Author: Carey

The Jade Emperor wanted to select 12 kinds of animals as representatives, and he sent the gods to tell the animals about this matter, and set the time to go to the Heavenly Hall to run for elections of the zodiac. Those who came earlier was to be ranked in the front.

The cat and rat at that time were still good friends. The cat loved to sleep but he also wanted to be chosen, so he told the rat to call him when he went to select the zodiac. But the rat forgot, but he went to the OX and said that he got up early and ran very fast, so told him to take him to go to the Heavenly Hall. The OX promised. At that time, the dragon had no horns, and the Rooster had the horns, the dragon said to the Rooster that you were already very beautiful, and there was no need for the horns, and asked the Rooster to borrowed the horns to him, the Rooster listened to the flattery of the dragon and felt very happy, and he lent the horn to the dragon, and called the dragon to remember to return to him on time after the selection of the Zodiac.

When it came to the time of selecting the zodiac, a lot of animals have arrived at the Heavenly Hall, but the cat was still sleeping. The rat sat in the back of the ox and after arriving there, he jumped ahead and then the Jade Emperor said rat came there earliest and ranked the rat in No.1 in the list of the Zodiac, and the ox ranked No.2, the tiger No.3, the rabbit No.4.

The dragon came late, but he was very big. The Jade Emperor saw him at a glance and found him so beautiful and then let him rank fifth. Then the snake in the back said: “I am sixth!”; horse and goat were also here, but they let each of them to be 6th. The Jade Emperor felt that they were so politely and let them rank seventh and eighth.

The monkey was originally behind, but he jumped on his own, and he took the clouds in the sky and jumped to the front, and then was ranked at the ninth; then the rooster and dog and pig were also selected. After the competition, the cat woke up and the rat just came home. Then it is chased by the cat from then on. This is the story about the Chinese Zodiac.

The year of the pig is one of the 12 zodiac years in the Chinese calendar. When the year of the AD is divided by 12, the remainder of the result is 3, then it is the year of the pig. The formula is that the number of the year÷12=a quotient, and the remainder is 3. For example: 2007÷12=167······3, then the year of 2007 is the Year of the Pig. For example, 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007, 2019, 2031, 2043, 2055, 2067, 2079, etc. are the years of the pig. It comes back every twelve years. The pig is the last zodiac and ranks 12th among all the 12 Chinese zodiacs, and it is called the “pig time” between 21:00 p.m. to 23:00 p.m.

The zodiac pig is regarded as a symbol of boldness, modesty, simplicity, and peace of mind. There is a good auspicious meaning of living and working in peace and contentment and being well-fed and well-clothed.

The Chinese Zodiac is not only integrated into the life of the Chinese people with ordinary living spirits, but its natural habits have been endowed with many cultural meanings, from animals to the gods, the Zodiac accepts respect and worship. Only the combination of natural creatures and cultural deities constitutes a complete impression of the zodiac animals.

People summarize the advantages and disadvantages of the zodiac animals, and use their imagination to sum up the characteristics of the zodiac in the Chinese traditional customs.

The characteristics of the people who were born in the years of the pig are as follows: hey are docile, helpful, low-key, diligent, enthusiastic, optimistic, at the same time, they are childish, stubborn, materialistic, short-sighted.

The character of a man who is born in the Year of the Pig is that he is dedicated, gentle, trustworthy and calm; the woman who is born in the Year of the Pig is very energetic and sociable. People born in the year of the pig are most compatible with those born in the Year of the Tiger, Year of the Rabbit or Year of the Goat, and are least compatible with those born in the Year of the Snake and the Year of the Monkey.

The year of the dog is one of the 12 zodiac years in China. It is the 11th animal in the Chinese zodiac. From 19:00 to 21 p.m., it’s the “dog time”. When the year of the AD is divided by 12, the remainder of the result is 2, then it is the year of the dog. The formula is that the number of the year÷12=a quotient, and the remainder is 2. For example: 2018÷12=168······2, then the year of 2018 is the Year of the Dog.

The origin of the zodiac dog is as follows: It is said that when the Jade Emperor chose to select twelve animals as the zodiacs, all animals wanted to be the zodiac and be the god. Animals tried to show their strengths and wanted to prove that they were powerful assistants to human beings in front of the Jade Emperor. Not only that, animals also wanted to position themselves in front, so they are arguing who contributed the most to humanity.

Cats and dogs are closely related to humans. Cats thought that dogs ate too much, and they just lied at the door and had nothing to contribute. The dog thought that the cat only ate well all day long, and did nothing, but just did chanting and scaring to the little mouse, and also had nothing to contribute. They argued endlessly, so they went to the Jade Emperor to evaluate. The cat skillfully told the Jade Emperor that he would eat his own food and catch the mouse. His contribution was bigger than that of the dog. The dog thought that the cat won with a disgraceful lie, so he chased the cat. Taking advantage of the opportunity of the cat to avoid it, the dog quickly went to the Heavenly Palace to line up with the rooster to select the zodiac. The rooster flew quickly and ran to the front of the dog. This is also why the zodiac rooster ranks ahead of the zodiac dog in the list of Chinese Zodiac.

The zodiac dog is regarded as a symbol of being witty and intelligent, sincere and brave, dutiful and trustworthy, self-sacrifice and righteousness. There is a good auspicious meaning of being healthy and safe all the year and bringing peace and tranquility.

The rooster is the 10th animal in the Chinese zodiac. It is the time of the rooster from 17:00 pm to 19:00 pm. When the year of the AD is divided by 12, the remainder of the result is 1, then it is the year of the rooster. The formula is that the number of the year÷12=a quotient, and the remainder is 1. For example: 2017÷12=168······1, then the year of 2017 is the Year of the Rooster.

Regarding the origin of the chicken zodiac, it is like this: the rooster king always seeks to prevail over others, and it stirs up trouble all the time and like fighting and brawling. When the Jade Emperor selected the zodiac, he considered whether it made contribution to human beings or not, then of course the rooster king could not be selected. One night, the rooster king couldn’t figure out anything about it. He couldn’t sleep, and flew straight to the Heavenly Palace. He came to the Jade Emperor and cried to the Jade Emperor and said that he evokes all beings every day, but he failed to be selected as the zodiac. He couldn’t understand why. After the talk, the Jade Emperor thought that the merit of the King of Rooster was really great, so he took off a flower in front of the hall and wore it on the head of the rooster king to show the award. After the rooster king woke up, he found a red flower on his head, so he wore it to see the four kings in the heaven. The four kings recognized the red flower and knew that the jade emperor valued the rooster king, so the rooster king was allowed to participate in the zodiac competition.

On the day of selecting the zodiac, the rooster and the dog got up at the same time, and they went in. When they almost arrived at the Heavenly Palace, the rooster was afraid of the dog to surpass it, and flew to the front. The dog rushed to catch up and never caught up, and the result was that the dog was ranked after the rooster in the list of Chinese Zodiac.

The zodiac rooster is regarded as being brave and aggressive, determined to make progress, to resolve the problem, and it is the symbol of peace and auspiciousness. There is a good auspicious meaning of home’s stability and couple’s harmony.

The monkey is the ninth animal in the Chinese zodiac. From 15:00 P.M to 17:00 P.M, it is the time of the monkey. When the year of the AD is divided by 12, it is a quotient without remainder, then it is the year of the Monkey. The formula is that the number of the year÷12=a quotient. For example: 2016÷12=168, then the year of 2016 is the Year of the Monkey. The year of the monkey also includes the following years: 1908, 1920, 1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016, 2028, 2040, 2052, 2064, 2076, 2088, etc.

For the monkey was selected for the zodiac, there is a folk story that the tiger recommended it to the heavenly king. At that time, the tiger had already been selected for the zodiac, and once the tiger entered the hunter’s net, the monkey rescued it. The tiger was grateful and should recommended monkey as a zodiac. Although there is no unified statement about the origin of the Zodiac monkey, the monkey gains human identity and love with its witty, agile and lively image.

The zodiac monkey is regarded as a symbol of freedom, agility, intelligence, wisdom and courage. There is a good auspicious meaning of exorcism to subdue monsters and bringing happy years to humans.

The advantage of those person who were born during the years of the Monkey are that they have strong enterprising spirit, stubborn personality and like competition, and they are optimistic and confident. They are kind, and are able to get along with people. They are talented with a good mind, and they are lively and flexible. They are very determined. They are smart, brave, self-appreciative and capable! They are always winners, because they are never satisfied, and they are highly talented, have a strong learning ability, never waste any time in their work, and they are quick to respond, and can handle any urgent and complicated tasks and things calmly and clearly.

The Goat is the eighth animal in the Chinese zodiac and is also known as “horse time” from 13:00 PM to 15:00 PM. When the year of the AD is divided by 12, the remainder of the result is 11, then it is the year of the goat. The formula is that the number of the year÷12=a quotient, and the remainder is 11. For example: 2003÷12=166······11, then the year of 2003 is the Year of the Goat. And the years of the goat include 1907, 1919, 1931, 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015, 2027, 2039, 2051, 2063, 2075, 2087, 2099, etc.

In Chinese folklore, the goat sacrificed their lives for stealing grains and seeds for human beings. Humans planted grain seeds and grown crops that year. After the autumn harvest, people held a grand memorial ceremony to thank the goat for its kindness. The grand ceremonial ceremony provoked the Jade Emperor. The Jade Emperor thought of the emergence of grains in the human world and remembered that the goat brought it to the world. After finding out the situation, the Jade Emperor moved to anger the goat and ordered the Heavenly Palace to slaughter the goat in the world and asked people to eat the meet of the goat. The strange thing happened in the second year. In the place where the goat was executed, the grass was first grown. Later, the lamb was born. The goat passed down from generation to generation, grazing for a living, contributing selflessly to human beings with their flesh and milk. Human beings were grateful to the sheep, and they hold a wax festival every year to commemorate. When humans heard that the Jade Emperor wanted to pick twelve animals for the human zodiac and made them as God, people unanimously recommended the goat as such zodiac. Although the Jade Emperor was stunned by the things of what the goat did before, he had to agree that the goat become a zodiac.

The zodiac goat is regarded as a symbol of gentleness, kindness, harmony, grace, purity and nobleness. There is a good auspicious meaning of rich harvest wealth.

The horse is the seventh animal in the Chinese zodiac. From 11:00 AM to 13:00 PM, it is also known as “Horse time”. When the year of the AD is divided by 12, the remainder of the result is 10, then it is the year of the Horse. The formula is that the number of the year÷12=a quotient, and the remainder is 10. For example: 2014÷12=167······10, then the year of 2014 is the Year of the Horse. And 1894, 1906,1918,1930,1942, 1954,1966,1978,1990, 2002, 2014, 2026, 2038, 2050, 2062, 2074, 2086, 2098 are Chinese horse years.

With regard to the legend of the zodiac horse, it is said that the horse is in order to thank the people for their help, came to the world to serve the people for the rest of their lives. Usually, it cultivated land and pulled the cart, carried goods. In the war, it put on the armor and the saddle to fight for the battle in the battlefield with people. Since then, the horse and people have become good friends who are inseparable. When Jade Emperor was preparing to select twelve animal zodiacs, the horse became one of the animals that were selected by humans. The Jade Emperor selected the horse as a zodiac because of it helped people for a lot.

The horse has gained human recognition with its loyalty, diligence and spirituality. It is well-deserved as a human zodiac. “Horse” has a lofty position in the cultural status of the Chinese nation. It symbolizes the good wishes of success and expresses the national spirit of endless struggle and self-improvement.

The zodiac horse is regarded as a symbol of being strong and sturdy, loyal and honest, proud, and brave. There is a good auspicious meaning of keeping going and keeping living.

The characteristics of people who were born in the years of the Horse are as follows: they are cheerful and romantic, and are good at words, and have a very optimistic attitude towards life. They are enthusiastic, positive and optimistic, sincere and reliable, observing, free and easy and they love to help others.

The snake is one of the 12 zodiacs in Chinese traditional culture, and it is ranked sixth, after the zodiac dragon and before the zodiac horse. It is also known as “snake time” from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. When the year of the AD is divided by 12, the remainder of the result is 9, then it is the year of the Snack. The formula is that the number of the year÷12=a quotient, and the remainder is 9. For example: 2013÷12=167······9, then the year of 2013 is the Year of the Snack. Snake years in China include 1905, 1917, 1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013, 2025, 2037, 2049, 2061, 2073, 2085 and 2097.

Dragon is a sacred object created by Chinese ancestors and the ultimate totem of the Chinese nation. But the dragon comes from the snake. The dragon’s main body such as the dragon neck and the dragon body are the image of a snake. There are snakes first and then dragons. However, the dragon is big and snake is small, so people often call the snake as little dragon. Among the 12 Chinese zodiacs, the snake ranks sixth, after the dragon. In addition to the zodiac Dragon in the 12 zodiacs, the snake is one of the most disgusting animals. Why does it become a zodiac? It is probably related to the totem worship. It is the primitive religion that makes the snake occupy a seat in the zodiac, because it is the little dragon, so it is listed after the big dragon.

The zodiac snake is regarded as a symbol of beauty, infatuation, open-mindedness, and flexibility. There is a good auspicious meaning of conquering the unyielding with the yielding and being indomitable.

The characteristics and temper of those people who were born during the years of the Snack: they understand their own abilities, attach great importance to spiritual life, have the sixth sense and the superhuman insight, and have a strong view of things and judgments. They are born to be strong, and caring for others. But they are also easy to shake, easy to have jealousy, revenge, and they are not broad-minded, indifferent and suspicious and they will hesitate in front of major events.

The dragon is one of 12 Chinese zodiacs. About the year of the Dragon, when the year of the AD is divided by 12, the remainder of the result is 8, then it is the year of the Dragon. The formula is that the number of the year÷12=a quotient, and the remainder is 8. For example: 2012÷12=167······8, then the year of 2012 is the Year of the Dragon. The corresponding years of the Dragon are: 1892, 1904, 1916, 1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1977, 1988, 2000, 2012, 2024, 2036, 2048, 2060, 2072, 2084, 2096, etc.

The dragon ranks fifth in the Chinese zodiac. It is also called “Dragon Time” from 7:00 to 9:00 in the morning. The zodiac dragon is regarded as being noble and holy and ambitious and understanding, with a high degree of interest. It has the auspicious meaning of punishing evils and may the country be prosperous and the people at peace.

Although the dragon is the only fictional animal in the zodiac, the Chinese people are respectful and fearful of it. There is a special feeling with dragon. The dragon’s status is high and no animal can compare with it. In the Chinese mind, it is a kind of energy and it is a powerful animal. The emperor claimed to be the rightful king, and the people themselves were descendants of the dragon. People use their infinite imagination to make the dragon magical and great. They gather the images of various animals in the dragon, the wildness of the beast, the understanding of human beings, the spirituality of God, and have created many legends of dragons. These legends after the folk processing and the literati’s touches, are even more fascinating. People’s psychology of respecting dragons and loving dragons is more sublimated into a kind of worship. Perhaps this is also the cultural factor for the dragon to become a zodiac.

For the character and temper of people who were born during the years of the Dragon: they are the pioneering role who are optimistic and positive, and have a strong and enterprising spirit, have a noble belief, and they are serious and responsible, honest, decisive, enthusiastic, outgoing, etc.

The year of the rabbit is determined according to the traditional Chinese calendar. To check whether it is the year of the Rabbit, here are some methods: when the year of the AD is divided by 12, the remainder of the result is 7, then it is the year of the Rabbit. The formula is that the number of the year÷12=a quotient, and the remainder is 7. For example: 2011÷12=167······7, then the year of 2011 is the Year of the Rabbit.

Here is a list of the years of the Rabbit: 1891, 1903,1915,1927,1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2023, 2035, 2047, 2059, 2071, 2083, 2095, etc.

The rabbit ranks fourth in the Chinese zodiac. From 5:00 am to 7:00 am, it is also called “the time of the rabbit”. The Zodiac Rabbit is regarded as a symbol of gentleness, purity, elegance, wisdom, and goodness. It has the auspicious meaning of natural detachment and the immortality.

Speaking of the rabbit as the zodiac, the folks have an interesting legend. On the day when the Jade Emperor selected the Zodiac, according to the rules, whoever first arrived would be the zodiac. The tiger and the rabbit agreed that when the chicken crows the first time, then wake up and go straight to the Hall of Heaven. When the chicken called for the first time, the tiger got up but found that the rabbit has ran away. The rabbit ran for a while, looking back and seeing no animal behind him. The rabbit thought that I got up early today, and ran the fastest, and even he slept again, the title of the zodiac also belonged to him. So, it fell asleep on the grass.

Although the tiger has fallen behind, with the tough endurance, and the iron feet that have been practiced in peacetime, it walked fast. When the rabbit was still asleep, it first ran to the Hall of Heaven. A rush of footsteps awakened the rabbit, and when he saw to find that the tiger ran like a gust of wind. The rabbit was in a hurry to catch up. Unfortunately, it still arrived behind the tiger, so it was ranked behind the tiger in the Chinese zodiac.