The Twelve Chinese Zodiac Signs

In the course of its over 5,000-year history, the Chinese culture had developed different and unique traditions. One tradition that is significant is the twelve Chinese zodiac signs, which refer to rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. Although the twelve Chinese zodiac signs have little scientific foundation, they are important parts and widely used in Chinese culture.

There is a popular myth that explains how the twelve Chinese zodiac signs are formed. Long long ago, Yellow Emperor (2697-2589B.C.) wanted to select twelve animals to be the Palace guards. The cat asked the rat to sign up, but the rat forgot and the cat was not chosen; therefore, the two animals became opponents (The real reason, however, why the cat is not on the list is because the twelve Chinese zodiac signs had shaped before cats came to China from Egypt). The elephant also came to participate in the competition, but the rat entered into the elephant's nose and as a result, the elephant ran away. The rest of the participants recommended the ox to be the first one, however. The rat jumped onto the ox's back, and the pig rose up in an uproar. Finally, among the twelve animals, the rat became the first one while the pig was the last one. The tiger and the dragon were resentful because they were respectively the monarch of the mountains and the monarch of the seas, and they were after the rat and the ox. However, the rabbit disagreed with the result. The rabbit won the race with the dragon and was ranked before the dragon. The dog felt the process unfair, bit the rabbit and was punished to be the next to the last. The snake, horse, sheep, monkey and rooster achieved their positions after a series of competitions. Finally, the order of the twelve Chinese zodiac signs are rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. 

The following video is about another story that tells how the twelve animals are formed, interesting as well.

Each symbolic animal, actually, has its special characteristics in Chinese culture.

The Rat stands for emotion and opportunism. The Rat is clever, sensitive and always cares for his/her lover, and is always ready to face challenges whenever there is difficulty. 

Rat Year: 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008

The Ox stands for power and faithfulness. The Ox is a good leader and has a positive attitude toward work and family. 

Ox Year: 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009

The Tiger stands for independence and optimism. The Tiger is well organized, often works alone, is lucky, and will enjoy success, but refrains from being too self-centered. 

Tiger Year: 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010

The Rabbit stands for honesty and elegance. People who are born in the year of the Rabbit are particularly creative and are well received by others, but may sometimes cause envy.  

Rabbit Year: 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011

The Dragon stands for confidence and idealism. Dragon is a symbol of luck, virtue, peace, and long life. People who are born in the year of the Dragon will do everything to make their dreams come true. 

Dragon Year: 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012

The Snake stands for beauty and romance. The Snake is equipped with exceptional judgment and is always conscientious and well groomed. 

Snake Year: 1953, 1965 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013

The Horse stands for optimism and good leadership. The Horse is kind-hearted and liked by others. People who are born in the year of the Horse are always working independently and are good at managing their money, but not their love affairs.

Horse Year: 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014

The Sheep stands for kindness and creativeness. People who are born in the year of the Sheep love nature. They are creative, responsible, and much stronger than they look.

Sheep Year: 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015

The Monkey stands for naughtiness but wisdom. The Monkey is an intelligent person with good memory. People who are born in the year of the Monkey act like politicians so that they can avoid falling into traps. In addition, the Monkeys take every opportunity to show off their abilities. 

Monkey Year: 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016

The Rooster stands for outspokenness and high-profile. The Rooster does not trust anyone but is ready to give advice and support others. People who are born in the year of the Rooster are vain, but lucky and resourceful as well. 

Rooster Year: 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017

The Dog stands for frankness but pessimism. The Dog always seeks the truth, is faithful and ready to serve others; that is why the Dog is respected by others. 

Dog Year: 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018

The Pig stands for fairness but materialism. People who are born in the year of the Pig are reliable and make a lot of friends. Their diligence and hardworking pave the way for their great success. 

Boar Year: 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007, 2019

The Twelve Chinese Zodiac Signs

Besides the unique meanings, the zodiac signs are matched according to positive and negative relationships.

Zodiac Signs         The Best Partners           The worst Partners

Rat                       Dragon, Monkey, Ox         Sheep, Horse, Rabbit, Rooster

Ox                        Rat, Snake, Rooster          Dragon, Horse, Sheep, Dog, Rabbit

Tiger                    Horse, Dog                      Snake, Monkey

Rabbit                  Sheep, Dog, Dragon           Rat, Ox, Monkey, Rooster, Horse

Dragon                  Rat, Monkey, Rabbit          Dog, Ox, Dragon, Monkey

Snake                   Ox, Rooster, Horse            Tiger, Monkey, Pig

Horse                   Snake, Sheep, Dog             Rat, Ox, Rabbit, Horse

Sheep                   Rabbit, Horse, Pig             Rat, Ox, Dog

Monkey                 Rat, Dragon                     Tiger, Snake, Pig

Rooster                 Ox, Dragon, Snake            Rabbit, Rooster, Dog

Dog                      Tiger, Rabbit, Horse          Ox, Dragon, Sheep, Rooster

Pig                       Sheep, Rabbit                   Snake, Pig, Monkey

Although the partnerships seem to have no scientific basis, however, they influence people in the aspects of their love, fortune, health and fate at times. Take my father and me as an example. My father is a Monkey while I am a Tiger. According to Chinese culture, monkeys and tigers are usually rivals. It does not mean that my father and I do not love each other, instead, I am very precious to my father and I dearly love my father. I was always sick when I was at home. However, I became healthier when I went to university, which is located far away from my hometown. What is more, I have been sick only twice since I came to America two and a half years ago. Unfortunately, I got sick as soon as I went back to China last summer vacation. Therefore, the relationships among the twelve signs may have no scientific basis, but they exist for their meanings, and I believe that they influence each other at times.

Overall, the culture of the twelve Chinese zodiac signs is really special and interesting. Due to its long history and important role in Chinese culture, the twelve Chinese zodiac signs influence people's daily lives, and sometimes give people suggestions on choosing good or bad partners. Although such kind of culture has no scientific foundation, however, if considering it as a kind of entertainment, people will find it is completely funny.

Traditional Female Costume in the Chinese History

Because of the long history, there were different kinds of Chinese traditional costumes that appeared in different periods in China. Today, I want to introduce three female traditional costume styles.

Han Chinese Costume
Han Chinese Costume played an important role in the Chinese history, it began in 2698 BC and ended in 1650s AD, which had existed for more than 4,000 years.

Due to its long history, Han Chinese Costumes have different styles on design. The common features are alternating collar, overlapping part and lacing. A Han Costume consists of underclothes, inner dress and pants, and robe.

The pictures below show different kinds of Han Costume for females. 

The three styles, especially the middle one, were for the females who had got married.

The four styles were popluar in girls who had not married yet.

Manchu Attire
Manchu attire is women's dress for Man nationality. Man is a minority in China. After Man controlled the whole nation after 1650s. Manchu attire boarded the stage.

The common features of Manchu attire are round collar, narrow cuff, rightward front, and slit skirt.

However, dressing Manchu attire is a symbol of high status in the Qing Dynasty, because such a kind of costume belongs to the upper class. Only dowagers could own it. 

The last empress in the Qing Dynasty—Empress Wanrong, who dressed in Manchu attire.

Cheongsam
Cheongsam originated in 1920s and was popular among Chinese females in 1930s. It was a female clothing style after 1920s.

The common features of cheongsam are stand-up collar, rightward front, narrow waist, and slit skirt.

The last emperor and empress—Emperor Puyi and Empress Wangrong. Wangrong dressed in cheongsam who looked elegant.

Cheongsam was popular during 1920s-1930s. Women dressed in cheongsam usually appeared in commercials.

A Chinese female who is in cheongsam always looks more attractive.

Cheongsam now has become a symbol of Chinese women. And the most Chinese females love to wear Cheongsam during their weddings.

Actually, there were more than three kinds of traditional costumes in Chinese history, they all played important roles, and each of them was related to the culture, economy and politics in their separated periods.
   

Customs at Traditional Chinese Weddings

Yesterday, one of my classmates in the university told me that she had accepted her boyfriend's proposal and they would hold a wedding next year in May. I felt so happy and congratulated her.

Because of it, I want to discuss some customs at traditional Chinese weddings.

The Predominant Colour——Red

China is different from the wedding on the West, the entire wedding's main colour is red, this is also the representative of the traditional Chinese festivity colours. Red is the color appeared most at traditional Chinese weddings, as it represents good luck and indicates that couple will live happily ever after. This change will enable the wedding jubilation. At the traditional wedding, the bride wears Chinese traditional cheong-sam and a phoenix coronet, covered with a red scarf, while the groom wears a long gown jacket, with a red cap along.

The entire wedding's main colour is red.

The traditional wedding gowns for both the bride (the right one) and the groom (the left one) , as well as their crowns.

Double Happiness

A large Chinese character, Double Happiness, on a red piece of paper or in paper cut is always put where it must strike the eyes at a young couple's wedding. It has a story behind it.

In the ancient Tang Dynasty, there was a student who was on the way to the capital to attend the national final examination, in which the top learners would be selected as the ministers in the court. Unfortunately, he fell ill halfway when he passed through a mountain village. Thanks to a herbalist doctor and his daughter, he was taken to their house and treated well. He recovered quickly due to the father and the daughter's good care. Well, when he had to leave, he found it hard to say good－bye to the pretty girl, and so did she. They fell in love. So the girl wrote down the right hand part of an antithetical couplet for the student to match:

"Green trees against the sky in the spring rain while the sky set off the spring trees in the obscuration."

"Well, I can make it though it is not easy. But you'll have to wait till I have finished the examination." replied the student. The young girl nodded in significance.

In the examination the young man won the first place, who was appreciated by the emperor. Also the winners were interviewed and tested by the emperor. As luck would have it, he was asked by the emperor to finish a couplet, which would need a right part as the answer. The emperor wrote:
   
"Red flowers dot the land in the breeze's chase while the land colored up in red after the kiss."
     
The young man realized immediately the right part of the couplet by the girl was the perfect fit to the emperor's couplet, so he took the girl's part as the answer without hesitation. The emperor was delighted to see the matching half of his couplet was so talent and harmonious that he authorized the young man's identity as Minister in the court and allowed him to pay a visit to his hometown first before holding the post. The young man met the girl happily at home and told her the emperor's couplet. They soon got married. For the wedding, the couple DOUBLED the Chinese character, HAPPY, together, on a red piece of paper and put it on the wall to express the happiness for the two events. And from then on, it has been taken on and became a social custom.

Different kinds of " Double Happiness", and they are handmade articles.

    
Spree in the Bridal Chamber
     
Though many traditional activities can no longer be seen at a traditional Chinese wedding, the spree in the bridal chamber is still common both in the country and in town.
   
The spree happens after the feast when the bride and groom go back into their chamber. Relatives and friends and neighbors, any one at the wedding in fact, can come in to play all kinds of tricks on the new couple, especially the bride. They make a lot of noise so that there is an extremely lively atmosphere in the room, which is believed to be an inseparable part of a jolly wedding.
   
Some say that this custom goes back to Han Dynasty （206 B.C.－A.D. 220）. Others say it was first started by Emperor Kuangyin Zhao, the founder of the Northern Song Dynasty (960－1127). As historical records say that Zhao was concerned about his subjects and often made personal investigation among them. One day, he was traveling in a suburb of the capital city when he came across a wedding. When he learned that the groom was too poor to hire a musical band, he pretended to be the head of a band and called in his royal band to play at the wedding. At night, as Zhao remembered that it was an unlucky day according to the divination, he stayed at the yard with his military counselor Mr. Miao, so that they might be helpful in case any mishap happened to the couple. They sat in the dim moonlight playing chess. After midnight, they caught sight of a ghost climbing over the brick fence. Zhao picked up a wooden bar and ran up to the ghost. He knocked down the ghost only to find that it was a burglar wearing a mask, who had often been stealing property from newly married homes.
   
Emperor Zhao returned to the palace and made an announcement that at all weddings there should be relatives, friends and neighbors to stay around the brides and grooms and that all should be permitted to spree to keep off any eventualities. 

Wedding sweets are required at all weddings in China. Sweets mean a sweet life for the new couple.

 

The bride at her wedding.  Her name is Jing, Hu. She is a famous TV star in China.

   
Chinese weddings are steeped in tradition. While many customs are no longer followed today, there are still a few that have survived the centuries and are a part of modern weddings. There is a Chinese saying, "It is natural to get married when you grow up." And so, marriage is very important to the Chinese culture. However, no matter what kind of wedding, the ceremony must be the most beautiful one throughout one's life because it is the symbol for the new couple that their new life begins.