Getting To Know The Origin Of Mandarin New Year Zodiac

By John Chan

The zodiac signs in Chinese culture are depicted through animals. Find out how deeply embedded this concept is and how it's promoted during New Year celebrations.

The Chinese culture attaches much value to the science of the Zodiac. When you learn about the legendary origins of the Chinese zodiac it doesn't seem all that scientific. Nonetheless the comparisons made by Chinese thinkers between the behavior of the zodiac animals and the human nature seem interesting to a lot of people.

The original calendar of 12 years followed by the ancient Chinese was complex by nature. The normal people failed to follow it because of their complexities. Thus came the calendar with 12 animals which keep repeating themselves after every 12 years cycle and replaced the earlier system.

Each New Year is ascribed to an animal. The year of the same animal repeats back after every twelve years. People born in the year of a particular animal are believed to have the qualities of that animal. Keep in mind these character sketches have been drawn by Chinese thinkers which may or may not capture the essence of the animal's behavior or their connection with human behavior.

The animal which represents a particular year has a lot of meaning during New Year celebration. A number of activities are taken up to show it. They make it clear to the people that this is the year of say ox by making ox puppets for the parade or dressing up like the animal of the for live performance.

You will also be able to find a wide range of decoration objects taking up the animal of the year as the main theme. Such art work is widely accessible in every store and even on stalls on the streets. Many people wear the animal of the year on their T-shirts that feature the animal in some form of artistic expression. Similarly there are many other fashion accessories that revolve around the animal of the year and are very popular during the Chinese New Year season.

Ever since China has begun to observe an influx of tourists during the New Year season they have started to promote the Chinese New Year animals in a different way. Not only are foreigners intrigued with the notion rather they also want to seek more information about it including the origins. Many are even fascinated in finding out about the year of the animal in which they were born and then like to look at their characteristics and see if they match their personality.

Much of the western public does that for the sake of entertaining themselves. Other than the orthodox and old fashioned Chinese people, no on takes the character comparisons between the zodiac animals and themselves too seriously. It is just an ancient tradition that is looked upon in wonder and admiration being kept alive for the sake of maintaining their ancient identity.

When you become conscious of the factors on which the animal zodiac symbols are based you will have no doubt that they are completely mythical. These animal symbols have been the result of some ones fertile imagination and has remained a part of it for years till today. - 30294

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