Chinese New Year is upon us and it’s time to welcome The Year of the Yang White Metal Rat! The Rat is the first of the 12 animals on the zodiac wheel and is a great animal to begin the first year of the next decade.
The Legend Of The 12 Zodiac Animals
As with all legends, there are a few different versions and variations. In one version the Jade Emperor invited the animals to a party while in another it was Buddha. In all versions the animals had to cross a river to get there. The rat arrived first followed by the ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep/goat, monkey, rooster, dog and finally the pig. Each animal was rewarded for its success by having a year named after them in order of their arrival.
What About The Cat?
It is interesting to note that the rat arrives first, not because it is the best swimmer, but because it is sneaky. The rat gets the ox to give it a ride on its back, but just as the ox is about to reach the other side, the rat jumps off and is therefore first in line. In some variations it isn’t only the ox that the rat tricks but also a cat. In most of these versions the cat falls victim to ratty manipulations and never makes it to the party. If it wasn’t for the rat, the cat may have become one of the Chinese zodiac animals. If you’re thinking a year of the cat would be great though, don’t worry, in the Vietnamese animal zodiac the rabbit is replaced by the cat, so there is actually a Year of the Cat!
Animal Aspects
In addition to having a year named after them, each animal has a month, day and hours that they take care of. They are also allocated either a yin or yang energy and a fixed element which has a corresponding colour – wood (green), fire (red), earth (yellow), metal (white) and water (black). The rat is in charge of the month of December, Thursday and the hours from 11pm to 1am. The energy of the rat is yang, its element is water and its colour is black. If the element for rat is water, why are we celebrating the year of the metal rat? This happens because there are aspects that belong to the animal and aspects that belong to the year. The fixed element for the rat is water but the element for 2020 is metal.
Yearly Aspects
Each year is allocated not just an animal, but also an element and the energy of yin or yang. These three attributes, animal, element and energy, travel through the years on different cycles. The animal changes every year in a 12 year cycle, the element changes every 2 years in a 10 year cycle and the energy of yin and yang changes every year. The yin or yang energy always corresponds with the animal’s energy while the yearly element will only match the fixed element of the animal every 60 years.
Pretty In Red
Did you know that your animal year is supposed to be your unluckiest year? One way to protect yourself against this bad luck is to wear red for the whole year! You can wear it as outerwear or underwear. So if you were born in the year of the rat, you may need to rethink your wardrobe for the year. 🙂
Mice Day For A Rat Wedding
As part of the New Year celebrations, a special day is set aside for rats. It is the Rat Wedding Day. On this day, people will leave food in their house to share with the rats. They go to sleep early so they will not disturb the rat wedding. In Chinese culture rats symbolise wealth and fertility. While they are not generally invited into the home, on Rat Wedding Day they are welcome and can enjoy a night of feasting, partying and merriment.
If you need more rat celebrations in your life, April 4th is World Rat Day. It is a day to celebrate fancy rats or domestic rats which are different to wild rats.
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