Everyone is familiar with the twelve signs of the Chinese zodiac: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. Legend has it that these were the animals that responded to Buddha’s call when he felt close to the end of his earthly life, and to reward them he named the yearly lunar cycles after them. The Chinese zodiac assigns one of these animals to each year in repeating twelve-year cycles. However, there is so much more to Chinese astrology and this book explores some of the fundamental concepts and their ancient origins: the five elements, the twelve earthly branches and the heavenly stems. Each symbol is listed with the corresponding Chinese character. The Chinese horoscope has always been a source of fascination for astrology lovers everywhere: part of this is due to the fact that it is based on twelve ordinary animals as opposed to the constellations which inspire western horoscopes. Each animal is associated with different personalities and characteristics. This book is not only informative but extremely decorative, thanks in part to the traditional Chinese binding featuring double pages, bound in paperboard, backed by paper, with gold lettering and red stitching.