The Chinese Year of the Rat
By admin on 2014-12-12

The Year 2008 in the Chinese calendar is The Year of the Rat. For those born in the Years of the Rat, you are lucky–this will be an enjoyable and prosperous year! To understand Chinese animal signs, one needs to know something about the Stem-Branch (干支) system used in the Chinese calendar. There are ten Stems called Yin-Yang (阴阳) and Five Elements (五行). In order, they are Yang (Wood), Yin (Wood), Yang (Fire), Yin (Fire), Yang (Earth), Yin (Earth), Yang (Metal), Yin (Metal), Yang (Water) and Yin (Water). There are twelve Branches, each of which is named after an animal: Rat, Cow, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Chicken, Dog and Pig. By the counting system, which begins with Yang (Wood) / Rat (甲子) and ends with Yin (Water) / Pig (癸亥), a complete cycle is exactly 60 years. For instance, both 1949 and 2008 are Yang (Earth) / Rat (戊子), which is the 24th Stem-Branch combination in the system. It is believed that the first cycle was introduced in 2637 B.C., which makes the Chinese lunar calendar the longest chronological record in history. However, how or why these twelve animals were introduced in the Stem / Branch system remains a mystery. The legend maintains that only twelve animals showed up to bid the Buddha farewell before he ascended to Heaven. As a reward, he named a year after each one in the order that it arrived. The Chinese believe that the animal ruling one's birth year has a profound influence upon one's character – your animal self!