Chinese Zodiac

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Zodiac

Would you like to know which animal you are born under and check out your astrological path according to Chinese Zodiac? Go on to get more!

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Once, Chinese people used Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches (collectively known as Stem-Branch or Gan-Zhi, the 10 heavenly stems are Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, Wu, Ji, Geng, Xin, Ren and Gui; the 12 earthly branches are 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 branches to record the years and people's attributes, including the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.

A legend has it: long ago, the Chinese people found that it was very difficult for illiterates to remember and adopt the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, so they asked the Jade Emperor 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 sign up, stating that the first 12 arrivals would be the lucky ones and named as Twelve Chinese Horoscopes.

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 gotten into the habit of getting up late. What should I do?' The rat reassured him, patting his chest confidently:'don't worry; I will wake you 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 sign up on his own, thinking:'I had better not wake the cat because he always walked faster than me.' On the way, the rat came 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 is Bingxu of the lunar calendar, is also called the year of the dog; the year 2007 is Dinghai of the lunar calendar, also named the year of the 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: 01:00 ~ 03:00 named Choushi, when oxen begin to crush the food, regurgitating to the mouth slowly and comfortably.
Tiger: 03:00 ~ 05:00 named Yinshi, when tigers hurt their prey more and show their ferocity.
Rabbit: 05:00 ~ 07:00 named Maoshi, when the jade rabbit is busy pounding herbal medicine on the Moon according to the tale.
Dragon: 07:00 ~ 09:00 named Chenshi, when dragons are hovering in the sky to give rain.
Snake: 09:00 ~ 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.
Monkey: 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 Chinese Zodiac is not peculiar to the Han nationality and each minority group has their own Zodiac to record years:
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
Uyghur in Xinjiang Province - rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, fish, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, pig
Kirgiz people in Xinjiang Province - rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, fish, snake, horse, goat, fox, rooster, dog, pig

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.

Moreover, the Chinese Zodiac is also part of people's religious belief in China. Chinese people divided the 12 animals into two categories of Yin and Yang (the underlying principles of Chinese philosophy and medicine), corresponding to the Five Elements (Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth), and then created a set of fortunetelling methods which proclaim that the twelve Chinese horoscope animals decide people's fates. As a result, the Chinese Zodiac began to connect with people's characters, friendship, love, marriage, career, health, fortune and so on. People thought that when a person came to the year of his attribute (decided by the year when he was born), he must wear a red belt to pursue good fortune and shun calamity. Even children had to wear a red vest and underpants in their birth year. This custom of 'Birth Year' is still popular throughout China.

Here are the attributes of years 1912 – 2031:

Attributes	Years	Attributes	Years
Rat	1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020.	Horse	1918, 1930, 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014, 2026.
Ox	1913, 1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009, 2021.	Goat	1919, 1931, 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015, 2027.
Tiger	1914, 1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010, 2022.	Monkey	1920, 1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016, 2028.
Rabbit	1915, 1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011, 2023.	Rooster	1921, 1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017, 2029.
Dragon	1916, 1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012, 2024.	Dog	1922, 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018, 2030.
Snake	1917, 1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013, 2025.	Pig	1923, 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007, 2019, 2031.

7/1/2009 10:05:00 PMmaria catherine r. zulueta , Philippines

my birthday is november 27 1974 under the tiger sign what is the best thing that i can do to attract clients or to have more sales as a real state agent?

5/18/2009 12:06:00 AMsoma ch , India

How will be my future ....
my date of birth is 23-08-1978

2/28/2009 10:27:00 PMliz , United States

what does each of the animals sign stand for?

3/1/2009 8:24:00 PMWarriorTours.com

Rat stands for wisdom and brightness, ox means hardworking; Tiger means brave while hare means wariness; dragon means hard and strong while snake stands for flexibility; horse for passion and sheep for mild manner; monkey for agility while cock for invariablenes; dog means loyalty and boar stands for easy-going.

Thanks for supporting warriortours.com!

2/23/2009 7:04:00 PMP , China

Hi mette ulsaker kristiansen,
I think dog stands for faith,hope and love..... :)

2/23/2009 4:08:00 AMmette ulsaker kristiansen , Norway

is the someone who can tell me witch animals meens faith,hope and love.....

12/22/2008 9:37:00 AMAlex , Ukraine

I Know there's a Day sign animals in chinese astrology, Um I born in hour Wood snake, Day of Wood Tiger, month of Meal Rat, And metal ram, so please tell me if you know how the day reflects on my personality?? plz tell meee =] tnx any way.

12/17/2008 5:52:00 AMhenny , Indonesia

finally i've got thi site so i'm very happy now...

12/16/2008 1:53:00 PMsergio , Mexico

its a good site

12/14/2008 1:16:00 AMMuxi , China

I am glad you like it. This article tells the very truth about it.
people did take it seriously before, but the fortunetelling things are less popular now.
I am born under dragon(long).

12/6/2008 4:12:00 PMsabrina , United States

i randomly found this site, i'm very attatched to the chinese zodiac. i love it.

11/30/2008 1:36:00 AMmichael , United States

i was born 1998/3/17 3:23

11/10/2008 9:33:00 PMrexa , Singapore

hey crissy, sorry, so you're born on 11th january 1996 right? If i'm not wrong, you're zodiac animal is a pig.

I don't really understand "11th of the 1st 1996"

so if you're born on november 1st, you're zodiac animal is a rat.

11/6/2008 4:47:00 AMcrissy , Australia

hey can i please know something what zodiac sign am i? i am born the 11th of the 1st 1996 so what zodiac sign am i? please send me an email back really soon i am in a hurry to find out thanks

11/5/2008 5:07:00 AMlehyina , Indonesia

I was born in 21 februay,2001.I am snake but i can't tell if i am a snake.

10/15/2008 3:23:00 PMAlex , Israel

I was borned in 18 December, 1991
in 10:45 now tell me one thing i know that i am Ram and my hour is SNake, although i 'm not sure about it, cuz i don't act like snake-guy, but i know there's have a day animal, Can you please check for me what my day zodiac hope you"ll find :) tnx

9/16/2008 12:45:00 AMparames , Singapore

1962, 24, May

9/4/2008 7:56:00 PMGertie , China

The attribute of a person is determined by the year when he is born. It won’t change. Monkey is quite good, for it is smart in Chinese concept.

9/4/2008 10:26:00 AMPenny Benoit , Canada

I am looking for a special tattoo for of my daughter she was born sept 8 any idea someone mention she is a monkey but I would like something beautfuil as that is what her father calls her his little monkey

8/15/2008 4:23:00 AMstephanie , Australia

what are the colours of the animals like the ox

8/17/2008 9:06:00 PMWarriorTours.com

Thank you for you question. There is no fixed color for the animals. The colors go in accordance with those the natural animals have, so an animal may have several colors.