With Marco Polo’s adventurous travels in A.D. 1275, Europeans learned for the first time of the great beauty, wealth, history, and romance of China. Untouched as they were by outside influences, the Chinese had developed their astrology along somewhat different lines from the Egyptians, Chaldeans, Babylonians, and Greeks.
Life in ancient China revolved around the Emperor. His title was Son of the Heavens, and he was an absolute ruler. Confucius wrote of the Emperor: “The sovereign who rules by virtue is like the polar star. He stays motionless in his place while everything turns around him.” It was the Emperor who maintained good relations between the forces of heaven and human beings here on Earth.
Some historians mark the beginning of Chinese astrology during the reign of the Divine Emperor Fu Hsi around 2800 B.C. The Bamboo Annals (a manuscript found in a Chinese prince’s grave in A.D. 281) tell about Emperor Yao, who named the twelve signs of the Chinese zodiac and divided the sky into twenty-eight Mansions of the Moon.
The Chinese zodiac differs from the zodiac of the West. There are twelve years, and each year is represented by a different animal. This twelve-year cycle is sometimes called the Yellow Road of the Sun. The twelve animals are the rat, ox, tiger, hare, dragon, snake, horse, ram, monkey, cock, dog, and boar. Legend tells us that when Buddha lay on his deathbed, he asked the animals of the forest to come and bid him farewell. These twelve were the first to arrive. The cat, as the story goes, is not among the animals because it was napping and couldn’t be bothered to make the journey.
Chinese astrology is not content to rest with a division into twelve animals. There are also five elements (wood, fire, earth, metal, and water). A Chinese horoscope is divided into interlocking sets of the numbers ten and twelve (e.g., ten Celestial Stem signs and twelve Terrestrial Branch signs). In addition, the ancient principle of Yin and Yang (negative and positive forces) is very much involved in charting a horoscope.
Astrology has been an integral part of everyday life in China. The new Communist regime, which prides itself on rationalism and materialism and derides astrology as mere superstition, has made few inroads on the people’s faith in the divinations of the horoscope. Not even the authority of the state has prevailed against astrology.
A Chinese person always knows his or her animal sign and will often give his or her age by naming the animal year in which birth occurred. Major decisions in life are still made according to astrology. This is especially true when the Chinese seek guidance about whom to marry and when. Astrology is also a guide as to when to conclude financial agreements, begin journeys, start building a new house, and even where to bury the dead.
Some modern astrologers have tried to combine Western astrology with Chinese astrology. They give each person both an astrological sign and an animal sign. One becomes, for example, a Gemini Tiger or a Libra Dragon. For those interested in learning more about this fascinating attempt to merge two cultures, there are some books on the subject.
In truth, however, the astrology that we practice owes less to these Eastern influences. We are, after all, children of the Sun and rely more on solar astrology than the Eastern world and its children of the Moon. Our astrological lore can be traced back to the Sumerians and to the fascinating fragments of documents that contain the astrological predictions of Sargon the Ancient, who ruled around 2800 B.C. in a city known as Babylon.
*Note*
This is only one version of the legend. In certain Far Eastern countries (e.g., Vietnam), the cat is the astrological symbol instead of the hare.
Life in ancient China revolved around the Emperor. His title was Son of the Heavens, and he was an absolute ruler. Confucius wrote of the Emperor: “The sovereign who rules by virtue is like the polar star. He stays motionless in his place while everything turns around him.” It was the Emperor who maintained good relations between the forces of heaven and human beings here on Earth.
Some historians mark the beginning of Chinese astrology during the reign of the Divine Emperor Fu Hsi around 2800 B.C. The Bamboo Annals (a manuscript found in a Chinese prince’s grave in A.D. 281) tell about Emperor Yao, who named the twelve signs of the Chinese zodiac and divided the sky into twenty-eight Mansions of the Moon.
The Chinese zodiac differs from the zodiac of the West. There are twelve years, and each year is represented by a different animal. This twelve-year cycle is sometimes called the Yellow Road of the Sun. The twelve animals are the rat, ox, tiger, hare, dragon, snake, horse, ram, monkey, cock, dog, and boar. Legend tells us that when Buddha lay on his deathbed, he asked the animals of the forest to come and bid him farewell. These twelve were the first to arrive. The cat, as the story goes, is not among the animals because it was napping and couldn’t be bothered to make the journey.
Chinese astrology is not content to rest with a division into twelve animals. There are also five elements (wood, fire, earth, metal, and water). A Chinese horoscope is divided into interlocking sets of the numbers ten and twelve (e.g., ten Celestial Stem signs and twelve Terrestrial Branch signs). In addition, the ancient principle of Yin and Yang (negative and positive forces) is very much involved in charting a horoscope.
Astrology has been an integral part of everyday life in China. The new Communist regime, which prides itself on rationalism and materialism and derides astrology as mere superstition, has made few inroads on the people’s faith in the divinations of the horoscope. Not even the authority of the state has prevailed against astrology.
A Chinese person always knows his or her animal sign and will often give his or her age by naming the animal year in which birth occurred. Major decisions in life are still made according to astrology. This is especially true when the Chinese seek guidance about whom to marry and when. Astrology is also a guide as to when to conclude financial agreements, begin journeys, start building a new house, and even where to bury the dead.
Some modern astrologers have tried to combine Western astrology with Chinese astrology. They give each person both an astrological sign and an animal sign. One becomes, for example, a Gemini Tiger or a Libra Dragon. For those interested in learning more about this fascinating attempt to merge two cultures, there are some books on the subject.
In truth, however, the astrology that we practice owes less to these Eastern influences. We are, after all, children of the Sun and rely more on solar astrology than the Eastern world and its children of the Moon. Our astrological lore can be traced back to the Sumerians and to the fascinating fragments of documents that contain the astrological predictions of Sargon the Ancient, who ruled around 2800 B.C. in a city known as Babylon.
*Note*
This is only one version of the legend. In certain Far Eastern countries (e.g., Vietnam), the cat is the astrological symbol instead of the hare.