Download Chinese Astrology

Chinese Astrology
Chinese astrology and constellations were often used for divination.
More than 3,000 years ago, Chinese people invented the 10 Heavenly Stems
and 12 Earthly Branches for chronological purposes. These signs are used to
designate the hours, days, months and years. However, since most people at
that time were illiterate, the signs were difficult to use. Later, to make things
easier to memorize, people used animals to symbolize the 12 Earthly Branches.
The animals in order are the mouse, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse,
sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.
Many Chinese people strongly believe that the time of a person's birth is the
primary factor in determining that person's personality. Many fortune-tellers,
when telling your fortune, say what they need to know is your exact time of
birth. Then, whether you are successful in your life and career, or whether you
will be happy is clear to the fortune-tellers.
According to one legend, during a Chinese New Year celebration, Buddha
invited all the animals to his kingdom, but unfortunately, for reasons only
known to the animals, a total of 12 turned up. The mouse was naturally the
first, followed by the ox, then the tiger, the rabbit and so on and finally the pig.
Out of gratitude, Buddha decided to name the year after each of the animals in
their order of arrival, and people born of that year would inherit the personality
traits of that particular animal. These animals are also supposed to have some
influence over the period of time they were named after.
It is essential in China that every person knows which animal sign he is born
under. That is because it has been implicitly agreed upon that no important
steps of life should be taken without consulting first the Chinese Zodiac. Some
Chinese consider this superstition, but many truly believe that the signs reveal
the hidden secrets of a person's character.
By the 5th century, the Chinese had cataloged 1464 stars.
In Beijing, there were about 5,000 stargazers.
Ancient astrologers could correctly predict when tides, seasons, and other
things, just by looking at the stars and planets. One of the uses for astrology
was for farming - the proper time to plant and harvest crops.
A lot of the Chinese looked to the stars, but some were drawn to the Earth,
trying to solve riddles and mysteries of math. They did not know that
everything was made from hundreds and millions of atoms, but instead they
thought everything was made up of the five elements: fire, earth, metal, water
and wood. They looked at how these elements could change, and explained
how nature worked in those terms. Wood goes through a basic change to
become fire (flames), fire turns into the earth (ashes), earth makes the metal
(iron and other metals) mined from the earth. Metal brings water (metal collects
dew if outside over night). And to make the circle, water produces wood (wood
plants need water to grow). The scientists did not think of the five elements as
DNA, but more like changing things in nature; and that is how the Chinese
viewed life and nature.
Mythology
The roots of this interpretive art, are based deeply in the classical philosophy of
Confucius, Lao-tse and the Yi Jing (I Ching). 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 midFebruary.) The Buddha invited all of the animals in the kingdom together for a
meeting, but only 12 creatures attended.
Chinese Astrology
Chinese astrology is based on the astronomy and traditional calendars. The
Chinese astrology does not calculate the positions of the sun, moon and planets
at the time of birth. Therefore, there is no astrology in the European sense in
China.
Chinese astrology has a close relation with Chinese philosophy (theory of the
harmony of sky, humans and earth) and different "principles" to Western: the
wu xing teachings, yin and yang, astronomy: five planet, the 10 Celestial stems,
the 12 Earthly Branches, the lunisolare calendar (moon calendar and sun
calendar), the time calculation after year, month, day and shiche
Chinese astrology is the divination of the future from the Chinese calendar,
which is based on astronomy, and ancient Chinese philosophy. In particular, it
is based on the sexagenary cycle of 60 years that has been documented since
the time of the Shang Dynasty at the latest. This basic cycle has been
constructed from two cycles: the 10 heavenly stems (the five elements in their
yin and yang forms) and the 12 earthly branches, or the 12-year cycle of
animals referred to as the Chinese zodiac. The Chinese animal zodiac also
operates on a cycle of months or 'moons' and of hours of the day.
The Chinese zodiac refers to a pure calendrical cycle; there are no equivalent
constellations like those of the occidental zodiac. In imperial times there were
astrologers who watched the sky for heavenly omens that would predict the
future of the state, but this was a quite different practice of divination from the
popular present-day methods.
Background
The ancient Chinese astronomers called the 5 major planets by the names of the
element they were associated with: Venus corresponds to Metal (gold); Jupiter
to Wood; Mercury to Water; Mars to Fire; Saturn to Earth. According to
Chinese Astrology, a person's destiny can be determined by the position of the
major planets, along with the positions of the Sun, Moon and comets and the
person's time of birth and Zodiac Sign. The system of the twelve year cycle of
animal signs was built from observations of the orbit of Jupiter. Chinese
astronomers divided the celestial circle into 12 sections to follow the orbit of
Jupiter, the Year Star). Astronomers rounded the orbit of Suixing to 12 years
(from 11.86). Suixing was associated with Sheti (Bootes) and sometimes called
Sheti.
Another popular legend has it that a race was used to decide the animals to
report to the Jade Emperor:
All the animals lined up on the bank of a river and were given the task of
getting to the opposite shore. Their order in the calendar would be set by
the order in which the animals managed to reach the other side. The cat
wondered how he would get across if he was afraid of water. At the
same time, the ox wondered how he would cross with his poor eyesight.
The calculating rat suggested that he and the cat jump onto the ox's back
and guide him across. The ox was steady and hard-working so that he
did not notice a commotion on his back. In the meanwhile, the rat snuck
up behind the unsuspecting cat and shoved him into the water. Just as the
ox came ashore, the rat jumped off and finished the race first. The lazy
pig came to the far shore in twelfth place. And so the rat got the first
year named after him, the ox got the second year, and the pig ended up
as the last year in the cycle. The cat finished too late (thirteenth) to win
any place in the calendar, and vowed to be the enemy of the rat
forevermore.
Some versions of the tale say that the cattle nominated a water buffalo to
represent them because he was more proficient at water. The trade was
acceptable because both animals are members of the family of bovines.
Another expands the race; the route ran through a forest, over ranges of plains
and grasslands, and along a stream, before finally crossing a lake to the
destination town.
Yet another variation tells of two different races. The first involved all the
animals, in two divisions to avoid the fast animals dominating the top, and the
top six in each division would "make the cut" for a second round, which would
then determine the order of placement of the animals in the zodiac. This format
is rather like the one that the National Football League uses to determine its
playoff teams (six from each conference).
Interestingly the cat -- but not the rabbit -- does make the Vietnamese Zodiac.
There is also a cycle of the Five Elements (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal (Gold),
Water) on top of the cycle of animals. A person's year sign can be a gold
dragon, a wood rooster etc. In ancient match-making practice in China, couples
were brought together according to their compatible signs. For example, it is
believed that dog and dog don't get along, but dog and pig do; a water dog
supports a wood pig but dominates a fire pig in their relationship because water
benefits wood, but controls fire according to the Chinese five elements'
interaction. In Japan, completion of an entire sixty year cycle of twelve animals
and five elements is celebrated in a special birthday for sixty-year olds
called kanreki.
The elements are also associated with colors, the traditional correspondence
being green to Wood, red to Fire, brown to Earth, white to Metal, and black to
Water. Some websites denote the years by the color and zodiac sign (as
opposed to animal sign and element). (Notice the title "Green (Wooden)
Chicken Year".)
The elements are combined with the binary Yin Yang cycle, which enlarges the
element cyle to a cycle of ten. Even years are yang, odd years are yin. Since the
zodiac animal cycle of 12 is divisible by two, every zodiac can only occur in
either yin or yang: the dragon is always yang, the snake is always yin, etc. This
combination creates a 60-year cycle, starting with Wood Rat and ending with
Water Pig. The current cycle began in the year 1984.
Since the (traditional) Chinese zodiac follows the (lunisolar) Chinese calendar,
the switch over date for the zodiac signs is the Chinese New Year, not January
1 as in the Gregorian calendar. Therefore, a person that was born in January or
early February may have the sign of the previous year. For example, 1990 was
the year of the horse, but anyone born from January 1 to January 25, 1990 was
born in the year of the snake (the sign of the previous year), because the 1990
year of the horse began on January 26, 1990.
There are many online sign calculators that share the same JavaScript (from
this website) that will give a person the wrong sign if he/she was born in
January or early February.
There are some newer astrological texts which follow the Chinese Agricultural
Calendar (the jie qi), and thus place the change over of zodiac signs at the solar
term li chun (beginning of Spring), at solar longitude 315 degrees.
The Chinese zodiac signs are used by cultures other than Chinese also. For one
example, they usually appear on Japanese New Year's cards. The United States
Postal Service and those of several other countries issue a postage stamp each
year to honor this Chinese heritage. However, those unfamiliar with the use of
the Chinese lunar calendar usually just assume that the signs switch over on
January 1 of each year.