![]() Many Western traditions dictate their zodiacs based on the sun, but the Chinese zodiac is predicated on the movements of the moon. It was a way for “the ancients,” as historians refer to them, to make sense of the world. The zodiac itself has its roots in early humanity, Lee explained. ![]() But that idea is really a Western kind of application into China that has a really horrible impact.” “That’s why during the Cultural Revolution you had the destruction of all the Chinese temples, to try to make Chinese people less ‘superstitious’ or, by extension, less religious. “There’s a whole history of the term, ‘superstitious,’ and how, really, that is responsible for the Cultural Revolution in China and the destruction of Chinese cultural heritage,” Lee said. Much of Chinese folk culture and religion had been blamed as the reasons why the country was unable to fight off colonial oppressors and “advance” into the modern age. Due to the permeation of a Western idea that it was not a legitimate belief system, the zodiac and age-old traditions like it were instead seen as a sign that the country was not sufficiently developed. The lore risked being lost in the 19th century, when China was attempting to fight colonial powers. Though much of the zodiac and traditions behind Lunar New Year have been frequently chalked up to “superstition,” Lee said it’s critical to recognize the customs as part of folk life. The purging of evil can be applied societally, for example, symbolizing the relatively positive shift from pandemic to endemic, Lee said. In Chinese mythology, Lee said, the tiger is called upon by the Jade Emperor, the ruler of heaven, to exorcise demons. Lee explained that the tiger - which is tied to the years 2010, 19, among others - has long held powerful significance in Chinese culture, where the zodiac tradition originated. “Or it’d be a message like, ‘This would be a good year for you, but you have to step outside the door. Step outside your comfort zone,’” Lee said. “If we were reading this like your horoscope, it’d be, ‘This is the year that you should be more courageous. It’s particularly relevant to those born in the Year of the Tiger, Lee said, who have the courage of the sign within them but need to actualize it. Lee stressed that much like a horoscope, the zodiac sign isn’t solely an omen, but also a reference to which qualities to harness to maximize the positive aspects of the tiger. “And I think 2022, the Year of the Tiger, will be a year when there will be movement towards driving out that evil.” “Collectively we have been living in the shadows of a great evil, the pandemic,” Lee said.
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