The year of the Rabbit
According to the Chinese zodiac calendar, this year is the year of the water rabbit!
Check out some fascinating facts about the Chinese Zodiac.
The History of Chinese astrology.
The Chinese zodiac consists of twelve animals that first appeared in the Zhan Guo period. No one knows the exact date of when they were created, but they were officially identified over 2000 years ago. The zodiac became a popular way to determine a person’s birth year during the North Zhou Dynasty and is still very commonly used to this day. The zodiac is calculated by a cycle of sixty years with the lunar calendar that paved the sequence of the Chinese zodiac animals.
The zodiac was based on Chinese astrology and was used to count years, months, days, and hours. Each of the 12 animals stands for one year in a 12-year cycle, a day in a 12-day cycle, and for every two hours in a 24-hour day.
The Heavenly Gate Race (the story behind the zodiacs).
This story all starts with the Jade Emperor who wanted to select 12 animals to be his guards at the heavenly gate. He sent an immortal being into our world to spread a message to these animals stating that the earlier they went through the Heavenly Gate, the better their rank would be.
The next day the animals set off towards the Heavenly Gate. Rat got up very early. On his way to the gate, he then encountered a river with a swift current - but lucky for him he noticed Ox about to cross the river and swiftly jumped into Ox’s ear. By cheating, Rat won first place and Ox was second.
Tiger and Rabbit came third and fourth because both are fast and competitive, but Tiger was faster. The good-looking Dragon was fifth and was immediately noticed by the Jade Emperor, who said Dragon’s son could be sixth. Just then, Snake came forward with his slithering ways and said that Dragon was his adoptive father so, Snake ranked sixth.
Horse and Goat arrived, and they were very kind and modest towards each other, and each let the other go first. The Jade Emperor saw how polite they were and ranked them seventh and eighth. Monkey had fallen well behind, but caught up to be ninth. Last were Rooster, Dog, and Pig. These 12 animals then became guards of the Heavenly Gate and were ranked accordingly.
About the Year of the Rabbit.
Starting from January 22nd, 2023, and ending on February 9th, 2024. People born in the year of the Rabbit are called the “Rabbits” of China. The previous dates of this zodiac include, 2011, 1999, 1987, 1975, 1963, 1951, 1939, 1927, etc.
There are various types of Rabbits as every animal in the zodiac consists of the 5 different elements known as (gold/metal, wood, water, fire and earth).
2023 will be the year of the Water Rabbit, commonly known as the Black rabbit or Yin Rabbit. The colour of Yin Water is blue or black. According to the zodiac predictions, people born under the Water rabbit zodiac sign are known to be kind, loyal, understanding, generous, thoughtful and honest. They are also always faithful to those around them. The Rabbits almost always symbolise prosperity, abundance, good luck, and fertility.