The Zodiac Between Chinese and the West

Every Chinese person has their zodiac animal fixed long before they are even born. Whether it is a pig or a sheep, and whether you like the animal or not, it sticks with you for the whole of your life. Your animal sign is as fundamental as your name, sex, and place of birth.

It is not unusual for Chinese people who are getting on in years to forget their age and the exact year of their birth, but there are none who forget what birth sign they are. Much of tradition has been lost to today’s young generation, but not the Chinese zodiac, and there are many who positively identify themselves with their own birth sign. For example, people who are born in the year of the ox do not eat beef, and whose born “sheep” refuse lamb, because they believe that they are reincarnations of oxen and sheep.

Many parents like to hang a little gold locket around their child’s neck, with the birth sign pictured on one side and a lucky phrase such as “long life and prosperity” on the other, to protect the child’s safety.

Birth signs have played a big part in Chinese people’s lives for thousands of years. But the original use of the zodiac was to record the years. A popular story recounts how the twelve animals came to be in the order that we know them. The Jade Emperor was looking for twelve creatures to match the twelve earthly branches, so he decided to hold a race in which the first twelve would be chosen in the order in which they came in. The course of the race crossed a river, and although the cat and the rat were not good swimmers they were lucky to meet the water buffalo at the river bank, and begged him to carry them across. The water buffalo agreed and took them up onto his back. Half way across the rat caught the cat unawares and pushed him into the water, them when the buffalo neared the bank he jumped ahead onto the shore and raced away to claim first place. The water buffalo was second, and then came the tiger, the rabbit, the dragon, the snake, the horse, the sheep, the monkey, the rooster, the dog and the pig. Because of the rat’s trick the unlucky cat did not even make the list—which is supposed to explain the enmity between cats and rats to this day.

Zodiac animals are not the exclusive property of the Chinese, however. The Chinese zodiac animals are a kind of totem, and also a kind of year god. Ancient Egypt, Babylon and Africa also had similar systems of twelve zodiac animals. The types of animal totem are not identical though. The ancient Egyptian system was led by the cat, while the Babylonian signs for Aries, Taurus, and Scorpio etc. became matched with the Western system of constellations. The Tsaudyo tribe in Africa though has a system identical to the Chinese one, apart from having a crocodile in the place of the Chinese dragon. Is this a case of “great minds thinking alike” among different peoples, or was it that the zodiac originated in one place then spread from there?

Speaking of the Western system of constellations, let’s explain the meaning of the word “zodiac”. The zodiac is a band of constellations that seems to encircle our earth. Each constellation is a group of stars that occupies a section of the zodiacal belt. There are twelve constellations in the zodiac. The zodiac coincides with the ecliptic, which is the path the sun appears to follow in its annual journey through the heavens. (Of course, it is the earth that actually moves around the sun.)

Many of the constellations of the zodiac were named for animals, and so this belt of constellations was given the name zodiac, derived from the Greek word zoin, meaning animal. Our zodiac was probably first defined by the Babylonians, as early as 2,000 B.C.

Astrology is based on the belief that the movements of the celestial bodies (stars, planets, moon and sun) influence human beings. A horoscope is a map of the heavens. The horoscope at the time of a person’s birth is especially important to astrologers, who use this map to predict the future and give advice.

No matter what the Chinese zodiac or the Western system of constellations you are, all people must chase their opportunities and do their best. After all, we hope that every day is a good day, every month is a good month and every year is a good year!