Chinese Signs

The Chinese are also great believers in astrology and have their own system of astrology. One of the interesting things about the Chinese astrology is their 12 year cycle of animal signs. Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig are the 12 Chinese animal signs in that sequence. Each sign rules for one year. This cycle gets repeated every 12 years.

The people born in these Chinese signs, like the Indian Rasis and the western sun signs, display certain traits and qualities. While meeting a person for important work, the Chinese always try to find out the sign of the person they are going to meet, so that they know about his nature and how best to tackle him.

The Chinese sign qualities are quite accurate and that is why they are the only non-Indian section included in this site devoted to Vedic astrology.

According to one legend, the Jade King wanted to know what was happening on Earth and asked his minister to bring a dozen animal to him. According to another legend it was the Buddha. The minister asked the Rat, the Ox, the Tiger, the Rabbit, the Dragon, the Snake, the Horse, the Ram, the Monkey, the Rooster and the Dog to be present before the king the next day. The cat could not be contacted so the rat was asked to send the message to the cat. However the rat didn’t deliver the message to the cat as it was jealous of him. Next day when only eleven animals lined up the minister rushed a servant to earth to quickly get another animal and the servant brought the pig.

The animals were then taken to the Jade King. The Rat being a very small animal was worried that the king may not notice him. So the Ox asked him to climb on its back. The rat was so happy at this that it started playing the flute. Delighted by this, the king gave the first place to the rat and the second place to the Ox for its friendly gesture. The magnificent looking tiger got the third place. The cute looking Rabbit got the fourth place, the powerful Dragon got the fifth place, the Snake got the sixth place, the Horse got the seventh place, the Ram got the eighth place, the Monkey got the ninth place, the Rooster got the tenth place, the Dog got the eleventh place and the last to arrive Pig got the twelfth place.

The cat came to know about it and rushed to the king but was not considered as the twelve positions were filled up. From then onwards the cat became the arch enemy of the rat.

There is some substance in the Chinese signs. For example: the sign dragon is regarded as the most powerful sign by the Chinese for power, authority, leadership qualities and success. It is noteworthy that every one of the Chinese emperors and most of their famous leaders were born in the year of the dragon!

From the chart given bellow locate the year in which you are born and check the Chinese sign under which you are born. Click on the sign name to read about your Chinese sign.

Name of the Sign Years ruled by the sign