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The Chinese Animal Signs

The 12 Animals of the Chinese Zodiac

For unknown reasons, only twelve animals came. Buddha was so happy to see them that he decided to name a year after each of them. The animal would have an influence on everyone born in that year and would bestow its main characteristics on them.

These twelve animals formed the Chinese Zodiac, based on the lunar calendar, by order of their arrival, and are listed above.

Another myth of the Chinese animal signs

All the animals lined up on the bank of a river and were given the task of getting to the opposite shore. Their order in the calendar would be set by the order in which the animals managed to reach the other side.

The cat wondered how he would get across if he was afraid of water. At the same time, the ox wondered how he would cross with his poor eyesight. The calculating rat suggested that he and the cat jump onto the ox's back and guide him across.

The ox was steady and hard-working so that he did not notice a commotion on his back. In the meanwhile, the rat snuck up behind the unsuspecting cat and shoved him into the water. Just as the ox came ashore, the rat jumped off and finished the race first. The lazy pig came to the far shore in twelfth place.

And so the rat got the first year named after him, the ox got the second year, and the pig ended up as the last year in the cycle. The cat finished too late (thirteenth) to win any place in the calendar, and vowed to be the enemy of the rat forevermore.

The Origins of Myth

Myths are mankinds way to explain the things that are unexplainable. They are metaphors of processes that we do not yet understand. Somewhere in every myth is a grain of truth gleaned from the experiences of many lifetimes. It is the task of every person to decide which is true and which is not.

Chinese Animal Signs - 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, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. 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.

Further information:
Chinese Culture Center's Zodiac Page
750 Kearny Street, 3rd Floor, San Francisco, CA 94108-1809
Email:info@c-c-c.org, 415-986-1822, Fax: 415-986-2825