Chinese astrology’s principles

Chinese astrology is the art of combining several complex astral data. Years, months, days and times of birth are but a few of the elements used to set up what are called Chinese "astrological systems", which are real challenges to those who are fond of astrology. 
 

How to know your Chinese astrological sign?

Chinese astrology is based on a 12-year cycle, with each year referring to an animal.
 
To know what your Chinese zodiac sign is, you must use your date of birth. However, take into account that the Chinese calendar is based on lunar years. As a result, the Chinese New Year also occurs between January 21 and February 20.
 
Example:if someone was born on January 10, 1960 they fall under the sign of the Pig (as the year of the Pig began on February 8, 1959 and ended on January 27, 1960).
 
By contrast, if they were born on February 5 during the same year, they were born under the sign of the Rat (which began on January 28, 1960 and ended on February 14, 1961).
 
Consequently, do not just take your year of birth into account. Seek to know the exact dates when the Chinese year began and ended so as to avoid making a mistake.

 

The 5 natural elements in Chinese astrology

In addition to the 12 zodiac signs, other data is also to be taken into account in Chinese astrology. Notably, the 5 fundamental elements:

• water
• earth
• metal
• wood
• fire

 
This is why Chinese astrologers speak of the Water Ox, for instance, or of the Wooden Tiger.
 
2011 was the year of the Metal Cat or Metal Rabbit.
 

Planets and colors in Chinese astrology

The position and movements of the planets are also taken into account.
 
Although Chinese astrologers study no less than 111 planets, only 5 of them are considered as the most important ones because they correspond to the 5 elements. All of these 5 planets have a corresponding color:
 

ELEMENT	PLANET	COLOR
Fire	Mars	Red
Earth	Saturn	Black
Water	Mercury	Grey
Wood	Jupiter	Blue
Metal	Venus	Green

 
 

Significance of the time of birth in Chinese astrology

Chinese astrology is based on 4 pillars. Each one of them corresponds to one of the following data:

• the year
• the month
• the day
• the time of birth

Although the first three enable us to know our Chinese zodiac sign, the time of birth is also of importance. It enables us to determine what our rising sign is, also called “secret animal”.

Indeed, each sign corresponds to a 2-hour time slot:

• 23 h 00 - 01 h 00 (11 p.m. – 1 a.m.) : the Rat
• 01 h 00 - 03 h 00 (1 a.m. – 3 a.m.) : the Ox
• 03 h 00 - 05 h 00 (3 a.m. – 5 a.m.) : the Tiger
• 05 h 00 - 07 h 00 (5 a.m. – 7 a.m.) : the Rabbit
• 07 h 00 - 09 h 00 (7 a.m. – 9 a.m.) : the Dragon
• 09 h 00 - 11 h 00 (9 a.m. – 11 a.m.) : the Snake
• 11 h 00 - 13 h 00 (11 a.m. – 1 p.m.) : the Horse
• 13 h 00 - 15 h 00 (1 p.m. – 3 p.m.) : the Sheep
• 15 h 00 - 17 h 00 (3 p.m. – 5 p.m.) : the Monkey
• 17 h 00 - 19 h 00 (5 p.m. – 7 p.m.) : the Rooster
• 19 h 00 - 21 h 00 (7 p.m. – 9 p.m.) : the Dog
• 21 h 00 - 23 h 00 (9 p.m. – 11 p.m.) : the Pig

According to Chinese astrology,someone’s character and destiny rests upon these 4 pillars, which can be friendly/unfriendly or compatible/incompatible with each other.

All these complex data are elements to calculate a Chinese astral chart. These elements may turn out to be pretty complex and require – quite often – much more hard work than a traditional occidental astral chart.