Comments on: Explaining the Chinese Zodiac (Just in Time for Chinese New Year)

By: TBear

TBear — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 03:20:56 +0000

@MOMO

This article was written in January 2009, which was entering the Ox Year.

By: MOMO

MOMO — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 21:14:32 +0000

im confused…I thought we were entering the rabbit year…why did you say its the Yin Earth Ox??

By: Hilary

Hilary — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 05:33:00 +0000

These aren’t the only stories of how the zodiac came to be.

Tiger-Rabbit-Dragon: It was said that the tiger and dragon got there at the same time and since they both were arguing about who should be first, the rabbit made the decision for them by jumping in between them.

Why the cat isn’t on the list: The cat and rat were good friends. The cat was the one who told the rat about this zodiac-animal-choosing and asked his friend to wake him up when day broke. However, the rat sneaked out of the house without waking the cat and jumped on top of the ox (without its knowledge) and thus crossed the river. Eternal cat-rat enmity ensues…

There are many renditions of how the animals were chosen, just my 2 cents.

By: Amdela

Amdela — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 21:35:00 +0000

Also, if you travel to China in your birth year, it’s supposed to be very good luck. I ended up in China in the year of the monkey, my birth year, and it did turn out to be a pretty fine year.

By: Wildman

Wildman — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 21:20:00 +0000

@ Marion:
Yeah, I was confused for the longest time about that! I always thought I was born in the year of the monkey, but I realized about two years ago that I am actually a ram. :)

By: Bob

Bob — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 19:06:00 +0000

Try this site

www DOT chinesefortunecalendar DOT com

By: Marion

Marion — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 16:04:00 +0000

Just a caution that the non-Asian way of starting the Chinese New Year at January doesn’t take into account the January born – thus, my daughter is a dog according to the Asian calendar, and a pig according to the coin and stamp makers! Chinese New Year starts at the end of January or early February – it is a moving holiday.

By: nutmeag

nutmeag — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 13:28:00 +0000

I’m with Tricia. Is there a good link for this, Matt?

By: Tricia

Tricia — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 12:55:00 +0000

Very interesting article Matt, thanks! Do you have any links to figure out this stuff for ourselves?