The symbols that make up the Chinese Zodiac calendar are images of various 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.
Since the Chinese calendar is dependent on the cycles of the moon it is known as a lunar calendar and works absolutely opposite to that of the western solar calendar. On comparing the Chinese New Year to the western one we find that it begins somewhere close to the end of January and beginning of February.
even though China officially 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 prominent 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.
According to popular folk lore in China each year of the cyclic lunar calendar should be represented by a particular animal. For the whole year that animal will be the official sign marked for that year. There are twelve animals for twelve years with their distinctive personalities. As the lunar years are cyclical the same animal is repeated every twelve years.
You will observe that the Chinese animal symbols representing character traits are not different from western monthly or daily horoscope. The dissimilarity lies in the yearly representation. It is believed that a person born in a particular year will take on the qualities of that animal which represents that year.
The Chinese zodiac symbols have another important meaning apart from the qualities of the individual that they depict which at times may not be taken seriously.
The question is how and why the Chinese assigned these animal signs to each year. Well, there is an old legend that illustrates a quarrel between these twelve animals to rein control of the cycle of years. There was a competition to race to the opposite bank of the river and the first one to do so would be the winner whereas the rest would have to follow as they finished.
The sly rat rode upon the ox’s back and just as the ox was about to reach to the finish line the rat jumped off his back and took the lead. The last to reach the finish line was the pig. Thus we find the rat to be the first with the tricked ox second and the pig coming in last.
In the race the Ox took the lead and the rat rode on the Ox’s back. As the Ox nearly 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.
Chinese zodiac symbols are fascinating in their meaning. To learn more about Chinese New Year symbols click on the hyperlinks.
