Want to know what animal you are? Find out the historical origins of the Chinese New Year animals.
The Chinese New Year is an important event in the Chinese lunar calendar. Celebrations have been carried out in the most traditional manner since ages now and the festive spirit is still very much alive at present. The rare characteristic of the Chinese New Year is that according to the twelve year cycle, the coming of the year is related to an animal symbol significantly.
Every twelfth year of the Chinese lunar calendar, the animal symbol repeats. Their current standing shows that next year will be the year of the Ox. The ancient thinkers of China studied on the actions of the animals in the calendar and resolved in deriving a similarity between animal personality traits and human character.
You may believe the fact that the Chinese feel the person born on a particular animal year will have parallel characteristics of the animal. If you are born in the year of ox then you will have good skill for organizing while loyalty and dependability will be your big assets. Ox is also known to be strong and patient.
The concept behind the twelve year cycle with these beasts symbolizing each year was taken from the Buddhist dharma. Ancient history states that it was Buddha himself who summoned all these animals before he himself descended to Earth. Then a race was held between these animals where the victorious one would be responsible for the first year.
The race began with heavy contesting between the animals. The sly rat after making a deal with the cat decided to cheat. All the while it looked like the Ox would win the race as it maneuvered through the crowd. But the ox was unaware of the fact that the clever rat was sitting on his back all through the race and when he came close to the finishing line, the rat jumped off his back and became the winner.
Hence we observe that the first year of the twelve year cycle is the year of the rat because he succeeded to finish the race in first place, by hook or by crook. The year of the ox follows the rat as the hard working animal came in at second place. The ox is then followed by the rest of the animals according to the order in which they finished. The cycle ends with the pig!
If you are thinking why just twelve animals came to Buddha and why specifically these animals then keep wondering because you will find no answers to these questions! The fact of the matter is that this is an ancient tradition which has been kept alive up till today and is deeply embedded in the Chinese culture. As a token of appreciation for their coming Buddha apparently assigned a year to each of the animals and that's the way the legend has it. - 33385
The Chinese New Year is an important event in the Chinese lunar calendar. Celebrations have been carried out in the most traditional manner since ages now and the festive spirit is still very much alive at present. The rare characteristic of the Chinese New Year is that according to the twelve year cycle, the coming of the year is related to an animal symbol significantly.
Every twelfth year of the Chinese lunar calendar, the animal symbol repeats. Their current standing shows that next year will be the year of the Ox. The ancient thinkers of China studied on the actions of the animals in the calendar and resolved in deriving a similarity between animal personality traits and human character.
You may believe the fact that the Chinese feel the person born on a particular animal year will have parallel characteristics of the animal. If you are born in the year of ox then you will have good skill for organizing while loyalty and dependability will be your big assets. Ox is also known to be strong and patient.
The concept behind the twelve year cycle with these beasts symbolizing each year was taken from the Buddhist dharma. Ancient history states that it was Buddha himself who summoned all these animals before he himself descended to Earth. Then a race was held between these animals where the victorious one would be responsible for the first year.
The race began with heavy contesting between the animals. The sly rat after making a deal with the cat decided to cheat. All the while it looked like the Ox would win the race as it maneuvered through the crowd. But the ox was unaware of the fact that the clever rat was sitting on his back all through the race and when he came close to the finishing line, the rat jumped off his back and became the winner.
Hence we observe that the first year of the twelve year cycle is the year of the rat because he succeeded to finish the race in first place, by hook or by crook. The year of the ox follows the rat as the hard working animal came in at second place. The ox is then followed by the rest of the animals according to the order in which they finished. The cycle ends with the pig!
If you are thinking why just twelve animals came to Buddha and why specifically these animals then keep wondering because you will find no answers to these questions! The fact of the matter is that this is an ancient tradition which has been kept alive up till today and is deeply embedded in the Chinese culture. As a token of appreciation for their coming Buddha apparently assigned a year to each of the animals and that's the way the legend has it. - 33385
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Chinese new year animals are a wonderful way to introduce the festival to children. If you want to know about other fun Chinese new year activities follow the hyperlinks.
