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
Jan 02, 2016
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!