Ep.3: Chinese Zodiac

August 22, 2023 Peter Jans

Intro

Hello and Welcome to this episode of the podcast, "The Mnemonic Tree", where we add a single mnemonic leaf to our Tree of Knowledge.

Today's episode will be on The Chinese Zodiac, which will be a little bit more challenging than the first episode on Japanese Islands, with 12 separate items to remember.

The Chinese zodiac is a classification system based on a twelve-year cycle, with each year represented by an animal. Like Western astrology, it is believed that personalities, relationships, and fortunes are influenced by where their birthday falls.

With that being said, we will begin with a summary from Wikipedia.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chinese_Zodiac.png

Wikipedia Summary

The Chinese zodiac is a traditional classification scheme based on the Chinese calendar that assigns an animal and its reputed attributes to each year in a repeating twelve-year cycle. Originating from China, the zodiac and its variations remain popular in many East Asian and Southeast Asian countries, such as Japan,[1] South Korea,[2] Vietnam,[2] Singapore, Nepal, Bhutan, Cambodia, and Thailand.[3]

Identifying this scheme using the generic term "zodiac" reflects several superficial similarities to the Western zodiac: both have time cycles divided into twelve parts, each labels at least the majority of those parts with names of animals, and each is widely associated with a culture of ascribing a person's personality or events in their life to the supposed influence of the person's particular relationship to the cycle.

Nevertheless, there are major differences between the two: the animals of the Chinese zodiac are not associated with constellations spanned by the ecliptic plane[citation needed]. The Chinese twelve-part cycle corresponds to years, rather than months. The Chinese zodiac is represented by twelve animals, whereas some of the signs in the Western zodiac are not animals, despite the implication of the etymology of the English word zodiac, which derives from zōdiacus, the Latinized form of the Ancient Greek zōdiakòs kýklos (ζῳδιακός κύκλος), meaning "cycle of animals".

Extracted from: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_zodiac]

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dierenriem_Chinese_Astrologie.JPG

Mnemonic

Chinese Zodiac Mnemonic - A Rat riding an Ox TRaDeS a Horse for a Sheep and calls it MR Dog Pig

(Picture a Rat riding an Ox)

1. Rat

2. Ox

3. Tiger

4. Rabbit

5. Dragon

6. Snake

7. Horse

8. Goat/Sheep

9. Monkey

10. Rooster

11. Dog

12. Pig

Five Fun Facts

1. Each zodiac year has an element. Those five elements are Water, Wood, Earth, Fire, and Metal (Gold).

2. Each zodiac just like our astrological calendar has fated personality traits.

3. The Goat is the unluckiest zodiac sign and is supposedly destined for bad luck. People born in this year are to be followers rather than leaders. The opposite is true of people born on Dragon years and Chinese birth rates reflect this belief.

4. In ancient times people used the zodiac sign animals to tell the time. Each sign represented two hours. For example, the dog hours were 7 - 9 pm.

5. The zodiac signs are also affected by yin and yang. Even years are yin and odd years are yang. For instance, Rat is one and hence yin, and Ox is two and thus yang.

Yin is associated with darkness, negativity, and the moon. While yang is associated with light, positivity, and the sun.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chinese_Zodiac_carvings_on_ceiling_of_Kushida_Shrine,_Fukuoka.jpg

Three Question Quiz

Q.1. Generally, people believe that the Chinese zodiac year starts with the beginning of the Chinese lunar calendar New Year. What two months of the year may this fall on?

Q.2. Why is there no Cat on the Chinese zodiac, considering they are considered so lucky?

Q.3. Being in your zodiac sign’s year is considered good luck? True or False

Mnemonic Recap

Chinese Zodiac Mnemonic - A Rat riding an Ox TRaDeS a Horse for a Sheep and calls it MR Dog Pig

(Picture a Rat riding an Ox)

1. Rat

2. Ox

3. Tiger

4. Rabbit

5. Dragon

6. Snake

7. Horse

8. Goat/Sheep

9. Monkey

10. Rooster

11. Dog

12. Pig

Three Question Quiz Answers

Q.1. Generally, people believe that the Chinese zodiac year starts with the beginning of the Chinese lunar calendar New Year. What two months of the year may this fall on?

A. January or February. In 2021 it falls on February 12th

Q.2. Why is there no Cat on the Chinese zodiac, considering they are considered so lucky?

A. Chinese zodiac existed before Cats were brought to China from Egypt. A Tiger was already in the Chinese zodiac so they decided to leave as is, being from the same Cat family.

Q.3. Being in your zodiac sign’s year is considered good luck? True or False

A. False

Word of the Week

volte-face

[ volt-fahs ]

noun

a turnabout, especially a reversal of opinion or policy.

Example

She had a volte-face in regard to zodiac signs after certain events had unfolded.

Extracted from: [https://www.dictionary.com/]

Website: https://www.themnemonictreepodcast.com/

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