meet an old man who asks them how much it costs…perhaps he prompts them to think about the value of fun, frivolous activities, particularly activities with others, young and those who, like him, are more elderly.

In what is the greatest migration of people on the planet, it is thought that there will be a record 9 billion journeys across China this holiday. Travelling by train, plane and car, those on the move will loaded up with gifts for family members through the chunyun or Spring Festival. Many will be workers leaving China’s very busy megacities and returning to homes in smaller cities, towns and rural areas to celebrate with family and friends during an eight-day public holiday. 2024 is the first time since the start of the Covid pandemic that new year travel has been completely unrestricted, and it seems that families intend to take full advantage; and amongst the celebrations, as families get together there will be fun and perhaps even some silliness.

Be it as a parent or a teacher, folk like me often talk about the importance of using the time we have well, of purpose, of taking opportunities, of focus and working with a degree of seriousness…and all of that is right, but as always, it is important to maintain some balance. All of us do well to remember the need to remain connected with family and friends, old and young, and just being together helps keep those key relationships strong. Ideally, being together means just that, being in the same physical space as each other, enjoying each other’s company, sharing news together and just occasionally, it might mean having fun or being silly together. If geography stops us being in the same place, perhaps speaking through a screen is the next best thing – but maintaining those precious relationships is part of what makes us human.

So, over the coming half term, amongst the many of things we have and want to do, try to spend some quality time connecting with family, relatives and particularly those who are more elderly. Perhaps there is a grandparent, or an aunt or an uncle who we haven’t spoken to for some time – and perhaps a call or visit would mean a huge amount to them. Perhaps they would value a conversation with you, not least because they’re a bit lonely and undoubtedly they would like to hear what you’ve been up to – even if some of it’s a bit silly.