Do you want to know which animal you could be? Find out the legendary evolutions 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 merry-making spirit is still very much alive at present. The rare feature of the Chinese New Year is that according to the twelve year rotation, the coming of the year is related to an animal symbol significantly.
The Chinese New Year animal reappearsevery twelve years. According to their current standing the next year should be the year of the Ox. The ancient philosophers of China studied the behavior of the animals in the calendar and drew a semblance with their personality traits and human nature.
You may consider the fact that the Chinese feel the person born on a particular animal year will have similar 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 of the twelve year cycle with the animals assigned to each year is derived from the Buddhist dharma. Legend has it that it was Buddha himself who summoned all these animals before he descended down to earth. There was a competition to be held amongst these animals where the first one to reach the finishing line would be assigned to the first year.
The race started during which there was intense competition and betrayal especially on the part of the rat that had made a deal with the cat but didn't stick to his word. All the while it looked as if the ox would take the top spot as it made its way through the crowd. Little did the ox know that the clever rat was actually riding on its back and just when the ox was about to reach the finish line the rat leaped forward to claim the first position.
Hence, we will see that the first year of the twelve year lunar cycle is the year of the rat as he cleverly managed to come first in the race and then it is followed by the year of ox as the hardworking animal secured second place. The ox is then followed by the rest of the animals in order of the positions they secured with pig having the last position.
If you are wondering why just twelve animals came to Buddha and why distinctly these animals then keep wondering because you will get 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.
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 merry-making spirit is still very much alive at present. The rare feature of the Chinese New Year is that according to the twelve year rotation, the coming of the year is related to an animal symbol significantly.
The Chinese New Year animal reappearsevery twelve years. According to their current standing the next year should be the year of the Ox. The ancient philosophers of China studied the behavior of the animals in the calendar and drew a semblance with their personality traits and human nature.
You may consider the fact that the Chinese feel the person born on a particular animal year will have similar 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 of the twelve year cycle with the animals assigned to each year is derived from the Buddhist dharma. Legend has it that it was Buddha himself who summoned all these animals before he descended down to earth. There was a competition to be held amongst these animals where the first one to reach the finishing line would be assigned to the first year.
The race started during which there was intense competition and betrayal especially on the part of the rat that had made a deal with the cat but didn't stick to his word. All the while it looked as if the ox would take the top spot as it made its way through the crowd. Little did the ox know that the clever rat was actually riding on its back and just when the ox was about to reach the finish line the rat leaped forward to claim the first position.
Hence, we will see that the first year of the twelve year lunar cycle is the year of the rat as he cleverly managed to come first in the race and then it is followed by the year of ox as the hardworking animal secured second place. The ox is then followed by the rest of the animals in order of the positions they secured with pig having the last position.
If you are wondering why just twelve animals came to Buddha and why distinctly these animals then keep wondering because you will get 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.
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Chinese new year zodiac 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.