The Chinese Zodiac
The Ancients
History Hit
4.7 • 3.5K Ratings
🗓️ 30 January 2025
⏱️ 40 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The Year of the Snake is here! But how did a legendary tale of twelve animals shape Chinese astronomy and culture for over 3,000 years?
In this episode of The Ancients, Tristan Hughes is joined by Professor John Steele from Brown University to dive into the origins of the Chinese Zodiac to mark the Chinese New Year. They uncover how this ancient zodiac, associated with 12 animals, ties into Chinese astronomy and philosophy. Professor Steele explains the intricate cycles of 12 earthly branches and 10 heavenly stems that form a 60-year pattern deeply embedded in Chinese culture. Discover the mythical origins, the influence of lunar calendars, and the evolution of this zodiac from the Shang dynasty to today.
Presented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor is Aidan Lonergan, the producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.
Theme music from Motion Array, all other music from Epidemic Sounds
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, I'm Tristan Hughes, and if you would like the ancient ad-free, get early access and bonus episodes, sign up to History Hit. |
| 0:08.1 | With a History Hit subscription, you can also watch hundreds of hours of original documentaries, including my recent documentary all about Petra and the Nabatans, and enjoy a new release every week. |
| 0:19.3 | Sign up now by visiting historyhit.com slash subscribe. 2025 welcomes the year of the snake, the sixth animal of the 12 at the heart of the Chinese |
| 0:39.7 | zodiac. If you are born a snake, you are considered mysterious yet charismatic, calm, yet determined. |
| 0:47.6 | To many, it's all just fun superstition. Regardless, knowing your Chinese zodiac animal symbol |
| 0:52.7 | and what it represents has become |
| 0:54.7 | incredibly popular with people across the world. |
| 0:58.1 | It's part of your identity, a fun fact to share with friends. |
| 1:01.7 | If anyone wants to know, I'm a rat and couldn't be prouder. |
| 1:06.3 | But this is a tradition that has endured for more than a millennia. |
| 1:10.3 | So how exactly did this zodiac come about? |
| 1:12.9 | How did it relate to wider ancient Chinese astronomy and philosophy, their lunar calendar? |
| 1:18.2 | And why these particular 12 animals? |
| 1:22.4 | It's The Ancients on History Hit. |
| 1:24.8 | I'm Tristan Hughes, your host. |
| 1:27.1 | Today as Chinese New Year approaches, we are exploring these ancient origins of what is arguably |
| 1:32.0 | the most famous part of that festival, the Chinese zodiac. |
| 1:36.8 | Our guest today is Professor John Steele from Brown University, an expert on ancient astronomy |
| 1:41.7 | and lunar calendars. |
| 1:43.4 | Now, John, he has a particular interest in ancient |
| 1:45.7 | Babylonian astronomy, think their own famous zodiac featuring names like Capricorn, Ares, Leo, |
| 1:52.2 | Sagittarius and so on. An episode will no doubt do in the future. But John has also studied |
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