Background

The order of years in the ancient China was composed of Tian Gan , the ten Heavenly Stems of Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, Wu, Ji, Geng, Xin, Ren and Gui in combination with the Twelve Earthly Branches of Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu and Hai to form 60 groups including Jia Zi, Yi Chou, and Bing Yin, Which are called "60 Jia Zi" meaning a cycle of 60 years.

The ancient Chinese wizards used 12 animals to match the twelve Earthly Branches, Zi stands for rat, Chou for cattle, Yin for tiger, Mao for rabbit, Chen for dragon, Si for snake, Wu for horse, Wei for sheep, Shen for monkey, You for chicken, Xu for dog, and Hai for pig. such saying started in the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220), and later generations used one of the twelve animals, representing the twelve Earthly Branches to symbolize the year in which they were born. For example, those who were born in the year of zi would say their symbolized animal was mouse, those who were born in the year of shen had symbolized animal of monkey, and those who were born in the year of Hai attached to themselves to pig.

The "60 Jia Zi" and "12 animals", which represent the 12 earthly Branches, used to symbolize the year in which a person is born, have remained in the Chinese history for a long period of time, and become part of people customs and habits as well as an important part of the traditional Chinese culture, Although China has adopted the way of numbering the years according to the Christian era, the traditional Chinese calendar still keeps the way of numbering the years according to the "60 Jai zi". To a person with the Chinese blood relationship, the symbolized animal of the year, when he was born, is a special mark throughout his life.

A.D. 1995 is the year of Yi Hai, according to the "60 Jia zi ", and stands for pig. Therefore, it is also called the "Year of Pig".

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