Chinese astrology


Chinese astrology is based on the traditional astronomy and calendars. Chinese astrology came to flourish during the Han Dynasty.
Chinese astrology has a close relation with Chinese philosophy, and uses the principles of yin and yang and concepts that are not found in Western astrology, such as the Wu Xing, the 10 Celestial stems, the 12 Earthly Branches, the lunisolar calendar, and the time calculation after year, month, day, and shichen.

Background

Chinese astrology was elaborated during the Zhou dynasty and flourished during the Han Dynasty. During the Han period, the familiar elements of traditional Chinese culture—the Yin-Yang philosophy, the theory of the 5 elements, the concepts of Heaven and Earth, and Confucian morality—were brought together to formalize the philosophical principles of Chinese medicine and divination, astrology and alchemy.
The 5 classical planets are associated with the Wu Xing:
According to Chinese astrology, a person's destiny can be determined by the position of the major planets at the person's birth along with the positions of the Sun, Moon, comets, the person's time of birth, and zodiac Sign. The system of the twelve-year cycle of animal signs was built from observations of the orbit of Jupiter. Following the orbit of Jupiter around the sun, Chinese astronomers divided the celestial circle into 12 sections, and rounded it to 12 years. Jupiter is associated with the constellation Sheti and is sometimes called Sheti.
A system of computing one's fate and destiny based on one's birthday, birth season, and birth hours, known as Zi Wei Dou Shu, or Purple Star Astrology, is still used regularly in modern-day Chinese astrology to divine one's fortune. The 28 Chinese constellations, Xiu, are quite different from Western constellations. For example, the Big Bear is known as Dou ; the belt of Orion is known as Shen, or the "Happiness, Fortune, Longevity" trio of demigods. The seven northern constellations are referred to as Xuan Wu. Xuan Wu is also known as the spirit of the northern sky or the spirit of Water in Taoism belief.
In addition to astrological readings of the heavenly bodies, the stars in the sky form the basis of many fairy tales. For example, the Summer Triangle is the trio of the cowherd, the weaving maiden fairy, and the "tai bai" fairy. The two forbidden lovers were separated by the silvery river. Each year on the seventh day of the seventh month in the Chinese calendar, the birds form a bridge across the Milky Way. The cowherd carries their two sons across the bridge to reunite with their fairy mother. The tai bai fairy acts as the chaperone of these two immortal lovers.

Chinese and East-Asian

Chinese astrology has a close relation with Chinese philosophy which the core values and concepts are originated from Taoism or "Tao".

Luni-solar calendar

The 60-year cycle consists of two separate cycles interacting with each other. The first is the cycle of ten heavenly stems, namely the Five Elements in their Yin and Yang forms.
The second is the cycle of the twelve zodiac animal signs or Earthly Branches. They are in order as follows: the Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. In Vietnam the Rabbit is replaced by the cat.
This combination creates the 60-year cycle due to the fewest years it would take to get from Yang Wood Rat to its next iteration, which always starts with Yang Wood Rat and ends with Yin Water Pig. Since the zodiac animal cycle of 12 is divisible by two, every zodiac sign can occur only as either Yin or Yang: the Dragon is always yang, the Snake is always yin, etc. The current cycle began in 1984.
When trying to traverse the lunisolar calendar, an easy rule to follow is that years that end in an even number are yang, those that end with an odd number are yin. The cycle proceeds as follows:
However, since the Chinese zodiac follows the Chinese calendar, the switch-over date is the Chinese New Year, not January 1 as in the Gregorian calendar. Therefore, a person who was born in January or early February may have the sign of the previous year. For example, if a person was born in January 1970, his or her element would still be Yin Earth, not Yang Metal. Similarly, although 1990 was called the year of the Horse, anyone born from January 1 to January 26, 1990, was in fact born in the Year of the Snake, because the 1990 Year of the Horse did not begin until January 27, 1990. For this reason, many online sign calculators may give a person the wrong sign if he/she was born in January or early February.
The start of a new zodiac is also celebrated on Chinese New Year along with many other customs.

Table of the sixty-year calendar

The following table shows the 60-year cycle matched up to the Western calendar for the years 1984–2043. This is only applied to Chinese Lunar calendar. The sexagenary cycle begins at lichun. Each of the Chinese lunar years are associated with a combination of the ten Heavenly Stems and the twelve Earthly Branches which make up the in a sexagenary cycle.
YearAssociated
Element		Heavenly
Stem		Earthly
Branch		Stem-Branch
in Pinyin		Associated
Animal		Year
1924–1983Associated
Element		Heavenly
Stem		Earthly
Branch		Stem-Branch
in Pinyin		Associated
Animal		1984–2043
1Feb 05 1924–Jan 23 1925Yang Wood甲子jiǎ-zǐRatFeb 02 1984–Jan 21 1985
2Jan 24 1925–Feb 12 1926Yin Wood乙丑yǐ-chǒuOxJan 22 1985–Feb 08 1986
3Feb 13 1926–Feb 01 1927Yang Fire丙寅bǐng-yínTigerFeb 09 1986–Jan 28 1987
4Feb 02 1927–Jan 22 1928Yin Fire丁卯dīng-mǎoRabbitJan 29 1987–Feb 16 1988
5Jan 23 1928–Feb 09 1929Yang Earth戊辰wù-chénDragonFeb 17 1988–Feb 05 1989
6Feb 10 1929–Jan 29 1930Yin Earth己巳jǐ-sìSnakeFeb 06 1989–Jan 26 1990
7Jan 30 1930–Feb 16 1931Yang Metal庚午gēng-wǔHorseJan 27 1990–Feb 14 1991
8Feb 17 1931–Feb 05 1932Yin Metal辛未xīn-wèiGoatFeb 15 1991–Feb 03 1992
9Feb 06 1932–Jan 25 1933Yang Water壬申rén-shēnMonkeyFeb 04 1992–Jan 22 1993
10Jan 26 1933–Feb 13 1934Yin Water癸酉guǐ-yǒuRoosterJan 23 1993– Feb 09 1994
11Feb 14 1934–Feb 03 1935Yang Wood甲戌jiǎ-xūDogFeb 10 1994–Jan 30 1995
12Feb 04 1935–Jan 23 1936Yin Wood乙亥yǐ-hàiPigJan 31 1995–Feb 18 1996
13Jan 24 1936–Feb 10 1937Yang Fire丙子bǐng-zǐRatFeb 19 1996–Feb 06 1997
14Feb 11 1937–Jan 30 1938Yin Fire丁丑dīng-chǒuOxFeb 07 1997–Jan 27 1998
15Jan 31 1938–Feb 18 1939Yang Earth戊寅wù-yínTigerJan 28 1998–Feb 15 1999
16Feb 19 1939–Feb 07 1940Yin Earth己卯jǐ-mǎoRabbitFeb 16 1999–Feb 04 2000
17Feb 08 1940–Jan 26 1941Yang Metal庚辰gēng-chénDragonFeb 05 2000–Jan 23 2001
18Jan 27 1941–Feb 14 1942Yin Metal辛巳xīn-sìSnakeJan 24 2001–Feb 11 2002
19Feb 15 1942–Feb 04 1943Yang Water壬午rén-wǔHorseFeb 12 2002–Jan 31 2003
20Feb 05 1943–Jan 24 1944Yin Water癸未guǐ-wèiGoatFeb 01 2003–Jan 21 2004
21Jan 25 1944–Feb 12 1945Yang Wood甲申jiǎ-shēnMonkeyJan 22 2004–Feb 08 2005
22Feb 13 1945–Feb 01 1946Yin Wood乙酉yǐ-yǒuRoosterFeb 09 2005–Jan 28 2006
23Feb 02 1946–Jan 21 1947Yang Fire丙戌bǐng-xūDogJan 29 2006–Feb 17 2007
24Jan 22 1947–Feb 09 1948Yin Fire丁亥dīng-hàiPigFeb 18 2007–Feb 06 2008
25Feb 10 1948–Jan 28 1949Yang Earth戊子wù-zǐRatFeb 07 2008–Jan 25 2009
26Jan 29 1949–Feb 16 1950Yin Earth己丑jǐ-chǒuOxJan 26 2009–Feb 13 2010
27Feb 17 1950–Feb 05 1951Yang Metal庚寅gēng-yínTigerFeb 14 2010–Feb 02 2011
28Feb 06 1951–Jan 26 1952Yin Metal辛卯xīn-mǎoRabbitFeb 03 2011–Jan 22 2012
29Jan 27 1952–Feb 13 1953Yang Water壬辰rén-chénDragonJan 23 2012–Feb 09 2013
30Feb 14 1953–Feb 02 1954Yin Water癸巳guǐ-sìSnakeFeb 10 2013–Jan 30 2014
31Feb 03 1954–Jan 23 1955Yang Wood甲午jiǎ-wǔHorseJan 31 2014–Feb 18 2015
32Jan 24 1955–Feb 11 1956Yin Wood乙未yǐ-wèiGoatFeb 19 2015–Feb 07 2016
33Feb 12 1956–Jan 30 1957Yang Fire丙申bǐng-shēnMonkeyFeb 08 2016–Jan 27 2017
34Jan 31 1957–Feb 17 1958Yin Fire丁酉dīng-yǒuRoosterJan 28 2017–Feb 15 2018
35Feb 18 1958–Feb 07 1959Yang Earth戊戌wù-xūDogFeb 16 2018–Feb 04 2019
36Feb 08 1959–Jan 27 1960Yin Earth己亥jǐ-hàiPigFeb 05 2019–Jan 24 2020
37Jan 28 1960–Feb 14 1961Yang Metal庚子gēng-zǐRatJan 25 2020–Feb. 11 2021
38Feb 15 1961–Feb 04 1962Yin Metal辛丑xīn-chǒuOxFeb 12 2021–Jan 31 2022
39Feb 05 1962–Jan 24 1963Yang Water壬寅rén-yínTigerFeb 01 2022–Jan 21 2023
40Jan 25 1963–Feb 12 1964Yin Water癸卯guǐ-mǎoRabbitJan 22 2023–Feb 09 2024
41Feb 13 1964–Feb 01 1965Yang Wood甲辰jiǎ-chénDragonFeb 10 2024–Jan 28 2025
42Feb 02 1965–Jan 20 1966Yin Wood乙巳yǐ-sìSnakeJan 29 2025–Feb 16 2026
43Jan 21 1966–Feb 08 1967Yang Fire丙午bǐng-wǔHorseFeb 17 2026–Feb 05 2027
44Feb 09 1967–Jan 29 1968Yin Fire丁未dīng-wèiGoatFeb 06 2027–Jan 25 2028
45Jan 30 1968–Feb 16 1969Yang Earth戊申wù-shēnMonkeyJan 26 2028–Feb 12 2029
46Feb 17 1969–Feb 05 1970Yin Earth己酉jǐ-yǒuRoosterFeb 13 2029–Feb 02 2030
47Feb 06 1970–Jan 26 1971Yang Metal庚戌gēng-xūDogFeb 03 2030–Jan 22 2031
48Jan 27 1971–Feb 14 1972Yin Metal辛亥xīn-hàiPigJan 23 2031–Feb 10 2032
49Feb 15 1972–Feb 02 1973Yang Water壬子rén-zǐRatFeb 11 2032–Jan 30 2033
50Feb 03 1973–Jan 22 1974Yin Water癸丑guǐ-chǒuOxJan 31 2033–Feb 18 2034
51Jan 23 1974–Feb 10 1975Yang Wood甲寅jiǎ-yínTigerFeb 19 2034–Feb 07 2035
52Feb 11 1975–Jan 30 1976Yin Wood乙卯yǐ-mǎoRabbitFeb 08 2035–Jan 27 2036
53Jan 31 1976–Feb 17 1977Yang Fire丙辰bǐng-chénDragonJan 28 2036–Feb 14 2037
54Feb 18 1977–Feb 06 1978Yin Fire丁巳dīng-sìSnakeFeb 15 2037–Feb 03 2038
55Feb 07 1978–Jan 27 1979Yang Earth戊午wù-wǔHorseFeb 04 2038–Jan 23 2039
56Jan 28 1979–Feb 15 1980Yin Earth己未jǐ-wèiGoatJan 24 2039–Feb 11 2040
57Feb 16 1980–Feb 04 1981Yang Metal庚申gēng-shēnMonkeyFeb 12 2040–Jan 31 2041
58Feb 05 1981–Jan 24 1982Yin Metal辛酉xīn-yǒuRoosterFeb 01 2041–Jan 21 2042
59Jan 25 1982–Feb 12 1983Yang Water壬戌rén-xūDogJan 22 2042–Feb 09 2043
60Feb 13 1983–Feb 01 1984Yin Water癸亥guǐ-hàiPigFeb 10 2043–Jan 29 2044

Wu Xing

Although it is usually translated as 'element' the Chinese word xing literally means something like 'changing states of being', 'permutations' or 'metamorphoses of being'. In fact, Sinologists cannot agree on one single translation. The Chinese conception of 'element' is therefore quite different from the Western one. The Western elements were seen as the basic building blocks of matter. The Chinese 'elements', by contrast, were seen as ever changing and translation of xing is simply 'the five changes'.

Wood ()

Generating: Wood makes Fire burn; Fire creates Earth; Earth bears Metal; Off of Metal runs the Water; Water makes Wood grow.

Wu Xing Controlling Cycle ( kè)

Fire melts Metal; Metal chops down Wood; Wood breaks the Earth; Earth soaks up Water and blocks its flow; Water controls Fire.

Zang-fu

The traditional Chinese medicine concept of zang-fu organs and twelve meridians that these organs can be manipulated through also associates with these concepts of astronomy.
Chinese ZodiacTigerRabbitDragonSnakeHorseSheepMonkeyPhoenixDogCat RatOx
Zang-fuFeiDa ChangWeiPiXinXiao ChangPang GuangShenXin BaoSan JiaoDanGan
Greek 12 OlympiansHeraZeusPoseidonCeresDianaApolloAresAthenaAphroditeHermesDionysusVesta
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