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PRESS RELEASE: ASTROLOGY IN CHINA
 

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Date Published: May 28, 2006

RECORDING OF CYCLES

According to Chinese thinking, there exist two main evolutionary cycles in the Universe — the duodecimal cycle with twelve units, and the decimal cycle with ten units.

To name such units, the Chinese use neither numeral nor ordinal terms — the equivalent of one, two, three, or of first, second, third, etc. — but resort to special words. The Vietnamese names of the duodecimal cycle's units are: Ti, Suu, Dan, Mao, Thin, Ty, Ngo, Mui, Than, Dau, Tuat, Hoi. And the Vietnamese names of the decimal cycle's units are Giap, At, Binh, Dinh, Mau, KY, Canh, Tan, Nham, and Quy. (These Vietnamese names are exact transcriptions of the Chinese names, and I cite them because they have the advantage of being written in the Roman alphabet.)

At one time the ancient Chinese decided to place each of the duodecimal cycle's units under the symbol of a familiar animal as a mnemotechnical device. The twelve symbolic animals are the following, in due order: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig.

HOW CHINESE ASTROLOGY WORKS

To pinpoint definite states of the cosmic interplay in people's lives, Chinese astrology makes use of two principal tools — the Chinese twelve-year zodiac (or cycle), and the Chinese stars.
As has been said, the duodecimal zodiac is composed of twelve Chinese years. Each of these years is placed under the jurisdiction of a symbolic animal. All people of the same sex born under the same animal symbol — in the same Chinese year — are believed to undergo the influence of the same set of Yang-Yin interactions and, consequently, to have the same destiny capital; this means they are assumed to be endowed with about the same character traits, the same assets and liabilities, the same potentialities and limitations, the same strengths and weaknesses, the same opportunities and problems, the same preferences and aversions, the same health privileges and pathological predispositions, the same reaction patterns and emotional makeup, and so on.To put it differently, they are assumed to fit in with the same general mold. To know the Chinese birth year of a person, therefore, means to have access to knowing the main features of his (or her) personality and destiny.

On the other hand, each Chinese year in the duodecimal cycle is supposed to bring about a definite course of events in the world's affairs, and also to exercise a different influence on people born under different animal symbols.

The influence of the Elements, although important, is secondary to that of the Yang-Yin interplay. It brings some precision to the character portraits symbolized by the animals. The role of the Elements in Chinese astrology is somewhat similar to that of the Ascendants in Western astrology. Thus, while all Horses possess the same set of primary destiny features, a Fire Horse differs slightly from his brother Metal Horse, and the latter's traits are not quite similar to those of a Water Horse, and so on.

I-CHING OR BOOK OF CHANGES

The I-Ching, or "Book of Changes," is an ancient Chinese oracle book that deals with philosophy and divination. Inquiring souls pose a question to the oracle in the hopes of receiving an answer.

Dating to the Chou dynasty (1100 BC), the I-Ching was heavily influenced by Confucius, who used his considerable scholarly abilities to help form the Ten Wings -- the commentary that offers explanations of the hexagrams. Later scholars melded principles of astronomy and astrology (the five elements and the twelve zodiacal characters) into the I Ching. Known as "The Book of Changes" to Westerners, the resulting oracle book is a comprehensive text covering ideas, images and natural laws that can provide answers to specific questions.

THE LEGEND BEHIND THE NAMING OF THE CHINESE STARS

According to Chinese legend, the order of the twelve signs was determined by Buddha, upon celebration of the Chinese New Year (which falls on different dates, from mid-January to mid-February.) The Buddha invited all of the animals in the kingdom together for a meeting, but only 12 creatures attended. The first animal to arrive was the talkative Rat (who was aggressive enough to jump off the back of the Ox in order to be the #1 arrival) next in place #2, came the serious, enduring and hard-working Ox with the honorable Tiger, and cautious Cat. The outspoken Dragon joined the others, along with the philosophical Snake. The physically active Horse arrived with the artistic Goat. The spirited Monkey and the showy Rooster came as well. The last to join the others was the watchful Dog and the meticulous, resigned Pig.

Buddha gave each animal a year of its own, bestowing the nature and characteristics of each to those born in that animals year.

USING SIGNS TO BUILD HUMAN CHARACTERS

The Chinese lunar calendar originated in 2637 BC, the year in which Emperor Huangdi supposedly invented it. One complete cycle of the zodiac takes 60 years and is composed of five internal cycles of 12 years each. The year 2000 marks the 17th year in the 78th cycle. The years in each cycle are "ruled" by an animal sign. These twelve animals (in the order they appear) are the Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Boar. During the complete 60-year cycle, each of the animal signs is combined with the five main elements--Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water--which also exert an influence and lead to interesting variations on the basic personality "type" of the animal. 
 

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