㊸ Let's take a look at a little of the Chinese(Asian) astrology - The Chinese 12 zodiacs ～60 Stars Astrology Season 3・ Ex Part 1

60stars Astrology Season 3

By Tokyo-Tanuki

English version

㊸ Let's take a look at a little of the Chinese(Asian) astrology - The Chinese 12 zodiacs（12支）
 ～60 Stars Astrology Season 3 (Ex Part 1)

1. Today, I would like to talk a little bit about the Chinese(Asian) astrology (Chinese Zodiacs), which is a little bit different from the Western horoscope.

The Chinese astrology uses the 12 Chinese zodiac signs, which are: Rats, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Bird, Dog, Boar!  

These are the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac.

The history of the 12 signs of the Chinese zodiac is very old, dating back to long before the Yin Dynasty (around 1500 B.C.).

2. Some people wonder if the 12 signs of the Chinese zodiac are different from the 12 signs of the Western astrology, because the 12 signs of the Chinese zodiac are clockwise⏱.

Even in Wikipedia, it says that some people say it is different and some say it is the same.

But Tanu-chan thinks (because Tanu-chan is a liberal arts student) that the only difference between clockwise and counterclockwise is whether you look up or look down the ecliptic.

In China, they are trying to make clockwise things counterclockwise, and they are making all kinds of modifications, like the year star (歳星), the 12th degree (十二次), and so on. 

But I don't think we need to think so deeply about it.

3. In other words, Tanu-chan believes that the 12 signs of the zodiac in the West and the 12 signs of the zodiac in the East (China, Asia) are exactly the same.

If we go counterclockwise from the previous order of Rat, Ox, and...Boar, we get the following order: 

①Boar　亥

②Dog　戌

③Bird　酉

④Monkey　申

⑤Sheep　未

⑥Horse　午

⑦Snake　巳

⑧Dragon　辰

⑨Rabbit　卯

⑩Tiger　寅

⑪Ox　丑　

⑫Rats　子

and,

(1) Of these, the Ox (丑) may be the constellation of Taurus (♉). 

And the Horse (午) may be assumed to be the constellation of Sagittarius (♐), which means that the lower half of the body is a horse.

(2) Next, we turn our attention to the Chinese Dragon, 辰, and the Rabbit, 卯.

"辰" means the Dragon, and the original form of the character for the Dragon 辰 is 👄, which means an opening between the shells, like lips（唇）.

So the Dragon辰 may be the sign of ♒ ＝ Aquarius.

Next, In hieroglyphics, the Rabbit "卯"  has two 〇 and ━,   i.e.

〇━

〇━

(which are aligned vertically). 

This indicates two fish (or fish and bird) joined together by two strings, so it is maybe the constellation Pisces ♓.

　　　

(3) 戌 means Dog, which means lion🦁 in Japan, just as the koma-inu (koma-dog) in Japanese shrines originally referred to lion🦁. 

In other words, Dog（戌） is a big carnivorous like Leo♌.

(4) Now, next is "申" ＝ Monkey. 

The word "申"  means "to divine," or to communicate with the gods.

In hieroglyphics, it has the form "〇↯〇."

So, this may be an oracle from God, specifically, an oracle of justice given to man ('Perseus') from Goddess （Astraea）, the Goddess of justice. 

So 申 (monkey)  maybe means the oracle of justice = Libra♎.

(5) Snake "巳"  = Serpent, as you know from the demon Baphomet👿, the goat-headed demon with a serpent in his belly. 

So the Snake 巳 is a messenger of the devil.

So Snake 巳 = Capricorn♑, the sign of the devil.

(6) Next is the Boar  "亥", whose hieroglyphics, simply put, look like protrusions extending in all directions to protect the center (the nucleus).

 It looks like " ≡( )≡ ". 

Maybe this is the appearance of Crab🦀. 

In other words, Boar 亥 = Constellation ♋ Cancer. 

(7) Next, looking at the Rats "子". 

I think the character 子 is an abbreviation of an older form of the character 子子子, which represents the increase in the number of human children. 

Multiple children ≒  two children.

So, maybe 子 = Gemini♊.

Now, Let us see so far,

Boar 亥 (Cancer♋) ⇒ Dog 戌 (Leo♌) ⇒ Bird 酉 (?) ⇒ Monkey 申 (Libra♎) ⇒ Sheep 未 (?) ⇒ Horse 午  (Sagittarius♐) ⇒ Snake 巳 (Capricorn♑) ⇒ Dragon 辰 (Aquarius♒) ⇒ Rabbit 卯  (Pisces ♓) ⇒ Tiger 寅 (?) ⇒ Ox 丑  (Taurus♉) ⇒ Rats 子 (Gemini♊)

i.e.

Cancer♋⇒Leo♌ ⇒? ⇒Libra♎⇒? ⇒Sagittarius♐⇒ Capricorn♑⇒ Aquarius♒⇒ Pisces♓⇒ ? ⇒ Taurus♉⇒ Gemini♊.

Except for the three constellations of Virgo♍, Scorpio♏, and Aries♈, they can be considered fairly related!

This three constellations above are a bit hard to relate to the corresponding 12 Chinese  zodiac signs (Bird 酉, Sheep 未, Tiger 寅).

4. I think some of them may be assigned different Chinese letters borrowed from the sounds of the original Chinese letters, however I can't say for sure because I think some of them just imitate the shape (Aquarius = ♒＝👄＝唇 = 辰).

For example, Scorpio is "未", which I think comes from the shape of Scorpio.

Anyway, their origin is probably the same as the Western 12 signs of the zodiac.

Thus, Tanu-chan (as a humanities scholar), has concluded the following diagram!

Boar 亥 → Cancer♋.

Rats 子 → Gemini♊.

Ox 丑→ Taurus♉

Tiger 寅→ Aries ♈ 

Rabbit 卯→ Pisces ♓

Dragon 辰→ Aquarius♒

Snake 巳→ Capricorn♑

Horse 午→ Sagittarius♐ 

Sheep 未→ Scorpion♏.

Monkey 申→ Libra♎.

Bird 酉→ Virgo♍

Dog 戌→ Leo♌.

♣　♣　♣　♣　♣　♣　♣　♣

5.  May be  😊！ 

Of course, I know some people will disagree with me!

Well, just think that there is such a story.

Anyway, assuming that what Tanu-chan says is correct, I guess that the first one of Chinese Zodiac Sign is Rats "子子子" = Gemini♊.

Maybe It means that the vernal equinox must have been established when Gemini♊ was in place, in China.

In other words, I think it was probably a little before 5000 B.C.

To put it more straight, the Chinese Gods at that time were the husband-and-wife gods Fu Hui and Nu Hua (伏羲・女媧). 

Considering that Chinese history is said to have begun with these two Gods, I think the vernal equinox was in the constellation of Gemini♊ when "China" was established.

6. By the way, recently archaeologists found a relief at the Göbeklitepe site in Turkey (around 9000 B.C.?) .

If we study this relief , I am sure we will be able to understand more about the divergence point of the 12 signs of the zodiac between the East and the West. 

Because Tanu-chan thinks that this relief shows the 12 constellations at that time. 

The vernal equinox in 9000 B.C. was in  Leo ♌, so it would be interesting if a lion relief like a "Dog戌" 🐕 is unearthed there!!

That's all for today!

Tanu-chan💓 TOKYO-TANUKI