The Chinese Zodiac (According to legend
from 2697 BC) :
|
The Five elements and the associations |
||||
|
Metal/Gold |
Wood |
Water |
Fire |
Earth
(Soil ?) |
|
The West, The Autumn, The color white, |
The East, The Spring, The color Green, |
The North, The Winter, The color Black, |
The South, The Summer, The color Red, |
The Central position, The color Yellow(hence the yellow
emperor) |
The Zodiac of 12 animals
(or the 12 Earthly branches). (Willi: No
guarantee for correct dates!!, only the
green)
|
Month # within a year |
The Animal |
Lunar Year |
Start of New Year |
Chinese Year (+2698) |
|
|
|
1 |
The
Rat |
1996 |
Feb
18 |
4694 |
|
|
|
2 |
The
Ox/Cow |
1997 |
Feb
7 |
4695 |
|
|
|
3 |
The
Tiger |
1998 |
Jan
27 |
4696 |
|
|
|
4 |
The
Rabbit |
1999 |
Feb
15 |
4697 |
|
|
|
5 |
The
Dragon |
2000 |
Feb
5 |
4698 |
|
|
|
6 |
The
Snake |
2001 |
Jan 24 |
4699 |
|
|
|
7 |
The
Horse |
2002 |
Feb 12 |
4700 |
|
|
|
8 |
The
Goat/Sheep |
2003 |
Feb 1 |
4701 |
|
|
|
9 |
The
Monkey |
2004 |
Jan
22 |
4702 |
|
|
|
10 |
The
Rooster |
2005 |
Feb
9 |
4703 |
|
|
|
11 |
The
Dog |
2006 |
Jan
29 |
4704 |
1994 |
Feb 10 |
|
12 |
The
Pig |
2007 |
Feb
18 |
4705 |
1995 |
Jan
30 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Willi’s comment: The Lunar New Year starts with the second full
moon after winter solstice (Dec 22).
The New
Year arrives with the second moon following the winter solstice (on or about
December 21) and the lunar New Year begins between January 21 and February 20.
Chinese New Year
(Lunar Calendar) Greetings and definitions.
(The
information below is primarily collected from the Chinese Historical and
Cultural Project’s web-site;
color coded or highlighted text is
made by me (Willi) ).
The two
most important New Year greetings:
Xin Nien Kuai Le!
Gong Xi Fa Cai!
Chinese New
Year
|
|
|
2 0 0 2 - Y E A R
O F T H E H O R S E 2 0 0 3 Year of the Goat Xin Nien Kuai Le!
|
Lunar
New Year
The
Lunar New Year is determined by cycles of the moon and therefore the dates are
movable, each new year commencing on the new moon
which occurred in the late January or February of the Western Calendar. It is
not the “Chinese New Year” but the “Lunar New Year” as the date is celebrated by many others besides
the Chinese.
The
first day of the lunar year is the "Lunar New Year." There are 12
lunar months in the year and by definition the evening of the first day of the month is the darkest night
of the month. As the nights progress, the moon becomes fuller and fuller
until the fifteenth of the month when there is a “full moon,” the brightest
evening of the month.
Above: Thanks to Lim Mar
My
father had informed me quite a few years ago that the full moon comes on the
15th of the month on the lunar calendar. So, using reverse logic, the new moon
comes on the first of the lunar calendar month.
Above: Thanks to Don Gee
When
is New Year? Most people will answer January 1. Well, that is correct. But if
we want to be more specific, it depends on which calendar system in use. Most
of us use the Gregorian system (only
app. 500 years old) which is accepted internationally. Many people think
Chinese use the lunar system only. Actually Chinese lunar system (Ying Lik)
also takes into consideration the solar system by adding a month every certain years. Moreover, the solar year (365 or 366 days) is divided
into 24 periods, each consisting of 15 or 16 days. The beginning of each period
is identified by a name corresponding to the position of the sun. The important
ones are:
Dong
Ze (Winter Summit/Solstice) on December 22. At this time the sun is at the
southmost. People expect the sun to come back. To celebrate, warm soups of
ginger and wheat-balls are served.
Chun
Fen (Aries Point) on March 21. At this time the sun is exactly at the
equator. No celebration is held.
Qing Ming (Clear and Bright) on April 5, 15 days after Chun Fen. It is
supposed to be sunny but not too hot. People go to clean graveyards which
otherwise will be covered by grass.
Of
importance is Li Chun (Establish Spring) on February 4, which is exactly
midway between Dong Ze and Chun Fen. Some people call it Qiao
Chun (Hand-over to Spring). Philosophically this is the true New
Year, because it is the real beginning of spring, while Chun Fen
(Aries) is the summit of spring. European culture might regard Chun Fen
as the beginning of spring due to different philosophy.
Above: Thanks to Bandvenus Teniseliwanti
Chinese
New Year Traditions
This
auspicious holiday, which has been observed annually in China for more than
5,000 years, falls on a different date each year because the Chinese calendar
is based on a combination of the lunar and solar cycles.
According
to legend the Chinese
started to compute time from 2696 B.C., during the reign of the Yellow Emperor,
Huang Ti, when his prime minister devised system of 60-year cycles. In the
twenty-third century B.C., the Emperor Yao commanded his astronomers to observe
the solstice and fix the dates of the four seasons so that farmers might know
when to plant their seeds and harvest their crops.
Evidence
suggests that the Chinese used a gnomon, a crude sundial, to determine the
solstice and equinox sometime before the twelfth century B.C. Using that information, a year was divided into days and
lunar months. A lunar month
consisted of 29.53 days, the time required for the moon to make one
complete revolution around the earth. Consequently, a year made up of twelve
lunar months was not 365.25 days (the time for the earth to completely
circumnavigate the sun), but only 354.3 days, about eleven days shorter than a
year in the Gregorian calendar. Therefore the lunar calendar required periodic
adjustment. This was
accomplished by adding a day or a month to the calendar when the cumulative
fractions equaled a complete unit.
An
extra day was added about every two months so that some lunar months had
twenty-nine days and others had thirty. To correct the deficiency of eleven
days a year, a lunar month was added every three years.
In
the lunar calendar, the first day of the month coincides with the new moon and the middle of the month usually
coincides with the full moon. The new year arrives with the second moon
following the winter solstice (on or about December 21) and the lunar
new year begins between January 21 and February 20.
Reprinted with Permission by the Copyright Holder:
Man-U Import News
980 So.
Willi’s comment: The Lunar New Year
starts with the second full moon after winter solstice (Dec 22).
More
about Chinese New Year Traditions
The
Chinese begin preparations for the new year during the
last few days of the last lunar month. Debts are paid, hair is cut, and new
clothes are purchased. Homes are thoroughly cleaned to sweep away any ill
fortune and to make way for the incoming good luck. Doors and windows are
decorated with paper cut-outs with the themes of happiness, wealth and
longevity. Incense is turned in homes and temples to pay respect to ancestors
and ask the good for good health in the coming year.
On new Year’s Eve, families come together to feast. Popular in
On
the first morning of the new year, children greet
their parents and receive lay see, lucky money tucked in red envelopes.
Then the family goes door to door with good wishes for relatives and neighbors.
Old grudges are easily
dismissed during this time of reconciliation and goodwill, and gifts are
exchanged during visits over the next several days. The festival is marked by
peace. socializing, folk dancing, and fun.
From another web-site:
Dear astrologyTOMORROWtoday (tm) Reader,
The Two Chinese Years
Many people are confused over the so-called ‘Two Chinese years’ “Seasonal New Year” and the “Civil New
Year”.
Why is
Strictly speaking, there are no ‘Two Chinese years’.
In trying to interpret eastern values, writers in the English language
(yours truly, included) tend to present ideas in a way that might help their
readers get a handle on the subject.
This process can sometimes lead to quite a bit of confusion.
To add to the confusion, most of us who write in English tend to NOT be
able to read the Chinese text.
And those who CAN read the Chinese text, tend
to have a poor command of the English language.
Writers like myself, depend on our various
sources who DO read the Chinese text, to explain in a combination of Chinese
and broken English, as best as they can, the different Chinese beliefs, systems
and values.
We, who do not read Chinese, miss the opportunity of interpreting the
Chinese text for ourselves.
Our job of sharing Chinese Astrological information and knowledge is
twice as difficult as a result of our NOT being able to read Chinese. Speaking
for myself, I have to read up on the subject in English to give myself a
foundation on the subject and to familiarize myself with English terms of
Chinese concepts.
The difference between “Seasonal New Year” and the “Civil New Year”:
The first day of Spring as indicated in the
Lunar calendar is known as the Li Chun.
What English writers refer to as the ‘Chinese Seasonal New Year’ (Li Chun)
starts on the second new moon after the Winter Solstice.
This so-called ‘Seasonal Year’ always begins with the Winter
Solstice (December 21 - 23).
The Chinese month that includes the Winter Solstice day is the Rat
month, as the Rat is the first sign of the Chinese Zodiac.
The Li Chun is sometimes referred to as the 'Seasonal New
Year' or ‘Spring Festival’ as opposed to the 'Civil New Year' which always falls on the first day of the
Tiger month.
The first day of the Tiger month is NOT always the first day of Spring.
In the year 2002, the Li Chun falls on February 4.
In other years, the Li Chun may fall on February 4 or 5.
The first day of the Tiger month may fall on any day of Spring.
In other words, Chinese New Year may fall on any day of Spring.
The ‘Chinese Seasonal Year’ is the year probably used by the
agricultural community.
This ‘Seasonal Year’ usually begins with the ‘Li
In agricultural communities where Chinese New Year might be celebrated
on February 4 or 5 (the Li Chun day), this would be
celebrating the ‘Seasonal’ New
Year in addition to the ‘Civil’ New Year.
The first month of the ‘Civil
Year’ (Tiger month) comes two months later than the month that included the
Winter Solstice
day (Rat month).
In other words, the *first* month of the ‘Civil Year’ (Tiger month)
always corresponds to the *third* month of the ‘Seasonal Year’ (Tiger month
as well).
So you see, there is really only ONE year to
contend with. Both the ‘Civil’
and ‘Seasonal’ are contained within the same year.
The following information might be of interest to some of you:
2003’s Chinese New Year (first day of Tiger month) will fall on
February 1st .
2004’s Chinese New Year (first day of Tiger month) will fall on January
22.
2005’s Chinese New Year (first day of Tiger month) will fall on
February 9.
2006’s Chinese New Year (first day of Tiger month) will fall on January
29.
2007’s Chinese New Year (first day of Tiger month) will fall on
February 18.
2008’s Chinese New Year (first day of Tiger month) will fall on
February 7.
2009’s Chinese New Year (first day of Tiger month) will fall on January
26.
2010’s Chinese New Year (first day of Tiger month) will fall on
February 14.
2011’s Chinese New Year (first day of Tiger month) will fall on
February 3.
Other explanations :
Lunar Calendar
An authentic Lunar calendar contains all the Do's and Don't's for each day of the year, down to the most
favourable and unfavourable hours of each day.
The day begins at
Each section is ruled by one of the animal signs.
The sign which rules the time of birth is the 'Ascendant' and influences the
personality too,
again, as in Western Astrology.
Lunar Year
The Lunar year is divided into twelve months of 29˝ days each. Every
two and a half years, an extra month, known as an intercalary month is added to
adjust the calendar. The intercalary
month is consecutively interposed from the 2nd to the 11th months of
the lunar year.
The addition of this month every third year produces the Lunar Leap
Year. For easy reference, the beginning of each Lunar month is the date of the
New Moon aka the lunation marked on the Western calendar.
An attempt at a comparison of Western and
Chinese Astrology
1. Contrary to common belief,
there is a sort of correlation between the twelve animals of Chinese Astrology
and the twelve signs of the Western zodiac.
2. Western Astrology is based upon a system which uses the path of the
sun through the heavens, as seen from planet Earth. It looks at the constellations which used to
lie along this path, now called the Zodiac.
It doesn't matter that the constellations have since moved, the Zodiac is what Western Astrology is based upon.
3. The Chinese system focuses upon the Tzu Wei star (which
correlates to the Western Pole Star) and the constellations which relate to the
Tzu Wei star.
4. It's interesting to note that Western
Astrology is more concerned with psychological insights and nuances whereas
Chinese Astrology is more concerned with specifics. For example, your Chinese Astrologer can very
well tell you that you will have two wives or that your marriage will end in
divorce or illness and he would more
likely than not, mean it literally.
Modern times though, have changed the approach of some of the Chinese
Astrologers. These days, they take care not to "release heavenly
secrets" of the above nature and adopt some of the Western methods to 'talk
around' an impending problem and help guide the client away from disaster while
protecting heavenly secrets, lest they invite heaven's wrath upon themselves.
While Western Astrology can't claim to give absolute, fixed readings,
Chinese Astrology can, but Chinese Astrologers know they should not especially
when the forecasting of disease, accidents, deaths, and other unpleasant events
can't really help the majority of people.
The Chinese believe in fate but they also believe that fate is tied to
one's character and if one wants to change one's fate, one has to change one's
character first. Fate can also be
changed by acts of compassion and kindness.
In this respect, your
fate is in your hands. For those who fervently believe that God has a
hand in deciding one's fate, surely it can be argued that even God would look
benevolently on those who are compassionate and kind and thus, are good
vehicles to do his work for him.
5. One area where I think both Western and Chinese Astrology is similar
is when they interprete charts citing the theory of Karma and how this karmic energy affects a
person in a present lifetime.
6. In both Western and Chinese Astrology, the future can be seen as 'mapped out' if
one were to continue along one's present path. Changing one's path then, would be literally changing one's fate.
7. While the Chinese Astrological chart does not have a point for the
Ascendant, the animal that rules the time of birth influences the personality
and acts like the Ascendant sign.
8. The Moon sign in Chinese Astrology is not arrived at in the same way
that it is in Western Astrology. Chinese
Moon signs correspond to Western Sun signs but use a Chinese animal sign for
the Moon sign and again, this acts like the Moon sign
in Western Astrology. Credit must be
given to Theodora Lau (The Handbook of
Chinese Horoscopes) in which she
shares that while looking into the Lunar calendar, she
found that it is divided into twenty-four sections which were originally used
as a guide for agriculture. In matching the closest dates of these twenty-four
sections or stems with the Western calendar, she found that they
coincide with the twelve astrological signs of the West. Thus the twelve
Chinese animal signs aka Earthly Branches, are also assigned a month in
the Lunar calendar. And now, we have
Chinese Moon signs just as in Western Astrology.
9. Another similarity between the two systems is the designating of
alternate signs as positive and negative stems.
Here too similarities abound. For instance, it should be noted that the Yin
or Yang only repels the similar negative or positive stem
directlyopposite its polarity and if one refers to the incompatibility circle,
one will see that all the conflicting signs belong to the same stem. Only if the animal signs are directly across
from each other is there any repelling action.
And the opposite is true for the compatibility triangle. Here, one can see how three positive or
negative signs can be harmonious when they are 120 degrees away from one
another.
10. While Western Astrology deals with the orbits of real planets and
asteriods, Chinese Astrology deals with imaginary stars and systems.
11. Transits in Western Astrology deal with the passage of these real
planets and heavenly bodies through the various houses of a chart. Whereas
transits in Chinese Astrology deal with what is known as the Big and Small
Limits. The Big Limits are
ten year periods designated to each Palace that are similar to Progressions and
the Small Limits are the year to year transit indications through the
Palaces.
Whether Western or Eastern, all forms of Astrology present humans with
a picture, a blueprint, if you will, of our current relationship with the
cosmic forces which shape and measure life.
It's been said often that Astrology presents humans with the challenging
possibility of taking charge of one's life by providing the tools and leaving
us to draw our conclusions. With
knowledge, we understand the various influences on our lives better and are
better equipped to be masters of our own fates.
It's also been said that Western Astrology is a Science based on fixed
formulas and mathematical calculations.
And that only the interpretation of the values are
Art-like. Likewise, Chinese Astrology is
equally exacting and scientifically evolved and the interpretations are equally
considered an art form.
Astrological charts can be used for a life-time of consultations.