What is Con giáp?

What is a zodiac animal and where does it come from?

The zodiac animals, also called the twelve zodiac animals or "cầm tinh", is the folk name for the system of twelve Earthly Branches in Can Chi (Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches) culture. Each branch is assigned an animal: Tý (Rat), Sửu (Buffalo), Dần (Tiger), Mão (Cat; the Chinese calendar has the Rabbit), Thìn (Dragon), Tỵ (Snake), Ngọ (Horse), Mùi (Goat), Thân (Monkey), Dậu (Rooster), Tuất (Dog), Hợi (Pig). This system comes from how people in the past observed the cycles of time and linked them to familiar images from agricultural life.

How are zodiac animals used?

In daily life, zodiac animals are mainly used to reckon age. A person born in a Tý year is said to be of the Tý age, one born in a Sửu year is said to be of the Sửu age. In addition, the twelve branches combine with the ten Heavenly Stems to form the 60-year Can Chi system. People also use the branches to reckon months and the hours of the day. In Tử Vi (Vietnamese astrology) and in choosing auspicious days, zodiac animals are also used to examine compatible and conflicting relationships such as tam hợp (the three-combination), tứ hành xung (the four-conflict), and lục hại (the six-harm).

Why does Vietnam have Mão as the Cat while China has the Rabbit?

This is an interesting difference between the two cultures. In Vietnam's twelve zodiac animals, the Mão branch corresponds to the Cat, while in China this branch usually corresponds to the Rabbit. This difference reflects how each culture chooses animal images that are close to its own life. The remaining branches are generally similar between the two systems.

How do you distinguish zodiac animals from Can Chi and from Tử Vi?

Zodiac animals are the folk name for the twelve Earthly Branches, and are not identical to the whole Can Chi system. Can Chi is the system of 60 combinations between the ten Stems and the twelve Branches, while zodiac animals refer only to the Branch part. Tử Vi is a method of reading destiny based on a birth chart, in which the zodiac animal is only one factor. Therefore, knowing a person's zodiac animal age is not enough to conclude anything about that person's character or destiny.

What should be kept in mind when using zodiac animals?

Content about personality and compatibility or conflict by zodiac animal belongs to traditional knowledge and is for reference, and has not been verified by science. It should be seen as an interesting cultural feature rather than a basis for deciding important matters such as marriage, business, or choosing a career.

How do the different schools understand zodiac animals?

• The folk cultural understanding: Treats the twelve zodiac animals as cultural symbols tied to agricultural life, used to reckon age and remember time, without any meaning that decides destiny.
• The traditional Tử Vi understanding: Sees the zodiac animal as one factor in the Can Chi system, combined with the five elements, tam hợp, and tứ hành xung to read character and the compatible or conflicting relationships between ages.
• The comparative cultural understanding: Emphasises the differences between countries, such as Mão being the Cat in Vietnam and the Rabbit in China, showing that zodiac animals are a localised cultural product rather than something fixed.

What are the related articles?

• What are the twelve zodiac animals? Meaning and how to reckon age by Earthly Branch
• The Thân - Tý - Thìn three-combination (Water group): Meaning, nature and application in Tử Vi
• The Mùi age (Goat): Personality, Five Elements and Destiny
• The Sửu age (Buffalo): Personality, Compatibility and Conflict, and Birth Years
• The meaning of the Thìn - Tuất - Sửu - Mùi four-conflict in the folk view of the East
• The Tuất age (Dog): Personality, Five Elements and Destiny
• Personality traits of people of the Thân age in folk belief
• The Mão age (Cat): Personality, Compatibility and Conflict, and Birth Years
• The Dậu age (Rooster): Personality, Five Elements and Destiny
• Dậu - Tuất harm: The six-harm pair among the twelve zodiac animals and how to resolve it
• Personality traits of people of the Mùi age in folk belief
• The Tý age (Rat): Personality, Compatibility and Conflict, and Birth Years

What are the twelve zodiac animals?

Zodiac animals are the folk name for the Earthly Branches, not a separate system. Mão in the Vietnamese calendar is the Cat, unlike the Chinese calendar which uses the Rabbit.

The figures in the table match the results of the lookup tools on Nhật Nguyệt.