Complete Guide to Chinese Horoscopes (Contemporary Writers)

The Chinese horoscope represents a tradition more than 2,000 years old. It lasts for twelve years, with each year featuring a different symbolic animal. Ancient Chinese beliefs, which persist to the current day, hold that the year of one's birth has a significant effect on one's character, which relates to the features of that year's symbolic animal. For example, a person born during the year of the mouse will be smart and wealthy, which are characteristics attributed to the mouse. Likewise, a person born in the year of the ox will be hardworking and down-to-earth, while a person born in the year of the tiger will be majestic and fierce. There are further levels of refinement to the Chinese horoscope cycle, based on beliefs related to the ancient divination text, Classic of Changes (I Ching), the Five Elements Theory (metal, wood, water, fire, earth), yin and yang, and the Ten Celestial Stems and Twelve Terrestrial Branches. These concepts, fundamental in China, are explained in this b