Chinese Legends

Lunar New Year Traditional Chinese Celebration

2008-02-06T01:14:00.000-08:00

Lunar New Year is also called Chinese New Year, New Spring, Spring Festival, or Spring Celebration. For any Chinese, Lunar New Year is the most important festival in the entire year. This is the season filled with joy, and the time to reunite with family and friends.

The Nian Beast

Lunar New Year originated from the interesting legend of the Nian Sou - the beast called "Nian" ("year" in Chinese). It was believed that this Nian Beast would appear on every New Year's Eve to feast on the mortals. So every year on this day, everyone from the family and the village will come back to gather round to discuss and plan on fighting the Beast, hence the reunion on the eve of Lunar New Year.

These people believed that the Beast was afraid of the colour red, fire and bright light, loud noise and explosion. Therefore torches were lit, doors were pasted with red strips of paper, firecracker was released - all these, to drive the Beast away - till the next morning, when everyone came out to congratulate (Gong Xi) each other on the victory over the Beast.

Whether the legend was true, the tradition lived on. We now still practise the reunion, the red paper strips written with words depicting good fortune, and the firecracker (although many countries have banned this activity due to the explosive used in the firecracker).

The Eve - "30th Night"

The Reunion Dinner on the New Year's Eve is the most important event where everyone in the family will be expected to be present. Most families would prepare a feast for the night. The food dishes will also have names that signify good fortune or good life. For example, fish in Chinese (Yu) shares the same sound with the word 'extra' or 'leftover'. There is a New Year phrase that says "Nian Nian You Yu" which means, "there is some (fish) leftover from the previous year, every year". Therefore the lucky fish is a lucky dish, and paintings of fish are also loved by many. We will usually keep a little leftover from the reunion dinner, just as a symbolic gesture. Another common lucky dish is Fa Cai Hao Shi which means "prosperity and good fortune". Fa Cai is a type of seaweed that looks a lot like shiny black hair, and its Chinese name sounds just like "prosperity" in Chinese; whilst Hao Shi is preserved oyster, which sounds like "good things".

An age-old practice passed down from the Nian Beast legend is Shou Sui (literally means guarding/keeping age). Traditionally, the Chinese will stay up all night from the eve till the morning of Lunar New Year. It is believed that by doing so, they could extend their parents' living years. Therefore it is quite common to see the Chinese staying up talking, drinking tea, or even playing Mahjong all night long, on the New Year's Eve.

The Little Red Envelopes - "Ya Sui Qian"

You may have seen the little red envelopes containing money, given out during Lunar New Year. Some call it Hung Bao (means red packet), some call it Ang Pao (depending on the dialect), but the original name of the money wrapped in little red envelope is Ya Sui Qian. It is given to children by their parents for good luck, and it is only given by those who are married, to those who are younger. It will usually be given to children who come to visit the family, or to the younegr frined and relatives whom we visit. Chinese are very particular about longevity of life, and they - well, we - believe that by doing so, our ageing process can be decelerated. (Ya Sui means compressing age, Qian means money) Honestly, a lot of younger Chinese nowadays, are not aware of this. The money contained in the packet has over-shone the real meaning of the gesture.

Other Activities, Practices and Taboos

Other common practices are new clothes, new hair-cut (traditionally, those who are in mourning stage are not allowed to have their hair cut), paying visits to friends and relatives to give good greetings to each other, reconciliations, etc. popular festive activities such as Lion Dance and Dragon dance are believed to have the effect of ridding evils and bad luck, and to bring harvesting rain in the coming year.

Naturally, there are taboos that we have to abide during the festive season. Any sharp, pointy objects are not to be visible, no sweeping is allowed during the first few days of the New Year - even brooms have to be hidden away - to prevent any good luck or fortune that may be swept away. Breaking anything is also a taboo. Should it unfortunately happen, we will have to quickly say something nice to accompany it, such as Sui Sui Ping An - which means "out of harm's way, all year round". "Sui" means age or year, which sounds the same as "shattered". Apart from that, any vocabulary related to unfortunate event is a big No-No. In our family, we have to even hide the eggs away.

The Food and Good Fortune

The Lunar New Year preparation actually starts from Dong Zhi (Winter Festival), the 24th day of the 12th month on Lunar Calendar (normally falls on 21st or 22nd of December, the shortest day in a year). This day denotes the end of the cold winter, and the beginning of a new spring. In the Chinese legend, the Kitchen God (Zao Jun) will have to leave the family he was guarding, and return to report to the Lord of all Gods. To prevent the Kitchen God from bad-mouthing the family, they will make a sweet and sticky cake called Nian Gao, to offer to the Kitchen God. Nian Gao also signifies a higher achievement each year (Gao has the same sound as "high", and Nian means "year"). On this day, some Chinese will also make Tang Yuan (some have it on the 15th day of Lunar New Year) as part of the offerings. The sound of Tang Yuan is close to Tuan Yuan, which means "reuniting".

Other new year must-haves are Mandarin oranges, dried oyster, various types of melon seeds and sweets, steam cake (Fa Gao - symbolises proprerity), oil-preserved smoked duck and smoked sausages, etc. Prior to all these, some will also have La Ba Porridge on the 8th day of the month. Do check out more of our Festive Food selection.

Then it will be the spring-cleaning, that indicates sending the old and bad away, and prepare to welcome a better new year. Next will be the preparation of New Year offering and food to be served during the festive season. Some of the regular snacks and cookies in South East Asia are: Tapioca Cookies, Tofu Cookies, and Adzuki Bean Cake.

As the New Year is approaching, most Chinese will shop at the Flower Market (Hua Shi), for some good luck plants. More popular ones are Narcissus flowers, chrysanthemum, plum blossom and peach blossom. It is believed that, if the peach blossom blooms on the 1st day of New Year, the person or the family will have good luck for the year or find love. But these plants are only found in 4-season countries so Chinese who are in warmer countries will have to settle for other alternatives.

The red strips of paper with writing on are called Dui Lian (paired sentences), which come in pairs. These sentences should be written in complimenting manner, for instance, the first sentence (Shang Lian - "upper sentence") should have the noun, verb, etc complimenting the noun, verb, etc in second sentence (Xia Lian - "lower sentence"), in the same order. These phrases often describe the mood in spring and receiving fortune and luck. People will also put up other red decorations such as the word "Fu" (luck) on the wall or the main door. Some may like to place it upside down, reason being, "upside down" in Chinese shares the same sound with "arriving". So it in a way signifies the arriving of a lucky year.

A Long and Colourful Celebration

The Lunar New Year celebration officially lasts for 15 days. The second day of the New Year is the day when all married daughters have to go back to their parents' home for a visit. They is usually accompanied by their husbands, especialy the newly weds. The 7th day is a big day called The People's Day or man's birthday (Ren Ri), which symbolises the birth of new life and new hope after the fight against the Nian Beast (disaster and bad luck). The Hokkiens also celebrate the 9th day of the New Year extensively, treating it as important as the 1st day. On the 15th day, Yuan Xiao (also widely known as Chap Goh Meh in Hokkien, which means 15th night), people will visit the lantern show. Some lanterns will also carry riddles for the viewers to guess the answers, as an entertainment.

Yuan Xiao - The Chinese Valentine's Day

The 15th day is also being referred to as the Chinese Valentine's day. On this day, many single girls will gather at the riverside upstream to toss mandarin oranges into the river, with the hope that the right single men who await downstream, will pick up the oranges. It is believed that this act will bring the person to his/her right match. So it's no surprise the mandarin oranges will sell really well on that day.

Of course, Chinese who originated from different area of China might have different New Year tradition and practices. For instance, in Hong Kong, people believe that the first person who puts a joss stick into the temple's offering altar, will be having good luck for the rest of the year. You can imagine the crowd outside the temple at the dawn of the Lunar New Year.

We can go on forever, really. But if you have any different practices or New Year beliefs that we do not know of, please do share it with us. Anyone from any culture who would like to tell us about your celebration, we would also love to hear from you.

Lunar New Year in this 12-Year Cycle

Zodiac Animal		Lunar Year	First Day of New Year
	Rat	Wu Zi	February 7, 2008
	Ox	Ji Chou	January 26, 2009
	Tiger	Gen Yin	February 14, 2010
	Rabbit	Xin Mou	February 3, 2011
	Dragon	Ren Chen	January 23, 2012
	Snake	Gui Si	February 10, 2013
	Horse	Jia Wu	January 31, 2014
	Goat	Yi Wei	February 19, 2015
	Monkey	Bing Shen	February 8, 2016
	Rooster	Ding You	January 28, 2017
	Dog	Wu Xu	February 16, 2018
	Boar	Ji Hai	February 5, 2019

Reference : www.knowingfood.com

White Snake Legend

2008-01-22T06:09:00.000-08:00

This is a love story about a man and a white snake. The first short tale was found during the Tang Dynasty (618 AD). That’s a cautionary, vigilant and tragic story of a man in love with a lady in white. The scenes of West Lake and Thunder Pagoda were added and the central theme was established during the Song Dynasty (960 AD). The entire story was completed during the Ming Dynasty (1368 AD). It was rewritten to beautify characters in some episodes in Ching Dynasty (1644 AD).

Once upon a time, a white snake and a green snake who had magical power in the Mountain Er-Mei and had transformed into two beautiful young ladies, on white, one green. They met a man named Hsu Sheng at the West Lake of Hang-Zhou city. The white snake fell in love with Hsu Sheng at first sight. They got married soon after.
The Lady White helped her husband to open an herbal medicine store by writing the prescriptions. Patients unable to pay were given free treatment and medicine. The store quickly became well known and popular. One day a monk called Fa Hai saw the couples and warned Hsu Sheng that his wife was a white snake.

It was during the Dragon Boat Festival, when Chinese families like to decorate with calamus and Chinese mugwort around the house and drink wine to drive away spirits. This was dangerous to Lady White and Lady Green, since they were spirits after all. Lady White was pregnant at that time and her magical power had weakened a lot. She tried to drink wine to please her husband. Unfortunately, she couldn’t control herself and turned into her snake body in her bedroom. Hsu Sheng saw the white snake and was literally scared to death.

In order to save her husband's life, Lady White went to steal the resurrection plant on the Kunlun Mountain. She failed. But her true love won the resurrection plant and the life of Hsu Sheng was restored.

Hsu Sheng remembered Fa Hai and went to the Golden Mountain Temple to see him. Fa Hai suggested Hsu Sheng become a monk to forget his wife. Fa Hai could take care the spirits. Lady White asked a great army of underwater creatures for help and brought forth a flood over the Golden Mountain Temple to fight with Fa Hai. Fa Hai had the magical power too and asked the heavenly soldiers to save his temple. Since the Lady White was pregnant, she was too weak to fight harder, She gave up the battle and waited for the time after giving birth.
Hsu Sheng went to see his son and carried a magical hat from Fa Hai for his son. The magical hat captured the White Snake. Fa Hai imprisoned the White Snake inside the Thunder Pagoda.
The Green Snake was unable to fight Fa Hai alone, escaped and practiced in her magical power even harder. After the son of Lady White grew up. She took revenge by destroying the Thunder Pagoda and rescued White Snake. White Snake reunited with her husband and her son. The story ended here.

reference : www.chinesefortunecalendar.com

Huang Di - The Emperor who started it all

2008-01-10T08:34:00.000-08:00

Huang Di, or the Yellow Emperor, is referred to as the "Originator of the Chinese Culture", and all people of the Chinese race regard themselves as descendants of Yan Di and Huang Di.

With the original surname of Gongsun (later changed to Ji) and another name Youxiong Shi, Huang Di was also known as Xuanyuan Shi as he lived at the Xuanyuan Hill. A clan leader towards the end of China's primitive society, Huang Di was the full brother of Yan Di with whom he shared the country. He formed an alliance with Yan Di in later years against the invasion of Chiyou, the chieftain of the Jiuli Tribe. A decisive battle was fought at Zhuolu in the northwest of the present Hebei Province. Legend goes that at the beginning of the battle, Chiyou sneezed out a thick fog all over the place which lasted three days, and the soldiers of Huang Di could not tell their directions. Fortunately Huang Di led his men out of the fog by the "compass chariot" he had invented and won complete victory.

The alliance of Huang Di and Yan Di split after Chiyou was defeated because, it was said, Yan Di intended to infringe upon the various tribes and seize the leading position of the alliance while the chieftains of the tribes preferred to obey Huang Di. As a result the two leaders fought at Banquan. After three fierce battles, Huang Di won victory and was made the "Son of Heaven" by the tribe chieftains.

Strict and impartial, Huang Di was able to get rid of the evil for the people. It was said that Gu, son of the God of Mount Zhongshan named Zhulong, murdered another god at Mount Kunlun in collaboration with a deity called Qinpi. The Yellow Emperor was indignant at their atrocity and immediately had them killed.

The Yellow Emperor was a highly gifted "Son of Heaven". Legend goes that he was the inventor of many things such as making clothes, manufacturing boats and vehicles, building houses and palaces, etc. He also had his court officials Lun Ling make musical instruments, Da Nao compile the Heavenly Stems and the Earthly Branches*, and Cang Ji invent the Chinese characters. The country was in good order and prosperity and the people lived a happy life.

There were indeed quite a number of wars at the time, which however, broke the narrow limits between the different clans and promote (their merging. The ancient Huaxia nationality was thus gradually formed, being the predecessor of the Han nationality to which the overwhelming majority of the Chinese people belong.

It is said that Yao, Shun and the monarchs of the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties were all descendants of the Yellow Emperor. He was thus regarded as the first ancestor of the Chinese nation and to him was attributed the creation of all Chinese cultural institutions.

reference : http://journeyeast.tripod.com/huang_di.html

HUA MULAN

2008-01-10T07:25:00.000-08:00

When the Huns, led by the ruthless Shan Yu, invade China, each family is given a conscription notice. Mulan's father, Fa Zhou has to serve in the army but he is too old, and he will not survive. Fa Mulan disguises herself as a man, then takes her father's conscription notice, armor, and weapons so that he will not have to go. She rides away on her horse, Khan, to join the army, knowing that if she were caught she would be killed.

Mushu, a small dragon who had been demoted to gong ringer by Mulan's ancestors, is asked to awaken the "Great Stone Dragon". Mushu accidentally destroys the Dragon but realizes that this could be an opportunity to earn his place among the guardians again if he can make Mulan a war hero.

Mulan trains with a group led by Captain Li Shang including fellow soldiers Ling, Yao, and Chien Po. The troops complete their training, but Chi Fu, the Emperor's meddling and misogynistic adviser refuses to let them see battle, accusing the troops of being ill prepared. Mushu forges a letter from the General, ordering Li Shang to take his men to battle. The troops set out to meet General Li, who has already left on a mission. However, Li Shang and his troops discover that the General and his men were killed in battle.

Captain Li Shang and his troops continue, disheartened by their loss, when they are ambushed by Hun archers. After an initial attack, the Huns are believed to be defeated, but the troops soon discover otherwise. As they are setting up the last cannon to fire at the Huns, Mulan spots a precarious mound of snow on the upper mountain side. As the Huns charge down the mountain Mulan takes the cannon and fires the rocket at the snow mound. The collision of the rocket and the snow mound causes an avalanche which spreads over the charging Huns, burying them. Captain Li's soldiers take refuge while Mulan rescues Captain Li from being swept away by the snow.

During treatment, Mulan's true identity is discovered. Captain Li is notified and is expected to execute Mulan, but spares her life and considers his pardon an exchange for Mulan saving his own life. Instead, Captain Li expels her from the army. Mulan decides to return home but hears the Huns emerging from the snow that had blanketed them during the earlier battle. She tries to warn Captain Li's troops as they are heralded by citizens in a parade for their war efforts, but they do not listen. As the Emperor addresses the crowd, the Huns, disguised as parade characters, kidnap him.

Captain Li and his troops try to follow the Huns into the palace but are unsuccessful. Mulan devises a ploy with the other soldiers to dress as concubines, scale the castle wall and infiltrate the castle. When the Huns lower their defenses in the presence of the "women", Mulan and her friends swiftly dispatch them all. During this attack the Emperor is safely removed from the palace by Chien Po, but Captain Li and Mulan are both trapped on the balcony with Shan Yu. Shan Yu is about kill Captain Li when Mulan gets his attention. The Hun recognizes her from the mountain battle and gives chase. Mulan lures Shan Yu onto the palace rooftop where they face each other in personal combat, until Mushu, as arranged by Mulan, propels a huge firecracker that hits Shan Yu and carries him off to his death. The fate of the remaining five Hun warriors is never fully disclosed.

The Emperor meets Mulan and, in an accusatory tone, lists Mulan's crimes, but he pardons her. The Emperor then bows to Mulan, which is considered an extremely high honor as it implies being of a higher status than the Emperor, and the crowd follow suit. The Emperor then offers Mulan a position in his staff but Mulan refuses the offer and confesses that she wants to return home. He gives her Shan Yu's sword, along with his crest, for her to bring home and give honour to her family.

Upon her return, Mulan expects to be reprimanded but is instead embraced by her family. Captain Li arrives to talk with Mulan, having been encouraged to propose. The ancestors reluctantly agree to make Mushu a guardian once more.

Reference : www.wikipedia.com

Dragon

2008-01-08T07:48:00.000-08:00

The Chinese dragon, unlike its western cousin, is considered to be a benevolent creature, the custodian of rain, river and lakes, and a harbinger of good fortune.

In Chinese mythology the dragon is described as having the body of a snake, the face of a horse, antlers of the deer and claws of the eagle. The dragon has the beard of a goat and the scales of a fish. But where did such a creature come from? Is there any evidence to suggest such a creature ever existed?

Well, sadly not. No such creature's remains have ever been found, although records of dragons in Chinese culture go back many thousands of years.

One explanation of how the dragon came to be is as follows. Early societies had as their tribal mascot an animal - for example a horse or a camel or a fish. This is in fact something which we observe even today with the American eagle, the British lion or the Russian bear. These symbols were used both for religious as well as military purposes, and rather as the Romans would march with the Eagle as their standard, these emblems were used as military insignia.

The theory goes that as a tribe went to battle and conquered another, it would incorporate some form of the conquered tribe's ensignia. In this way it is beleived the Xia clan, who had a snake as its emblem annexed states such as the Shang - an eagle. Thus, to the snake's body was added the claws of the eagle. Soon the scales of fish, antlers of the deer, face of the horse and the beard of the goat all came to be incorporated, and thereby the Chinese dragon came into being.

So powerful did the emblem of the dragon become that it was adopted by every Chinese dynasty as the Imperial emblem, from Huang Di to the Qing (Manchu) Dyanasty without exception. As early as the Tang and Song Dynasties Dragon King Temple's were built where the people could pray for blessings and a good harvest - all in the hands of the dragons as they controlled the rain.

reference : www.chinatown-online.co.uk

Ten Brothers (十兄弟 Shi Xiong Di)

2007-12-13T21:40:00.001-08:00

The story begins with a poor man named Chan Dai Ha who sells Chinese desserts and falls in love with an unmarried, wealthy girl named Gei Hao Yee. One day, when Dai Ha is going home, he sees a man carrying something, fall down from the sky. He asks him if he is okay, but the man runs away. Each time Dai Ha tries to help Hao Yee, he does something wrong and angers her instead. One day, Hao Yee and her servant falls down a hill and he saves them. Without thanking him, she shouts at him and mistakenly drinks the soup with the ten magical beans in it. The magical beans made her pregnant so the next day, the doctor said she was pregnant, but because there was a law in her town that she cannot become pregnant before marriage, the villagers gets angry and wants her to be punished. Since she was living with her father, they decided to break the relationship between them and execute Hao Yee. When Dai Ha knows about it, he tells the villagers that he is the father, so Hao Yee does not need to be executed now. Dai Ha brings her to his small house and sleeps on the ground himself. At first, Hao Yee is angry with him, but soon they get along better. One day, their ten babies are born. Together, they both raise the children, but the next month, they all became adults except for one of them, Number Ten. Since the parents are scared of their adult sons, they ignore them and runs away. The children run around town, causing trouble while Number Two and Number Three are adopted by the evil warlord Man Sai Hung's wife, who doesn't want her husband to know that their real sons died. Dai Ha finds the children and secretly give them food. Soon, the town misunderstood them and decides to kill the brothers. Hao Yee and Dai Ha says that they're their parents so the only choice was to leave, so they did. Four and Ten were sold to a circus whose leader was extremely strict and ruled harshly. Nine was sold to a richer family. The sons were taught by their mother, and Number One, who was the most mature, helped Dai Ha on his business on selling desserts. Soon, they find out they have powers, but did not want their parents to know. All of a sudden one day, they all receive a sickness.In the circus, the leader earns a lot of money because Number Four could stretch out his arms and legs. The customers always paid the leader to make fun of him. Meanwhile, Number One went blind, Number Five grew wings on his back, Number Six's head grew very big, and Number Seven's legs grew extremely long. Only Number Eight didn't have any sicknesses. One day, their sicknesses were cured and instead, they found their powers. They wanted their family to be united, so they tried many ways to find their missing siblings. They got back Four, Nine, and Ten, but Two and Three were spoiled by the warlord.They did not know who their real parents were. When they soon reunite, the warlord is jealous of the ten brothers and wants to kill them.The Ten Brothers tries their best to evict the warlord. When everything is settled and the warlord is evicted, a mysterious white-haired man appears in Number One's visions and says that brothers will have to die on August 15 if they do not leave with him. Number One does not trust him, but soon he does. When the parents find out about the prophecy, on August 15, they send away their children. The parents are very sad, but it is not possible for their children to stay. So on the night of August 15, the brothers are sent away to the white-haired man, except Ten starts crying and says that something will happen to their mother. The other siblings have learned that whenever Ten cries for no apparent reason, something will happen. One and Two use their abilities to check in on their mother, and are horrified to see that Hao Yee is dying. The white-haired man tells them that she is dying because she gave birth to ten magical sons - them - and their powers were too strong for Hao Yee for her to survive for much longer. The brothers are told that the only way to save their mother is to become beans again, and the brothers sacrifice themselves to save Hao Yee's life. Five years later on August 15 (Mid-Autumn Festival), Dai Ha and Hao Yee give birth to a son, whom they call Eleven. They look up to the sky and see ten stars, and they tell Eleven to say hello to his ten elder brothers. Although the modern version is the most well known, the old version of the story was about the evil warlord of their town capturing their father. They had to save their father and in order to do that, they had to unite and work together as a team. The 10 brothers' weakness is limestone and they are not able to use their own powers if they come in contact with it until they wash themselves with oil.

The Ability of Ten Brothers :

1st and Oldest Brother - Thousand Mile Eye - Capable of seeing miles away with his binocular eyes.
2nd Brother - Miles Hearing Two - Capable of hearing miles away.
3rd Brother - Strong - Has herculean strength.
4th Brother - Stretchy - Has ability to stretch.
5th Brother - Flying - Capable of flying.
6th Brother - Iron Head - Has a solid impenetrable head.
7th Brother - Long-Legged - Can grow in height.
8th Brother - Digging - Capable of tunneling underground.
9th Brother - Big Mouth - Has a huge mouth that can blow wind and shout loudly.
10th and Youngest Brother - Crying - Can cry a river, heal any sicknesses if he cries on people.

Chinese Zodiac (生肖 shēngxiāo)

2007-12-07T06:17:00.000-08:00

The story begin when the mortal world in turmoil, as Man has no means of calculating the all-important time. As Man knows not how to define the time nor the days, the Evil plans to take advantage of this ignorance and wreak have on the world. To Thwart Evil’s plans. The Jade Emperor who is tasked to govern the mortal world, announced the commencement of a great race – The Zodiac race.

The cat and the rat were the worst swimmers in the animal kingdom. Although bad swimmers, they were both intelligent. They decided that the best and fastest way to cross the river was to hop on the back of the ox. The ox, being a naïve and good-natured animal, agreed to carry them across. However, overcome with a fierce competitiveness, the rat decided that in order to win, it must do something and promptly pushed the cat into the river. Because of this, the cat has never forgiven the rat, and hates the water as well. After the ox had crossed the river, the rat jumped ahead and reached the shore first, and it claimed first place in the competition.

Following closely behind was the strong ox, and it was named the 2nd animal in the zodiac. After the ox, came the tiger, panting, while explaining to the Emperor just how difficult it was to cross the river with the heavy currents pushing it downstream all the time. But with powerful strength, it made to shore and was named the 3rd animal in the cycle.

Suddenly, from a distance came a thumping sound, and the rabbit arrived. It explained how it crossed the river: by jumping from one stone to another in a nimble fashion. Halfway through, it almost lost the race but the rabbit was lucky enough to grab hold of a floating log that later washed him to shore. For that, it became the 4th animal in the zodiac cycle. Coming in 5th place was the dragon, flying and belching fire into the air. Of course, the Emperor was deeply curious as to why a strong and flying creature such as the dragon should fail to reach first. The mighty dragon explained that he had to stop and make rain to help all the people and creatures of the earth, and therefore he was held back a little. Then, on his way to the finish line, he saw a little helpless rabbit clinging on to a log so he did a good deed and gave a puff of breath to the poor creature so that it could land on the shore. The Emperor was very pleased with the actions of the dragon, and he was added into the zodiac cycle. As soon as he had done so, a galloping sound was heard, and the horse appeared. Hidden on the horse's hoof is the snake, whose sudden appearance gave the horse a fright, thus making it fall back and gave the snake 6th spot while the horse took the 7th.

Not long after that, a little distance away, the ram, monkey and rooster came to the shore. These three creatures helped each other to get to where they are. The rooster spotted a raft, and took the other two animals with it. Together, the ram and the monkey cleared the weeds, tugged and pulled and finally got the raft to the shore. Because of their combined efforts, the Emperor was very pleased and promptly named the ram as the 8th creature, the monkey as the 9th, and the rooster the 10th.

The 11th animal is the dog. His explanation for being late—although he was supposed to be the best swimmer amongst the rest—was that he needed a good bath after a long spell, and the fresh water from the river was too big a temptation. For that, he almost didn't make it to finish line. Just as the Emperor was about to call it a day, an oink and squeal was heard from a little pig. The pig got hungry during the race, promptly stopped for a feast and then fell asleep. After the nap, the pig continued the race and was named the 12th and last animal of the zodiac cycle. The cat finished too late (thirteenth) to win any place in the calendar, and vowed to be the enemy of the rat forevermore.

Five elements (木, 火, 土, 金, 水 )

2007-11-27T03:07:00.000-08:00

The Yin or Yang is broken down into Five Elements (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water) on top of the cycle of animals. These are modifiers and affect the characteristics of each of the 12 animal signs. Thus, each of the 12 animals are governed by an element plus a Yin Yang Direction.

Although it is usually translated as 'element' the Chinese word xing literally means something like 'changing states of being', 'permutations' or 'metamorphoses of being'. ^[1] In fact Sinologists cannot agree on one single translation. The Chinese conception of 'element' is therefore quite different to the Western one. The Western elements were seen as the basic building blocks of matter. The Chinese 'elements', by contrast, were seen as ever changing and moving forces or energies - one translation of xing is simply 'the five changes'.

The balance of yin and yang and the five elements in a person's make-up has a major bearing on what is beneficial and effective for them in terms of feng shui, the Chinese form of geomancy. This is because each element is linked to a particular direction and season, and their different kinds of qì or life force.

木 Wood

The East
Spring
Azure Dragon
The Planet Jupiter
The Color Green
Liver and gallbladder
Generous, Warm, Persuasive, Co-operative, Seeks to Expand and Grow
Idealistic, Ethical, Enthusiastic, Seeks to Explore

Wood 'Governs' the Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon

火 Fire

The South
Summer
Vermilion Bird
The Planet Mars
The Color Red
Circulatory system & Heart
Dynamic, Humanitarian, Energetic, Passionate, Enterprising, Adventurous, Restless
Competitive, Leadership Skills, Strong, Single-minded, Loves a good laugh

Fire 'Governs' the Snake, Horse and Sheep

土 Earth

Center
Three Enclosures, Change of seasons
The Yellow Dragon
The Planet Saturn
The Color Yellow
Digestive system, Spleen and stomach
Patient, Militaristic, Prudent, Stable, Reliable, Hard-working, Ambitious, Stubborn, and very energetic
Disciplined, Tenacious, Logical, Governed by Service and Duty to Others

'Governs' Dragon, Rat, and Ox. It is the central balance of the elements and can lend qualities to all 12 animals as well.

金 Metal

The West
Autumn
White Tiger
The Planet Venus
The Color White
Respiratory system & Lungs
Determined, Self-reliant, Unyielding, Strong, Tenacious, Forceful
Reserved, Needs Personal Space, Sophisticated, Seeks pleasure, caring, respectful

Metal 'Governs' the Monkey, Rooster, Dog

水 Water

The North
Winter
Black Tortoise
The Planet Mercury
The Color Black
Skeletal/Excretory System & Lungs
Secretive, Charming, Intuitive, Compassionate, Sensitive, Creative
Flexible, Compliant, Eloquence, Intellectual

Water 'Governs' the Pig, Rat, Ox

Chinese Dynasty and Republic (中国朝代)

2007-11-16T21:49:00.001-08:00

Chinese history is rarely as neat as it is portrayed and it was rare indeed for one dynasty to end calmly and give way quickly and smoothly to a new one. Dynasties were often established before the overthrow of an existing regime, or continued for a time after they had been defeated.

In addition, China was divided for long periods of its history, with different regions being ruled over by different groups. At times like these there was no dynasty ruling a unified China. As a case in point, there is much dispute about times in the Western Zhou period and later. One example of the potential for confusion will suffice.

The conventional date 1644 marks the year in which the Manchu Qing dynasty armies occupied Beijing and brought Qing rule to China proper, succeeding the Ming dynasty. However, the Qing dynasty itself was established in 1636 (or even 1616, albeit under a different name), while the last Ming dynasty pretender was not disposed of until 1662. The change of ruling houses was a messy and prolonged affair, and the Qing took almost twenty years to extend their control over the whole of China. It is therefore inaccurate to assume China changes all at once in the year 1644.

Chronology of dynasties

Dynasty			Years
The Three August Ones and the Five Emperors	三皇五帝	sān huáng wu dì	before 2070 BC	628+
Xia Dynasty	夏	xià	2070 BC - 1600 BC	470
Shang Dynasty	商	shāng	1600 BC - 1046 BC	554
Western Zhou Dynasty	西周	xī zhōu	1046 BC - 771 BC	275
Eastern Zhou Dynasty traditionally divided into Spring and Autumn Period Warring States Period	東周春秋戰國	dōng zhōu chūn qiū zhàn guó	770 BC - 256 BC 722 BC - 476 BC 475 BC - 221 BC	514 246 254
Qin Dynasty	秦	qín	221 BC - 206 BC	15
Western Han Dynasty	西漢	xī hàn	206 BC - 9 AD	215
Xin Dynasty	新	xīn	9 - 25	16
Eastern Han Dynasty	東漢	dōng hàn	25 - 220	195
Three Kingdoms	三國	sān guó	220 - 265	45
Western Jin Dynasty	西晉	xī jìn	265 - 317	52
Eastern Jin Dynasty	東晉	dōng jìn	317 - 420	103
Northern and Southern Dynasties	南北朝	nán běi cháo	420 - 581	161
Sui Dynasty	隋	suí	581 - 618	37
Tang Dynasty	唐	táng	618 - 907	289
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms	五代十國	wǔ dài shí guó	907 - 960	53
Northern Song Dynasty	北宋	běi sòng	960 - 1127	167
Southern Song Dynasty	南宋	nán sòng	1127 - 1279	152
Liao Dynasty	遼	liáo	916 - 1125	209
Jin Dynasty	金	jīn	1115 - 1234	119
Yuan Dynasty	元	yuán	1271 - 1368	97
Ming Dynasty	明	míng	1368 - 1644	276
Qing Dynasty	清	qīng	1644 - 1911	267

Chronology of Republic

Republic			Years
Republic of China (ROC)	中华民国	Zhong hua min guo	1911 – 1949	38
People Republic of China (PRC)	中华人民共和国	Zhong hua ren min gong he guo	1949 – present

References : 1. www.wikipedia.com

2. Indonesian – Mandarin Dictionary