Sheng in Chinese is "birth" and xiao
is "resernblance". To discuss about the Sheng Xiao of
Chinese, it is better to say something about the
chronological years recorded by Stems and Branches in
the Chinese lunar calendar. As we know, the lunar
calendar was already perfect over 3000 years ago
during Xia Dynasty, so it was also called "Xia
Calendar". In Xia Calendar, the chronoloical years
were recorded on the basis of Stems and Branches,
that is, on combining in successionone Heavenly Stem
and one Earthly Branch The Heavenly Stems are10,
namely Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, Wu Ji Geng Xin Ren and
Gui, and the Earthly Branches are 12, that is Zi,
Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu and
Hai.Combining one heavenly Stem with one Earthly
Branch in succession will give Jia Zi, Yi Chou, Bing
Yin-and so on to the sixtieth one, Gui Hai, to make
up a set, which is generally known as "sixty Jia Zi".
These are then matched to the chronological years,
with 60 years as a cycle, and similar to
years,months, and branches, so the records in the
calendar on this basis would be very clear and in a
goog order. The Chinese ancesters emphasized the
unity of heaven and man. Human beings and all life in
the nature were thought to be naturally associated,
the universe was co-existing with us. and everything
around was combined with us as unity. Hence, 12
animals were used to match 12 Earthly Branches, such
as, Zi is rat, Chou is Ox...... In calculating years.
for example,
any years with "Chen". such as Jia Chen, Bing Chen
and so on, will be called the dragon years, and those
born in the dragon years will belong to the Dragon.
Later, the year one is born is thought to be related
to his behavior, which will resemble that of the
animal of the Earthly Branched, for example, those
born in dragon years will resemble dragon.....
The 12 Sheng Xiao are then Zi Rat, Chou Ox, Yin
Tiger, Mao Rabbit, Chen Dragon, Si Snake, Wu Horse,
Wei Goat, Shen Monkey, You Chicken, Xu Dog and Hai
Pig.

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