chinese zodiac

The Chinese Zodiac

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The Chinese zodiac

Come Chinese New Year on the 29th January, it will be the year of the

Dog according to the Chinese zodiac. How did the Chinese zodiac come

about?

There is a probability that the Chinese zodiac is of northern Chinese

origin but the exact origins of the twelve animal system remain

unknown. One Chinese legend attributes the creation of the animal

signs to the semi-mythical Yellow Emperor (Huang Di) in 2637 B.C.

However the most common figure mentioned was Buddha and the Jade

Emperor with the twelve animals paying homage to the Buddha and a

purported race as the commonest themes.

The commonest legend involving the Buddha is about Buddha who invited

all the animals to join him for New Year's Day. However only twelve

animals went. As a reward he promised to name a year for each one in

order of their arrival, these were the rat, ox, tiger, hare, dragon,

snake, horse, sheep, monkey, cock, dog and boar. This legend is by far

the least credible of all explanations because the "twelve earthly

branches" which correspond with the zodiac, was already in existence

as early as the Zhou era, long before the advent of Buddhism.

Another version has it that Buddha invited the animals on the day he

was to leave the earth and only 12 animals showed up and he named the

years after them. Further variation involved the Buddha who decided to

hold a competition for the animals' places in the zodiac sequence.

There are a few variations involving the Jade Emperor. One described

how the Jade Emperor was bored and wanted to see the animals that

inhabited the earth. He asked his advisors to bring him twelve

animals. Twelve was considered to be a good sampling. So the advisor

sent out invitations to the Rat (who was to bring the Cat, but

jealousy got in the way of the Rat), the Ox, the Tiger, the Rabbit,

the Dragon, the Snake, the Horse, the Ram, the Monkey, the Rooster and

the Dog. When the Emperor found out that there were only eleven

animals, He sent his servant down to Earth to retrieve the twelfth

animal. The servant saw a man carrying a Pig and so delivered it to

the Emperor. The order of the animals were given by the Emperor.

A variation involving the Jade Emperor, which is also the most

popular, is as follows. The Jade Emperor held a race to determine the

fastest animals. The Emperor had decided the first 12 animals to cross

the chosen river would represent the 12 earthy branches that make up

the cyclical order of years on the lunar calendar. The ox agreed to

let a cat and a rat -- both poor swimmers -- ride on its back during

the race acros the river. The rat pushed the cat into the water and

sat next to the ox's ear throughout the course of the race. Right

before the ox was about to make its land, the rat jumped ashore and

won the race, leaving his carrier, the ox, to place second. The cat

did not place in the first 12, and it is unclear what became of it.

Whether the legends are true is anybody's guess. However what is clear

is that the Chinese zodiac had been used for many thousand of years.

There is even an industry evolving the Chinese zodiac and Chinese

astrology. Variations of Chinese zodiacs had been seen in countries of

the Far East of Korea, Japan and also the Indo-China states of Vietnam