#chinese tradition
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So, most people probably know that the Chinese zodiac consists of 12 animals, and that they change yearly, commonly referred to as “year of the (animal)”. 2020 (or traditionally called the Gengzi/庚子 year, according to the Sexagenary Cycle/”Heavenly Trunks and Earthly Branches”/天干地支) is the Year of the Rat. Personally, I was born on a Year of the Rat, and I know a bunch of people who were also born on a Year of the Rat, which means that 2020 is our zodiac year/本命年!
But hold the celebrations……
Because traditionally speaking, when your zodiac year comes around, it’s actually considered to be a very bad thing for you.
Why is that?
This concept is called “犯太岁” in folk belief, which basically means “offending the reigning deity of the year”, and it originated from Daoism, where it’s called “冲克岁君” (same meaning). In religious Daoism, there is a group of 60 different deities called Taisui (太岁; all 60 are deified historical figures) who take turns reigning over the years (1 deity per year). If this next year is your zodiac year, then you have offended the reigning Taisui of that year.
You might be asking yourself, how did I offend the reigning Taisui?
Turns out it has more to do with the Sexagenary Cycle (天干地支/“Heavenly Trunks and Earthly Branches”). The Sexagenary Cycle is an ancient system for reckoning time that goes in cycles of 60 years each, and is applied to the Lunar Calendar (meaning the “years” referred to here are years as dictated by the Lunar Calendar). The 60 years are further divided into groups of 12 each, with each of the 12 being an “Earthly Branch” (地支), and each are paired up with an animal, forming the Chinese zodiac we know today. While there is a Taisui reigning over a given year, the zodiac animal of the year would assist the deity. Some people might know the pressure of working under a powerful boss who has a lot of credentials, and this is presumed to be how it is for the zodiac animal of the year. So for example, people who were born in Year of the Rat might be punished (this “punishment” usually manifest as extremely bad luck, for example, getting into a serious accident, losing a lot of money, etc) by the reigning Taisui along with the Rat, should anything go wrong.
Thankfully, tradition says that there are some things we can do to avoid an impending year of misfortune. Traditionally, people would burn offerings and pray to the reigning deity of the year to show their piety and appease the reigning Taisui. These rituals are called “安太岁” (or “摄太岁” in Hong Kong), which literally means “calming Taisui”, and are still practiced in parts of China today. However, in modern times, the more common method is to wear red-colored clothing items (usually belts or undergarments) when the person’s zodiac year comes around (at least from the eve to the 1st of the new year), in an attempt to gain back the “lost” luck (red is traditionally seen as a “lucky” color symbolizing all good things).
But regardless of whether you live by these traditions or not……
Happy Lunar New Year!
