Year of the Snake

By now we all know that by the Chinese Zodiac, this is the Year of the Snake. The poor snake is probably a universally hated animal, so this year there has been an attempt to clean up his image.

This snake on the door of a 7/11 store, it looks more like a puppy than a snake. The term for this is ANTHROPOMORPHIZE, it is a great word, it means attributing human form or attributes to what is not human. We could say that all of the Walt Disney cartoon characters have been anthropomorphized. (Mickey Mouse looks more like a human than a mouse.)

Sometimes in Asia, the snake is called "the little dragon", because dragons are better than snakes. Snakes are too real.

We saw another friendly snake at Yuan Shan Park.

This snake was part of a light show that was being tested for Chinese New Year.

Chinese New Years was on February 10th this year and that seemed kind of late. But actually it wasn't. I took the table of Chinese New Year dates from Wikipedia and manipulated it with Excel(I'm trying to become more proficient with Excel). Since 1924 the range of dates for CNY has fallen between January 21st and February 20th. So February 10th is not that special.

Because CNY follows the Chinese Lunar Calendar it is a movable date, like Easter.

There are twelve signs in the Chinese Lunar Zodiac one for each year and then they repeat. If your birthday is not in January or February is is easy to find your sign. If you were born in January or February you have to be a little more careful and know the exact date of CNY. The table below should help.

For example, although Florence and I were both born in 1950, I was born on January 31st before CNY so I am an Ox/Cow, Florence was born later in the year so she is a Tiger.

Feb	5,	1924	鼠	Rat
Jan	24,	1925	牛	Ox
Feb	13,	1926	虎	Tiger
Feb	2,	1927	兔	Rabbit
Jan	23,	1928	龍	Dragon
Feb	10,	1929	蛇	Snake
Jan	30,	1930	馬	Horse
Feb	17,	1931	羊	Goat
Feb	6,	1932	猴	Monkey
Jan	26,	1933	鷄	Rooster
Feb	14,	1934	狗	Dog
Feb	4,	1935	猪	Pig
Jan	24,	1936	鼠	Rat
Feb	11,	1937	牛	Ox
Jan	31,	1938	虎	Tiger
Feb	19,	1939	兔	Rabbit
Feb	8,	1940	龍	Dragon
Jan	27,	1941	蛇	Snake
Feb	15,	1942	馬	Horse
Feb	5,	1943	羊	Goat
Jan	25,	1944	猴	Monkey
Feb	13,	1945	鷄	Rooster
Feb	2,	1946	狗	Dog
Jan	22,	1947	猪	Pig
Feb	10,	1948	鼠	Rat
Jan	29,	1949	牛	Ox
Feb	17,	1950	虎	Tiger
Feb	6,	1951	兔	Rabbit
Jan	27,	1952	龍	Dragon
Feb	14,	1953	蛇	Snake
Feb	3,	1954	馬	Horse
Jan	24,	1955	羊	Goat
Feb	12,	1956	猴	Monkey
Jan	31,	1957	鷄	Rooster
Feb	18,	1958	狗	Dog
Feb	8,	1959	猪	Pig
Jan	28,	1960	鼠	Rat
Feb	15,	1961	牛	Ox
Feb	5,	1962	虎	Tiger
Jan	25,	1963	兔	Rabbit
Feb	13,	1964	龍	Dragon
Feb	2,	1965	蛇	Snake
Jan	21,	1966	馬	Horse
Feb	9,	1967	羊	Goat
Jan	30,	1968	猴	Monkey
Feb	17,	1969	鷄	Rooster
Feb	6,	1970	狗	Dog
Jan	27,	1971	猪	Pig
Feb	15,	1972	鼠	Rat
Feb	3,	1973	牛	Ox
Jan	23,	1974	虎	Tiger
Feb	11,	1975	兔	Rabbit
Jan	31,	1976	龍	Dragon
Feb	18,	1977	蛇	Snake
Feb	7,	1978	馬	Horse
Jan	28,	1979	羊	Goat
Feb	16,	1980	猴	Monkey
Feb	5,	1981	鷄	Rooster
Jan	25,	1982	狗	Dog
Feb	13,	1983	猪	Pig
Feb	2,	1984	鼠	Rat
Feb	20,	1985	牛	Ox
Feb	9,	1986	虎	Tiger
Jan	29,	1987	兔	Rabbit
Feb	17,	1988	龍	Dragon
Feb	6,	1989	蛇	Snake
Jan	27,	1990	馬	Horse
Feb	15,	1991	羊	Goat
Feb	4,	1992	猴	Monkey
Jan	23,	1993	鷄	Rooster
Feb	10,	1994	狗	Dog
Jan	31,	1995	猪	Pig
Feb	19,	1996	鼠	Rat
Feb	7,	1997	牛	Ox
Jan	28,	1998	虎	Tiger
Feb	16,	1999	兔	Rabbit
Feb	5,	2000	龍	Dragon
Jan	24,	2001	蛇	Snake
Feb	12,	2002	馬	Horse
Feb	1,	2003	羊	Goat
Jan	22,	2004	猴	Monkey
Feb	9,	2005	鷄	Rooster
Jan	29,	2006	狗	Dog
Feb	18,	2007	猪	Pig
Feb	7,	2008	鼠	Rat
Jan	26,	2009	牛	Ox
Feb	14,	2010	虎	Tiger
Feb	3,	2011	兔	Rabbit
Jan	23,	2012	龍	Dragon
Feb	10,	2013	蛇	Snake
Jan	31,	2014	馬	Horse
Feb	19,	2015	羊	Goat
Feb	8,	2016	猴	Monkey
Jan	28,	2017	鷄	Rooster
Feb	16,	2018	狗	Dog
Feb	5,	2019	猪	Pig
Jan	25,	2020	鼠	Rat
Feb	12,	2021	牛	Ox
Feb	1,	2022	虎	Tiger
Jan	22,	2023	兔	Rabbit
Feb	10,	2024	龍	Dragon
Jan	29,	2025	蛇	Snake
Feb	17,	2026	馬	Horse
Feb	6,	2027	羊	Goat
Jan	26,	2028	猴	Monkey
Feb	13,	2029	鷄	Rooster
Feb	3,	2030	狗	Dog
Jan	23,	2031	猪	Pig
Feb	11,	2032	鼠	Rat
Jan	31,	2033	牛	Ox
Feb	19,	2034	虎	Tiger
Feb	8,	2035	兔	Rabbit
Jan	28,	2036	龍	Dragon
Feb	15,	2037	蛇	Snake
Feb	4,	2038	馬	Horse
Jan	24,	2039	羊	Goat
Feb	12,	2040	猴	Monkey
Feb	1,	2041	鷄	Rooster
Jan	22,	2042	狗	Dog
Feb	10,	2043	猪	Pig