Chinese Astrology - Chinese Zodiac

Chinese Zodiac

Main article: Chinese zodiac See also: Earthly Branches

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The zodiac of twelve animal signs represents twelve different types of personality. The zodiac traditionally begins with the sign of the Rat, and there are many stories about the Origins of the Chinese Zodiac which explain why this is so (see below). The following are the twelve zodiac signs in order and their characteristics.

Each of the 12 animals are governed by an element plus a Yin Yang Direction.

1. Rat (Yang, 1st Trine, Fixed Element Water).
2. Ox (Water buffalo in Vietnam), (Yin, 2nd Trine, Fixed Element Water).
3. Tiger (Yang, 3rd Trine, Fixed Element Wood).
4. Rabbit (Cat in Vietnam) (Yin, 4th Trine, Fixed Element Wood).
5. Dragon (Snail in Kazakhstan) (Yang, 1st Trine, Fixed Element Wood).
6. Snake (Yin, 2nd Trine, Fixed Element Fire).
7. Horse (Yang, 3rd Trine, Fixed Element Fire).
8. Ram (Goat in Vietnam) (Yin, 4th Trine, Fixed Element Fire).
9. Monkey (Yang, 1st Trine, Fixed Element Metal).
10. Rooster (Yin, 2nd Trine, Fixed Element Metal).
11. Dog (Yang, 3rd Trine, Fixed Element Metal).
12. Pig (Boar in Japan) (Yin, 4th Trine, Fixed Element Water).

The animal signs assigned by year represent what others perceive you as being or how you present yourself. It is a common misconception that the animals assigned by year are the only signs, and many western descriptions of Chinese astrology draw solely on this system. In fact, there are also animal signs assigned by month, day, and hours of the day. The combination of one's birth year, month, day and hour are a part of the 'four pillars' of Chinese astrology which determine one's fate.

To sum it up, while a person might appear to be a dragon because they were born in the year of the dragon, they might also be a snake based on their birth month and an ox based on their birthday and a Ram based on their birth hour.