Year of Lu
Meaning: dragon
A short history
"Lu" passed into Old Turkic from the Chinese word for dragon and is used as this year's name in Uyghur-era documents. Sources also give other names for the fifth year, a sign that the calendar was voiced a little differently in different circles.
Cultural background
The fifth year shows the most variation in naming. Old Turkic records give "lu" (dragon), borrowed from Chinese, while the list in Kashgari's Divanü Lügati't-Türk reads this year as "nek" (crocodile). The Kazakh and Kyrgyz calendars hold "ulu/uluu" in this slot, and sources explain it variously as dragon, snail or crocodile. The shared order stays the same while this one link is named differently.
Symbolic qualities
- passionate
- visionary
- generous
- radiant
Lu is the symbol of energy that thinks big and inspires those around it. It dreams and invites others into the dream. Its shadow side is underrating details and losing a sense of measure.
Things you might reflect on
- Which small step could bring a big dream closer to reality?
- What do you learn from the people you inspire?
- How do you tell show from genuine enthusiasm in yourself?
Years it falls on
Each year begins on 21 March and ends on 20 March of the following year.
1904 · 1916 · 1928 · 1940 · 1952 · 1964 · 1976 · 1988 · 2000 · 2012 · 2024 · 2036 · 2048 · 2060 · 2072 · 2084 · 2096
Chinese counterpart: Dragon →Where does the Turkic 12-animal calendar come from?
In the Divanu Lugati't-Türk, written in the 11th century, Mahmud of Kashgar explains that the Turks counted years by the names of twelve animals and lists them in order. The work also tells a story about the origin of the cycle: of the animals driven into the Ila (Ili) river before a ruler, the names of the twelve that crossed were given to the years.
An older witness is the Orkhon inscriptions (8th century). The Kül Tegin inscription dates his death to the "koń yıl" (year of the sheep, 731) and the Bilge Kagan inscription dates the kagan's death to the "it yıl" (year of the dog, 734). So animal year names were already used to give dates in that period.
The cycle follows the same order as the Chinese calendar and is a heritage shared with neighbouring cultures. Sources reckon the start of the year differently; this page takes Nevruz (21 March) as the start of the year.
- Kaşgarlı Mahmud, Divanu Lugati't-Türk (1072–1077).
- Kül Tegin yazıtı (732) ve Bilge Kağan yazıtı (735), Orhun Vadisi.
- Erkoç, H. İ., Divanü Lugati't-Türk'te Vahşi Hayvanlarla İlgili Kelimeler ve Terimler, Hacettepe Üniversitesi Türkiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi 23 (2015), 177-208.
- Karimova, G. ve Türkmen, F., Kazakistan'da Hayvan Kültü ve 12 Hayvanlı Halk Takvimi (2022).
The twelve animals
For entertainment and self-reflection. Year animals are presented as cultural history and character symbolism; they do not tell you what a year holds.
The images on this page were generated with AI.