12 Chinese Zodiac

[kidd]

Just found out this interest stuff. The 12 Animal Chinese Zodiac system were are family with is not the only Animal Zodiac system. Different tribe in china actually has different animal zodiacs.

汉族
十二兽：鼠、牛、虎、兔、龙、蛇、马、羊、猴、鸡、狗、猪。
Han (the most commonly know zodiac)
12 animals; rat, cow, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, chicken, dog, pig

桂西彝族
十二兽：龙、凤、马、蚁、人、鸡、狗、猪、雀、牛、虎、蛇。
Guixi Yi Tribe
12 animals: dragon, phoenix, horse, ant, man, chicken, dog, pig, bird, cow, tiger, snake.

哀牢山彝族
十二兽：虎、兔、穿山甲、蛇、马、羊、猴、鸡、狗、猪、鼠、牛。
Ailao Mountain Yi Tribe
12 animals: tiger, rabbit, pangolin, snake, horse, goat, monkey, chicken, dog, pig, rat, cow

川滇黔彝族
十二兽：鼠、牛、虎、兔、龙、蛇、马、羊、猴、鸡、狗、猪。
Chuan-Dian-Qian Yi Tribe
12 animals: rat, cow, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey chicken, dog, pig

海南黎族
十二兽：鸡、狗、猪、鼠、牛、虫、兔、龙、蛇、马、羊、猴。
Hainan Li Tribe
12 animals: chicken, dog, pig, rat, cow, worm, rabbit, snake, horse, goat, monkey

云南傣族
十二兽：鼠、黄牛、虎、兔、大蛇、蛇、马、山羊、猴、鸡、狗、象。
Yunnan Dai Tribe
12 animals: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, big snake, snake, horse, mountain goat, monkey, chicken, dog, elephant.

广西壮族
十二兽：鼠、牛、虎、兔、龙、蛇、马、羊、猴、鸡、狗、猪。
Guangxi Zhuang Tribe
12 animals: rat, cow, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, chicken, dog, pig

蒙古族
十二兽：虎、兔、龙、蛇、马、羊、猴、鸡、狗、猪、鼠、牛。
Mongol Tribe
12 animals: tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, chicken, dog, pig, rat, cow.

新疆维吾尔族
十二兽：鼠、牛、虎、兔、鱼、蛇、马、羊、猴、鸡、狗、猪。
Xinjiang Uygur tribe
12 animals: rat, cow, tiger, rabbit, fish, snake, horse, goat, monkey, chicken, dog, pig

柯尔克孜族
十二兽：鼠、牛、虎、兔、鱼、蛇、马、羊、狐狸、鸡、狗、猪。
Kyrgyz Tribe
12 animals: rat, cow, tiger, rabbit, fish, snake, horse, goat, fox, chicken, dog, pig

Source:
http://www.hudong.com/wiki/%E5%8D%81...94%9F%E8%82%96
http://bbshistory.news.ifeng.com/vie...ra=page%3D1###

[Ian Liew]

Does that mean we're descended from the Quan-Dian-Qian Yi Tribe?

[kidd]

Does that mean we're descended from the Quan-Dian-Qian Yi Tribe?

Or maybe Chuan-Dian-Qian tribe follow Han tribe system.

I wonder what year is this year for other tribe.

Sorry for the misspelling.

[JamesG]

I once met a young Chinese teen working in her family's Chinese restaurant who insisted her sign was the mouse. I guess she didn't want to be a rat.

[mawguy]

i find it interesting that the mongols have the exact same 12 animals as the han one and in the same order, except they start with the tiger instead of the rat.

[wkeej]

If I remember correctly, you will not be part of the zodiac when you reach a certain "old" age.
Hope that for the Year of Rabbit, everyone and everything goes fine.

[ByTmE]

WHOA the second tribe has "ant" followed by "man"!The 5th tribe has a "worm". lol that's neat

I was born in the year of the rat [not glamorous at all haha]...I sure hope the year of the rabbit turns out well for me :T

[kidd]

I read in newspaper during CNY that Vietnamese don't have a rabbit year. They have a cat year. Is this true?

Update: Check already. It is true.

http://www.viethoroscope.com/vietnam...ar-of-the-cat/

Also, in Kazakhstan, Dragon became Snail.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese...Chinese_zodiac

[Ren Ying Ying]

I once met a young Chinese teen working in her family's Chinese restaurant who insisted her sign was the mouse. I guess she didn't want to be a rat.

I don't know if there's a big distinction between rat and mouse for the chinese word. Just like the year of the rooster can just as well be called year of the chicken, the ox called a cow, and the boar a pig .

[jadebunny9]

Why is it always 12 animals? What's so special about coming in a dozen?

[kidd]

Why is it always 12 animals? What's so special about coming in a dozen?

Don't know about the year counting, but, I know that zodiac is not only for year. Each zodiac animal also represent one 'shi chen' (1 shi chen = 2 hours) in chinese time counting. Chinese time is divided into 2 shi chen.

Here's a short explanation on why there's 12 animals for year.
http://www.hko.gov.hk/gts/time/12animals.htm

The 12-Year Animal Cycle

The use of 12-year animal cycles for recording the years in China dates back to 100 A.D. Each year is symbolized by an animal and the 12 animals are mouse, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.

The 12-year animal cycle corresponds to the 12 earthly branches (Figure 3). In a Jia-Zi cycle, those years with the same earthly branch are symbolized by the same animal. For example, the earthly branch "Shen" is symbolized by monkey so Ren-Shen, Jia-Shen, Bing-Shen, Wu-Shen and Geng-Shen are all years of the monkey. The Gan-Zhi years that correspond to other animals can be determined similarly.

The cycle of 12 is interesting. There's 12 'shi chen' in a day, 12 months in a year, and also a 12 year cycle.

[Han Solo]

Isn't it the same with the Japanese in that they also have a cat year?

Han Solo

[JunesRain]

I read in newspaper during CNY that Vietnamese don't have a rabbit year. They have a cat year. Is this true?

Update: Check already. It is true.

http://www.viethoroscope.com/vietnam...ar-of-the-cat/

Also, in Kazakhstan, Dragon became Snail.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese...Chinese_zodiac

Yeah it's true. I'm vietnamese (chinese original thou) and they have cat instead of rabbit ^^. Not sure why...