{"id":14165,"date":"2018-02-12T11:00:30","date_gmt":"2018-02-12T15:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/?p=14165"},"modified":"2018-01-30T11:30:30","modified_gmt":"2018-01-30T15:30:30","slug":"an-intro-to-the-chinese-zodiac","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/an-intro-to-the-chinese-zodiac\/","title":{"rendered":"An Intro to the Chinese Zodiac"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>One tradition associated with the Spring Festival that almost everyone knows about is the\u00a0<strong>Chinese zodiac<\/strong>\u00a0(\u751f\u8096 \u2013 sh\u0113ng xi\u00e0o), a 12-year mathematical cycle that relates each year to an animal. Of course, there\u2019s an interesting story in Chinese folklore that explains the order of the animals:<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_14166\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter post-item__attachment\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ganmed64\/3496400235\/in\/photolist-6jXXYF-7CRWGj-7F5G3y-dKKgjZ-85J72V-FGLwFp-M1fTU-earUiz-kZqhyJ-7Un52o-dWe3DT-5wb2Vd-9h8caP-B31V6-r1HyD8-ud4DTD-4m5FgN-9QShNR-98qj9E-a6rUUX-4m5MW3-4m1KQt-4m5N17-q44bYF-7EgdVo-7Gb4qD-93TZJQ-aQJQgz-fwgs9m-fw2beR-dXB3Mh-mv5Xvn-nEKN8-fwgqzA-sk4LR7-fw2dEZ-fwgpps-98qj8Q-T6mov9-86hcSE-j2oH3J-9XunzD-fw2buv-aQJSea-qHhwZW-7A4vXF-7A8hFh-ERZ2jj-7Co9zz-7AC8sn\" aria-label=\"3496400235 A0d0d90505 Z\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-14166\" class=\"size-full wp-image-14166\"  alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/ src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/01\/3496400235_a0d0d90505_z.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/01\/3496400235_a0d0d90505_z.jpg 640w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/01\/3496400235_a0d0d90505_z-350x263.jpg 350w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-14166\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Image by GanMed64 from flickr.com. Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>As the story goes, the gods decided to have a contest to see which animal could cross a river first. The winner would be first in the cycle, and then the next eleven would go in order. Seeing as how the rat was the smallest of the lot, the other animals figured he was a shoe-in for last place. When the race started, however, the clever rat hopped on the back of the ox. Just as the ox was about to jump onto the riverbank to claim victory, the rat leaped off of his back and stole the race. The tiger and the rabbit finished in third and fourth, respectively. Not surprisingly, the slow and lazy pig finished in dead last. Here\u2019s the official listing of the animals in order:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Rat<\/strong>\u00a0(\u9f20 \u2013 sh\u01d4)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ox<\/strong>\u00a0(\u725b \u2013 ni\u00fa)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Tiger<\/strong>\u00a0(\u864e \u2013 h\u01d4)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Rabbit<\/strong>\u00a0(\u5154 \u2013 t\u00f9)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Dragon<\/strong>\u00a0(\u9f99 \u2013 l\u00f3ng)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Snake<\/strong>\u00a0(\u86c7 \u2013 sh\u00e9)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Horse<\/strong>\u00a0(\u9a6c \u2013 m\u01ce)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Goat\/sheep<\/strong>\u00a0(\u7f8a \u2013 y\u00e1ng)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Monkey<\/strong>\u00a0(\u7334 \u2013 h\u00f3u)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Rooster<\/strong>\u00a0(\u9e21 \u2013 j\u012b)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Dog<\/strong>\u00a0(\u72d7 \u2013 g\u01d2u)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Pig<\/strong>\u00a0(\u732a \u2013 zh\u016b)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/tUhCaiFgG-I\">https:\/\/youtu.be\/tUhCaiFgG-I<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>A funny animation about the race between the 12 animals (in Chinese with Chinese subtitles).<\/em><\/p>\n<p>So, which animal are you? Here\u2019s a chart with the Chinese zodiac and the years for each animal:<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_7137\" style=\"width: 493px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter post-item__attachment\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2012\/01\/chinese_zodiac.gif\" aria-label=\"Chinese Zodiac\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7137\" class=\"size-full wp-image-7137\"  alt=\"\" width=\"483\" height=\"314\" \/ src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2012\/01\/chinese_zodiac.gif\"><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-7137\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">I&#8217;m an ox, how about you?<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Each animal has distinct characteristics, and you will adopt those based on which year you were born in.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.chinesezodiac.com\/signs.php\">Here is a short description<\/a>\u00a0of some of the traits associated with the 12 symbols of the zodiac.<\/p>\n<p>As China follows a\u00a0<strong>lunar calendar<\/strong>\u00a0(\u9634\u5386 \u2013 y\u012bn l\u00ec), you have to check more specifically to see exactly which animal you are. The zodiac isn\u2019t as simple as a 12-year cycle with 12 different animals, though. You also have to take into account the\u00a0<strong>five elements<\/strong>\u00a0(\u4e94\u884c \u2013 w\u01d4 x\u00edng):<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Wood<\/strong>\u00a0(\u6728 \u2013 m\u00f9)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Fire<\/strong>\u00a0(\u706b \u2013 hu\u01d2)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Earth<\/strong>\u00a0(\u571f \u2013 t\u01d4)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Metal<\/strong>\u00a0(\u91d1 \u2013 j\u012bn)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Water<\/strong>\u00a0(\u6c34 \u2013 shu\u01d0)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Each of the five elements represents a <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/chinese-astronomy-lesson\/\">planet<\/a>: wood is Jupiter, metal is Venus, water is Mercury, fire is Mars, and earth is Saturn. The five elements are naturally occurring phenomena, and they are thought to have both a\u00a0<strong>generating<\/strong>\u00a0(\u751f \u2013 sh\u0113ng) and an\u00a0<strong>overcoming<\/strong>\u00a0(\u514b \u2013 k\u00e8) influence on each other. For example, wood generates fire, while water overcomes fire.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_14170\" style=\"width: 510px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter post-item__attachment\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/77745330@N00\/41392490\/in\/photolist-4E9xC-9cWMHn-cEGq9-4x2f68-94DP7-9tfp9N-tV8UK-dGXpen-bJGh8i-bpK1cU-Xpv3X1-eeNDB2-ef5FYY-bUmuRu-bpK28m-5nwdD9-bCDXEk-9NHG8u-daVgWd-TDG1QF-5nrWra-8Syt2H-nFVU-bNxKm-D6ciF-DHPkdd-NPaqrb-DHPguG-DBs4JV-2B5CiR-E8Besw-DdxtRV-DdLR9Z-DBs75g-E2G4RZ-qkHddr-pdbmrd-nNkZJ1-5gzN4M-JgoVkh-9J9Pio-9BkQ7m-9LfKfz-7zHSJm-23a1ciQ-6JcddS-9JrRD2-f4XFVs-TDG39n-VFZF8c\" aria-label=\"41392490 E02470a792 Z\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-14170\" class=\"size-full wp-image-14170\"  alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" \/ src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/01\/41392490_e02470a792_z.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/01\/41392490_e02470a792_z.jpg 500w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/01\/41392490_e02470a792_z-350x263.jpg 350w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-14170\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Image by JoOoRi from flickr.com. Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0).<\/p><\/div>\n<p>In addition, you also have to consider the\u00a0<strong>yin and yang<\/strong>\u00a0(\u9634\u9633 \u2013 y\u012bn y\u00e1ng) form of each element. Since the cycle is divisible by two, each animal can only be either a\u00a0<em>yin<\/em>\u00a0or a\u00a0<em>yan<\/em>g \u2013 the rat, tiger, dragon, horse, monkey, and the dog represent\u00a0<em>yang<\/em>, while the ox, rabbit, snake, goat, rooster, and the pig represent\u00a0<em>yin.\u00a0<\/em>When you combine the five elements with the yin and yang, you get the ten\u00a0<strong>Heavenly Stems<\/strong>\u00a0(\u5929\u5e72 \u2013 ti\u0101n g\u0101n)<em>.\u00a0<\/em>These have no English translations, so the Chinese pinyin is usually used:<\/p>\n<table border=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\u7532<\/td>\n<td>\u4e59<\/td>\n<td>\u4e19<\/td>\n<td>\u4e01<\/td>\n<td>\u620a<\/td>\n<td>\u5df1<\/td>\n<td>\u5e9a<\/td>\n<td>\u8f9b<\/td>\n<td>\u58ec<\/td>\n<td>\u7678<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>ji\u01ce<\/td>\n<td>y\u01d0<\/td>\n<td>b\u01d0ng<\/td>\n<td>d\u012bng<\/td>\n<td>w\u00f9<\/td>\n<td>j\u01d0<\/td>\n<td>g\u0113ng<\/td>\n<td>x\u012bn<\/td>\n<td>r\u00e9n<\/td>\n<td>gu\u01d0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Jia<\/td>\n<td>Yi<\/td>\n<td>Bing<\/td>\n<td>Ding<\/td>\n<td>Wu<\/td>\n<td>Ji<\/td>\n<td>Geng<\/td>\n<td>Xin<\/td>\n<td>Ren<\/td>\n<td>Gui<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>As such, this creates a 60-year cycle \u2013 5 elements times 12 animals. Confused yet? I know I am. Here\u2019s an easy to follow guide that helps you understand the elements and their corresponding\u00a0<em>yin<\/em>\u00a0or\u00a0<em>yang<\/em>:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>If the year ends in 0 it is Yang Metal.<\/li>\n<li>If the year ends in 1 it is Yin Metal.<\/li>\n<li>If the year ends in 2 it is Yang Water.<\/li>\n<li>If the year ends in 3 it is Yin Water.<\/li>\n<li>If the year ends in 4 it is Yang Wood.<\/li>\n<li>If the year ends in 5 it is Yin Wood.<\/li>\n<li>If the year ends in 6 it is Yang Fire.<\/li>\n<li>If the year ends in 7 it is Yin Fire.<\/li>\n<li>If the year ends in 8 it is Yang Earth.<\/li>\n<li>If the year ends in 9 it is Yin Earth.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Once again, you have to be careful when matching up dates on the Chinese calendar. This is basically only if you have a January or February birthday, as the actual Chinese New Year always falls during one of those months. As I was born on August 6, 1985, I\u2019m an ox, and my birth year was Yin Wood. As 1985 was a year of Yin Wood Ox, that means the next year with such a description will happen in 2045 \u2013 60 years later. Got it yet?<\/p>\n<p>So what do you do with all of this information? Well, there is the\u00a0<strong>Birth Chart<\/strong>\u00a0(\u751f\u8fb0\u516b\u5b57 \u2013 sh\u0113ng ch\u00e9n b\u0101 z\u00ec \u2013 lit. \u201cthe eight characters of birth time\u201d), which are also commonly called the\u00a0<strong>Four Pillars of Life\u00a0<\/strong>(\u56db\u67f1\u547d\u7406\u5b66 \u2013 s\u00ec zh\u00f9 m\u00ecng l\u01d0 xu\u00e9). The four pillars are the year, month, day, and hour of one\u2019s birth. If you thought you only have a Chinese zodiac for the year you were born in, think again; there\u2019s also one for the month, day, and hour of your birth.<\/p>\n<p>Each of these pillars is represented by both a\u00a0<em>Heavenly Stem<\/em>\u00a0and an\u00a0<em>Earthly Branch<\/em>\u00a0(the zodiac signs). All together, these can tell a person\u2019s destiny or fate. While that may seem overwhelming, thankfully there are an abundance of online calculators to help you figure out all of your signs, such as\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.psychicscience.org\/pillars.aspx\">this one<\/a>. If you want to know what this all means, well then you\u2019re just going to have to find a Chinese fortune teller to assist you in your quest to learn your fortune with the ancient Chinese method of\u00a0<strong>Zi Wei Dou Shu<\/strong>\u00a0(\u7d2b\u5fae\u6597\u6570 \u2013 z\u01d0 w\u0113i d\u00f2u sh\u00f9).<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_14169\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter post-item__attachment\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/qilin\/96143799\/in\/photolist-6fSSyE-6YNX2n-hf1sCF-2vVkpu-fdh599-fvnc4W-frbDzP-ftrc2s-9uLcH-rYtC5o-6fSXcE-fv7VKv-rj4HYQ-4nBGW8-9bxXx-hvbS4v-ftc3he-fv7KoP-rYuTTY-frw8CZ-k1H7g-6fNEmt-frdfNU-frwzaP-9cSAc-s3rnqy-fqY95D-frLsF7-6fNE8x-jTKn88-6fNEBM-6fSHdG-6fND18-6fSGWA-6fSRMQ-pVCjgF-YCzFLW-s1Fpeg-ftcaNc-igkbw2-frLQMA-frdeNL-frbEZn-frr3Bw-rYB2PV-igkexc-igRBJL-fv7Y2B-fv7SZ4-fyULyT\" aria-label=\"96143799 48af8b333d Z\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-14169\" class=\"size-full wp-image-14169\"  alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/ src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/01\/96143799_48af8b333d_z.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/01\/96143799_48af8b333d_z.jpg 640w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/01\/96143799_48af8b333d_z-350x263.jpg 350w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-14169\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Image from Christopher on flickr.com. Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>This year, when you celebrate the beginning of another Year of the Dog, just remember that there\u2019s a lot more to it than just one animal for one year&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<img width=\"350\" height=\"263\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/01\/3496400235_a0d0d90505_z-350x263.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"An Intro to the Chinese Zodiac\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/01\/3496400235_a0d0d90505_z-350x263.jpg 350w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/01\/3496400235_a0d0d90505_z.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><p>One tradition associated with the Spring Festival that almost everyone knows about is the\u00a0Chinese zodiac\u00a0(\u751f\u8096 \u2013 sh\u0113ng xi\u00e0o), a 12-year mathematical cycle that relates each year to an animal. Of course, there\u2019s an interesting story in Chinese folklore that explains the order of the animals: As the story goes, the gods decided to have a&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"post-item__readmore\"><a class=\"btn btn--md\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/an-intro-to-the-chinese-zodiac\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":14166,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[115788,115798,115789,13547,115786,115792,115799,115796,115790,115791,115794,115793,115801,115797,115787,115800,115795],"class_list":["post-14165","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","tag-astrology","tag-chinese-birth-chart","tag-chinese-lunar-calendar","tag-chinese-new-year","tag-chinese-zodiac","tag-five-elements","tag-four-pillars-of-life","tag-ten-heavenly-stems","tag-twelve-animal-zodiac-signs","tag-year-of-the-dragon","tag-yin-yang","tag-115793","tag-115801","tag-115797","tag-115787","tag-115800","tag-115795"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/55"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14165"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14165\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14171,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14165\/revisions\/14171"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}