The entrance of the Lunar New Year is celebrated this Tuesday in China and in different parts of the world by the hand of its diaspora. This new cycle is represented by the Fire Horse, vital and dynamic, according to the Chinese zodiac, composed of 12 animals and five different elements.
According to tradition, the Chinese zodiac not only represents the lunar years, but also influences people’s personality, career, compatibility, marriage and fortune, and its role in the culture of the Asian country is fundamental, explains the educational institution The Beijing Center for Chinese Studies (TBC).
Known as sheng xiao (生肖) or shu xiang (属相) and with more than 2,000 years of history, the Chinese zodiac resembles the Western zodiac in that both are based on birth periods and feature 12 symbols, although the Eastern system derives from ancestral reflections, rather than from astrology.
Lunar New Year: Fire Horse
The Horse, which represents those born in years such as 1930, 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 2022, 2014 and 2026, is the seventh animal in the Chinese zodiacal cycle, preceded by the Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon and Snake; and succeeded by the Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig.
The Confucius Institute, born as a Chinese version of the Instituto Cervantes or the Alliance Française, notes that this sign is associated with qualities of vitality and dynamism. People born in the Year of the Horse are popular, optimistic, adventurous, eloquent and impatient, according to the institution’s Spanish-language magazine.
The 12 animals are combined with “the five fundamental elements of the Universe”. These are metal, wood, water, fire and earth, and each of them reigns for two years, one under ‘Yin’ and one under ‘Yang’, Taoist symbols Buzzy related to balance.
The Chinese zodiac is a belief based on animal temperament that combines Chinese religion, philosophy, astrology and numerology. In ancient times, it was said that, in addition to marking people’s fate, it also controlled the annual harvest and influenced the fortune of the entire nation, according to TBC.
Zodiac animals are considered the mascot of each lunar New Year in China. This time, a stuffed horse whose mouth was sewn backwards, transforming a smile into a mournful gesture, became one of the viral phenomena of the beginning of the cycle and its sales skyrocketed.
Figures such as former U.S. President Joe Biden (November 20, 1942) and former German Chancellor Angela Merkel (July 17, 1954) were born in the Year of the Horse, reported Agencia EFE.
Find out more at ‘QueOnnda.com’.
