Let’s know the concept behind Chinese Astrology,
What Is Chinese Astrology?
Unlike Indian Vedic Astrology, which is based on the position of stars at the time of birth, Chinese Astrology is based mainly on the details obtained during the birth of a person. Chinese Astrology revolves around the five element theory - metal, wood, water, fire and earth whose equivalents are Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Mars and Saturn, respectively. Chinese calendar consists of a single 60 year calendar and follows a 12 year cycle, with each year assigned to a single animal. The 12 animals depicting the chinese Zodiac signs are as follows:
Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig, respectively.
To know more information about Chinese Astrology, click here - More On Chinese Astrology
Now, lets go deeper into the zodiac signs in Chinese Astrology.
The Different Zodiac Signs
Before we start talking about the different sign, let’s see the legend behind this. The Jade emperor called for a meeting and told that the order in which the animals arrived, will be the order in which the years of the calendar will be assigned to them. But to attend the meeting, the animals had to cross the river. As cat and rat were the worst swimmers of the lot they found it difficult to cross, but with their wits they came up with a plan to ride on the back of the Ox and cross the river. Half way through, the Rat pushed the Cat and when the Ox neared the bank, it jumped off it, thus landing first. Since the first year is assigned to Rat. Ox came in second followed by Tiger who was third. Thus the order follows as depicted in the picture.
To know more about the characteristics of the different animals, click here - Chinese Zodiac Signs
If this has made you curious to know which animal sign you belong to, then you can check out our Chinese Zodiac Sign Calculator