The Chinese zodiac is a traditional classification system based on the lunar calendar, in which each year in a twelve-year cycle is assigned an animal and its purported traits. The zodiac, which originated in China, is still popular in many East Asian and Southeast Asian countries, including Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Cambodia, Singapore, Nepal, Bhutan, and Thailand.
The use of the generic term “zodiac” to describe this system reflects several superficial similarities to the Western zodiac: both have twelve-part time cycles, each labels at least the majority of those parts with animal names, and each is widely associated with a culture of attributing a person’s personality or life events to the supposed influence of the person’s particular relationship to the cycle.
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Is astrology used in the Chinese zodiac?
There are the same number of signs in both systems: 12. Ox/Bull and Goat/Ram are two that appear to be comparable on the surface.
- Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig are the Chinese zodiac signs.
- Ram, Bull, Twins, Crab, Lion, Virgin, Scales, Scorpion, Centaur, Sea-Goat, Water Bearer, and Fish are the Western signs.
The year 2020 is the year of the Rat, the year 2021 is the year of the Ox, and the year 2022 is the year of the Tiger.
Origins of the Signs
The 12 signs in Chinese astrology are based on a legend that all creatures on Earth were summoned to compete in a race while God was building a calendar. The first 12 people to cross the finish line were given Chinese zodiac signs.
This is in contrast to Western astrology, which bases the 12 signs on the positions of constellations in relation to the earth. According to Greek mythology, the constellations were given names.
What factors go into determining the Chinese zodiac signs?
Using the Chinese Lunar Calendar as a guide Each animal represents a year in the cycle, and people’s signs are determined by their birth year. Every 12 years, the cycle repeats itself in the following order: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig.
Why do the Chinese believe in astrology?
In Chinese culture, the Chinese zodiac is a significant factor. The signs have been used to date years in the Chinese calendar’s 12-year cycle for a very long time. The Chinese zodiac is significant because the animal signs have been employed in storytelling and folklore. These were used to generate the many personality qualities associated with each animal.
Even today, millions of Chinese people believe in the prophesies and “superstitions” contained in the Chinese zodiac. Some people in Chinese culture have based their relationships on the Chinese zodiac.
Some people, for example, look for mates and friends by looking for someone who has the same zodiac sign as them.
They also utilize it to figure out who they’d get along with and collaborate with the best. In general, the zodiac offers advice on how to live one’s life. The Chinese zodiac has a fascinating influence on Chinese culture and community.
- “Chinese Zodiacs,” as the title suggests. Chinaspree.com. http://www.chinaspree.com>, 21 July 2007.
Who created the Chinese horoscope?
Beginning Jan. 26, Asian communities around the world will celebrate the Lunar New Year with food, firecrackers (to ward off evil spirits), red paper lanterns (red being a bright hue that foreshadows a bright future), and dragon and lion dances for good luck. (A group of dancers holds a model of the animal’s head and a long train depicting its body and moves sinuously to symbolize power and dignity; no lions or dragons are hurt.) Such customs come from an astrological system that dates back to the Shang Dynasty (about 1700 B.C. ), when soothsayers would burn turtle shells or goat or bovine shoulder blades and utilize the cracks to predict what would happen in the future. Years later, the remains of these “readings” were discovered and dubbed “dragon bones.” The time marks the beginning of the Chinese link to the celestial bodies that form the basis of the Chinese zodiac, despite the fact that these approaches were not technically astrological. (Photos of Chinese New Year celebrations can be found here.)
The Chinese calendar is based on the revolution of the moon, therefore the new year might fall anywhere between mid-January and late-February. According to tradition, Ta Nao, an Emperor Huang Ti’s minister, invented the calendar, which has been used in Asia from 4000 B.C. It is based on 12 temperaments represented by 12 symbolic animals: the rat, the ox, the tiger, the rabbit, the dragon, the snake, the horse, the sheep, the monkey, the rooster, the dog, and the pig (the dragon being the well-known favorite). The cycle restarts after 12 years, matching the duration of Jupiter’s solar orbit. (See “China’s Year of the Ox Isn’t So Bullish.”)
Each animal in the zodiac is linked to a specific element.
Metal, wood, earth, water, or fire are the elements given to each year. A person’s personality is believed to be defined by the mix of these two traits. For example, 2009 is the year of the earth ox, yet the ox’s fixed element is water; some say the combination of the two elements, earth and water, is destructive.
Animals and some of the years they connect to:
1931, 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003: Goat/Sheep (well-mannered, altruistic, insecure, reckless)
1920, 1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, Monkey (independent, passionate, unscrupulous, infantile personality)
Rooster (1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005): resourceful, adventurous, short-sighted, impractical
1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006 (attentive, faithful, stubborn, guarded)
1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007, pig/boar (sincere, cultivated, noncompetitive, gullible)
1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008 (hardworking, thrifty, quick-tempered, neurotic)
1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009 (patient, self-sacrificing, jealous, inflexible)
1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010, Tiger (fortunate, bold, vain, undisciplined)
1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011, Rabbit (ambitious, unflappable, aloof, private)
1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000 (intuitive, influential, demanding, judgemental)
1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001 (calm, intellectual, indolent, possessive)
1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002 (entertaining, forceful, egotistical, rebellious)
Elements that correspond to specific animals include:
Wood (tiger, rabbit, dragon) represents high moral standards and a proclivity for taking on too much.
Earth (not fixed because it is made up of the other four elements): practical and dependable, but lacking in inventiveness)
Aggressive, domineering, dynamic in voice and action (snake, horse, sheep)
When charting a person’s characteristics or predicting what the new year will bring, a Chinese astrologer takes all of these factors into account. These forecasts aren’t just for carnival sideshows or fortune cookies; in many Asian cultures, the year’s forecasts are closely scrutinized for omens relating to business, romantic, and family decisions in the future year. Some Chinese parents schedule their children’s births during dragon years in order to increase their children’s fortune. Some persons who were born in the “wrong” years have apparently been denied entry to weddings and funerals. Those planning for 2009 should be aware that, due to the lack of fire in this year’s prophecy, fortune tellers believe the economy will do no better than it did in 2008, the year of the rat.
Is my Chinese astrological sign yin or yang?
Because it takes the fewest years (least common multiple) to travel from Yang Wood Rat to its next iteration, which always starts with Yang Wood Rat and finishes with Yin Water Pig, this combination forms the 60-year cycle. Because the 12th zodiac animal cycle is divisible by two, each zodiac sign can only appear as yin or yang: the Dragon is always yang, the Snake is always yin, and so on. In 1984, the current cycle began (as shown in “Table of the sixty-year calendar” below).
An easy rule to remember when traversing the lunisolar calendar is that years that finish in an even number are yang, and years that end in an odd number are yin. The following is how the cycle works:
- It’s Yang Metal if the year ends in zero.
- It’s Yin Metal if the year ends with 1.
- It is Yang Water if the year ends in a two.
- It’s Yin Water if the year finishes in three.
- It is Yang Wood if the year finishes with the number four.
- It’s Yin Wood if the year finishes in a 5.
- It is Yang Fire if the year ends in 6.
- It’s Yin Fire if the year finishes in 7.
- It is Yang Earth if the year ends in the number eight.
- It is Yin Earth if the year finishes with 9.
The switch-over date is the Chinese New Year, not January 1 as in the Gregorian calendar, because the (traditional) Chinese zodiac follows the (lunisolar) Chinese calendar. As a result, someone born in January or early February may have the previous year’s sign. If a person was born in January 1970, for example, his or her element would still be Yin Earth, rather than Yang Metal. Similarly, despite the fact that 1990 was designated as the Year of the Horse, anyone born between January 1 and January 26, 1990 was actually born in the Year of the Snake (the previous year’s sign), as the Year of the Horse did not begin until January 27, 1990. As a result, if a person was born in January or early February, many online sign calculators (and Chinese restaurant place mats) may give them the wrong sign.
Along with many other ceremonies, Chinese New Year marks the beginning of a new zodiac.
What is the significance of the Chinese zodiac’s 12 animals?
According to legend, before departing from Earth, a god summoned all creatures to wish him farewell. Only 12 of them, the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig, arrived, and each was granted a year’s worth of honor depending on their arrival order.
Which Chinese zodiac is the most fortunate?
The rat is the first of the twelve Chinese zodiac signs. It’s also regarded to be the luckiest zodiac signperhaps because the first one is always the greatest. People born in the year of the rat will have good fortune. They will have a better chance of living a happy and prosperous life.
Rats born into wealthy homes will receive financial assistance from their families in order to succeed in their jobs.
People born in the year of the rat excel at seizing opportunities and making the most of them in order to achieve success in life. When they are having challenges in their employment or education, they will seek assistance from others.
Rat men have a good chance of marrying a beautiful wife because they are quick-witted and intelligent. Details regarding the Rat’s Horoscope in 2022 may be found here.
Which Chinese zodiac is the most obstinate?
Stubborn Ox (1913, 1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009) Those born under this sign are persistent, resilient, and straightforward, just like their namesake, but they may also be incredibly stubborn and attached to their old habits or methods of doing things.
Which Chinese zodiac sign is the most unlucky?
According to a popular Chinese folktale, 9/10 goats are insufficient (3/41 ’10 Goats 9 incomplete’), implying that most persons born in the year of the Goat are doomed.
The majority of Chinese people believe that people born in the year of the Goat will grow up to be followers rather than leaders. Despite the fact that this is an antiquated superstition, it has a significant impact on Chinese society.
The Dragon, on the other hand, is the most sought-after zodiac sign, with Chinese births highest in Dragon years. See 10 Amazing Facts About Chinese Dragons for more information.
The Chinese zodiac is a fiction, right?
According to legend, the Chinese zodiac’s twelve animals were chosen through a race. The purpose of this race is to provide a time measurement for the participants. There could only be twelve winners, and the animals had to cross a fast-flowing river and reach the finish line on the coast in order to win.