The Chinese Zodiac: Classical Perspective

Sometime ago a friend of mine, Sharon, inquired about the meaning of her son's animal sign, the dog, according to the traditional Chinese lunar calendar.

My reply:

Your son being born in the Year of the Dog has nothing to do with whether he has any of the characteristics of actual dogs. The same applies to you as well: Don't bother with any kind of "inner" search for a horse "nature" in yourself.

I'm afraid the classical understanding of the Chinese Zodiac has been lost. It goes something like this: Before leaving the earthly realm, the Buddha called for an audience with a couple of animals. To charge them with continuing his work, he said "I have an assignment for each of you." "You are to serve as living reminders to human beings, the most troublesome and most rigid of species, that they are to always be mindful of the need to continually change, adapt and be flexible -- like everything else in Nature."

The dog was assigned the task of reminding humankind to be true to loyalties. Loyalty, that is, to commitments to keep promises; to defend family, country and culture; to live out one's vision of what the life journey is all about. The ox is to remind human beings of the need, in some situations, to plod along in a linear fashion. The monkey is to be a living reminder of the need, at times, to be experimental and purposely indecisive and playful. Etc., etc., etc.