History of Chinese Zodiac Signs
Regarded as one of the oldest civilizations, Chinese civilization has flourished not only because of its rich heritage but also because of its tradition and beliefs. Today, things related to Chinese culture are regarded as the ultimate accessory for a healthy lifestyle. Effect of the dragon on global socio-economic scenario can be estimated from the fact that Reiki, Tai-Chi and Kung-Fu are the best known practices for a healthy body and soul. While the popularity of Chinese food has already taken the world by storm, the reputation of Chinese astrology is also second to none. In this article, we will have a brief study of the history behind Chinese astrology and learn about Chinese zodiac signs in detail.
Astrology began around 3000 years ago in ancient Egypt and Babylonia but travelled far and wide to finally reach the different corners of the world. Being accepted and used for centuries, many civilisations started cultivating their own forms of astrology which resulted in the creation of different streams of astrology. Chinese astrology and Chinese zodiac symbols were initially used by Chinese astrologists to foresee future of kings and merchants but were soon accepted by people of other classes also. If you have been familiar with Chinese astrology, you may have noticed the use of twelve animals in Chinese zodiac. An ancient story of the jade king and twelve animals tells the reason behind the twelve animals used in Chinese zodiac.
Chinese Zodiac – The story
Once, when the jade king was thinking about earth, he suddenly realised that there were no representatives of the animal kingdom in his court. Deciding that it is necessary for earths’ animals to be represented by their own kind, the jade king wrote some invitations for 12 specific animals and sent them to earth. While every animal got his invitation, the rat was given two invitations, the first for himself and the other for the cat. Being a tricky and smart character, the rat never gave the invitation to the cat. Even though it is said that it was this incident that started the rivalry between the cat and the rat, the story of the twelve zodiac signs does not end here.
After receiving the invitation, all the other 11 animals gave an appearance at the king’s court but the twelfth animal was nowhere to be found. After finding that an animal was missing, a messenger was sent to the earth to for finding another animal to take cats’ place. Pig was the last animal to be given the invitation. At last, the court of jade king consisted of twelve animals namely, rat, ox, tiger, dragon, dog, pig, ram, goat, rabbit, snake, horse and the monkey. The Chinese zodiac depicts all these animals in a sequential manner.
Each Chinese zodiac sign represents a certain year and works along with a twelve year cyclic rotation. In China and Chinese astrology, the animal that belongs to a year is considered to be of utmost importance. Zodiac signs are used by many people on a daily basis to foresee how their day will go. Providing suggestions on financial decisions and even relationships, Chinese zodiac signs have been known to be astonishingly close in predicting the future of a human being.