An Introduction to Chinese Order History

Nathalie Longrée-Guevara, Project Tui Dong Li Director

Lisa Nolting, Principal, Stonebrae Elementary School

Julin Chen, Project Tui Dong Li Specialist

February 8, 2011

Sheila Jordan, Superintendent

Twelve Chinese Animal Signs

• The Chinese Zodiac initially originated from the division of time.

•Nowadays, we divide a day and night into 24 hours while ancient astronomers divide it into 12 shichen时辰 .

The Order History

The Order History

which is a two-hour period,

namely, zi, chou, yin, mao, chen,

si, wu, wei, shen, you, xu and hai.

子、丑、寅、卯、辰、巳、

午、未、申、酉、戌、亥

In astronomical observation, they choose

12 animal signs corresponding to each

shichen( 时辰 ) according to the living

habits and the time of activity of the

animals.

The Order History

From 11 pm to 1 am of the next

day, it is the time of “zi”. It is the

time for rats to run around while

people fall asleep, so we have zi,

rat. “ 子鼠”

The Order History

1.                                 

. “ 子鼠”

From 1 am to 3 am, it

is the time of “chou”.

The ox is used to

eating grass at night

and farmers often get

up in the midnight and

feed them, so we have

chou, ox. “ 丑牛”。

The Order History

2.                                             

 

丑牛

From 3 am to 5 am, it

is the time of “yin”.

Because the tiger often

moves about at night

and ancient people

often hear them

roaring at this time, we

call it yin, tiger. “ 寅

虎”。

The Order History

寅虎

From 5 am to 7am,

it is the time of

“mao”. The hare

goes out of its nest

and eats green grass

with morning dew

on it, so we call it

mao, hare. “ 卯兔”。

The Order History

4.                                             

 

卯兔

From 7 am to 9 am, it is

the time of “chen“. It often

mists at this time and

legend says that dragons

like to ride clouds and

mist. It's also the time for

the sun to rise, so we have

chen, dragon. “ 辰龙”。

The Order History

辰龙

11.                                             

 

It is the time of “si“

from 9 am to 11 am.

The mist has vanished

and the sun has risen

up in the sky. Snakes

will go out to find

food, so we call it si,

snake “ 巳蛇“。 .

The Order History

12.                                             

巳蛇

It is the time of “wu”

from 11 am to 1 pm.

Before the wild

horse was

domesticated in the

ancient time, they

usually ran around

and neighed at this

time. That's why we

call wu, horse.

The Order History

午马

8.                                             

From 1 pm to 3 pm, it is

the time of “wei”. In

some places, people call

this period “sheep on the

slope” because it's the

right time for herding

sheep. That's why we

call it wei, sheep. “ 未

羊”。

The Order History

9.                                             

未羊

It's the time of “shen”

from 3 pm to 5 pm.

The sun has moved to

the western half of the

sky. Monkeys love to

screech at this time,

so we call it shen,

monkey “ 申猴”。 .

The Order History

7.                                             

 

申猴

The Order History It's the time of

“you” from 5 pm to

7 pm. The sun has

set. Roosters go

back to their nest,

so we call it you,

rooster “ 酉鸡”。 . 酉鸡

5.                                             

From 7 pm to 9

pm, it's the time

of “xu”. After a

busy day, people

close their gates

and go to sleep.

Dogs guard the

gates and will

bark in case of

any noise, so we

call it xu, dog “ 戌

狗” .

The Order History

戌狗

The Order History

It's the time of “hai” from 9 pm to 11 pm.

In the still of night, we

can hear pigs dig the

trough with their snouts, so

we call it hai pig “亥猪”。 .亥猪

10.                                             

 

The Chinese Order History

In this way, the 12 shichen and animals are matched and sequenced: zi rat, chou ox, yin

tiger, mao hare, chen dragon, si snake, wu horse, wei sheep, shen monkey, you rooster, xu dog and

hai pig. Later, people use this method of time

labeling in counting years. This is why we have the Chinese Zodiac.子鼠、丑牛、寅虎、卯兔、辰龙、巳蛇、午马、未羊、申猴、酉鸡、戌狗、亥猪

Thank you!

谢谢！