Chinese Zodiac Animals – Great Race Story and More

You might or might know, that Chinese zodiac, or shengxiao in Chinese, is similar the Western one. Yes, both zodiacs have time cycles divided into 12 parts, each is associated with a person’s personality to the influence of the person’s particular relationship to the part of the cycle.

Nevertheless, they are quite different: the 12-part of Chinese zodiac is a cycle of 12 years rather than 12 months represented in the western Zodiac. What’s more, Chinese zodiac has one animal representing each year.

WHAT ARE THE 12 CHINESE ZODIAC ANIMALS

The 12 zodiac animals are following:

鼠    shǔ        Rat
牛    niú           Ox
虎    hǔ          Tiger
兔    tù             Rabbit
龙    lóng         Dragon
蛇    shé           Snake
马    mǎ         Horse
羊    yáng        Sheep
猴    hóu          Monkey
鸡    jī              Rooster
狗    gǒu        Dog
猪    zhū          Pig

2019 is the year of the PIG and it starts on Feb 05. 

THE ORIGIN OF CHINESE ZODIAC – THE GREAT RACE

According to an ancient Chinese folk story, the Jade Emperor declared a race to honor the first 12 animals who crossed the river of their very own year. So the great race started. The smart little rat won the 1st position and the lazy pig became the last. Cat, tried to win the race together with the rat, was tricked by it and lost its position. Now you know why cats hate rats so much, don’t you?

Have a look at the Great Race story:

CHINESE ZODIAC YEAR CHART

You may wonder what Chinese zodiac you have. Let’s have a look at this brief year chart. Look at the year you were born and check which zodiac it is, and most likely you have that zodiac animal.

Why do I say “most likely”?

Chinese new year does not start on Jan 01 as the calendar states. Chinese new year follows lunar movement, and normally begins on the new moon that appears between 21 January and 20 February. So if you were born in March till December, you for sure have the Chinese zodiac of the year. But if you were born in January or February, you got to check if your Chinese zodiac was of the previous year of the current year.

Which Chinese zodiac animal are you?

SYMBOLIC MEANINGS OF EACH CHINESE ZODIAC SIGN

Rat: wisdom
Ox: diligence
Tiger : brace and confident
Rabbit: cautiousness
Dragon: strength and inflexibility
Snake: beauty and flexibility
Horse: persistence
Sheep: tender and peace
Monkey: freedom and flexibility
Rooster: bravery and constancy
Dog: loyalty
Pig: amiableness

Think of yourself, do you share some traits of your zodiac animal?

HOW TO SAY THE YEAR OF A CHINESE ZODIAC ANIMAL

It is quite simple in Chinese.  We just add “年” behind the zodiac animal sign!

For example,
蛇年 is the year of the snake.
狗年 is the year of the dog.
猪年 is the year of the pig.

CHINESE ZODIAC ANIMALS ON ONE PAGE

If you like this post, PIN IT!

OTHER RESOURCES

You can find more learning materials on Chinese Zodiac Animals, such as flash cards, word walls, videos etc in our membership club.

Click Here to Join our Membership Club to Access Chinese learning materials