Chinese Calendar Astrology
The Chinese calendar dates the years on the basis of a 12-year cycle and the Chinese astrology is based upon animal signs. Western astrological calendar starts with the birth of the Christ and is based upon monthly zodiac signs such as Aries, Pisces, Gemini and so on.
Chinese astrologers start their year somewhere between last week of January and the first week of February. Although most Chinese astrologers have also adopted the Western colander since 1911, there are many who still continue with the lunisolar calendar. Mandy calendar companies publish both the solar and lunar dates.
Chinese horoscopes are built around animal signs just as the Western horoscopes are built around sun signs.
A person, for example, born between March 21 to April 20 has Aries as his zodiac sign which in turn is governed by planet Mars. An Aries person imbibes the characteristics of Mars. Consequently, an Aries has the qualities of a born leader. He/she is brave, commanding, assertive, action-oriented, independent, strong, forceful, headstrong and straightforward.
Chinese horoscopes predict the nature and personality of a person on the basis of animal signs. A person born with, say, the sign of Ox is stubborn, patient, large sized, strong, willful and so on.
The animal signs also help the Chinese to find out their ages. So instead of asking a Chinese directly how old he is, he is only asked to tell his animal sign, This would help them to deduce his age from the 12 year cycle. Most often the animal signs are asked not to calculate the exact age of a person but to know whether he is a younger or older member in a group of friends.
Relation Between Western and Chinese Dates
Aries |
March 21 - April 20 |
Dragon (5) |
Taurus |
April 21 - May 21 |
Snake (6) |
Gemini |
May 22 - June 21 |
Horse (7) |
Cancer |
June 22 - July 21 |
Sheep (8) |
Leo |
July 22 - August 22 |
Monkey (9) |
Virgo |
August 23 - September 22 |
Rooster (10) |
Libra |
September 23 - October 22 |
Dog (11) |
Scorpio |
October 23 - November 22 |
Pig (12) |
Sagittarius |
November 23 - December 21 |
Rat (1) |
Capricorn |
December 22 - January 20 |
Ox (2) |
Aquarius |
January 21 - February 19 |
Tiger (3) |
Pisces |
February 20 - March 20 |
Rabbit (4) |
Lunarsolar Calender
The Chinese calendar has a 60-year old cycle that is composed of two separate cycles that interact with each other. The first cycle consists of ten heavenly stems. They are Five Elements, namely, Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water –in that order. These elements are in their Yin and Yang forms.
The second cycle is made up of twelve zodiac animal signs, also called Earthly Branches. The names of these animals in order are: 1 rat 2. ox 3.tiger 4. rabbit 5.dragon 6.snake 7. horse 8.sheep-ram or goat 9.monkey 10. rooster 11. dog 12. boar.
This combination creates a 60-year old cycle based upon the LCM—least common multiple. It always starts with Yang Wood Rat and ends with Yin Water Boar. It may be noted that the zodiac animal cycle of 12 is divisible by 2, therefore, every zodiac sign can occur only either in Yin or Yang. The dragon is always yang and the snake is always yin and so on. The present cycle started in 1984.
If you wish to traverse the lunisolar calendar, all you need to do is to follow an easy rule. According to it the years that end in an even number are placed in yang and those that end in odd number are placed in yin. The year that ends in:
0, it is Yang Metal
1, it is Yin Metal
2, it is Yang Water
3, it is Yin Water
4, it is Yang Wood
5, it is Yin Wood
6, it is Yang Fire
7, it is Yang
8, it is Earth.