Neil Somerville - Your Chinese Horoscope for Each and Every Year

Contents Cover Title Page Copyright About the Author Dedication Epigraph Acknowledgements Introduction The Chinese Years The Rat The Ox The Tiger The Rabbit The Dragon The Snake The Horse The Goat The Monkey The Rooster The Dog The Pig Appendix Elements Ascendants A Final Word About the Publisher

Thorsons

An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published by Thorsons 2017

FIRST EDITION

© Neil Somerville 2017

Cover layout design © HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 2017

Cover illustration © Shutterstock.com

A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library

Neil Somerville asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Find out about HarperCollins and the environment at

www.harpercollins.co.uk/green

Source ISBN: 9780008191054

Ebook Edition © June 2017 ISBN: 9780008191047

Version: 2017-04-04

Neil Somerville is one of the most widely read writers in the West on Chinese horoscopes. His 30-year annual series, Your Chinese Horoscope , enjoyed an international following and was translated into many languages. He is also the author of the bestselling books Chinese Love Signs (Thorsons, 2000), Chinese Success Signs (Thorsons, 2001), The Answers (Element, 2004) and Cat Wisdom (Thorsons, 2017).

Neil has always felt that much can be learned from the wisdom of the East and, as a hobby, enjoys writing haiku. A keen walker and traveller, he lives with his wife in Berkshire, England, and has a son and a daughter and far too many books.

TO ROS, RICHARD AND EMILY

As we march through life,

we each have our hopes, our ambitions and our dreams.

Sometimes fate and circumstance will assist us,

sometimes we will struggle and despair,

but march we must.

For it is those who keep going,

and who keep their aspirations alive,

who stand the greatest chance of securing what they want.

March determinedly,

and your determination will, in some way, be rewarded.

Neil Somerville

Cover

Title Page Contents Cover Title Page Copyright About the Author Dedication Epigraph Acknowledgements Introduction The Chinese Years The Rat The Ox The Tiger The Rabbit The Dragon The Snake The Horse The Goat The Monkey The Rooster The Dog The Pig Appendix Elements Ascendants A Final Word About the Publisher

Copyright

About the Author

Dedication

Epigraph

Acknowledgements

Introduction

The Chinese Years

The Rat

The Ox

The Tiger

The Rabbit

The Dragon

The Snake

The Horse

The Goat

The Monkey

The Rooster

The Dog

The Pig

Appendix

Elements

Ascendants

A Final Word

About the Publisher

The world of a writer is both wonderful and strange, and I would like to give a special thanks to my family, Ros, Richard and Emily, for their great support and for putting up with the mountain of paperwork I produce and trail of notes I leave in my wake. And thank you too to my parents, Peggy and Don, for all they did.

Thanks too to Carolyn Thorne, my editor at HarperCollins, for her encouragement and support, as well as to Lizzie Henry for all her work over the years. A special mention as well to Barbara Booker for her thoughtfulness and faith, and to Barbara Smith, who has kindly given me an opinion on many an occasion.

I am also grateful to the many who have helped me in my study of Chinese horoscopes, including those who first awakened my interest in the wisdom of the East. And I acknowledge too the work of other writers on Chinese horoscopes, all of whom have added to the subject and shared their insights. Particularly to Derek Walters, Theodora Lau and Suzanne White, all of whose work I recommend, and other luminaries, thank you.

And to you who are now reading these words, thank you for taking the time and for your interest. And wherever you may be reading and at whatever time, I hope that in some way this book will help and encourage you as well as alert you to the specialness and potential that are within you.

Whether in indicating portents or highlighting strengths and weaknesses, Chinese horoscopes offer a timeless wisdom from which we can all profit. Although their origins date back to at least 2637 BC, when Emperor Huang Ti introduced the Chinese calendar, it is only recently that the subject has gained prominence in the West. As a result, many are now familiar with their animal sign and look forward to reading what each Chinese year has in store. It is a fascinating subject and a helpful one.

For those new to Chinese horoscopes, the Chinese year is based on the lunar year, which starts in late January or early February. Each of the Chinese years is named after an animal and there is a legend offering an explanation for this. It describes how one Chinese new year, the Buddha invited all the animals in the kingdom to a party. Only 12 showed up – the Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. In gratitude, the Buddha named a year after each of the animals and said that those born in that year would have some of the personality of that animal.

Another legend offers an explanation for the order of the years. According to this, the animals had to race across a river and the order they finished in would be the order of the years. The Rat, very much an opportunist and determined to win, craftily rode on the back of the Ox and, just as the Ox reached the riverbank, leaped off and ran ahead, so winning the race. This is said to be why the Rat starts the cycle of years and the Ox is next, followed by the other 10 animals. The Pig, who is known as a great finisher, aptly came in last.