CollectivismvsIndividualism---onChineseZodiacandWesternConstellation.docVIP

Collectivism vs. Individualism---on Chinese Zodiac and Western Constellation Abstract: As we all know, culture, usually defined as the total of material and spiritual product, reflects people’s ways of life, thinking activities, aesthetic sense, etc. Through comparing and analyzing, we can get a clear idea of the differences and similarities between two cultures. When it comes to Chinese zodiac and western constellation culture, we may first think that in Chinese Zodiac culture, the twelve symbolic animals function in classifying Chinese people born in different year, that in Western Constellation culture, the twelve constellations reflect the people’s characteristics even the destiny. In this project report, we will get deep into the two symbolical cultures, and find the differences and similarities between the two cultures. Introduction: in order to have more all-round perspectives, we divide the study into three parts: the origin; the time period method; the character analysis. Introduction: The Origin: Ⅰ. The Origin of Chinese Zodiac. Chinese Zodiac Sign Legend 1. Since the Han Dynasty, the 12 Earthly Branches have been used to record the time of day. However, for the sake of entertainment and convenience, they have been replaced by the 12 animals (the Rat, the Ox, the Tiger, the Rabbit, the Dragon, the Snake, the House, the Goat, the Monkey, the Rooster, the Dog, the Boar). The 24 hours are divided into 12 periods, and a mnemonic refers the behaviors of the animals. Chinese Zodiac Sign Legend 2. One day, the Buddha called the animals to a meeting in which he would designate the first 12 animals arriving to be signs of a year respectively. The rat, who loves to play tricks on his neighbor, told that the meeting was on the day after tomorrow. The cat believed his neighbor the rat and slept dreaming of the meeting. The next day, the rat arrive