中国文化 十二生肖介绍英文版

有关十二生肖的英文介绍

●It's interesting that we have 12 Chinese zodiacs in China, and

you have 12 signs in your culture.

●More than 30,000 years ago, the Chinese animal signs are a

12-year cycle used for dating the years. They represent a cyclical concept of time, rather than the western linear concept of time. The Chinese lunar calendar is based on the cycles of the moon, and is constructed in a different fashion than the western solar calendar. In the Chinese calendar, the beginning of the year falls somewhere between late January and early February.

●In traditional china, dating methods were cyclical, cyclical

meaning something that is repeated time after time according to

a pattern.

● A popular folk method which reflected this cyclical method of

recording years are the twelve animal signs. Every year is assigned an animal name or sign according to a repeating cycle: mouse, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. You might found out that many Chinese people strongly believe that the time of a person's birth is primary factor in determining that person's characteristics.

●According to one legend, Buddha invited all the animals to his

kingdom, but unfortunately, only a total of 12 turned up, Out of gratitude, Buddha decided to name the year after each of the animals in their order of arrival. Actually, ox was the first, it get up early and the first set foot on the road which is the Buddha invited. By the way, Ox represents the diligent people in china.

In ancient times, people used ox farmland. But, the smartest mouse jumped on top of the ox to be the first one to arrive, so the first arrival belonged to mouse, followed by the ox, then tiger, the rabbit and so on. The last one is pig.(cause it is lazy animal.) It is essential in China that every person knows which animal sign he is born under and most of Chinese truly believe that the signs reveal the hidden secrets of a person's birth is primary factor in determining that person's characteristics. mouse charm, 鼠Ox patient, 牛Tiger sensitive, 虎Rabbit articulate, 兔Dragon healthy,龙Snake deep,蛇Horse popular,马Goat elegant,羊Monkey clever,猴Rooster deep thinkers,鸡Dog loyalty,狗Pig chivalrous.猪

Zodiacs[ˈzəudiæk]生肖Constellations[ˌkɔnstəˈleɪʃən]星座

cyclical[ˈsiklik(e)l] 周期性的linear[ˈliniə] 线性的rooster[ˈru:stə] 公鸡assigned[əˈsain]分配legend[ˈledʒənd]传说diligent [ˈdilidʒənt]勤劳的essential[iˈsenʃəl]基本的，必要的represent [ˌrepriˈzent]代表

articulate[ɑ:ˈtikjulit]善于表达的chivalrous[ˈʃɪvəlrəs]彬彬有礼的