And though it is known to some in the West as Chinese New Year, it isn’t just celebrated in China. The Moon’s phase is also seen as important to Chinese astrologers those born while the Moon was waxing are thought to be hard working, for example.Celebrated around the world, it usually prompts the planet’s largest annual migration of people. “You may recognise these names from recent Chinese moon missions.” “In Chinese fairy tales, the fairy Chang E lived on the moon with a wood cutter named Wu Gang and Yutu, her pet jade rabbit,” says de Grijs. The Moon also has symbolic power and is seen as a carrier of human emotions. The exact length of a lunar year-and so the date of the Chinese New Year-can shift by up to a month relative to a solar calendar. In the lunar Islamic calendar, Ramadan begins with the first sighting of a young crescent Moon in the ninth month. Christianity’s Easter falls on the first Sunday following the first full moon or after the day of the vernal equinox. The position of the Moon is surprisingly influential in modern calendars, including China. (Xinhua/China National Space Administration) (Xinhua/ via Getty Images) Xinhua News Agency via Getty Images How important is the Moon in Chinese culture? With the assistance of the relay satellite Queqiao (Magpie Bridge), the rover Yutu-2 (Jade Rabbit-2) and the lander of the Chang'e-4 probe took photos of each other. China announced Friday that the Chang'e-4 mission, which realized the first-ever soft-landing on the far side of the moon, was a complete success. Photo taken by the lander of the Chang'e-4 probe on Jan. What are the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac coming up next? “Long before the 12 animal signs were invented, Chinese astrologers used the position of Jupiter in the sky to refer to the influences of the year, without mixing this with the Chinese calendar,” says de Grijs. Jupiter retains some importance in the modern-day Chinese calendar because it was used in pre-modern times. but note that this is a purely symbolic correlation, measured in averages and not Jupiter’s actual movement.” “As a general rule, Jupiter is in Sagittarius in the year of the Rat, in Capricorn in the year of the Ox, in Aquarius in the year of the Tiger, etc. “Jupiter takes about 12 years-actually 11.86 years-to go through the Western zodiac, spending roughly one year in each star sign,” says de Grijs. This year that’s the constellation of Sagittarius. Each Chinese zodiac sign corresponds to a Western star sign the one that contains the giant planet Jupiter in that year. This is where some astronomy arrives to make things more interesting. Carte du Ciel How is Jupiter involved in the Chinese zodiac? In a nutshell, Chinese astrologers study calendars while Western astrologers concern themselves with the celestial alignment of constellations with planets, stars and the Moon.Ĭhina's "Year of the Rat" always coincides with Jupiter being in the constellation of Sagittarius. In China, it’s your birth year, birth month, birth day, and birth hour that’s astrologers think is important, not what month you were born in. The first 12 to cross the line were awarded signs in the Chinese zodiac. Not so in Chinese astrology, where the 12 signs are derived from a myth that when the Jade Emperor was working on developing a calendar in the sixth century BC, all creatures on Earth were summoned to race each other. So Western astrology does, for the most part, rely on astronomy. The ecliptic is literally the path of the Sun through the sky in any one year the Sun passes through all 12 constellations (it also passes through Ophiuchus, a large constellation that lies across the celestial equator). “In Western astrology, the 12 signs are based on the positions of constellations along the ecliptic plane in the sky (and) the constellations derive their names from Greek mythology,” says de Grijs. The origin myths are also completely different. “Both systems are based on the date (and time) of one’s birth, with 12 symbols used to communicate astrological meaning, but Chinese astrology is based on the lunar calendar while Western astrology uses the solar calendar,” says Richard de Grijs, professor of Astrophysics at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, who’s lived and worked in China. As astrologers like to do, each kind of rat is given different fates and characters based on their birth year's zodiac sign and element. First come Wood Rats, then Fire Rats, Earth Rats, Gold (Metal) Rats and Water Rats. However, it’s actually a zodiac-element cycle since there are also five elements that are used in turn-wood, fire, earth, gold (metal) and water-which creates a 60 year cycle. Each 12 year cycle starts with a year of the Rat. Known as Sheng Xiao, the Chinese Zodiac has a 12 year cycle, and each year has an animal sign.
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