新年快乐!

Happy Chinese New Year!


According to the Chinese moon calendar today is the first day of the Chinese Year.
Nowadays Chinese have the same calendar system as Westerners, which means it is also 7 February 2008 in China. In the imperial days years were counted by the reign of the appropriate emperor. For example "the 7th year of reign of emperor Qienlong of the Qing dynasty".
The moon calendar is the acient form of Chinese calendar and used nowadays to locate the main Chinese festivals!


The Chinese horoscope is always associated with Chinese New Year because the animals change yearly, not monthly as in a Western calendar.

12 animals are used in this cycle and every twelve years the same animal comes back.


Rat 1948 1960 1972 1984 1996 2008 Yang
Ox 1937 1949 1961 1973 1985 1997 Yin
Tiger 1938 1950 1962 1974 1986 1998 Yang
Rabbit 1939 1951 1963 1975 1987 1999 Yin
Dragon 1940 1952 1964 1976 1988 2000 Yang
Snake 1941 1953 1965 1977 1989 2001 Yin
Horse 1942 1954 1966 1978 1990 2002 Yang
Goat 1943 1955 1967 1979 1991 2003 Yin
Monkey 1944 1956 1968 1980 1992 2004 Yang
Cock 1945 1957 1969 1981 1993 2005 Yin
Dog 1946 1958 1970 1982 1994 2006 Yang
Pig 1947 1959 1971 1983 1995 2007 Yin


According to Chinese legend, the twelve animals quarrelled one day as to who was to head the cycle of years. The gods were asked to decide and they held a contest: whoever was to reach the opposite bank of the river would be first, and the rest of the animals would receive their years according to their finish.
All the twelve animals gathered at the river bank and jumped in. Unknown to the ox, the rat had jumped upon his back. As the ox was about to jump ashore, the rat jumped off the ox's back, and won the race. The pig, who was very lazy, ended up last. That is why the rat is the first year of the animal cycle, the ox second, and the pig last.


Every animal is associated with different qualities and Chinese people believe very strongly on those qualities.
2006 was for example a bad year because it's the year of the dog. The dog is a noisy and barking animal, dog people are said to be bully. So the dog year is a year with a lot of quarrels and fights.
2007 was an excellent year. The pig is associated with fertility and wealth. So this was the year there was a huge baby boom in China, because it is such a prosperous year and of course Chinese can only have one child so it is very well planed when it is born.
Girls born under the sign of goat (or sheep) will not easily find a partner. Because for girls it is seen as a bad symbol.


But this year is the year of the rat 鼠. For Chinese people it is a very good year associated with good business and wealth. But watch out for overdoing, it might end up just the other way.
The rat is a clever animal as can be seen from the story above and he is the first animal. Stands for order, aggression, wealth, charm and in extremes stands controlling, bossy, power-driven.
Rats are hardworking, charming and intelligent. Perfect professions for them include; politics, psychology, espionage, accounting, acting, ...


People in the year of rat have to be aware of Horses, these two are not compatible at all.
Rats tend to have good relations with Dragons, Monkeys and Oxen.


Rat is very easy to breed, so the rat reproduction speed is very fast. In Chinese astrology, Rat is a Romantic Star. Rat is the Romantic Star only for people born in year of Rabbit, Sheep or Pig. If Rabbit, Sheep and Pig people look for the love, they have more chance to meet the opposite sex. If they are already in love, they have chance to talk about the marriage in 2008. (Hmm I am a sheep, who knows).

So I wish you a very Happy Chinese New Year! It should be a prosperous year for us all. If you plan to have a baby this year, you are a year too late for the Chinese jackpot, but the rat is still a good sign for your baby!