Origin of Chinese Astrology

Chinese astrology is an ancient perspective on our modern lives. It comes from the ancient Oriental art of divination and character reading. The first cycle of this chinese zodiac was introduced in 2637 B-C by the Emperor Huang Ti.

This specific language was developed as the Chinese writing system was emerging, and was joined with the Oriental philosophy. Some fascinating insights into a persons character, emotion and lifestyle can be revealed when using Chinese astrology as a medium. The roots of this interpretive of astrology are deeply based on the philosophy of Confucius (a famous Chinese philosopher) and the Yi Jing (I Ching).

According to the legend, the order of the twelve signs was determined by Buddha upon celebration of the Chinese New Year. It is believed that Buddha invited all of the animals of the kingdom for a meeting, but only 12 creatures attended.

Instead of arriving together, each animal arrived separately, one after the other in the following order:

• The first animal to arrive was the talkative Rat.
• The second to arrive was the serious, enduring and hard-working Ox.
• He was than followed by the honorable Tiger.
• The cautious Cat arrived fourth.
• The outspoken Dragon was the fifth to joined the others.
• The philosophical Snake arrived next.
• The physically active Horse arrived seventh.
• Followed by the artistic Sheep.
• Than it was the turn of the spirited Monkey to arrive.
• He was followed close by the showy Rooster.
• The last to join the others was the watchful Dog.
• Followed by the meticulous and resigned Pig that closed the march.

This order of arrival explains the order in which you find the different signs when you read your horoscope. And based on this order of arrival, Buddha gave each animal a year of its own, bestowing the nature and characteristics of each to those born in that animal year.