China Daily Network message: An article in the English-language China Daily on February 10: I am used to sending blessings to my friends when they have birthdays, because a birthday is a special day that only belongs to oneself in the 365 days of a year. Some of my Western friends always add a sentence while thanking me: "Can you help me check my zodiac sign?" or "I heard I am a horse, what are the characteristics of people born under the horse sign in China?"
I have been in China for 20 years. In these 20 years, I found that Westerners are increasingly interested in China's twelve zodiac signs, lunar New Year, and other various symbols and activities related to the zodiac. These symbols and activities include wearing red waistbands in the birth year, the origin of the twelve zodiac signs and their order, why Chinese people highly value the birth year, how to ask someone's age in China, and the necessity of eating longevity noodles on one's birthday.
In addition, poems written by someone for me, and paper cuttings of the twelve zodiac signs. They are both beautiful and light, and during my time in China, I put paper cuttings in every one of the more than 200 letters I sent.
At present, many countries with large populations of Chinese people also begin to celebrate China's lunar New Year, and foreign TV show hosts will take this opportunity to send blessings to people.
Some countries, including Canada, have started printing special stamps for China's Spring Festival. My friends sent me some of these stamps and asked me to explain the patterns and some of the designs on them that they didn't quite understand. Sometimes I have to let them see the books I've written; I've written many articles about Chinese culture. In my view, it seems that the whole world's interest in Chinese culture is becoming increasingly intense.
Japan, South Korea, Mongolia, Vietnam, and other Asian countries also have "twelve zodiac signs." But their zodiacs are slightly different from China's. For example, these countries' zodiacs have cats instead of rabbits. In fact, even within China, the twelve zodiac signs in various ethnic traditions may differ. For example, the Dai ethnic group's twelve zodiac signs include elephants, which other ethnic groups do not have. But Westerners collectively refer to all these as "Chinese lunar calendar."
In China, for a long time, people have been accustomed to predicting a person's character and future based on their zodiac sign. Sometimes I am also asked whether Chinese people really believe that zodiac signs affect their lives during childhood. In all cultures and religions, as long as there are symbols and customs, people will follow them voluntarily, even if they may not fully believe in them. For example, it is said that people born under the rabbit sign are diligent, kind, and organized. While in the West, rabbits are used as a symbol of prosperity due to their excellent reproductive ability.
Even in today's China, people still place great importance on the harmony of zodiac signs between couples when discussing marriage. Parents will find a fortune-teller who can read the "Celestial Palace Chart" and understand the heavenly stems, earthly branches, yin, and yang five elements to help them calculate the eight characters (birth data) of the prospective son-in-law or daughter-in-law, hoping that the young couple's married life will be happy and harmonious.
For example, people always think that those born in the year of the monkey are smart, gentle, and enthusiastic, while girls born in the year of the sheep have a bumpy fate (there is a saying "girls should not be born under the sheep sign"), so there are very few children born in the year of the sheep, but in the following year of the monkey, there will be a large number of "monkey babies" born. However, with the changes in society and the improvement in people's educational level, more and more people believe that zodiac signs are just an ancient saying and cannot determine a person's destiny, like blood type matching and constellations.
In addition, "feng shui" is also a cultural phenomenon in China. Although it has not been officially recognized, many people, even Westerners, believe in feng shui. Globalization has never been a one-way street. Just as many Westerners now believe in China's twelve zodiac signs, more and more Chinese people are beginning to celebrate Western Christmas, Halloween, and Chinese brides are also starting to wear white wedding dresses.
Such cultural exchanges are thanks to the enhancement of China's international status brought about by its rapid economic development. Globalization is an irresistible trend, and naturally, cultural exchanges will become more frequent.
(Source: China Daily Network)