Chinese Zodiac Signs, 12 Chinese Zodiac Animals, Chinese Zodiac Culture

by Bella Wei Editor

Chinese Zodiac Signs

Chinese zodiac signs, also known as Shengxiao in Chinese, is a scheme, which uses Twelve Earthly Branches and 12 animals to symbolize the year when a person is born. The cycle of the Chinese zodiac signs is every 12 years. Zodiac is prevalent among many countries in Asia, Eastern Europe, North Africa and so on.

The zodiac traditionally begins with the sign of the Rat. The twelve zodiac signs are Rat, Ox，Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snack, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Chicken, Rooster, Dog And Pig, each of which has its matching earth branch and character. In Chinese astrology, the animal signs assigned by year represent what others perceive you as being or how you present yourself.

Besides presenting oneself, the zodiac signs also have another function, that is, deducing a person's age from the sign of the person. Know the current sign of the year and then a person's perceived age would be deduced. For example, if it is the year of ox in 2011, then persons of ox is either 12, 24, 36 or 48 years old in 2011, while persons of rabbit zodiac are two years younger than those Oxen accordingly in 2011.

Chinese Zodiac years of birth are also called Chinese Zodiac animal years, better known as Ben Ming Nian in Chinese, in which people usually wear something red like to avoid bad luck during this year, such as socks, a ribbon, clothes, underwear, a waistband or a bracelet and the likes.

Chinese Zodiac Rat