介绍:
This week marks the passing of another Lunar New Year under the Chinese zodiac named after animals. The 12-year cycle, or duodenary, will see the horse shooed away for a wooly-haired ruminant known in Chinese as the yang. But was it the sheep, the goat or the ram that made the fabled visit to Buddha during the 6th century B.C.?
As the legend goes, Siddhartha Gautama, hailing from a lordly family in what is now known as Nepal, attained enlightenment under a Bodhi tree outside the town of Gaya, India. Buddha then summoned all animals of creation to sit with him under the tree, but only 12 arrived. He offered his spiritual teachings to the 12 animals to spread the knowledge of enlightenment. A Chinese myth tells of how the animals were assigned to each year – after the gods held a contest to see which animal could cross a river the fastest. The animal zodiac system is used in the classification of personality types for those born under the year, and is even applied in charting the fortunes of the upcoming year. But with such an elaborate system in fortune-telling taxonomies, the ongoing ambiguity appears set to remain. In any case, as the eighth symbol of the zodiac, the animal represents Buddha's teachings on selflessness of person and compassion – all good wishes for the new year.
For Caixin Online, this is Diana Bates.
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