Chinese Zodiac

Chinese Zodiac The Chinese Zodiac consists of a twelve-year cycle, with each year corresponding to one of the twelve Earthly Branches(地支)and represented by a different animal. The year in which a person is born is equated with one of these twelve “Animal Years.”The Chinese terms for the twelve Animal Years of the Chinese Zodiac, shengxiao and shuxiang, may be translated as “birth-year categories”, indicating that people’s characters are determined to some extent by the year of their birth. The star signs of the Western Zodiac(星座)are based on the month, rather than the year, of one’s birth, and are named after constellations, rather than animas. It is believed that people’s star signs may affect their character, behavior, and destiny, much like the Animal Years of the Chinese Zodiac. Of course, the Chinese Zodiac is calculated according to the traditional Chinese lunar calendar, unlike the Western Zodiac, which uses the solar calendar. Origin and Order of the 12 Animal Years A legend has it long ago that Chinese people found that it was very difficult for illiterates to remember and adopted the Heavenly Stems(天干)and Earthly Branches. Therefore, they asked the Jade Emperor(玉皇大帝)for help. The Jade Emperor thought that animals influenced people a lot and had close relationships with people, so he decided to choose 12 animals to substitute for the 12 Earthly Branches. Jade Emperor fixed a day and notified all the animals on earth to come and sign up, stating that the first 12 arrivals would be the lucky ones and named as Twelve Chinese Horoscopes(星座). Receiving the good news, all of the animals began to get ready. The cat and the rat were neighbors and good friends, and they decided to sign up together. The day before the fixed day, the cat said to the rat, “We have to get up early to sign up, but I’ve got into the habit f getting up late. What should I do?” The rat reassured him, patting his chest confidently, “Don’t worry; I will wake you up to go together.”However, the next morning after getting up and having breakfast, the rat found that the cat was still asleep, so he went to sing up on his own, thinking “I had better not wake the cat because he always walks faster than me.” On the way, the rat come across the ox that was again passed by the cunning rat, and the rat won the first position, followed by the straightforward ox, tiger, rabbit and other animals when the cat had slept enough and hurried to the gathering place the 12 animals had already been selected. After that, the cat was so angry that he hunted and ate the rat. After the 12 animals were decided on, people replaced the 12 Earthly Branches with the 12 animals to record the years. Thus, there is a cycle of twelve years, each with a different animal. For example, the year 2006 which is Bingxu of the lunar calendar, is also called the year of the dog; the year 2007 which is Dinghai of the lunar calendar, also named the year of the pig. Chinese Zodiac and Heavenly Stems, Earthly Branches Once, Chinese people used Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, which are collectively known as Stem-Branch or Gan-Zhi. The 10 Heavenly Stems were Jia, Y i, Bing, Ding, Wu, Ji, Geng, Xin, Ren, and Gui, while the 12 Earthly Branches were Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You,Xu, and Hai to record the years, months, days and hours. Later, the Chinese Zodiac was represented by 12 animals symbolizing the 12 Earthly Braches to record the years and people’s attributes. The Chinese Zodiac and the traditional Chinese calendar are closely interrelated. Ancient inscriptions on bones and tortoise shells indicate that the 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac had been determined by the Xia-Shang period, with each animal linked to one of the 12 Earthly Braches. For instance, Rat corresponded to zi (the first Earthly Branch), Ox corresponded to chou (the second Earthly Branch), and etc.. By the time of the Southern and Northern Dynasties the order of the 12 animals had been finalized, with each animal representing one year of the twelve-year cycle of Earthly Branches. During this time, the Animal Years started to be used to indicate the year in which a person was born. The final order of the earthly Brach-Animal combinations was as follows: zishu(First Rat), chouniu (Second Ox), yinhu(Third Tiger), maotu (Fourth Rabbit), chenlong (Fifth Dragon), sishe (Sixth Snake), wuma (Seventh Horse), weiyang(Eighth Sheep), shenhou(Ninth Monkey), youji(Tenth Rooster), xugou (Eleventh Dog), and haizhu (Twelfth Pig). Meanwhile, people divided 24 hours of every day into 12 time periods according to the living characters of the animals. Rat: 23:00-1:00 named Zishi, when rats are most active in seeking food. Ox: 1:00-3:00 named Choushi, when oxen begin to crush the food, regurgitating to the mouth slowly and comfortably. Tiger: 3:00-5:00 named Yinshi, when tigers hurt their prey more and show their ferocity. Rabbit: 5:00-7:00 named Maoshi, when the jade rabbit is busy pounding herbal medicine on the Moon according to the tale. Dragon: 7:00-9:00 named Chenshi, when dragons are hovering in the sly to give rain. Snake: 9:00-11:00 named Sishi, when snakes are leaving their caves. Horse: 11:00-13:00 named Wushi, when the sun is high above and other animals are lying down for a rest, while the horses are still standing. Goat: 13:00-15:00 named Weishi, when goats urinate frequently. Monke y: 15:00-17:00 named Shenshi, when the monkeys are lively. Rooster: 17:00-19:00 named Youshi, when roosters begin to go back to their coops. Dog: 19:00-21:00 named Xushi, when dogs begin to carry out their duty of guarding the houses. Pig: 21:00-23:00 named Haishi, when pigs are sleeping sweetly. The Zodiac Animals of Some Minority Groups in China The Chinese Zodiac is not peculiar to the Han Nationality and each minority group has their own Zodiac to record year: Yi nationality in Guangxi Province—dragon, phoenix, horse, ant, human being, rooster, dog, pig, sparrow, ox, tiger snake. Li nationality in Hainan Province—rooster, dog, pig, rat, ox, insect, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey. Dai nationality in Yunnan Province—rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, python, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, elephant. As time passed, the Chinese Zodiac became an important part of the traditional Chinese culture. Paper-cut and New-Year pictures of the Chinese Zodiac are popular among the Chinese people. In addition, the Chinese Zodiac is connected to a “totem”(symbol or logo of a clan in ancient China). For instance, the dragon is the totem of the Chinese nation; the ox is the totem of the Naxi nationality; and the goat is the totem of the Kazak and Kirgiz nationalities.