Legend says that in ancient times, the Emperor of Heaven summoned all animals to meet him on Chinese New Year. Twelve came, and he named a year after each one. He also announced that the people born in each animal's year would have some of that animal's personality.

Despite idioms based on the perceived characteristics of some animals - such as "short-sighted as a rat," "lazy as a pig" and "narrow-minded as a chicken" - all of them receive considerable respect in the year of their rule.

Furthermore, nowadays the animal signs often serve as a way to indirectly ask people their age.

The horse is representative of a male god. In ancient times, people regarded the horse as a symbol of bravery, as they believed the mounted fighters' bravery would lead to victory in war. They used to keep small wooden or iron horse figurines at home for protection.

The horse also played an important role in the mythology of early China. It was closely associated with the dragon, as both were thought capable of flight and of carrying their riders to the "home of the immortals." The ability to fly has been associated with many stories of survival throughout Chinese history.

People born in the Year of the Horse are considered popular and talented. Usually they are passionate, cheerful, faithful, skillful, prosperous and perceptive, although they sometimes talk too much. It is believed that they are independent and rarely listen to advice.

The Year of the Horse used to be thought of as a bad year for the birth of a girl, as people were afraid of "ruining the family" by having a much too high-spirited daughter. However, such biased thinking has largely passed.

Another custom involving the horse was the riding of a white horse as part of a wedding ceremony in China. The bridegroom always went to the bride's house riding on a white horse. This was connected to beliefs about a heavenly horse and the god of the sun. The horse represented the sun, and the sun represented masculinity.

Horses and heroes

According to an old Chinese saying, "Steeds and beauties always belong to the emperors." Consequently, the stories of the steeds belonging to many historical figures were recorded for many years.

Xiang Yu (232-202 BC), the king of Xichu (206-202 BC), had an extraordinary horse named Wuzhuima which he rode for years and used when he fought enemies in his triumphal battles. As time passed, a deep love between the two developed.

In a five-year battle (206-202 BC) between Xiang Yu and his longtime rival Liu Bang (256-195 BC), who afterwards became the emperor of Western Han (206 BC-AD 24), Xiang Yu was defeated and chased to the side of Wujiang River.

Since he had nowhere to escape after crossing the river, Xiang decided to commit suicide. But he didn't want his favorite horse to be left as a trophy for his enemy. He asked one of his soldiers to use the only boat he had and carry the horse across the river and care for it. But just a few minutes after the boat started to make its way across the river, the horse suddenly sprang out of the boat and plunged into the torrential water.

Some horses have even been worshipped by ordinary people as deities for thousands of years. The red steed of Guan Yu, a brave general in the Three Kingdoms period (AD 220-280), is an example.

Guan Yu's favorite horse Chitu died from sadness after Guan Yu's death. Its faithfulness touched people so much that it was regarded as a god later on.

Owning extraordinary horses in ancient times sometimes reflected the greatness of an emperor. The famous Qinshihuang Emperor (259-210 BC), the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC), loved horses deeply. He had hundreds of rare steeds in his stable and he even had more than 500 war "horses" put in his tomb to accompany him after his death.

(China Daily February 11, 2002)