Chinese Zodiac（十二生肖）:

In Chinese, it is pronounced as: shí èr shēng xiào，Written as:

The Chinese Zodiac is a system in China that matches one of twelve animals with one of the twelve earthly branches according to the year of a person’s birth. These animals are the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, loong (Dragon), snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig.

The origins of the Chinese Zodiac are tied to animal worship. Excavations in Yunmeng Sleeping Tiger Ground in Hubei and Tianshui Muma Beach in Gansu have uncovered bamboo slips from the Pre Qin Dynasty that indicate a fully developed zodiac system existed even then. The earliest record of the zodiac system, as it is known today, survives in “Lun Heng,” written by Wang Chong during the Eastern Han Dynasty.

The Chinese Zodiac serves as a personified representation of the twelve earthly branches: Zi (rat), Chou (ox), Yin (tiger), Mao (rabbit), Chen (loong), Si (snake), Wu (horse), Wei (goat), Shen (monkey), You (rooster), Xu (dog), and Hai (pig). Over time, these have been woven into the fabric of folk beliefs about compatibility and opposition, reflecting on marriage, life, and annual fortunes. Each zodiac animal has a rich mythology and has shaped a system of interpretation that forms part of the folk cultural philosophy. This includes compatibility in marriage, temple prayers, and one’s own zodiac year. Nowadays, the zodiac is often seen as a mascot during the Spring Festival, symbolizing entertainment and cultural festivities.

As a longstanding symbol of folk culture, the zodiac has inspired a wealth of poetry, Spring Festival couplets, paintings, calligraphy, and folk crafts throughout the ages. Beyond China, many countries issue zodiac stamps during the Spring Festival to extend New Year greetings to China. Ice sculptures of the twelve zodiac animals were also featured at the closing ceremony of the 24th Winter Olympics in Beijing in 2022.

Ancient texts have not resolved the cultural origins of the Chinese Zodiac, and modern scholars offer a variety of theories. In primitive societies, ancestors often used animals, inanimate objects, or natural phenomena as protective deities and symbols for their clans, known as totems. The mixed images of humans and beasts in the “Classic of Mountains and Rivers” represent ancient totems from various regions. Today, it is a convincing theory that the Chinese Zodiac originated from such totem worship. Guo Moruo in “Explanation of the Stems and Branches,” suggested that the zodiac stemmed from the Babylonian zodiac, with countries of the Western Regions during the Han Dynasty adapting these into the Chinese zodiac. Ancient civilizations like Greece, Egypt, and Babylon had similar zodiac systems, though their animals differed, suggesting that the zodiac may not have originated in China. However, the discovery of the Qin bamboo slips challenges this view, as animal worship is a common theme across various cultures, reinforcing the validity of the totem theory.