February 20, 2005
Bunny SE
Eng 300, T/Th @ 8:30
Due: 2.21.6
Chinese Astrology
Free Form Essay Assignment
. Astrology is certainly one of the most ancient philosophies still in existence in China. Some estimate it to be more than 3,000 years old but recent study of more esoteric beliefs place it further back into the clouded past of human history. In ancient China -and up until today- Astrology has been used to predict what happens to countries, the outcome of wars, economic trends and much, much more.
. Chinese Astrology is organized according to 12 Animal Signs. According to the legends, the Lord Buddha summoned all the animals to come to him before he departed from Earth. Only 12 animals came to bid him farewell. As a reward for their loyalties he named a year after each one in the order that they arrived. First came the Rat, then the Ox, the Tiger, Hare, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Ram, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Boar. Thus we have the 12 signs today.
. Though many think that the Chinese Zodiac is simply made up of twelve animals, it actually goes much deeper than that. It is a complex system featuring terrestrial and astrological 'forces'; the five elements (Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth); the polar opposites of Yin and Yang; directions ( East, South, West, North, including their various combinations); stones (precious and semi-precious); hours (12 two-hour periods); months and seasons.
. The Chinese Zodiac is one of the first and most complex ways used to determine the year, month and day; a calendar. The beginnings of the Chinese calendar can be traced back to the 14th century BCE. BCE means, before the common era. Where as, BC (before Christ) is the beginning of the common era, BCE is even farther still-- the Mayan calendar is only estimated to have been around since 550 BC. It’s proven that the Emperor Huangdi invented the calendar in 2637 BCE.
. The basics of the Chinese calendar are the 12 animals. This is called the terrestrial branch of the calendar.
. 1. zi (rat)
. 2. chou (ox)
. 3. yin (tiger)
. 4. mao (rabbit, cat)
. 5. chen (dragon)
. 6. si (snake)
. 7. wu (horse)
. 8. wei (sheep, goat)
. 9. shen (monkey)
. 10. you (rooster)
. 11. xu (dog)
. 12. hai (pig)
. From the twelve animals the five elements are added on, making sixty possible years. But it doesn’t stop there, the polar opposites are then put in, to make the elements positive or negative. This is called the celestial stem of the calendar.
. 1. Jia (negative wood)
. 2. Yi (positive wood)
. 3. Bing (negative fire)
. 4. Ding (positive fire)
. 5. Wu (negative earth)
. 6. Ji (positive earth)
. 7. Geng (negative metal)
. 8. Xin (positive metal)
. 9. Ren (negative water)
. 10. Gui (positive water)
. These components are used sequentially. Example; The first year of the Chinese calendar is the jia-zi, or the negative wood rat. The second year would be yi-chou, (positive wood ox), the third bing-yin (negative fire tiger). Year 11 would be jia-xu (negative wood dog), which is starting the celestial branch. Year 12 would be yi-hai (positive wood pig), year 13 would be bing-zi (negative wood rat), which would start the terrestrial branch over.
. When the sixty years are over, the ending year will be the gui-hai, positive water pig.
. Though the Chinese zodiac is used mostly for calendar purposes, there is a common idea amongst Chinese that the animal ruling year in which you were born exercises a profound influence on your life. As the Chinese say, "This is the animal that hides in your heart."
. But when you take the terrestrial and celestial aspects into the astrology of this, it shows that every 12 years the animal will be based on a new element. The Chinese believe that this is why every generation is so different from their 12 year ancestor-- but even then, not everyone born in the year 1987 are all going to act the same, right?
. The Chinese zodiac calendar is not just for years, but for months, and days. They follow the same sequential order that the years use, and so making every person born in those months, and on those dates, and even down to the hour and minute can be used to judge the personality and future of the child. For instance, someone born at 4 am on May 18 1987 was born in the year of the negative fire rabbit, in the month of the positive earth snake, the day of the negative fire rabbit, and the hour of the positive fire rabbit. Someone like me.
. To top all this off, the belief of the influence isn’t necessarily that that is who you are and it is set in stone. The belief is that the influence, is your ultimate self-- of what you can become when you are on the right track and focused in life. When you have reached an epiphany, enlightenment, a moment of self actualization.
. With people, it’s an enlightenment. But when this use of astrology is used on the world, people can sometimes predict what happens to countries, the outcomes of wars, and so forth. But China wasn’t the only place where this form of astronomy was used to predict-- India, the Mayans of central American, the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans. It wasn’t until recently in the 17th century that anything that was not rational and could be proven through science was thrown to the side, and considered lunacy or even heretical.
. For a long time, astrology was never part of history. Suddenly, during the 20th century, revolutionists such as Carl Jung, Dane Rudhyar, Madame Blavatsky, brought with them the possibility of connectiveness to not just everyone in the world, but things possibly beyond our control-- the idea of probability.
. There are now universities, associations and schools all over the world specifically for professional astrologers and researchers in the field. There is knowledge, all over the world about astrology, not the knowledge you can find on web sites like, “What sign are you?” But information that is allowing professional astrologers to do much to help improve the quality of lives, and raise consciousness to our surroundings… and the possibilities of life.
-END-
*started essay at 9:00 pm, ended at 11:49 pm* ... I'm tired. x3
But yea, she said we could write our essay about anything we want... it just has to be double spaced and four pages long. ^-^ Bwa ha ha.
Cha, have fun with it. I'm going to bed! xP I'll try to post tomorrow.
Suggestions and comments before 5:30 tomorrow when I print it out to hand in, would be greatly appreciated. Thnx. ^_________^
See you.
Eng 300, T/Th @ 8:30
Due: 2.21.6
Chinese Astrology
Free Form Essay Assignment
. Astrology is certainly one of the most ancient philosophies still in existence in China. Some estimate it to be more than 3,000 years old but recent study of more esoteric beliefs place it further back into the clouded past of human history. In ancient China -and up until today- Astrology has been used to predict what happens to countries, the outcome of wars, economic trends and much, much more.
. Chinese Astrology is organized according to 12 Animal Signs. According to the legends, the Lord Buddha summoned all the animals to come to him before he departed from Earth. Only 12 animals came to bid him farewell. As a reward for their loyalties he named a year after each one in the order that they arrived. First came the Rat, then the Ox, the Tiger, Hare, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Ram, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Boar. Thus we have the 12 signs today.
. Though many think that the Chinese Zodiac is simply made up of twelve animals, it actually goes much deeper than that. It is a complex system featuring terrestrial and astrological 'forces'; the five elements (Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth); the polar opposites of Yin and Yang; directions ( East, South, West, North, including their various combinations); stones (precious and semi-precious); hours (12 two-hour periods); months and seasons.
. The Chinese Zodiac is one of the first and most complex ways used to determine the year, month and day; a calendar. The beginnings of the Chinese calendar can be traced back to the 14th century BCE. BCE means, before the common era. Where as, BC (before Christ) is the beginning of the common era, BCE is even farther still-- the Mayan calendar is only estimated to have been around since 550 BC. It’s proven that the Emperor Huangdi invented the calendar in 2637 BCE.
. The basics of the Chinese calendar are the 12 animals. This is called the terrestrial branch of the calendar.
. 1. zi (rat)
. 2. chou (ox)
. 3. yin (tiger)
. 4. mao (rabbit, cat)
. 5. chen (dragon)
. 6. si (snake)
. 7. wu (horse)
. 8. wei (sheep, goat)
. 9. shen (monkey)
. 10. you (rooster)
. 11. xu (dog)
. 12. hai (pig)
. From the twelve animals the five elements are added on, making sixty possible years. But it doesn’t stop there, the polar opposites are then put in, to make the elements positive or negative. This is called the celestial stem of the calendar.
. 1. Jia (negative wood)
. 2. Yi (positive wood)
. 3. Bing (negative fire)
. 4. Ding (positive fire)
. 5. Wu (negative earth)
. 6. Ji (positive earth)
. 7. Geng (negative metal)
. 8. Xin (positive metal)
. 9. Ren (negative water)
. 10. Gui (positive water)
. These components are used sequentially. Example; The first year of the Chinese calendar is the jia-zi, or the negative wood rat. The second year would be yi-chou, (positive wood ox), the third bing-yin (negative fire tiger). Year 11 would be jia-xu (negative wood dog), which is starting the celestial branch. Year 12 would be yi-hai (positive wood pig), year 13 would be bing-zi (negative wood rat), which would start the terrestrial branch over.
. When the sixty years are over, the ending year will be the gui-hai, positive water pig.
. Though the Chinese zodiac is used mostly for calendar purposes, there is a common idea amongst Chinese that the animal ruling year in which you were born exercises a profound influence on your life. As the Chinese say, "This is the animal that hides in your heart."
. But when you take the terrestrial and celestial aspects into the astrology of this, it shows that every 12 years the animal will be based on a new element. The Chinese believe that this is why every generation is so different from their 12 year ancestor-- but even then, not everyone born in the year 1987 are all going to act the same, right?
. The Chinese zodiac calendar is not just for years, but for months, and days. They follow the same sequential order that the years use, and so making every person born in those months, and on those dates, and even down to the hour and minute can be used to judge the personality and future of the child. For instance, someone born at 4 am on May 18 1987 was born in the year of the negative fire rabbit, in the month of the positive earth snake, the day of the negative fire rabbit, and the hour of the positive fire rabbit. Someone like me.
. To top all this off, the belief of the influence isn’t necessarily that that is who you are and it is set in stone. The belief is that the influence, is your ultimate self-- of what you can become when you are on the right track and focused in life. When you have reached an epiphany, enlightenment, a moment of self actualization.
. With people, it’s an enlightenment. But when this use of astrology is used on the world, people can sometimes predict what happens to countries, the outcomes of wars, and so forth. But China wasn’t the only place where this form of astronomy was used to predict-- India, the Mayans of central American, the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans. It wasn’t until recently in the 17th century that anything that was not rational and could be proven through science was thrown to the side, and considered lunacy or even heretical.
. For a long time, astrology was never part of history. Suddenly, during the 20th century, revolutionists such as Carl Jung, Dane Rudhyar, Madame Blavatsky, brought with them the possibility of connectiveness to not just everyone in the world, but things possibly beyond our control-- the idea of probability.
. There are now universities, associations and schools all over the world specifically for professional astrologers and researchers in the field. There is knowledge, all over the world about astrology, not the knowledge you can find on web sites like, “What sign are you?” But information that is allowing professional astrologers to do much to help improve the quality of lives, and raise consciousness to our surroundings… and the possibilities of life.
-END-
*started essay at 9:00 pm, ended at 11:49 pm* ... I'm tired. x3
But yea, she said we could write our essay about anything we want... it just has to be double spaced and four pages long. ^-^ Bwa ha ha.
Cha, have fun with it. I'm going to bed! xP I'll try to post tomorrow.
Suggestions and comments before 5:30 tomorrow when I print it out to hand in, would be greatly appreciated. Thnx. ^_________^
See you.