The symbols that make up the Chinese Zodiac calendar are images of different animals. The Chinese have been using this 12 year cycle for dating the years since ancient times. Unlike the western linear concept of time the Chinese lunar calendar represents a cyclical concept of time.
The western calendar is governed by the sun and is called solar calendar whereas Chinese calendar being based on cycles of moon is called lunar calendar. When the New Year is calculated the Chinese calendar is fairly different from that of the west where they have New Year starting around the end of January and beginning of February.
even though China formally adopted the Western calendar in'11 the lunar calendar is still used to mark traditional events and festive occasions. The Chinese New Year is one of the most important examples of the use of the lunar calendar in modern day China. This is the reason we see the majority of the calendars printed in China showing both the solar as well as the Chinese lunar dates.
The Chinese followed the idea of popular folk custom of representing every year physically with some animal. A particular animal will represent a particular year. Thus twelve years show twelve different animals with their own characteristics. As the calendar is cyclic the same animals keep coming back once in every twelve years.
Even though it was a yearly representation the animals concerned had same connotation as that of the western monthly or daily horoscope. The difference lied in the yearly representation. According to Chinese Zodiac theory people born in a particular year will have qualities of that particular animal representing the year.
The Chinese zodiac symbols have another important meaning apart from the qualities of the person that they depict which at times may not be taken seriously.
The other role which the Chinese calendar performs is to show the age of a person. By knowing the animal sign of an individual you can calculate the age applying basic math and common sense.
You may wonder why the Chinese assign each twelve years to twelve different animals. The ancient tales explain that there was a quarrel between twelve animals as to who would control the cycle of changing years. It was decided that the first animal to reach the opposite bank of a river in a race would lead and the rest would follow as they finished the race.
In the race the Ox took the lead and the rat rode on the Ox's back. As the Ox almost reached the opposite bank, the rat being crafty jumped off the Ox's back on the bank and got the first position. So the rat leads the cycle of year till today with the ox being the second. The last is the pig to depict the last month.
The western calendar is governed by the sun and is called solar calendar whereas Chinese calendar being based on cycles of moon is called lunar calendar. When the New Year is calculated the Chinese calendar is fairly different from that of the west where they have New Year starting around the end of January and beginning of February.
even though China formally adopted the Western calendar in'11 the lunar calendar is still used to mark traditional events and festive occasions. The Chinese New Year is one of the most important examples of the use of the lunar calendar in modern day China. This is the reason we see the majority of the calendars printed in China showing both the solar as well as the Chinese lunar dates.
The Chinese followed the idea of popular folk custom of representing every year physically with some animal. A particular animal will represent a particular year. Thus twelve years show twelve different animals with their own characteristics. As the calendar is cyclic the same animals keep coming back once in every twelve years.
Even though it was a yearly representation the animals concerned had same connotation as that of the western monthly or daily horoscope. The difference lied in the yearly representation. According to Chinese Zodiac theory people born in a particular year will have qualities of that particular animal representing the year.
The Chinese zodiac symbols have another important meaning apart from the qualities of the person that they depict which at times may not be taken seriously.
The other role which the Chinese calendar performs is to show the age of a person. By knowing the animal sign of an individual you can calculate the age applying basic math and common sense.
You may wonder why the Chinese assign each twelve years to twelve different animals. The ancient tales explain that there was a quarrel between twelve animals as to who would control the cycle of changing years. It was decided that the first animal to reach the opposite bank of a river in a race would lead and the rest would follow as they finished the race.
In the race the Ox took the lead and the rat rode on the Ox's back. As the Ox almost reached the opposite bank, the rat being crafty jumped off the Ox's back on the bank and got the first position. So the rat leads the cycle of year till today with the ox being the second. The last is the pig to depict the last month.
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Chinese zodiac symbolism are varied and interesting in their meaning. To learn more about Chinese New Year symbols click on the hyperlinks.
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