Astrology Traditions: Chinese Astrology

The Chinese astrology refers to the divination of the future from the Chinese calendar.

The Chinese astrology refers to the divination of the future from the Chinese calendar. It is also called as the fortune-telling system. Its 12-year cycle of animals is known as the Chinese Zodiac.

The Chinese astrology is derived from the principle characteristics of the Zodiac, the five elements, the calendrical cycles based on astronomy, and the ancient Chinese religion.

The Chinese Zodiac is considered as a pure calendrical cycle and there are no equivalent constellations like those of the occidental zodiac.

Cycles

The age-old sexagenary cycle of 60 days which has been documented since the time of the Shang Dynasty is the main source of the cycles of years which are in use now. The basic cycle is constructed from the two cycles with the first cycle being the ten heavenly stems and the second cycle being the twelve earthly branches. The binary Yin and Yang cycle enlarges the five elements cycle to a cycle of ten with the even years are considered as yang and the odd years are considered as yin. The cycle continues in the following way.

If the year ends in 0 it is Yang Metal
If the year ends in 1 it is Yin Metal
If the year ends in 2 it is Yang Water
If the year ends in 3 it is Yin Water
If the year ends in 4 it is Yang Wood
If the year ends in 5 it is Yin Wood
If the year ends in 6 it is Yang Fire
If the year ends in 7 it is Yin Fire
If the Year ends in 8 it is Yang Earth
If the year ends in 9 it is Yin Earth
 

The main important fact to be noted here is that the cycle follows the same Chinese Lunar calendar as the Animal signs and not the Western year. As the zodiac animal cycle of 12 is divisible by two, every zodiac sign occurs in either yin or yang only creating a 60-year cycle, starting with Wood Rat and ending with Water Pig.