I get asked a lot about Chinese astrology, mostly because I’ve always wanted to include it on my website, but haven’t yet. There is a good reason for this and it is the simple fact that Chinese astrology is complex while web pages need to be simple and easy to assimilate. A single Chinese astrology web page quickly turns into several pages of fine details. It is also very different to Western astrology, using different reference points both astronomical and cultural. Most of us will be able to say “I am a Dragon/Tiger/Rat etc.” and have a broad idea of the very general characteristics of that sign, but few of us will clearly understand the signature of their Chinese star and how it is determined. So here, as we begin the Year of the Rabbit (Metal, Yin), Cycle 78 (or 79 depending on which version of the calendar you ascribe to) is a potted summary…
Western astrology is based on a simple repeating cycle of twelve months: the zodiac. Chinese astrology has a zodiac of 12 signs, the terrestrial branches, but it is based on a sixty-year cycle. The mechanics of this are quite simple: Chinese astrology developed alongside astronomy which originally recognized five major planets: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. Astrology attributed key elements to these planets: water (Mercury), metal (Venus), fire (Mars), wood (Jupiter), earth (Saturn). Each of the twelve signs spans a year – this was derived from the orbit of Jupiter (11.86 years) – and each sign comes in five elemental varieties (for example, Water Rat, Metal Rat, Fire Rat, Wood, Earth Rat). 5 x 12 = 60. Simple? Up to a point, yes. But the sixty-year cycle is also derived from two separate but interacting cycles – the earthly branches, as mentioned above – the twelve signs of the zodiac rat, ox, tiger, rabbit (also known as cat), dragon, snake, horse , sheep (also known as ram or goat), monkey, rooster, dog, and pig (also known as wild boar), and in that order; and the ten celestial stems – these are the five elements mentioned above, each in their ying and yang forms – 5×2=10. As the 12 terrestrial branches, which give us the animal signs, are divisible by two, each of the animal signs is a Yin year or a Yang year and this is known as the polarity of the sign. Yin years end in odd numbers, Yang years in even numbers. While each animal sign is either Yin or Yang (rats are always Yang, oxen are always Yin, for example), this is tempered by the celestial stem that adds the element. From 0 to 9 the order is metal, metal; water water; wood, wood; fire Fire; Earth Earth. And Yang and Yin, in that order:
0 Metal Yang
1 metallic yin
2 Yang Water
3 Yin Water
4 Yang Wood
5 Yin wood
6 Yang Fire
7 Yin Fire
8 Earth Yang
9 Earth Yin
Thus, years ending in 0 are Metal Yang years, years ending in 1 are Metal Yin years: 2010 was a Metal Yang Tiger year, while 2011 is a Metal Yin Rabbit. It will not be a tiger year again until 2022, when it will be a Yang water tiger. Tiger is always Yang. Rabbit is always Yin and next Rabbit year will be a Water Rabbit in 2023. It won’t be a Metal Tiger year again until 2060.
In its true order, the cycle actually begins with Metal Rat (Yang) and ends with Earth Pig (Yin). Today we are 28 years away from the current 60-year cycle (cycle 78 or 79 depending on the calendar used). Chinese astrology uses a lunisolar calendar beginning with lichun, literally the beginning of spring, around February 4, which is what we call Chinese New Year. It is necessary to take into account that someone born, for example, in January 2011 is, for the purposes of Chinese astrology, born in a year ending in 0, that is, Metal Tiger and not Metal Rabbit. This applies, of course, to all years.
The five elements are of crucial importance in Chinese astrology, at least equal in importance to the animal sign, and the added emphasis by the Yin or Yang factor shows the importance of the trinity in Chinese astrology: earth, water, and heavens. . Those familiar with the I Ching will not be surprised to learn that elements of Chinese astrology are regarded as transformative agents of change or transformative energies, not unlike the concept of ‘moving lines’ in the I Ching, but quite different from elements in Western astrology that are seen as building blocks.
Just when you realize the importance of how different a metal tiger can be from a wooden tiger or a water tiger, a higher degree of complexity enters the picture. Locating a person within the Chinese astrological system requires a calculation involving the day of birth, the season/month of birth, and the time of birth. In addition to the year of birth, this means that a person’s star signature in Chinese astrology is made up of oven signs. Three of these are the key elements for anyone:-
1. The year of birth relates to a person’s family background and position in society, strongly tied to family ancestry, grandparents, which is a much stronger cultural emphasis in Chinese society. As of today (February 4, 2011) it is a Rabbit (Metal) year – remember, the order of the signs, as stated above, is Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, pig. Next February brings the Year of the Dragon.
2. The month or season of birth (note that the months are different according to the Chinese calendar) determines the ‘inner animal’; this indicates child rearing, a transforming influence on character and behavior that manifests itself in adult life.
spring go
El Tigre from February 4 to March 5, El Conejo from March 6 to April 4 and El Dragón from April 5 to May 4.
summer go
La Serpiente from May 5 to June 5, El Caballo from June 6 to July 6 and La Oveja from July 7 to August 6.
autumn brings
El Mono from August 7 to September 7, El Gallo from September 8 to October 7, El Perro from October 8 to November 7.
winter go
El Cerdo from November 7 to December 6, La Rata from December 7 to January 5 and the ox from January 6 to February 3.
3. The birth hour determined to the person’s ‘secret animal’ – the real person inside often only revealed under stress:
23:00 – 01:00 Rat,
1 a.m. – 3 a.m. ox,
3 a.m. – 5 a.m. tiger,
5 a.m. – 7 a.m. Rabbit,
7 a.m. – 9 a.m. Continue,
9 a.m. – 11 a.m. Snake,
11 a.m. – 1 p.m. Horse,
13:00 – 15:00 sheep,
3 p.m. – 5 p.m. bun,
5 p.m. – 7 p.m. hen house,
7 a.m. – 9 p.m. dog,
9 a.m. – 11 p.m. Pig
The day of birth also has something to do with it – each animal sign rules one day but that works on the basis of 5 elements x 12 signs, each elemental type of animal, and this makes a base of 60 days and things get complicated. This is more of a feature of day-to-day horoscopic forecasting than natal charts and is beyond the scope of this article.
Interestingly, however, just when the two astrologies seem to be at their most diverse, essential similarities become apparent. Western subjects often focus on the Sun sign without considering the importance, meaning and contribution of the Moon sign and Ascendant in the natal chart. Good Western astrology also divides each sun sign into four ‘subsigns’ and can be further focused for fine detail by looking at the actual day.
Chinese astrology focuses on temperament and character and the interactions and tensions between these two facets, the first being predisposition, inclination, and tendency, while the second is actual behavior, habits, and learned disposition ( current). It tries to identify the natural and innate person as opposed to the personality that has been mutated and transformed by life experience, to find nature before nurture, and to help us understand our lives by looking at them. backwardas Kierkegaard suggested, living them forward.