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Argentine Sinologist Gustavo Ng: Why is the Chinese Zodiac a Unique Cultural Resource for East-West Exchanges?
Song Xueqing
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Argentine Sinologist Gustavo Ng: Why is the Chinese Zodiac a Unique Cultural Resource for East-West Exchanges?

A pair of window paper-cuts of the Chinese zodiac symbolize the vision of life. Red clothing given to relatives is believed to repel the "bad luck" associated with their zodiac animal year, and divination is used to determine the best match between two Chinese zodiac signs. As the Chinese Lunar Year of the Rabbit approaches, the culture of the Chinese zodiac has once again become a popular topic of discussion. As a cultural system commonly used by Chinese people to record birth years and zodiac signs and to predict fortune, the twelve Chinese zodiac signs have become an integral part of Chinese folk culture and have given rise to unique cultural traditions in East Asia, South Asia, and Latin America.

What kind of Chinese cultural evolution is embedded in the Chinese zodiac? Why is it described as a unique cultural resource for East-West exchanges? How does the Chinese zodiac sign of the Rabbit influence people's behaviour and choices? Gustavo Ng, an Argentinian sinologist, was recently interviewed by East Meets West of the China News Service and shared his in-depth analysis.

 

Why did you take Chinese zodiac culture as your research area?

Gustavo Ng: With the deepening of globalisation and the enhancement of Sino-Argentine friendship, many Argentines are becoming interested in Chinese culture. In recent years, the Chinatown in Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, has held large events annually to celebrate traditional Chinese festivals, attracting large numbers of people and allowing Argentines to interact directly with Chinese culture.

Fortune-telling is a popular topic of discussion in Argentina, and books on Chinese zodiac culture are also well-received. The Chinese zodiac was introduced to Argentina by Argentine actress Ludovica Squirru in the 1980s, and since then it has been a popular choice for fortune-telling. For over 30 years, Squirru has provided people with an annual "book of answers" to their future fortune. In 2017, her book on the Year of the Rooster sold 120,000 copies, outpacing the sales of the works of the famous Argentine author Borges.

I believe that Chinese zodiac culture provides an entry point to a deeper understanding of China. Only by immersing oneself in Chinese culture can one gain a deeper comprehension of its significance. Moreover, studying the Chinese zodiac allows us to understand its millennium-old customs and its practical value.

Three children in front of the Chinese New Year gift shop in Chinatown, New York, USA. Photo by Liao Pan

 

CNS: What kind of Chinese cultural and views on cosmology do the Chinese zodiac reflect? How can traditional Chinese culture be understood through the Chinese zodiac?

Gustavo Ng: The historical evolution of Chinese zodiac culture reflects the continuity of Chinese civilization. The "tradition" of Chinese culture is like a vast carpet, on which each generation adds to or repairs, eventually forming a unified and complete "carpet" with thousands of years of history. This way of creating history is a remarkable accomplishment.

The principles of the Chinese zodiac reflect the Chinese approach to viewing everything. When one is in a culture, it is through that culture that one sees the world. There is a distinct way of thinking in Chinese culture: one must delve into the essence of things and transform oneself into them in order to understand them. For example, if a person's Chinese zodiac sign is the monkey, the Chinese zodiac will help that person to adopt the "monkey mode," to see the world from a monkey's perspective, and to understand how to behave.

Chinese zodiac culture embodies the holistic and dialectical thinking of Chinese cultural perception. The Chinese zodiac is like a space with many doors, each leading us to Chinese culture, history, folklore, mythology, and philosophy. When we try to open the box to decipher Chinese zodiac culture, we find a wealth of clues inside, one box with another box inside, constantly throwing up new questions.

A bull statue appeared at Pier 39, a well-known attraction in San Francisco, USA, before the Chinese New Year of the Ox. Photo by Liu Guanguan

 

CNS: What are the similarities and differences between the Chinese zodiac and the Western zodiac as a way of fortune-telling?  

Gustavo Ng: Both the Chinese zodiac and the Western zodiac stem from research into astronomy and the calendar, and both provide clues to understanding the past, present and future.

In ancient China, the years are organised in terms of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches. The earthly branches are linked to twelve animals, identifying people born in each Chinese zodiac year as belonging to that zodiac sign and giving different symbolic meanings such as character and fortune. The Western zodiac originated from what the ancient Babylonians observed from the astrological signs and called a specific area of the sky a "constellation", which was used to measure time. In the 2nd century AD, the ancient Greeks combined the constellations with mythological stories to produce the names of the constellations that are so popular today. Both, therefore, stem from the ancient need to measure time and live with nature.

The difference lies in the fact that the Chinese zodiac is not predicted by the position of the stars in the universe, but rather by a comprehensive consideration of the forces of the entire universe. In Chinese zodiac culture, the world is made up of five elements - wood, fire, earth, metal, and water - which can mutually generate or overcome each other. But in the West, the four elements that make up the world are considered earth, fire, air, and water, referring to four static and eternal, non-interchangeable substances. In Chinese culture, things are forever changing, and this difference between motion and stasis is profound and influential.

San Francisco residents were shopping at Chinatown's Chinese New Year Flower Market. Photo by Liu Guanguan

 

CNS: Not only in China, but also in South Korea and Japan in East Asia, Thailand in Southeast Asia, and Mexico in Latin America, there is a tradition of zodiac culture. What are the different meanings of zodiac animals in different cultural contexts? How can we use Chinese zodiac culture to promote exchanges and mutual appreciation between Eastern and Western civilisations?

Gustavo Ng: Let's use the rabbit as an example. In Catholic countries, the rabbit is viewed as the creator of life and the symbol of Easter due to its fertility, so it holds the meaning of reproduction and renewal. In traditional Chinese culture, tales such as "The Jade Rabbit Grinds Medicine" and "The Cunning Rabbit Has More Than One Hideout" have been passed down, and the rabbit has been given symbolic meanings such as longevity and cunning. Of course, the rabbits in different cultures share some common traits, such as being shy, seeking harmony, and possessing gifts.

The zodiac animals are remnants of the mythology of life and have been used for thousands of years for different reasons. On one hand, as a result of nature worship, the zodiac animals have a totemic symbolism that helps people form an identity with their family, group, community, or even country. The rabbit, horse, and ox distinguish people's identities from those of other zodiac signs. On the other hand, like many ancient cultural customs, the cultural connotations of the zodiac animals are easy to comprehend and can be understood by people from different cultural backgrounds across countries, languages, and races. It is therefore a unique cultural resource for communication with the West.

The first step in the current cultural exchange between East and West has been taken, but the second step has yet to be realized. Due to differences in language and ways of thinking, it is difficult to understand a foreign culture using the discourse of that country and instead we tend to project "our" perspective onto theirs, which creates a divide. Chinese communicators should listen to the voices of local people and understand how their messages are received, rather than just reporting on what interests the communicator. Western audiences should also step outside of their cultural comfort zones and open themselves up to cultures other than Western culture.

Foreign friends posed for a photo with a Chinese zodiac sign in Chengdu, Sichuan. Photo by An Yuan

 

CNS: The Chinese Lunar Year of the Rabbit has arrived. You have said that "the Chinese zodiac is one of the ways to manifest the flow of energy in the universe", can you explain how the different zodiac signs with different energy states affect people's behaviour and choices in the context of the Year of the Rabbit? As science becomes more prevalent, can the culture of the Chinese zodiac continue to be passed on?

Gustavo Ng: The Rabbit is the fourth of the twelve Chinese zodiac signs and corresponds to the Mao of the twelve earthly branches, namely, the Year of the Rabbit. Specifically, a Chinese zodiac year lasts for one lunar year, and every twelve Chinese zodiac years is a cycle. The other cycle is the "five phases", each of which lasts for two years. In this way, two complementary cycles are formed, with the whole cycle lasting 60 years. Therefore, the year 2023 corresponds to the year of the water rabbit, as its Heavenly Stem is Gui, its Earthly Branch is Mao, and its phase of the five phases is water.

However, Chinese zodiac culture does not simply add the characteristics of the five phases to the front of the zodiac signs, and to understand it, one must strive to comprehend each phase of the five phases and what influences different energetic states of the five phases will produce, namely, the generating and overcoming cycles of the five phases. 

The Rabbit has given people born in the year of the Rabbit a great gift: to do all the necessary tasks correctly and to provide security for their families. They love their families very much and consider their loved ones as part of them. People born in the Year of the Rabbit will also be intensely aware of the many dangers left over from the Year of the Tiger. They will realise that in order to maintain a solid family life, career development, and financial status, they first need to build a secure foundation and a solid platform to deal with unforeseen situations, external attacks, and internal weaknesses. This is, of course, my personal research, and whether it is of universal relevance needs to be further explored.

Thai people posed for a photograph in front of the "tunnel of lights" in Bangkok's Chinatown. Photo by Wang Guoan

The Chinese zodiac culture has been used, forged, and refined by many people. Modern science has been remarkably dynamic in China, but ancient traditions such as divination, the five phases, and the Chinese zodiac have gradually been subsumed into 'irrational' categories and even misinterpreted by modern science. I believe that the Chinese zodiac is not a decorative element, but a vivid and substantial system of knowledge that becomes part of one's personal experience and individuality. I believe that this tradition will be rescued and given a new lease of life at some point in the future.

 

Gustavo Ng is an Argentine sinologist, well-known journalist, China expert, editor-in-chief of Dang Dai magazine, and researcher at the University of Congress in Argentina. He has worked for international mainstream media, such as Argentina's Clarín, Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun and Spain's El Mundo. In 2011, he founded Dang Dai magazine to systematically introduce the Chinese economy, society, and culture to Latin American readers and promote the enhancement of Sino-Latin American exchanges. He is the author of The Year of the Rooster, The Year of the Dog, The Year of the Ox, Everything You Need to Know About China, China: Beyond Poverty, 10,134 Kilometres Across China, and Butterflies in Autumn.

 

Song XueqingKailun Sui

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