Welcome! The purpose of our site is to provide you with information on the heritage and tradition of the Chinese culture. Through talking about the lunar calendar, origin of the animal signs, fortune for the upcoming year, and other related topics, we hope you'll find this site informative as well as entertaining.
Unlike the solar system of the Gregorian calendar, the calendar in China is a lunar calendar which was created approximately in 104BC. In the lunar system, a cycle of the moon, from new moon to new moon, determines the month. Comparing with the solar system, a lunar month is about a day short of a solar month (Note that a lunar month is either 29 or 30 days as against the solar month which is either 30 or 31 days). Hence, in a complete year the lunar is nearly tendays short of a solar year of 365.25 days. To correct this inconsistency with the solar year, an extra month known as the intercalary month is added to the lunar year. The intercalary month is determined so the Spring Equinox will always fall in the second month, Summer Solstice in the fifth month, Autumn Equinox in the eigth month and the Winter Solstice in the eleventh month. Furthermore, with this addition of the intercalary month, the Chinese New Year is ensured to be the first new moon after the sun enters Aquarius, which means it can only happen during the period between January 21 and February 20. All in all, although the Chinese Calendar is based on the lunar system, it has a close relationship with the solar system.
The Origin of the Animal Signs
The Chinese Zodiac is based on the twelve year cycle of the Chinese calendar. Five cycles of 12 years each make up one complete calendar cycle of 60 years. Each year is named after an unique animal of distinct characteristics: (in order) the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, ram, monkey, rooster, dog, and boar.
The origins of the 12 animal signs of Chinese astrology are unclear. However, there are two well known legends:
I. Buddha invited all the earth's animals to a gathering before his final departure, and these 12 were the only animals which showed up. To show his appreciation, Buddha named a year after each of them in the order in which they arrived.
II. The Jade Emperor held a race to determine the fastest animals. The Emperor had decided the first 12 animals to cross the chosen river would represent the 12 earthy branches that make up the cyclical order of years on the lunar calendar. The ox agreed to let a cat and a rat--both poor swimmers--ride on its back during the race acros the river. The rat pushed the cat into the water and sat next to the ox's ear throughout the course of the race. Right before the ox was about to make its land, the rat jumped ashore and won the race, leaving his carrier, the ox, to place second. The cat did not place in the first 12, and it is unclear what became of it.
The following is a table of the animal signs for the 20th century beginning with the rat.
| Animal | Year | Characteristics |
|---|---|---|
| Rat | 1900, 1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996 | Cautious |
| Ox | 1901, 1913, 1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997 | Stubborn |
| Tiger | 1902, 1914, 1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998 | Courageous |
| Rabbit | 1903, 1915, 1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999 | Gentle |
| Dragon | 1904, 1916, 1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988 | Talented |
| Snake | 1905, 1917, 1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989 | Eloquent |
| Horse | 1906, 1918, 1930, 1042, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990 | Active |
| Ram | 1907, 1919, 1931, 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991 | Artistic |
| Monkey | 1908, 1920, 1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992 | Patience |
| Rooster | 1909, 1921, 1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993 | Observant |
| Dog | 1910, 1922, 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994 | Righteous |
| Boar | 1911, 1923, 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995 | Enthusiastic |