Test Your Knowledge of the Chinese Zodiac and Lunar Calendar!

Chinese Zodiac and Lunar Calendar Classification: Key Points

• The Chinese zodiac assigns an animal and its reputed attributes to each year in a repeating twelve-year cycle.

• The zodiac is based on the Chinese calendar and remains popular in many East Asian and Southeast Asian countries.

• The animals of the Chinese zodiac are not associated with constellations spanned by the ecliptic plane.

• The Chinese zodiac is represented by twelve animals, whereas some of the signs in the Western zodiac are not animals.

• There are also animal signs assigned by month, day and hours, and the Earth is all twelve signs with five seasons.

• The Chinese zodiac features decans in the form of thirty-six calendar animals.

• The twelve animals are linked to the traditional Chinese agricultural calendar, which runs alongside the Lunar calendar.

• Four pillars calculators can determine the zodiac animal of the day, and Chinese animal signs rule over days of the week.

• Different people born under each animal sign supposedly have different personalities, and practitioners of Chinese astrology consult such traditional details and compatibilities to offer putative guidance in life or for love and marriage.

• The Four Pillars of Destiny method can be traced back to the Han dynasty and is still much used in feng shui astrology and general analysis today.

• The Chinese zodiac features four animal trines, each consisting of three signs with unique characteristics.

• The Chinese zodiac has many origin stories, including the popular "Great Race" story.The Chinese Zodiac and its Variations

• The Pig became the last animal to arrive in the Chinese Zodiac.

• The cat drowned and failed to be a part of the Chinese Zodiac.

• The Rat deceived the Ox into letting it jump on its back and finished first.

• The Vietnamese zodiac has the cat instead of the rabbit as a zodiac animal.

• The Chinese lunar coins inspired the Canadian Silver Maple Leaf coins, as well as varieties from Australia, South Korea, and Mongolia.

• The Korean zodiac includes the Sheep instead of the Goat.

• The Japanese zodiac includes the Sheep and the Wild boar instead of the Goat and the Pig.

• The Vietnamese zodiac has the Water Buffalo instead of the Ox and the Cat instead of the Rabbit.

• The Cham zodiac replaces the Monkey with the turtle.

• The Malay zodiac replaces the Rabbit with the mousedeer and the Pig with the tortoise.

• The Thai zodiac includes a nāga in place of the Dragon.

• The Persian version of the Eastern zodiac brought by Mongols during the Middle Ages replaces the Dragon with the Whale.

• In the traditional Kazakh version of the 12-year animal cycle, the Dragon is substituted by a snail, and the Tiger appears as a leopard.

• All early Japanese emoji sets had at least one suitable pictograph for each Eastern zodiac.