Must Know Origin of The Chinese Zodiac

Around Lunar New Year, you may hear people give each other blessings like “Wish you prosperity in the Year of the Horse”. Or someone might tell you that he or she was born in the year of the Rooster. You must wonder what they are talking about. Is there something special about Chinese culture that you don't know? So now, we are going to answer for you.

Similar to the Zodiac in western culture, there is “the Chinese Zodiac” in Chinese culture. The Chinese Zodiac consists of twelve kinds of animals, which separately represent a year in the cycle, while the Western Zodiac attributes to twelve months in one year. But what is the origin of the Chinese Zodiac? Here’s a little legend from Chinese culture to tell you.

In the most common version of the legend, one day the Jade Emperor, the ruler of heaven, held a race for the animals on the earth (in another version, it is the Buddha who calls the animals). After the order was given out, each kind of animal was eager for a try and thought themselves would win the champion. Soon, the day of the competition came, and every animal ran as fast as possible. Unfortunately, just closing to the finish line, there’s a big and rapid river. Some animals which didn’t know how to swim chose to quit, but the rat and the cat, cannot swim as well, wanna win the race desperately.

Therefore, it occurred to the rat that they could secretly ride on the ox. However, as cunning as the rat, it pushed the cat into the river, so that’s why rats escape in panic upon seeing cats. Finally, the rat arrived the finish line first, followed by the ox, the tiger, the rabbit, the dragon, the snake, the horse, the goat, the monkey, the rooster, the dog and the pig. As a reward, the Jade Emperor gave each animal a year in the cycle and declared that anyone born in that year would resemble the animal in some way. And that was how the Chinese zodiac came into being.

Because of this, people put these twelve kinds of animals, which represent twelve different types of personalities, into the proverbs to add some delight in our language. For example, we will use “rat” to describe a timid person. Or “A dog is so anxious that it jumps over the wall.” describes that people will arouse their potential or do something beyond your ability while coming upon an urgent situation.

In modern times, people sometimes use the Chinese Zodiac to analyze a person’s fortune or personality just as the astrology in western. Why not see what animal sign you were born under in Chinese culture? The cycle repeats every 12 years in the order of the rat to the pig, so you can count from the list below. Note that each zodiac year starts on Lunar New Year (late January or February), not on January 1, so if you were born in January or early February, check the date of Lunar New Year that year. Maybe it will turn out to be accurate!

• Rat: 2020, 2008, 1996, 1984
• Ox: 2021, 2009, 1997, 1985
• Tiger: 2022, 2010, 1998, 1986
• Rabbit: 2023, 2011, 1999, 1987
• Dragon: 2024, 2012, 2000, 1988
• Snake: 2025, 2013, 2001, 1989
• Horse: 2026, 2014, 2002, 1990
• Goat: 2027, 2015, 2003, 1991
• Monkey: 2028, 2016, 2004, 1992
• Rooster: 2029, 2017, 2005, 1993
• Dog: 2030, 2018, 2006, 1994
• Pig: 2031, 2019, 2007, 1995

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Cover photo: lienyuan lee, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons