Now that nearly everybody knows their Western birth sign, more and more seekers of soulmates have moved on to a new pickup line: "So, what's your Chinese-zodiac animal?" You can sit in nearly any Chinese restaurant and discover, via your placemat, that you were born in, say, the Year of the Monkey -- and then listen to the Libra Horse in the next booth wonder if she'll ever find lasting bliss with her Aries Rat. Lots of new books purport to define the personality traits of persons born in a particular animal year, listing at the end of each chapter (and isn't that really why you bought the book?) prescriptions for which pairs of animal signs are likely to mate harmoniously -- and which will fight like Cocks and Dogs from first date till final decree.
Unfortunately, the only part of this that has much to do with genuine Chinese astrology is the last bit -- relationships. In truth, a traditional Chinese astrologer puts little stock in the Rat, Ox, Tiger and the rest of the celestial menagerie that enlivens Chinese New Year parades. If you approached him with an uninformed astrological concern -- "I was born in the sign of the Monkey, is it really true that I'm hyperactive and insecure?" -- he would likely roll his eyes, as exasperated as an Occidental astrologer encountering the popular assumption that newspaper horoscopes are the sum total of Western astrology.
But if, instead, you tell him you were born in the Year of the Yang Water Monkey, and the guy or girl you've set your cap for was born under the Yin Fire Ox, his ears would perk up, and he might murmur excitedly, "Heavenly Stems embrace!" -- and motion you into his office.
Following him past the feng-shui mirror with its border of the eight trigrams, you take a seat in the I Ching chair he has positioned in an auspicious direction and supply him with what he calls the "Four Pillars of Fate Calculation": the hour, day, month and year of your birth, as well as those of your intended. As you wait for him to leaf through his almanac and then inscribe a series of Chinese characters in a swift calligraphic hand, you'd do well to meditate on the Taoist proverb framed on his wall: "Thirty spokes unite in one hub; it is precisely where there is nothing, that we find the usefulness of the wheel." For Chinese astrology (like much of Chinese art, gardening, social theory and philosophy) focuses less on individual aspects than on the relationships between them. It's Westerners (and Chinese catering to them) who've carved out the 12-year cycle of animals -- because it superficially resembles the 12-month cycle of Western zodiac signs -- and expanded a handful of Chinese folk observations based on the animals' characters (quick-witted Rat, long-suffering Ox, etc.) into detailed personality dossiers for each individual birth year.
In Chinese astrology, the 12-year animal cycle is called the 12 Earthly Branches -- and it meshes inextricably with a more important 10-year cycle called the 10 Heavenly Stems. The Heavenly Stems are based on the Five Elements that are the core of traditional Chinese philosophy, science and medicine. They follow the sequence called the Producing Order: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water. Wood is fuel for Fire, producing Earthy ash; Earth as ore produces Metal, which condenses Water on its surface; Water completes the cycle by causing Wood to grow.
But simple physics is not really what the Elements are about. They are archetypal, cosmic principles: Wood is growth and renewal; Fire is energy and force; Earth is stability and solidity; Metal is art and artifice; Water is flow and communication. There are two Heavenly Stems for each Element, one Yang (active, expanding), the other Yin (passive, contracting). Yang Water, for instance -- symbolized by a billow, or large wave (see sidebar) -- is followed by Yin Water, symbolized by a calm, unruffled stream.
That's why what we've actually entered into this Chinese New Year is the Year of the Yang Metal Dragon -- more poetically (and perhaps more ominously), the Year of the Weapon Dragon. The entire cycle of Stems and Branches repeats every 60 years -- which is why the Chinese traditionally celebrate only their 60th birthday.
You can easily calculate the Stem and Branch of your own birth year from the tables shown in the sidebars. First, you need to know that the Chinese astrological year (not the same as the more familiar lunar New Year) begins on Feb. 4 -- so if you were born between Jan. 1 and Feb. 3 of, say, 1970, you should consider the previous year, 1969, the year of your birth. Now, look under "Finding the Heavenly Stem" for the Yang Wood year that most closely preceded your year of birth; go to "The 10 Heavenly Stems" and, starting with that Yang Wood year as one, count up through the table, year by year, till you reach your birth year. The procedure is the same for finding the Earthly Branch -- find the closest preceding Rat year under "Finding the Earthly Branch," count that as year one of the cycle under "The 12 Earthly Branches," and count up through the table till you reach your birth year.
For example, if you were born in 1966, the closest preceding Yang Wood year was 1964; counting up the 10 Heavenly Stems table, 1964 = 1, 1965 = 2, and 1966 =3 = Yang Fire. The closest preceding Rat year was 1960; counting up the 12 Earthly Branches table, 1960 = 1, 1961 = 2, ... 1966 = 7 = Horse. So 1966 was a Yang Fire Horse year.
The Stem-and-Branch cycle is also applied -- like nested gears in a clock -- to each month, day and hour. That's why, when the Chinese astrologer is done with his calculations, he'll hand you a piece of paper inscribed with ideograms that Chinese everywhere -- even in Communist China, though they won't officially admit it -- would immediately recognize as the Eight Characters: the two Stem-and-Branch characters for each of the Four Pillars of your birth. In times past, all a young man had to do to propose to his beloved was send her a card with his name written on one side and his Eight Characters on the other. Her parents would compare his Stems and Branches to hers, and -- if they judged the relationships among them to be fortunate -- agree to a betrothal.
And now comes the part you've been waiting for, with all the patience of the Four Immortals: how to tell what Stems and Branches harmonize with yours, and which ones clash. Do bear in mind that we're looking only at the birth year here -- a harmony or clash between birth year Stems and Branches might well be counteracted by the Stems and Branches of two people's month, day or hour of birth.
If your Elements are linked in what's called the Destroying Order, it is said that your "Heavenly Stems embrace" -- very auspicious. The destroying sequence is Wood to Earth to Water to Fire to Metal (back to Wood), and Yang to Yin (back to Yang). Thus, for example, Yang Wood and Yin Earth embrace, as do Yin Metal and Yang Fire.
To understand how your Earthly Branches relate, imagine the 12 animals arranged around a clock face, with Rat at 1 o'clock, Ox at 2 o'clock, and so on. The worst relationship is between opposite positions -- for instance, between Dragon (at 5 o'clock) and Dog (11 o'clock). Relationships in 90-degree configurations (that is, the angle of a square) are stressful -- e.g., between Dragon and Ox (at 2 o'clock) or Dragon and Sheep (at 8 o'clock). And there are many folk proverbs -- such as "The Ox and Tiger quarrel ever" -- suggesting that adjacent animals don't do so well together, either.
The most harmonious relationships are between Branches that are 120 degrees apart (that is, the angle of an equilateral triangle). Dragon, for example, can find joy with Rat (at 1 o'clock) and Monkey (at 9 o'clock). The proverbs imply that animals at 60-degree angles also do well together -- such as "When the Snake [at 6 o'clock] meets the Rabbit [at 4 o'clock], it means supreme happiness."
And as you step out the astrologer's door, let no one -- least of all some Occidental barbarian angling for a date with you -- ridicule your concern for calendrical harmony. As the 2,200-year-old Ta Tai Li Chi (Records of Rites of the Older Tai) reminds us, "Thereby the sage can be the master of Heaven and Earth, the master of the mountains and rivers, the master of the gods and spirits."
Steve Rasmussen, Xpress' calendar editor, has toiled at the wheels of time as a Western astrologer for nearly 20 years, and has been intrigued by Chinese astrology and feng-shui since the last Yang Wood Rat year. Born in 1958, he is a Mountain Dog.
The seventh annual Chinese New Year celebration will be held from 7 to 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 19 at Zone One Contemporary Gallery, 37 Biltmore Ave.
Events will include demonstrations of tai chi, kung fu, weaponry and lion dancing; participation is encouraged for chi kung and calligraphy.
Traditional food and herbal tea also will be offered.
The cost is $5 per couple and $8.50 for families. Group discounts are available.
For more info, call Mark at 285-0564.
| No. | Polarity | Element | Symbol | (Chinese name) |
| 1 | Yang | Wood | Fir tree | ("Chia") |
| 2 | Yin | Wood | Bamboo | ("I") |
| 3 | Yang | Fire | Torch-flame | ("Ping") |
| 4 | Yin | Fire | Lamp-light | ("Ting") |
| 5 | Yang | Earth | Mountain | ("Wu") |
| 6 | Yin | Earth | Plain | ("Chi") |
| 7 | Yang | Metal | Weapon | ("Keng") |
| 8 | Yin | Metal | Cauldron | ("Hsin") |
| 9 | Yang | Water | Billow | ("Jen") |
| 10 | Yin | Water | Unruffled stream | ("Kuei") |
| No. | Animal | (Chinese name) |
| 1 | Rat | ("Tzu") |
| 2 | Ox | ("Ch'ou") |
| 3 | Tiger | ("Yin") |
| 4 | Rabbit | ("Mao") |
| 5 | Dragon | ("Ch'en") |
| 6 | Snake | ("Ssu") |
| 7 | Horse | ("Wu") |
| 8 | Sheep | ("Wei") |
| 9 | Monkey | ("Shen") |
| 10 | Cock | ("Yu") |
| 11 | Dog | ("Shu") |
| 12 | Pig | ("Hai") |
1924
1934
1944
1954
1964
1974
1984
1994
1924
1936
1948
1960
1972
1984
1996