Ancient astrologists in China paired off twelve animals with the Twelve Earthly Branches. Thus, zi is rat, chou is ox, yin is tiger, mao is rabbit, chen is dragon, si is snake, wu is horse, wei is sheep, shen is monkey, you is cock, xu is dog and hai is pig. Thus, the year 1984, the year1985, the year of jiazi in the lunar calendar, is called the year of the rat. The year 1985, the year of yichou, is the year of the ox. The year 1999, the year of mao, is the year of the rabbit. A person born in a year of a particular animal is said to be under the sign of that animal. Thus, if one is born in the year of mao, one is under the sign of the rabbit. This is called the Twelve Animals or the Twelve Signs.
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