Zodiac
Background
Information
Legend
of the Twelve Animals
Zodiac
Background
and Concept
Chinese
Lunar Calendar
Background
and Concept
The Chinese animal signs are a 12-year cycle used for
dating the years. They represent a cyclical concept of time,
rather than the Western linear concept of time. The Chinese
Lunar Calendar is based on the cycles of the moon, and is
constructed in a different fashion than the Western solar
calendar. In the Chinese calendar, the beginning of the
year falls somewhere between late January and early February.
The Chinese have adopted the Western calendar since 1911,
but the lunar calendar is still used for festive occasions
such as the Chinese New Year. Many Chinese calendars will
print both the solar dates and the Chinese lunar dates.
Background
Information
In the United States, the years are dated from the birth
of Jesus Christ, for example, 1977 means 1,977 years after
the birth of Christ. This represents a linear perception
of time, with time proceeding in a straight line from the
past to the present and the future. In traditional China,
dating methods were cyclical, cyclical meaning something
that is repeated time after time according to a pattern.
A popular folk method which reflected this cyclical method
of recording years are the Twelve Animal Signs. Every year
is assigned an animal name or "sign" according to a repeating
cycle: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep,
Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Boar. Therefore, every twelve
years the same animal name or "sign" would reappear.
A cultural sidelight
of the animal signs in Chinese folklore is that horoscopes
have developed around the animal signs, much like monthly
horoscopes in the West have been developed for the different
moon signs, Pisces, Aries, etc. For example, a Chinese horoscope
may predict that a person born in the Year of the Horse
would be, "cheerful, popular, and loves to compliment others".
These horoscopes are amusing, but not regarded seriously
by the Chinese people.
The animal signs also
serve a useful social function for finding out people’s
ages. Instead of asking directly how old a person is, people
often ask what is his or her animal sign. This would place
that person’s age within a cycle of 12 years, and with a
bit of common sense, we can deduce the exact age. More often,
though, people ask for animal signs not to compute a person’s
exact numerical age, but to simply know who is older among
friends and acquaintances.
Legend
According to Chinese legend, the twelve animals quarreled
one day as to who was to head the cycle of years. The gods
were asked to decide and they held a contest: whoever was
to reach the opposite bank of the river would be first,
and the rest of the animals would receive their years according
to their finish.
All the twelve animals
gathered at the river bank and jumped in. Unknown to the
ox, the rat had jumped upon his back. As the ox was about
to jump ashore, the rat jumped off the ox's back, and won
the race. The pig, who was very lazy, ended up last. That
is why the rat is the first year of the animal cycle, the
ox second, and the pig last.
Zodiac
Chart:
The rotating cycle
of twelve animal signs was a folk method for naming the
years in traditional China. The animal signs for one another
in an established order, and are repeated every twelve years.
1976 was the Year of the Dragon, and 1977 was the year of
the Snake.
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