This difference can be explained by the fact that during the adoption of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches calendar, the Vietnamese made adjustments to better align with their own geography and culture.
According to the lunar calendar, the new year of 2023 is the Year of the Cat. Interestingly, while countries like China, South Korea, and Japan represent the Year of the Rabbit, Vietnam is the only country that designates the cat as its zodiac sign.
In Vietnam, the cat represents the Year of the Cat. (Image: Wallpaper).
Origin of the 12 Zodiac Animals
According to the book “The 12 Zodiac Animals in Vietnamese Culture”, the 12 zodiac signs originate from the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches calendar. This type of calendar first appeared during the Shang Dynasty (1766-1122 BC) in China. Accordingly, the 12 zodiac animals are associated with the Twelve Branches.
Thus, ancient Chinese people selected 12 animals closely linked to human life or those that were domesticated early for inclusion in the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches calendar, in this order: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig.
In Vietnamese culture, according to the book “East Stories, West Stories” by author An Chi, “zodiac” is a colloquial expression from the Southern dialect.
The Cat and the Rabbit are both the fourth zodiac signs in the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches calendar in Vietnam and China.
The zodiac sign represents a 12-year lunar cycle, derived from the names of the 12 Earthly Branches, from Rat to Pig, which encompasses a broad meaning of a time cycle from one year to the end of that cycle after 12 years.
In the Northern dialect, “zodiac” was initially understood as a 60-year cycle; later, it became more flexible and is now understood as a 12-year cycle.
The main difference in the 12 zodiac signs within Vietnamese culture is that the cat replaces the rabbit.
Why is the Year of the Cat in Vietnam?
There are various explanations for why the cat represents the Year of the Cat in Vietnamese culture.
In Chinese, the two words are distinct in tone, but phonetically, “cat” (măo) and rabbit (máo) are pronounced the same, both as “mao.” In the “Vietnamese Dictionary,” the word “mão,” meaning rabbit, is also used to refer to the cat.
Sim Sang – Joon, Director of the Vietnam-Korea Cultural Exchange Center, also explains that although cats are not part of the Twelve Branches, their Chinese character is pronounced similarly to that of rabbits (máo – in Sino-Vietnamese, miêu).
Cats are a familiar animal in the lives of Vietnamese people. (Image: Kelvin Valerio/Pexels).
Even though the Vietnamese adopted the Twelve Branches (12 zodiac signs) from China, it seems that due to environmental factors, they did not adopt the model exactly as it was but adapted it to suit their living conditions.
In Vietnam, the environment is much more conducive to cats than to rabbits. Because Vietnam is a culture of greenery, not of the grasslands.
If grasslands are environments with soft pastures where animals can freely graze in herds, greenery represents a diverse environment with various interwoven plant life.
Moreover, in Vietnam, rabbits are not common and familiar; they are only seen as gentle and cute creatures, while cats are often dubbed “little tigers” and are close to family life.
Cats also appear in folklore, proverbs, and songs… They have the talent of catching mice, which greatly benefits families, especially in an agricultural economy.
Another explanation suggests that replacing the rabbit with the cat in the 12 zodiac signs has been widely accepted and makes sense. According to Reuters, both rabbits and rats are rodents, and the 12 zodiac signs need to be unique and distinct.
Cats also create a symmetrical relationship with dogs (Tuất). According to the theory of Yin and Yang, this creates a balance, helping to resolve conflicts, harmonize opposing aspects, and make the zodiac circle more balanced.
