HISTORY
Aatrology is one of the most anicent of the Chinese philosophies. It is at least 2,000 years old. Originally, astrology was inseparable from astronomy. The two were considered to be one discipline. China has one of the oldest civilizations in the world, and from very early on practitioners of astronomy/astrology were always present as officials of the im[perial court.
In ancient China, astrology was used to reveal what was expected to happen to a nation. It was not until the beginning of the Christian ear that astrology began to be used to give individual readings. By the Tand dynasty (618-907 A. D.), a whole encyclopedia had been written about the art of giving personal astrological readings.
LEGENDS
The origin of the 12 animals signs of the Chinese astrology is unclear. Chinese legend attributes the creation of the signs to the Yellow Emperor in 2637 B. C. The Yellow Emperor is a semimythical figure in Chinese history. Other legends credit Buddha (c. 563 – c. 48B.C.) with the creation of the 12 – animal cycle. Apparently, he invited all the animals to visit him, but, for some reason, only 12 showed up. To Thank them, Buddha gave each animal a year which would be dedicated to that animal alone throughout history. The years were allocated in the order which the animal had arrived.
From The Little Giant Encyclopedia of the Zodiac
This link takes you to Amazon.com where the book I am and will be quoting from is for sale. This book covers both Astrological Zodiac we usually use for astrology readings and also the Chinese Zodiac. There is a section where they explain how using the two signs together can give you an even better idea of your personal astrology readings. The book cover has changed from red with white lettering to a black and gold with red and white lettering. Both books are exactly the same the gold and black is just an updated cover.
