{"id":189,"date":"2020-04-10T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-10T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.duchinese.net\/blog-wp\/2020\/04\/10\/101-12-chinese-zodiac-characters-and-their-unusual-idioms\/"},"modified":"2020-04-10T09:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-04-10T09:00:00","slug":"101-12-chinese-zodiac-characters-and-their-unusual-idioms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/duchinese.net\/blog\/2020\/04\/10\/101-12-chinese-zodiac-characters-and-their-unusual-idioms\/","title":{"rendered":"12 Chinese Zodiac Characters and their Unusual Idioms"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"189\" class=\"elementor elementor-189\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-2e99984 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"2e99984\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-9575ca9\" data-id=\"9575ca9\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a797323 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"a797323\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.23.0 - 15-07-2024 *\/\n.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked .elementor-drop-cap{background-color:#69727d;color:#fff}.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-framed .elementor-drop-cap{color:#69727d;border:3px solid;background-color:transparent}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap{margin-top:8px}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap-letter{width:1em;height:1em}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap{float:left;text-align:center;line-height:1;font-size:50px}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap-letter{display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t<p>The 12 animals of the Zodiac are represented by Chinese zodiac characters. These characters represent the Chinese zodiac animals.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-5c93ad72 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"5c93ad72\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-54f7cc85\" data-id=\"54f7cc85\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4c03f14b elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"4c03f14b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p>Below, we\u2019ll explain each animal and its character. We\u2019ll also show you a popular and often slightly unusual idiom for each zodiac animal.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<h2>Chinese Zodiac Characters<\/h2>\n<p>The Chinese Zodiac are referred to as \u751f\u8096 (sh\u0113ng xi\u00e0o).<\/p>\n<p>In Chinese you might say:<\/p>\n<p>\u4ed6\u751f\u8096\u5c5e\u9f20<br>W\u01d2 sh\u0113ngxi\u00e0o sh\u01d4 sh\u01d4<br>I was born in the year of the rat.<\/p>\n<p>Literally \u201cmy zodiac born in the year of the rat.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When referring to animals of the zodiac in Chinese, only a single syllable is used.<\/p>\n<p>So the Chinese zodiac character for Rat is not \u8001\u9f20 (l\u01ceo sh\u01d4), it\u2019s \u9f20 (sh\u01d4).<\/p>\n<p>Tiger, \u8001\u864e (l\u01ceoh\u01d4) becomes \u864e (h\u01d4).<\/p>\n<p>Rabbit, \u5154\u5b50 (t\u00f9zi) becomes \u5154 (t\u00f9).<\/p>\n<p>Monkey, \u7334\u5b50 \uff08h\u00f3uzi) becomes \u7334 (h\u00f3u).<\/p>\n<h2>Chinese Zodiac Story For Each Animal<\/h2>\n<p>If you haven\u2019t come across Chinese idioms before, they are a collection of characters that tell a larger story. Once you know the origin, you are able to infer the deeper meaning.<\/p>\n<p>There are thousands of idioms in Chinese (and even idiom dictionaries!) so these 12 Chinese zodiac animal stories only scratch the surface.<\/p>\n<h3>Year of the Rat | \u9f20 &#8211; sh\u01d4<\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.duchinese.net\/blog\/images\/12-zodiac-characters-shu.jpg\" alt=\"Year of the rat\"><\/p>\n<p>\u9f20\u76ee\u5bf8\u5149<br>sh\u01d4 m\u00f9 c\u00f9n gu\u0101ng<\/p>\n<p>Rats\u2019 eyesight is only an inch long.<\/p>\n<p>This idiom is about the future and usually used to describe somebody.<\/p>\n<p>People who only see the present don\u2019t consider the future. If you only see as far as a rat, you\u2019re not looking towards the future.<\/p>\n<p>You are as shortsighted as a rat!<\/p>\n<h3>Year of the Ox | \u725b &#8211; ni\u00fa<\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.duchinese.net\/blog\/images\/12-zodiac-characters-niu.jpg\" alt=\"Italian Trulli\"><\/p>\n<p>\u5bf9\u725b\u5f39\u7434<br>du\u00ec ni\u00fa t\u00e1n q\u00edn<\/p>\n<p>Playing the lute at a cow.<\/p>\n<p>The \u201clute\u201d here is a classical Chinese stringed instrument. Playing music to a cow is pointless, it won\u2019t understand!<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey will never understand you so it\u2019s useless to talk to them. \u5bf9\u725b\u5f39\u7434.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Year of the Tiger | \u864e &#8211; h\u01d4<\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.duchinese.net\/blog\/images\/12-zodiac-characters-hu.jpg\" alt=\"Year of the Tiger\"><\/p>\n<p>\u653e\u864e\u5f52\u5c71<br>f\u00e0ng h\u01d4 gu\u012b sh\u0101n<\/p>\n<p>Let the tiger go back to the mountain.<\/p>\n<p>Although this is more like don\u2019t let the tiger go back to the mountain.<\/p>\n<p>Imagine for a moment you are an ancient Chinese farmer\u2026<\/p>\n<p>A tiger has come down from the mountains and eaten one of your sheep. You\u2019ve managed to capture the tiger, but your conscience has gotten the better of you. Should you let him go?<\/p>\n<p>No! Don\u2019t let the tiger go back to the mountain, he\u2019ll eat your sheep again if you do.<\/p>\n<h3>Year of the Rabbit | \u5154 &#8211; t\u00f9<\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.duchinese.net\/blog\/images\/12-zodiac-characters-tu.jpg\" alt=\"Year of the Rabbit\"><\/p>\n<p>\u5b88\u682a\u5f85\u5154<br>sh\u01d2u zh\u016b d\u00e0i t\u00f9<\/p>\n<p>Keep watch at the tree stump, waiting for a rabbit.<\/p>\n<p>This Chinese zodiac story is about a lazy guy in his field. A rabbit came and \u201cBONK\u201d, ran into a tree stump, killing itself.<\/p>\n<p>So the farmer got a free rabbit.<\/p>\n<p>Now the farmer keeps watch in front of the tree stump, waiting for the next rabbit to come and kill itself.<\/p>\n<p>This Chinese zodiac story teaches us not to be lazy &#8211; if you want to be successful you have to work hard.<\/p>\n<p>Don\u2019t wait for the next rabbit to come along and land in your lap.<\/p>\n<h3>Year of the Dragon | \u9f99 &#8211; l\u00f3ng<\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.duchinese.net\/blog\/images\/12-zodiac-characters-long.jpg\" alt=\"Year of the Dragon\"><\/p>\n<p>\u4e58\u9f99\u5feb\u5a7f<br>ch\u00e9ng l\u00f3ng ku\u00e0i x\u00f9<\/p>\n<p>Riding a dragon makes for a pleasing son-in-law.<\/p>\n<p>The intended meaning here is that if you\u2019re riding a dragon you must be pretty awesome.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a metaphor for a wonderful son-in-law, so great it\u2019s like he rides dragons.<\/p>\n<p>The girl\u2019s parents can show off with their friends \u201cHey! We\u2019ve got a \u4e58\u9f99\u5feb\u5a7f.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve got a really awesome son-in-law.<\/p>\n<h3>Year of the Snake | \u86c7 &#8211; sh\u00e9<\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.duchinese.net\/blog\/images\/12-zodiac-characters-she.jpg\" alt=\"Year of the Snake\"><\/p>\n<p>\u86c7\u874e\u5fc3\u80a0<br>sh\u00e9 xi\u0113 x\u012bn ch\u00e1ng<\/p>\n<p>Snake-scorpion heart.<\/p>\n<p>Heart here is used in the sense that someone might have a good heart.<\/p>\n<p>However, this idiom describes somebody\u2019s heart as snake-scorpion: a venomous, black heart.<\/p>\n<p>This is usually applied to a woman. If she is called \u86c7\u874e\u5fc3\u80a0, she must have done something incredibly terrible, like abandoning her child.<\/p>\n<p>She has a heart fit for snakes and scorpions.<\/p>\n<h3>Year of the Horse | \u9a6c &#8211; m\u01ce<\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.duchinese.net\/blog\/images\/12-zodiac-characters-ma.jpg\" alt=\"Year of the Horse\"><\/p>\n<p>\u9a6c\u5230\u6210\u529f<br>m\u01ce d\u00e0o ch\u00e9ng g\u014dng<\/p>\n<p>Arriving war horses bring a swift success.<\/p>\n<p>If you want to do something very important to you, your friends might wish you luck saying \u9a6c\u5230\u6210\u529f.<\/p>\n<p>May you have a speedy, swift and easy success!<\/p>\n<p>This imagery refers to a stampeding charge of war-horses bringing a swift success in battle.<\/p>\n<h3>Year of the Ram | \u7f8a &#8211; y\u00e1ng<\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.duchinese.net\/blog\/images\/12-zodiac-characters-yang.jpg\" alt=\"Year of the Ram\"><\/p>\n<p>\u987a\u624b\u7275\u7f8a<br>sh\u00f9n sh\u01d2u qi\u0101n y\u00e1ng<\/p>\n<p>Pick up a sheep on the sly.<\/p>\n<p>That guy is a sheep thief.<\/p>\n<p>He saw the opportunity and very sneakily made off with the stray sheep.<\/p>\n<p>In the news, you might see something similar to this Chinese zodiac animal story: some guy \u987a\u624b\u7275\u7f8a. He stole something by taking advantage of an opportunity.<\/p>\n<p>At school, teachers will also remind kids \u201cDon\u2019t \u987a\u624b\u7275\u7f8a. It\u2019s bad!\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Year of the Monkey | \u7334 &#8211; h\u00f3u<\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.duchinese.net\/blog\/images\/12-zodiac-characters-hou.jpg\" alt=\"Year of the Monkey\"><\/p>\n<p>\u7334\u5e74\u9a6c\u6708<br>h\u00f3u ni\u00e1n m\u01ce yu\u00e8<\/p>\n<p>Monkey year horse month.<\/p>\n<p>You may have noticed this is not a real point in time. You can slide in \u7334\u5e74\u9a6c\u6708 when you don\u2019t know how long something is going to be.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOh, man! We have to wait for \u7334\u5e74\u9a6c\u6708.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>You can also use this to mean a long time ago. For example, one of your childhood friends reminds you of something and you say:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI can\u2019t remember that! It\u2019s from \u7334\u5e74\u9a6c\u6708.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Year of the Chicken | \u9e21 &#8211; j\u012b<\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.duchinese.net\/blog\/images\/12-zodiac-characters-ji.jpg\" alt=\"Year of the Chicken\"><\/p>\n<p>\u6740\u9e21\u53d6\u5375<br>sh\u0101 j\u012b q\u01d4 lu\u01cen<\/p>\n<p>Kill the chicken to get the eggs.<\/p>\n<p>The implications of doing this are what this Chinese zodiac story is getting at. It\u2019s similar to the message behind the year of the rat.<\/p>\n<p>If you kill the chicken, you can get the eggs right now, but if you had fed it instead you could have had many many more eggs.<\/p>\n<p>So if somebody does something particularly stupid you can squint your eyes judgementally and utter \u6740\u9e21\u53d6\u5375.<\/p>\n<h3>Year of the Dog | \u72d7 &#8211; g\u01d2u<\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.duchinese.net\/blog\/images\/12-zodiac-characters-gou.jpg\" alt=\"Year of the Dog\"><\/p>\n<p>\u72d7\u8840\u55b7\u5934<br>g\u01d2u xi\u011b p\u0113n t\u00f3u<\/p>\n<p>Dog\u2019s blood spraying all over your head.<\/p>\n<p>The graphic image of this story matches the ferocity of the action. This is usually applied when your mum would tell you off as a kid (or an adult!).<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s like she\u2019s spraying dogs blood over your head.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s used as a joke for an extreme torrent of abuse.<\/p>\n<h3>Year of the Pig | \u732a &#8211; zh\u016b<\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.duchinese.net\/blog\/images\/12-zodiac-characters-zhu.jpg\" alt=\"Year of the Pig\"><\/p>\n<p>\u732a\u670b\u72d7\u53cb<br>zh\u016b p\u00e9ng g\u01d2u y\u01d2u<\/p>\n<p>Dog and pig friends.<\/p>\n<p>If this was used against your friends (and probably you by association) it would mean you are all lazy incompetent sloths.<\/p>\n<p>Usually used by parents or girlfriends &#8211; stop hanging out with your \u732a\u670b\u72d7\u53cb!<\/p>\n<h3>How Will You Use Your Chinese Zodiac Story?<\/h3>\n<p>Well, you\u2019re now armed with a sling of Chinese zodiac inspired insults and compliments.<\/p>\n<p>How will you use them?<\/p>\n<p>This article was written by Scott who co-runs the Chinese learning YouTube, Fragrant Mandarin.<\/p>\n<p>Click here to see more of their awesome Chinese learning materials like hacks on pronunciation and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.fragrantmandarin.com\/speaking\/chinese-vowels-and-consonants\">how to speak Mandarin<\/a>.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>Want to try some reading practice around those idioms? Try out these lessons: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.duchinese.net\/lessons\/490-playing-the-lute-to-a-cow\">Playing the Lute to a Cow<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.duchinese.net\/lessons\/106-monkey-year-horse-month\">Monkey Year Horse Month<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.duchinese.net\/lessons\/492-guarding-the-tree-stump-for-rabbits\">Guarding the Tree Stump for Rabbits<\/a>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 12 animals of the Zodiac are represented by Chinese zodiac characters. These characters represent the Chinese zodiac animals. Below, we\u2019ll explain each animal and its character. We\u2019ll also show you a popular and often slightly unusual idiom for each zodiac animal. Chinese Zodiac Characters The Chinese Zodiac are referred to as \u751f\u8096 (sh\u0113ng xi\u00e0o)&#8230;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":188,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false},"categories":[2,5,6],"tags":[14,36,56],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/duchinese.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/029ae5b029dcfec5afc99378d055c5118c0c3881-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/duchinese.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/duchinese.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/duchinese.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/duchinese.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/duchinese.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=189"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/duchinese.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/duchinese.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/duchinese.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/duchinese.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/duchinese.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}