Chinese Zodiac Signs – Meaning And Significance

Chinese Zodiac Signs – Meaning And Significance

I like to thank Roger Koh, the “living Confucius” for sharing the meaning and significance of the Chinese Zodiac signs with me.

Even though I don’t subscribe to the Chinese Zodiac signs, I like to share the wisdom behind representations of the zodiac signs.

I hope I have done justice in interpreting their meanings and communicating their significance to you.

Thank you Adam Teow for the beautiful Infographic.

It was said that Mr Zhou En-lai was once having a meal with his friends.

A person by the name of Klaus passed an impolite comment when he was drunk.

“You Chinese carry the signs of pigs, dogs, and mouse at birth.

“I can’t understand what’s going on in the mind of your ancestors?”

At that point, the distinguished group of friends started to laugh. They started to toast each other rowdily.

The cultured and serene atmosphere was broken.

Some people believe that when someone insults your ancestors, even if you cannot insult him back, the least you could do is to overturn the table against him.

Fortunately, nobody acted rashly or in violence.

For a while, not a single word was uttered. It was probably because they have not come across this situation before.

Then, Mr Zhou En-lai stood up and spoke to everybody in a calm and peaceful way.

“The Chinese ancestors were very wise. They arranged the twelve zodiac signs in pairs. Six pairs in a cycle.

In this way, they expressed their hopes and wishes for the generations that came after them.”

By then, the room was in complete silence. There were some sceptical looks among the audience.

Mr Zhou En-lai continued, ” The first pair of animals is the rat and cow.

“The rat represents wisdom and the cow represents diligence. Wisdom and diligence must operate in harmony.

“If there is wisdom but no diligence in applying it, it’s foolishness.

“On the other hand, if there is diligence but no wisdom, it’s folly.

“That’s why wisdom and diligence must go hand in hand. This is our ancestor’s first wish for us. The first pair of animal also represents the most important hope.

“The second pair is the tiger and rabbit.

“The tiger represents courage and the rabbit represents carefulness. These two qualities are closely-knitted and synergistic.

“By having these two qualities, one can have a better chance to achieve success.

“Without carefulness, courage becomes recklessness. Similarly, without courage, carefulness becomes cowardice.

“This pair of qualities is very important. That’s why it’s the second pair.”

Mr Zhou En-lai looked at the audience and then he added, “Therefore, when we demonstrate our carefulness, please do not think that we don’t have the courage to fight for social justice.

“In truth, what our ancestor is pursuing is wisdom through integrity, harmony, and balance. It’s never about a single hope or task.

When he saw that the audience was deep in thought, Mr Zhou En-lai continued, “The third pair is the dragon and snake.

“They represent strength and flexibility.

“Strength without flexibility becomes brittle. On the other hand, without strength, flexibility becomes meaningless.

“That’s why having strength with flexibility is an important lesson from our ancestor that has lasted through time.

“The next pair is the horse and goat.

“The horse represents the ability to gallop to success. The goat represents the ability to be considerate and have compassion.

“While pursuing a goal, if the person looks after himself and have no consideration for the others, he will face obstacles from the people around him.

“Eventually, he may not even be successful.

“However, if a person only looks after the others and seek only to be amiable and amicable, he will not have a sense of direction. His goal will gradually be lost.

“That’s why the spirit of the horse and virtues of the goat must be applied in harmony with each other. This is our ancestor’s fourth wish for us.

“The next pair is the monkey and the chicken.

“The monkey represents agility and the chicken represents stability.

“As there were no clocks in the days of old, the chicken was needed to wake humans up to start a new day.

“The qualities of agility and stability must be tightly coupled together.

“If you have agility but no stability, your best plan will not come to pass. However, if you focused on having stability and refuse to change, you will not have a better future.

“When the two qualities are operating in harmony, there will be stability in terms of having, for example, effective systems and collaborations.

“Moreover, there will be a release of unrelenting creativity and innovation to achieve progress.

“When these two qualities operate synergistically, it will create a stronger momentum to achieve success.

“Lastly, we have the dog and the pig.

“The dog represents loyalty while the pig represents good nature.

“If a person is loyal but does not have a good nature, he will be blindly following others.

“On the other hand, if he has a good nature but does not have loyalty, he will have nobody and principles to guide him.

“That’s why whether its loyalty to a country, loyalty to a team, or loyalty to an ideology, you need to ensure that having a good nature is tightly coupled with and functioning alongside with loyalty.

“In that way, you can have a deep-seated sense of loyalty that comes from the heart.

“This is why the Chinese believes that the outer core must be in alignment with the inner core (外圆内方,君子和而不同).

“At the inner core, we must have a pure heart that subscribes to high moral values. We must seek to live with integrity and positive principles.

“We must live up to our words and not do anything that will harm others.

“At the external core, we must be knowledgeable about the ways of the world. Be wise in managing the affairs around us.

“Focus on what matters in life and not be influenced by evil.

“And live with righteousness and in harmony with others and the environment.

“We must not have any form of prejudice or seek to discriminate against anyone.”

At the end of his speech, there was complete silence.

They said that you could even hear a pin dropped.

Go4It!

I hope this message will find a place in your heart.

By the way, I have also recorded other reflections.

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