According to Wikipedia, The Rat, the first of the 12-year cycle of animals in Chinese Zodiac, "was welcomed in ancient times as a protector and bringer of material prosperity", and "is associated with aggression, wealth, charm, and order, yet also with death, war, the occult, pestilence, and atrocities".
Rat people "are leaders, pioneers and conquerors. They are charming, passionate, charismatic, practical and hardworking. They are endowed with great leadership skills and are the most highly organized, meticulous, and systematic of the twelve signs. Intelligent and cunning at the same time, rat people are highly ambitious and strong-willed people who are keen and unapologetic promoters of their own agendas, which often include money and power".
If you are interested in reading more, here is the whole thing. If you are a fan of Chinese Astrology, here are some sites for you:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_astrology
http://www.c-c-c.org/chineseculture/zodiac/zodiac.html
Wish everyone a very prosperous new year.
祝大家鼠年吉祥，财源广进！
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6 responses so far ↓
Partial solar eclipse and another New Year « MusEditions // February 7, 2008 at 1:23 pm |
[...] do see my friend Walkingbetween’s great post and links about this year. Apparently, this is an “Earth Rat” year! [...]
ellaella // February 8, 2008 at 3:04 am |
Hi! MusEdition’s brought me here. Very interesting and thanks for the Wiki link. I didn’t know the signs had countries and foods assigned to them. I definitely have to work on being a better dragon. :)
walkingbetween // February 8, 2008 at 3:19 pm |
guess what, I didn’t know either!
Those astrology can come up with all sorts of stuff… i have no idea where some of them come from…
for what it’s worth my sign is associated with “bread and poultry”… @_@
poodle puppies // February 12, 2008 at 11:34 am |
I hope this doesnt mean we will see more rats in chinese food restaraunts!
bigapplezlp // February 20, 2008 at 5:09 pm |
Happy Belated Chinese New Year!
I also heard that Rat is an animal of wisdom. It’s also good at “climbing up”. So, Year of Rat may bring good luck in your career. :)
walkingbetween // February 20, 2008 at 5:39 pm |
haha, i imagine a rat can not only climb “up”, but is perfectly capable of climbing “down” as well… :-D