According to legend , the solemnization of the Chinese New Year set about with a monster yell Nian . The creature would go far on the first day of the new year and devour crop , livestock and people . To protect themselves , people put food outside their door , hoping that Nian would n’t assail after eating . They also used cracker to scare it aside . One year , Nian was driven from a hamlet by a child wearing red clothes , so people began hang red lantern and curl on their windows and door when a new year set out — and Nian never returned . ( Nian was eventually captured by Hongjunlaozu , a Taoist Thelonious Sphere Monk , and became his riding horse . )
Today , the Chinese New Year is celebrate with a festival that begins on the first day of the first lunar calendar month in the Chinese calendar and end on the fifteenth solar day ( at least since the Han Dynasty — before that , dynasty celebrated during the twelfth , 11th or tenth months ) . The Nian legend explains the food for thought , the lanterns and the fireworks that we associate with the holiday , but I ’m sure I ’m not the only person who love his Formosan zodiac sign , but does n’t recognize fib behind it . Let ’s fix that .
What’s your sign? (And what are the signs?)
While we have a one-dimensional construct of metre in the West , the traditional Chinese calendar is cyclic and base on the cycles of the lunar month ( China has used the Western calendar since 1911 , but the lunar translation is still used for holiday and festal occasions).A folk method for continue path of the years is the twelve animal signs . Each twelvemonth is designate an animal agree to this cycle : Rat , Ox , Tiger , Rabbit , Dragon , Snake , Horse , Sheep ( or Ram ) , Monkey , Rooster , Dog , and Boar ( or Pig ) .
In addition to the 12 - class animal zodiac , there ’s a 10 - class cycle of ten " heavenly stems" composed of the five constituent ( Wood , Fire , Earth , Metal and Water ) in their alternating yin and yang forms . Together , they form a 60 - yr wheel that begins with Yang Wood Rat and ends with Yin Water Boar . The last cycle per second began in 1984 and will end in 2044 . Today , we enter the 26thyear of the cycle — Yin Earth Ox .
Why are the animals in that order?
According to Taiwanese legend , when the system was create , thirteen animate being argued about who got to be first in the Hz of years . The gods ( or the Jade Emperor or the Buddha , look on where you hear the story ) decide thata contest was the only fair way to settle the matter . The animals would bucket along across a river and be placed in the cycle in the order that they finish up .
The Tiger : Not far behind was the Panthera tigris , which had a difficult time fighting the river ’s current than the ox , but was just strong enough to come in third .
The Rabbit & The Dragon : The rabbit arrived next , explaining that it design to spoil the river by spring from one rock to another . midway across , though , the rabbit hopped onto a floating logarithm and almost got swept downriver . The log somehow washed up on shore . The dragon , which flew across the river , came in fifth . The gods were curious as to why a mighty flying Draco did n’t come in first position . The flying dragon explained that it had to stop to make rain for the earth . On the way to the finish line , the dragon get word rabbit cling to a log and decided to do a good title and blow the log to shore .
The Snake & The Horse : The buck then came galloping up onto the shore , only to be storm by the sight of the serpent , which had obscure itself wrapped around the horse ’s hoof . The startled horse fall back into the river , allowing the snake the sixth spot , while the knight commit seventh .
The Ram , The Monkey & The Rooster : The ram , monkey and cock do ashore together after avail each other across the river . The rooster spotted a raft at the start of the race and agreed to deal if the others rowed . The gods placed them in the edict they stepped off the raft .
The Dog & The Pig : The dog , which was supposed to be the secure swimmer of the bunch , come in 11th place . It explained that it was so far behind because it had n’t had a respectable bath in a while and adjudicate to take one in the river . The sloven , which finished last , also got held up when it get hungry during the slipstream and stopped for dejeuner and a nap .
And the 13thanimal that set off the race?The true cat was also riding on the ox ’s back , but the bum pushed the cat into the river , costing it a spot in the bicycle . This must be why cats do n’t care stinker or urine to this twenty-four hours .
Making pigs (and rats and oxen and rams, etc.) of ourselves
Each animal has a distinct personality , and the beast foretoken a person is endure under is believed to bestow upon them certain traits and characteristic . But the animals assigned by year are not the only factor . There are also inside animal signs ( representing the person you would like to be ) assigned to the month you were stomach and hugger-mugger beast signal ( representing the side of you hidden from the respite of the creation ) assigned to theshichenor " large - hour" ( two - hour menstruation of the day ) during which you were born . I was born in the twelvemonth of the Rat , but I ’m a Dog internally and a Monkey in secret .
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