The Year of the Tiger
Happy Chinese New Year! The main festival of the year for Chinese and some other countries in Asia. Also known as Lunar Year, the date of the celebration changes from year to year based on the phases of the moon. It’s the time of the year where Chinese families celebrate for 15 days and honor deities and ancestors.
Are you wondering why it’s different from the Western new year? Simple, Chinese New Year is based on a lunar calendar, and Wester New Year on a solar calendar.
It is said that Chinese New Year is used to cleanse out the bad and come in with the good, and 12 zodiac animals define each year. They are believed to influence people’s personalities, careers, compatibility, marriage, and fortune.
So, let’s get down to business.
Which zodiac animal are you and what does it represent according to your day of birth?
Rat
Where there are people, there are rats. The rats have strong adaptability and survival ability. For people born in the Year of the Rat, they are vigorous and able to adapt themselves to different circumstances. Being smart and hardworking, they set clear goals in career and life, and have an indomitable will to realize them step by step. The cautious Rat people pay attention to thrift and savings. They generally live a stable and well-off life, and even better after middle age. They are wonderful friends and partners, for the cheerful and easygoing personalities make them good at livening the vibe in parties or other social places. Sometimes impulsive, but their good self-control ability always pulls them back in time.
Strengths: adaptable, quick-witted, optimistic, considerate, versatile, outgoing
Weaknesses: timid, stubborn, picky, lack of persistence, self-centered
Ox
In agricultural society, the mild and tough ox is human’s best assistant. People born in the Year of the Ox are also diligent and persistent. They tend to be slow in action after a long and deliberate preparation, but once the plan is set, they will overcome all difficulties to finish the task. Their amazing endurance in work and strong sense of obligation compel them to break through and stick it out, making them highly praised by colleagues and the boss. This is the base for them being late bloomers, with successful career and abundant wealth in old age. The relationship with the Ox people is generally pleasant but may lack romance, for they are some stubborn and not good at communication and expressing emotions.
Strengths: prudent, calm, strong-willed, persistent, industrious, honest
Weaknesses: stubborn, overcautious, insociable, clumsy of speech
Tiger
The tiger, being wild, bold and powerful, is the King of the Forest. People born in the Year of the Tiger are also endowed with natural leadership and dominant temperament. High self-esteem makes them independent and asocial. They like high positions with authority and the right of control. They are rule makers and would like to be the patron saint for common people. Being active and ambitious, Tiger people are tenacious in achieving their career goals. Sometimes they fail due to rash decisions, but facing difficulties, they will never give up. They are faithful to friends and have a strong sense of justice, but sometimes impatient and like to straightforwardly argue with others.
Strengths: confident, courageous, steadfast, loyal, upright, trustworthy
Weaknesses: arrogant, bossy, short-tempered, imprudent
Rabbit
Docile, tender and quiet, the rabbit is no doubt a lovely animal. People born in the Year for the Rabbit have favorable personalities. They are smart moderators in a family to drive up the happy atmosphere. Not only filial to the elders, they are also model parents, strict but gentle and patient, giving proper education for their kids. Rabbit people are loyal and dedicated to their lovers, while for friends, they are kind-hearted, polite, and honest. They have a strong sense of responsibility and professionalism in work. There won’t be big ups and downs in the whole life of the Rabbit people. They progress in a steady pace, and can reach the career peak during their middle age.
Strengths: gentle, considerate, cautious, friendly, virtuous, compassionate
Weaknesses: irresolute, stubborn, timid, conservative, escapist
Dragon
The dragon, a mythical creature in Chinese culture, is considered imperial, lucky, and almighty. People born in the Year of the Dragon are ambitious dreamers, seeking for adventures and romances all their life. They are super energetic and have strong fortune, especially before middle age. They have childish enthusiasm for their dreams and aims, brave enough, but when coming up with a setback, they are easy to turn to the opposite extreme, discouraged and never rise again. Strong, aggressive, and with fatal charm, they like to be the focus in social occasions. However, Dragon people are a bit unapproachable for they are short-tempered and always strict and even picky to others.
Strengths: energetic, confident, ambitious, frank, romantic, intelligent, generous
Weaknesses: unstable, unrealistic, self-conceited, intolerant, lack of persistence
Snake
In most people’s impression, the snake is sly and dreadful; however in Chinese culture, the snake is also known as little dragon, so it contains a warm heart despite of its cold appearance. People born in the Year of the Snake are calm and indifferent to strangers, but passionate and lively when with long-time friends. Snake people are idealists. They have strong will and clear plans to reach their goals, but laziness is their only opponent. With good luck in wealth all their lifetime, they like to buy luxuries and spend much on dressing. Decent appearance makes them attractive, but they tend to be reluctant to start a relationship due to their suspicious mind.
Strengths: sociable, graceful, eloquent, humorous, wise, perceptive, determined
Weaknesses: unapproachable, jealous, suspicious, sly, inconstant
Horse
The horse is represented by the fire in Chinese culture, while in ancient Greek mythology, it is related to the sun god, all bright and fervent. People born in the Year of the Horse, zealous and easygoing, love social activities and have natural popularity among people. Active, cheerful and talkative, Horse people make a lot of friends. They have strong desire for self-expression and sometimes hard to take in others’ ideas. They are good at sports and have deft hands to learn various techniques. Their talents and indomitable spirit enable them to make a figure and get a little accomplishment in a very young age. The wealth fortune of the Horse people is pretty good, but they tend to enjoy luxury life without savings.
Strengths: warm-hearted, upright, easygoing, positive, patient, steady, independent
Weaknesses: extravagant, too outspoken, opinionated, inflexible
Sheep
Like the mild and unaggressive sheep, people born in the Year of the Sheep are gentle and submissive. They are well dressed and gracefully behaved in public. Being softhearted and sympathetic, they are always glad to give to charities. With upright and warm characters, they are generous to help friends, giving both time and money, and in reward, there are always someone helping and protecting Sheep people in time. Shy and indecisive, they need strong-willed partners in their work and life. When in favorable circumstances, they could become brilliant artists or creative pioneers, while in adversity, they tend to be sensitive and pessimistic. They attach importance to family and the celebration of festivals and anniversaries.
Strengths: gentle, softhearted, considerate, reliable, hardworking, thrift
Weaknesses: indecisive, timid, pessimistic, moody, weak-willed
Monkey
Monkeys are close relatives of human beings. People born in the Year of the Monkey are smart, showing exceptional intelligence in school and later strong ability and enterprise in career. They will devote themselves wholeheartedly to the work they are interested in, while indifferent to things they don’t like. Monkey men could make a success in career, while Money women are impressive for their elegant and stylish looking. They would have a happy marriage, and pay great attention to family, being filial to their parents, and caring but a little doting for kids. For friends, they are sincere, frank, and always ready to help. With curiosity and love for adventure, they seek a free and easy life with continuous new discoveries.
Strengths: intelligent, enthusiastic, self-assured, sociable, innovative, eloquent, adaptable
Weaknesses: jealous, arrogant, lack patience and perseverance, opportunistic
Rooster
The rooster crows before sunrise, so ancient Chinese people thought that it had a prediction ability. The Greek mythology also considered the rooster a creature the messenger of god knowing the future. People born in the Year of the Rooster is endowed with such prediction ability. They are prescient and farsighted, having clear plans. They have promising future, but sometimes quick-tempered and set improbable goals. With excellent social skills, they have sharp perspective into others’ minds. Their warmness and kindness make them popular. The Rooster people are keen on beatifying their appearance, and delicately dressed up in colors all the time. With great interest in traveling and adventure, they are active and energetic in life, and like to make jokes.
Strengths: foresighted, ambitious, capable, quick-minded, confident, outgoing, independent
Weaknesses: selfish, narrow-minded, impatient, critical, overconfident
Dog
The dogs are faithful friends of humans. People born in the Year of the Dog are also loyal and have a strong sense of justice. They like to help and serve for others, and care less about their own interests. They have clear minds but lack of expression ability, so sometimes they are thought to be conservative and even stubborn. Being pure and virtuous, they are wonderful friends, but it might need a long time to become good friends of Dog people for they are cautious and introvert. However, once the relationship is set, they are sincere and reliable. What they need are a peaceful life and a harmonious family.
Strengths: righteous, brave, loyal, responsible, reliable, clever, quick-witted
Weaknesses: impatient, conservative, stubborn, emotional
Pig
Chinese people eat pork but consider pigs to be stupid. Actually the pigs are clever, so are the people born in the Year of the Pig. In work, they are active, careful, cool-headed, always concentrating their attention to fulfil the tasks. They have good luck in wealth, enjoy luxury, and like to indulge in rich life with great taste. Pig people are outgoing and warm-hearted, having a lot of friends. Facing difficulties, there would be many friends helping them out. Born innocent and romantic, they are easy to trust others, which makes them tend to fall into traps. When Pig people lose their temper sometimes, delicious food is the only cure.
Strengths: warm-hearted, sincere, honest, optimistic, generous
Weaknesses: sleepy, gullible, short-tempered, jealous