Chinese Zodiac: Animals, Elements and the Sixty-Year Cycle

A cycle of twelve animals

The Chinese zodiac is a repeating cycle of twelve years, each year represented by an animal. The Lam Museum at Wake Forest University gives the order as Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. Sources name the eighth animal differently: Goat at the Lam Museum, sheep at the University of Sydney. This site uses Goat.

The V&A says that giving people born in a given animal year a certain character is a fairly recent development, with no mention of such a belief in old Chinese texts. National Geographic adds that no birth date has ever been proven to influence personality or luck.

The earthly branches behind the animals

The V&A explains that older Chinese reckoning of time was cyclical, not linear. A year had two parts: a heavenly stem, of which there are ten, and an earthly branch, of which there are twelve. The cycle repeated itself every sixty years.

An entry by the Academy of Contemporary China and World Studies says that in Chinese folk culture the twelve earthly branches are paired with the twelve zodiac animals, each animal corresponding to a lunar year. The Lam Museum describes the branches as the original terms for the years, with the animals added later as mnemonics.

Five elements and the sixty-year cycle

Each year also corresponds to one of five elements. The University of Sydney lists them as metal, wood, water, fire and earth, and says that combining the twelve animals with the five elements forms a sixty-year cycle. A Horse year comes round every twelve years, but a Fire Horse year only every sixty.

The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy notes that the Chinese term wuxing means “five processes” or “five phases”. It adds that Chinese astrology relies heavily on the scheme: each sign is said to be ruled by one or more of the five elements and its yin or yang energies.

The legend of the order

National Geographic says the origin story of the zodiac is unclear. According to legend, the system came from a mythical animal race held by either the Buddha or the Jade Emperor. In that legend, the order in which the animals crossed a river or reached court is reflected in the order of the years, and the crafty rat is first because, in the myths, it hitched a ride on the ox. Other legends have the animals attend a banquet held by the Buddha instead.

The Lam Museum retells a version in which the Jade Emperor needed twelve animals as palace guards. The Rat slipped in front of the Ox, and the Pig came late, which is why it is last. The museum is clear that this is only a story.