The Chinese Zodiac | 中国十二生肖

The Chinese Zodiac | 中国十二生肖

Have you ever been asked by your Chinese friend, “What is your zodiac sign?” Don’t think they are making small talk. If you say, “I’m a Monkey,” they immediately know you are either 24, 36, 48 or 60 years old.

Asking a zodiac sign is a polite way of asking your age.By revealing your zodiac sign, you are also being evaluated.

Judgments are being made about your fortune or misfortune, your personality, career prospects and how you will do in a given year. If you share you and your partner’s animal signs, they will paint a picture in their mind about your private life.

Maybe you don’t believe in the Chinese zodiac. As a quarter of the world population is influenced by it,you’d be wise to do something about that.

So what is the Chinese zodiac, exactly? Most Westerners think of Greco-Roman zodiac, the signs divided into 12 months. The Chinese zodiac is different.

It’s a 12-year cycle labeled with animals, starting with a Rat and ending with a Pig, and has no association with constellations.

For example, if you were born in 1975, you are a Rabbit. Can you see your zodiac sign there? Our Chinese ancestors constructed a very complicated theoretical framework based on yin and yang, the five elements and the 12 zodiac animals.

Over thousands of years, this popular culture has affected people’s major decisions, such as naming, marriage, giving birth and attitude towards each other. And some of the implications are quite amazing.

The Chinese believe certain animals get on better than the others. So parents choose specific years to give birth to babies, because they believe the team effort by the right combination of animals can give prosperity to families.

We even refer to the zodiac when entering into romantic relations. I’m a Pig; I should have perfect romance with Tigers, Goats and Rabbits. Chinese people believe some animals are natural enemies.

As a Pig, I need to be careful with a Snake. Raise your hand if you are a Snake. Let’s have a chat later.We believe some animals are luckier than the others, such as the Dragon.

Unlike the Western tradition,the Chinese Dragon is a symbol for power, strength and wealth. It’s everyone’s dream to have a Dragon baby. Jack Ma’s parents must have been very proud.

And they are not the only ones. In 2012, the Year of the Dragon, the birthrate in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan increased by five percent. That means another one million more babies.

With a traditional preference to baby boys, the boy-girl ratio that year was 120 to 100. When those Dragon boys grow up, they will face much more severe competition in love and job markets.

According to the BBC and the Chinese government’s press release, January 2015 saw a peak of Cesarean sections. Why?

That was the last month for the Year of the Horse. It’s not because they like horses so much, it’s because they try to avoid having unlucky Goat babies.

If you are a Goat, please don’t feel bad. Those are Goat babies. They don’t look like losers to me.

Tiger is another undesirable animal, due to its volatile temperament. Many Chinese regions saw a sharp decline of birthrate during those years.

Perhaps one should consider zodiac in reverse, as those Tiger and Goat babies will face much less competition. Maybe they are the lucky ones.

I went through the Forbes top 300 richest people in the world, and it’s interesting to see the most undesirable two animals, the Goat and Tiger, are at the top of the chart, even higher than the Dragon.

So maybe we should consider, maybe it’s much better to have less competition. One last but interesting point: many Chinese people make their investment decisions based on the zodiac sign index.

Although the belief and tradition of the zodiac sign has been over thousands of years,the trend of using it in making major decisions did not really happen until the past few decades.

Our ancestors were very busy surviving poverty, drought, famine, riot, disease and civil war.

And finally, Chinese people have the time, wealth and technology to create an ideal life they’ve always wanted. The collective decision made by 1.3 billion people has caused the fluctuation in economics and demand on everything, from health care and education to property and consumer goods.

As China plays such an important role in the global economy and geopolitics, the decisions made based on the zodiac and other Chinese traditions end up impacting everyone around the world.

Are there any Monkeys here? 2016 is the Year of the Monkey. Monkeys are clever, curious, creative and mischievous.Thank you.

Found more interesting China Postage Stamps, visit here.

你有没有被中国朋友问过“你的生肖是什么？”不要以为他们只是寒暄，如果你说：“我属猴”他们马上就可以知道你多大年纪。
问生肖是问年龄的礼貌方式。知道了你的生肖，还可以对你进行评估。可以预测你幸运与否、你的性格、职业前景、接下来一年的运势走向。如果你分享了你和爱人的生肖，甚至可以想象你的私人生活。

也许你不相信中国的生肖，但是鉴于全球四分之一的人受它的影响，你最好还是知道一些相关的知识。到底什么是中国的生肖呢？大多数西方人听说过希腊罗马12星座,这些星座把一年分成12个月。中国生肖不同,中国生肖是以动物命名的，一个12年的循环。以鼠开始，以猪结尾。它们与星座没有任何联系。比如你出生在1975年，你就属兔。大家可以看到自己的生肖么？中国的老祖先以阴阳、五行和12生肖为基础，建立了一套非常复杂的理论框架。
千百年来，这种流行文化影响着人们的大部分决定，比如起名、婚介、生产甚至对彼此的态度。其中一些涵义令人称奇。
中国人相信某些生肖与其它生肖比较好相处。所以夫妇选择特定的年份生孩子，因为他们相信特定的生肖组合，会让家族更加繁荣。甚至谈恋爱的时候也会参考生肖。我属猪，我最好的恋爱对象是属虎，羊和兔的人。中国人相信有些生肖天生相克。
对于属猪的人来说我要小心属蛇的人。各位属蛇的人请举手。我一会有话跟你们说。我们相信有些生肖更加好运，比如生肖龙。不同于西方传统，中国龙是权力、力量和财富的象征。每个人都希望有一个龙宝宝。马云的父母就非常自豪。这种现象非常普遍。2012年是龙年，中国香港和台湾的婴儿出生率提高了5%。比正常多出了一百万新生儿。加之生男孩的倾向明显，那年的男女比例为120:100。当属龙的男孩长大，他们会面临更加激烈的婚姻和职场挑战。

PLANT Dong

根据BBC和中国政府的官方消息，2015年1月迎来了剖腹产的高潮。为什么？因为这是马年的最后一个月。并不是大家喜欢生肖马，而是大家尽量避免不祥的属羊的孩子。如果你属羊，也不要伤心，这些都是属羊的人。我可不觉得他们是失败者。还有一个不受欢迎的生肖是虎，也许和它的喜怒无常有关。在不受欢迎生肖的年份，中国很多地区的婴儿出生率都有明显下降。也许对于生肖我们应该逆向思维，因为虎宝宝和羊宝宝将会面临最少的竞争，也许他们才是最幸运的。我调查了世界福布斯财富榜前300位的生肖，有趣的是，属最不受欢迎的羊和虎的人数反而排在前两位，甚至高于龙。

也许我们应该考虑减轻竞争压力才是更好的选择。最后一个有趣的事情是很多中国人依据生肖图作为索引进行投资。尽管生肖的信仰和传统由来已久，使用生肖作重大决定的风潮近几十年才开始出现。
我们的祖先忙于战胜贫穷、干旱、饥荒、动乱、疾病甚至国内战争。终于中国人有时间，有财富和技可以过上他们梦想中的生活。13亿人做出的集体决定足以在经济上掀起巨大的波澜，足以改变很多事情的

走向无论是医疗还是教育领域，无论是财产还是消费品方面。

随着中国在全球经济和地域政治中扮演越来越重要的角色，基于生肖和其他中国传统而作出的决定将会最终影响世界上的每一个人。在座的有属猴的吗？2016年是猴年，猴意味着聪明、好奇、创造力和顽皮。谢谢。

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Editor: PLAN Dong