Introduction to Chinese Astrololgy
Chinese astrology began 5000 years ago, originally known
as 5 house Chinese astrology, or 5 planet Chinese astrology based on the
5 major planets in our Solar system namely Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and Mars, later the Sun and Moon were added to make 7 stars. Therefore
two new Chinese astrology systems were derived one based on the Solar
calendar called Ba Zi or 4 Pillars and the other based on the Lunar calendar
and called Zi Wei Dou Shu or Purple Emperor.
Chinese Astrology uses the theory of balancing the Yin-Yang Five Elements
to help people find their lucky time and place and choose the best (luckiest)
environment for the rest of their life. In Chinese Astrology, the Five
Elements are Metal, Water, Wood, Fire and Earth. Chi, sometimes spelt
Qi, is a definition of energy that flows around the universe and eminates
from living things. The presence of Chi is usually a sign of health, and
the Chinese have developed numerous skills to manipulate Chi on a personal
level like Ba Kua mirror.
Yin and Yang is known as the concept of Duality. Where there is light,
there must be dark in order for us to see that there is light. Without
two ends of a spectrum, the human mind cannot discern what a thing is.
The Chinese divide everything in the universe into Yin and Yang. Yin is
the female particle, Yang the male. It must be stressed that both are,
at all times, inherently equal and both contain a little of the other.
It's like the saying, "Within every bad there is a little good and
in every good there is a little bad". Thus Yin and Yang are equal,
opposite and interdependent.
The Five Elements of classical Chinese thought are Water, Earth, Metal,
Wood and Fire. The Five Elements interact with each other in logical ways.
Water feeds plants to give rise to Wood. Wood in turn can create Fire.
The by-product of Fire is ash, in this case the Earth element. From the
Earth comes Metal, which in turn can help collect Water, thus going full
circle. This is called The Cycle of Birth.
Conversely, Water puts out Fire, Fire melts Metal, Metal axes fell Wood,
the Wood tree roots hold down Earth and Earth absorbs Water. This is called
The Cycle of Destruction or Conquering.
The Chinese Zodiac consists of a 12-year cycle, each year
of which is named after a different animal that imparts distinct characteristics
to its year. Many Chinese believe that the year of a person's birth is
the primary factor in deciding that person's personality traits, physical
and mental attributes and degree of success and happiness throughout his/her
lifetime.
According to Chinese legend, the order of the twelve signs was determined
by Buddha, upon celebration of the Chinese New Year (which falls on different
dates, from mid-January to mid-February.) The Buddha invited all of the
animals in the kingdom together for a meeting, but only 12 creatures attended.
The first animal to arrive was the talkative Rat (who was aggressive enough
to jump off the back of the Ox in order to be the FIRST arrival) next
in place SECOND, came the serious, enduring and hard-working Ox with the
honorable Tiger, and cautious Cat. The outspoken Dragon joined the others,
along with the philosophical Snake.
The physically active Horse arrived
with the artistic Goat. The spirited Monkey and the showy Rooster came
as well. The last to join the others was the watchful Dog and the meticulous,
resigned Pig. Buddha gave each animal a year of its own, bestowing the
nature and characteristics of each to those born in that animals year.
As the Chinese say, 'This is the animal that hides in your heart'
The Chinese New Year begins with the second new moon after
the winter solstice, which occurs between Jan 21 and Feb 19. To learn
about your Animal Sign, find the year of your birth among the 12 signs
listed below. If you were born before 1936, add 12 to the year you were
born to find your year.
Choose
your Chinese sign: |
Rat |
1900
1912 1924 1936 1948 1960 1972 1984 1996 2008 |
Ox |
1901 1913 1925 1937
1949 1961 1973 1985 1997 2009 |
Tiger |
1902
1914 1926 1938 1950 1962 1974 1986 1998 2010 |
Rabbit
|
1903 1915 1927 1939
1951 1963 1975 1987 1999 2011 |
Dragon |
1904 1916 1928 1940
1952 1964 1976 1988 2000 2012 |
Snake |
1905 1917 1929 1941
1953 1965 1977 1989 2001 2013 |
Horse |
1906 1918 1930 1942
1954 1966 1978 1990 2002 2014 |
Goat
|
1907 1919 1931 1943
1955 1967 1979 1991 2003 2015 |
Monkey/td>
| 1908
1920 1932 1944 1956 1968 1980 1992 2004 2016 |
Rooster |
1909 1921 1933 1945
1957 1969 1981 1993 2005 2017 |
Dog |
1910 1922 1934 1946
1958 1970 1982 1994 2006 2018 |
Pig |
1911 1923 1935 1947
1959 1971 1983 1995 2007 2019 |
|
To choose your Chinese sign select your year of birth
and the sign corresponding to the year is your Chinese sign