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Chinese Zodiac Signs - Timeline
1
Zodiac Signs
By Eliza Banh 7Q
The Beginning
There is no official or known date of when the Chinese Zodiacs started but it was somewhere around the 4th century BC and it's based off of the Lunar Calendar.
The order of the Zodiac Signs is Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig, but why?
(This is based off of "The Great Race:The Origin of the Chinese Zodiac" website and my own knowledge (what I was told), but simplified)
5th
Century BC
Lunar Calendar
Due to myths, we were told that Emperor Huangdi (the chinese emperor in 2637 BC) invented the Lunar Calendar, which follows the cycle (phases) of the moon. This means the zodiac doesn't change every year, but every Lunar Calendar, so if your birthday was before the Lunar Calendar for that year, you are the zodiac from the last Lunar Calendar.
Lunar Calendar
Why is this important?
This is important because, according to the information given about the Zodiac Signs, it is (the zodiac animals) are "based off of the Lunar Calendar".
The Jade Emperor wanted to have 12 animals as her guards for protection so she hosted a race to decide who should be her guards.
The cat and the rat were great friends, but the rat was selfish so the rat didn't wake up the cat and since the cat is always sleeping, it slept for the whole day, this is why you see a cat always chasing a mouse..
Before all the commotion between the cat and the rat, they hatched a plan to get to the finish line. Their plan was to jump onto the ox when he is in the water and get to land as quick as they can. This plan worked since the ox was making such a big fuss about the mess.
Once the rat and ox made it to finish line, the tiger came bursting out of the water and claimed the third spot.
The rabbit was lagging behind the tiger because of how small it was. Jumping from on rock to another, it fell into the water and nearly drowned. Luckily, it spotted a log floating in the water. It leaped onto the log and ran to the finish line, claiming 4th place with disappointment since it only got 4th.
The Great race
Next was the dragon, who swiftly glided past the finish line but, why had it not come first? The dragon explained that he saw some villagers in trouble. Their crops were on fire and the dragon couldn't have just leave them. The dragon blew out the fires before continuing his race.
While the dragon and the Jade Emperor were having a conversation, the horse galloped to the finish line but the snake swiftly slithered past the horse to the finish line first.
Next came the monkey, rooster and goat on an unclaimed log. Once they reached the end the rooster and the monkey allowed the goat to claim 8th place while the monkey came 9th and the rooster came 10th.
Then came the dog, who was soaking wet from the swim through the water came 11th
And of course, the pig came last (12th) but the pig was so far behind the rest because the pig was hungry and sleepy so it couldn't help itself.
official
206 BC–9 AD
Though we don't know when the zodiacs were essentially created, we know the Chinese Zodiacs were made around the 4th century BC, but it wasn't officially identified until 206 BC-220 AD. This was during the Han Dynasty and more than 2000 years ago. The reason why it wasn't officially identified is because it was most commonly a myth instead of a actual thing that happened long, long ago. Since the Han Dynasty is some what popular back then in China, they officially made the Chinese Zodiacs a thing.
What is it?
The Han Dynasty was the ruler of China for around 426 years (206 BC-220 AD). It was also the second imperial dynasty of China and it was known for it's promotion of "Confucianism" as the state religion and they opened the silk road to Europe. Han Dynasty's art and inventions such as paper still influence the world today.
Han Dynasty
popularity
During the North Zhou Dynasty, the chinese zodiac signs became a popular way to find out a person's year of birth. This is still a very popular use of finding out what zodiac sign you are today, but it is mainly used for a more fun and curious (wanting to know if your personality fits your zodiac, which element you are, which zodiac animal you are etc.) reason.
557-581 AD
What is it?
The North (Northern) Zhou Dynasty was the longest-lasting ancient chinese dynasty. The Zhou Dynasty ended when the state of Qin's army captured the city of Chengzhou. The hystory of Zhou divides into two periods:
- Western Zhou
- Eastern Zhou
North Zhou Dynasty
Queen Victoria and the rabbit zodiac
1819
First of all, what's Queen Victoria got to do with the Chinese Zodiac Signs? Well, Queen Victoria is the most famous person to be the year of the rabbit. Why is that important? It's because the rabbit zodiac (the fourth member of the zodiac) is known to be the most luckiest zodiac against all the other chinese zodiacs. Since rabbits have a ability to connect with people, they say that rabbits are the luckiest and can give relationships, family, friends and more.
Alan Arkin and the dog zodiac
1934
The dog zodiac (the 11th member of the zodiac) is the most loyal animal of all the zodiacs and Alan Arkin (born on March 26, 1934) is the oldest living celebrity known with the dog zodiac, claiming the wood dog zodiac.
The dog zodiac is known to be extremely loyal, frankness and honest to others. Some of them also tend to have a good sense of humor. They are also known to be cool-headed, insistent (persistent) and active as a strength. Thought they usually have a lack of patience, conservative and have anxiety, but then of course not every person fits their zodiac but does have some traits of their zodiac.
Resources
- https://blog.pachamama.org/chinese-new-years-blog
- http://www.webexhibits.org/calendars/calendar-chinese.html
- https://depts.washington.edu/triolive/quest/2007/TTQ07030/history.html
- https://www.ancient.eu/Zhou_Dynasty/
- https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-china/han-dynasty
- https://playback.fm/famous-birthday/zodiac-rabbit
- https://www.georgetangchineseastrology.com/chinese-zodiac-signs-relation-to-luck-intelligence-and-power/
- http://factsanddetails.com/china/cat3/sub14/item98.html
- https://www.rd.com/culture/luckiest-birthdates-every-chinese-zodiac-sign/
- https://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/social_customs/zodiac/dog/
- https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000273/?ref_=nmls_hd