The meaning of the Chinese zodiac

Not sure where this is from but it's a memorable story about the 12 animals making up the Chinese zodiac.

I said: "The first pair is made up of the rat and the cow. The rat represents wisdom and the cow hard work. Wisdom and hard work must be closely relate d. Just being wise without hard work will turn someone into a wise guy. Just hard working without wisdom might end up being fool hardy. So they need to complement each other. This is the most important pairing according to our ancestors."



I continued: "The second pair consists of the tiger and the rabbit. Tiger represents bravery/agressiveness and rabbit exemplifies caution. Bravery and caution need to be closely connected. Just being brave, lacking caution, often results in doing things in a rash way. Being too careful. without the can do spirit is just plain timid. This is a very important pairing and that's why it is the second pair. So when you observe that a Chinese person is cautious, never assume that he or she does not have another attribute, which is bravery. Indeed, our ancestors, with great wisdom, sought harmony and teach/espouse/practice the principle of complement and balance."



I saw that many of the guests have become deep in thoughts. so I added: "The 3rd pair is made up of dragon and snake. Dragon represents firmness and strength. Snake exudes flexibility and persistence. Something that is too tough, taut or tight is easily breakable. On the other hand, if all you have is something just placid or too soft, it could result in being wishy washy, indecisive, lacking independence, and unable to take leadership."



"The next pair that follows is horse and sheep/lamb. A horse runs forward, looks towards the far away goal. Sheep/lamb prefers peace and serenity. If one only darts forward, oblivious of what is around, he will crash land, and probably won' t arrive the destination. Conversely, if one only devotes all his time to make peace, finding it necessary to please every one all the time, he most likely ends up direction-less, and not reaching his destination. So these two different human inclinations need to be closely inter-connected."



"What follows is the next pair: monkey and rooster. Monkey represents dexterity/fluidity. As for rooster, very long time ago, there was no clock, the crowing of the rooster heralded the beginning of a new day. So rooster helps to keep and define time, and represents constancy. Fluidity and constancy need to be complemented. If things change all the time without a degree of stability, even the best policies will not produce results. If things are so constant they become stagnant, like dead water, or a piece of iron plate, then there would not have been any devel opment, or things would not be progressive. Only when these 2 attributes are complemented harmoniously will it produce the necessary positive outcomes."



"Finally we have the pair of dog and pig. Dog epitomizes loyalty. Pig is casual or easy going. If one is too loyal but too rigid, he tends to repel and exclude others. Conversely, if he is too easy going but not devoted, he tends to be one without principles. So whether your loyalty is with your nation, your team, or your own dreams, it needs to occur in the relevant context of not trying to be too rigid/stubborn. Only with this approach will one truly keep his loyalty in the depth of his heart. Indeed we Chinese like to aspire to this ideal of flexible adjustment based on ingrained firm principles."



"Every Chinese person was born to one of the 12 animal s of the zodiac. Some were born in the year of the pig; others the year of the dog. What are the meanings behind? Practically, our ancestors expected us to be flexible, not going to extremes, that we know how to adjust. For example if I have the quality of a pig, then I would learn to complement my easy going-ness with the nature of loyalty or devotion. And vice versa for someone who has the human nature of a dog."