The Chinese word “Shengxiao”, better known in English as the Chinese Zodiac, is a scheme that relates each year to an animal and its reputed attributes, according to a 12-year cycle. The zodiac traditionally begins with the sign of the Rat, and the twelve zodiac signs are Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Ram, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. The zodiac signs cycles continuously, and determines the animal or sign under which a person is born.
Ancient people observe that there are 12 full moons within one year. So, the origin of Chinese zodiac is associated with astronomy. In Chinese tradition, each animal sign is usually related with an earthly branch, so the animal years were called::
- zi rat,
- chou ox,
- yin tiger,
- mao rabbit,
- chen dragon,
- si snack,
- wu horse,
- wei sheep,
- shen monkey,
- you rooster,
- xu dog
- hai pig.
Many Chinese people strongly believe that the time of a person’s birth is the primary factor in determining that person’s personality.
Image Source :: zakka81.blogspot.com
Browse the calendar to find your birth year and more about your Chinese zodiac sign :
| Rat | 1924 | 1936 | 1948 | 1960 | 1972 | 1984 | 1996 | 2008 |
| Ox | 1925 | 1937 | 1949 | 1961 | 1973 | 1985 | 1997 | 2009 |
| Tiger | 1926 | 1938 | 1950 | 1962 | 1974 | 1986 | 1998 | 2010 |
| Rabbit | 1927 | 1939 | 1951 | 1963 | 1975 | 1987 | 1999 | 2011 |
| Dragon | 1928 | 1940 | 1952 | 1964 | 1976 | 1988 | 2000 | 2012 |
| Snake | 1929 | 1941 | 1953 | 1965 | 1977 | 1989 | 2001 | 2013 |
| Horse | 1930 | 1942 | 1954 | 1966 | 1978 | 1990 | 2002 | 2014 |
| Sheep | 1931 | 1943 | 1955 | 1967 | 1979 | 1991 | 2003 | 2015 |
| Monkey | 1932 | 1944 | 1956 | 1968 | 1980 | 1992 | 2004 | 2016 |
| Rooster | 1933 | 1945 | 1957 | 1969 | 1981 | 1993 | 2005 | 2017 |
| Dog | 1934 | 1946 | 1958 | 1970 | 1982 | 1994 | 2006 | 2018 |
| Pig | 1935 | 1947 | 1959 | 1971 | 1983 | 1995 | 2007 | 2019 |
Information source:
http://www.hanban.com/chinese-culture
http://www.chiff.com/
