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子鼠，丑牛，寅虎……这样的说法，中国人都不陌生。我们有天干、地支，还有十二生肖，这些都是算命先生们颇为看重的占卜要素。那么这十二个生肖是谁定的呢?
More than 3,000 years ago, Chinese people invented the 10 Heavenly
Stems(天干) and 12 Earthly Branches(地支) for chronological purposes. These signs
are used to designate the hours, days, months and years. However, since most
people at that time were illiterate, the signs were difficult to use. Later, to
make things easier to memorize, people used animals to symbolize the 12 Earthly
Branches. The animals in order are the mouse, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake,
horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.
Many Chinese people strongly believe that the time of a person's birth is
the primary factor in determining that person's personality. Many
fortune-tellers, when telling your fortune, say what they need to know is your
exact time of birth. Then, whether you are successful in your life and career,
or whether you will be happy is clear to the fortune-tellers.
According to one legend, during a Chinese New Year celebration, Buddha
invited all the animals to his kingdom, but unfortunately, for reasons only
known to the animals, a total of 12 turned up. The mouse was naturally the
first, followed by the ox, then the tiger, the rabbit and so on and finally the
pig.
Out of gratitude, Buddha decided to name the year after each of the animals
in their order of arrival, and people born of that year would inherit the
personality traits of that particular animal. These animals are also supposed to
have some influence over the period of time they were named after.
It is essential in China that every person knows which animal sign he is
born under. That is because it has been implicitly agreed upon that no important
steps of life should be taken without consulting first the Chinese Zodiac. Some
Chinese consider this superstition, but many truly believe that the signs reveal
the hidden secrets of a person's character. |
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发表于 2016-7-9 23:48:48