Vietnamese+Zodiac+JMG

Imagine the zodiac lunar calendar. It seems simple, 12 animals on a rotating basis easy right? Wrong. The Zodiac is actually a timekeeping system of tens and twelve's. There are 10 tribes each representing their own type of element. Meaning of the tribes (can) is in parentheses


 * Giap (water in nature)
 * At (water in the home)
 * Binh (lighted fire)
 * Dinh (latent fire)
 * Mau (wood of all types)
 * Ky (wood set to burn)
 * Canh (metal of all kinds)
 * Tan (wrought metal)
 * Nham (virgin land)
 * Quy (cultivated land)

In addition to the tribes, are the twelve branches to the zodiac. Each branch also has its own animal. The zodiac was so complex at one point, and the majority of the population was illiterate, that the majority of the population could not understand it so the Animals were added in. Due to the fact it’s a lunar calendar. Each year begins in late January or early February. The Vietnamese new year is known as Tet


 * ty (Rat)
 * suu (Buffalo)
 * dan (Tiger)
 * mao (Cat)
 * thin (Dragon)
 * ty (Snake)
 * ngo (Horse)
 * mui (Goat)
 * than (Monkey)
 * dau (Rooster)
 * tuat (Dog)
 * hoi (Pig)

Each branch (animal) not only corresponds to a year, but the branches also are used for months and hours. So if it was 8:00 in June in the year 2000 it would be: the time of the Dragon, month of the Horse, year of the Dragon.

.........Animal......... Year........ Month............... Time
 * Snake ........1965 ........ May .............. 9am to 11am
 * Horse .........1966 ........June .............. 11am to 1pm
 * Goat ...........1967 ........July ............... 1pm to 3pm
 * Monkey .......1968 .......August ............ 3pm to 5pm
 * Chicken .......1969 .......September ...... 5pm to 7pm
 * Dog .............1970 .......October .......... 7pm to 9pm
 * Pig ..............1971 .......November ...... 9pm to 11pm
 * Rat ..............1972 ........December ..... 11pm to 1am
 * Buffalo .........1973 .......January .......... 1am to 3am
 * Tiger .............1974 ......February ......... 3am to 5am
 * Cat ...............1975 ......March ............. 5am to 7am
 * Dragon .........1976 .......April ............... 7am to 9am

With the 10 tribes and 12 branches the zodiac rotates on a sixty year cycle. Therefore no one person will see a given year more than twice throughout their life time.Each year in the Zodiac lunar clender is comprised of twelve months each with thirty days. Each day is 12 X 2 hours long. Now that you know how the zodiac time keeping system works, here are a few of major Vietnam dates.


 * .....................(beginning) Month / Year...... (end) Month / Year**

//Tet Offensive// ...................Buffalo / Goat............... Tiger / Monkey

//Fall of Saigon// ...................Dragon / Cat (Time of the Horse)

//Operation//......................... Tiger / Snake............... Dog / Monkey //Rolling Thunder//

//Operation..........................// Monkey / Monkey //Pegasus//

Suggestions or Comments please e-mail me at __jmgrappone@hotmail.com

References:__ //Fruits Basket// by Natsuki Takaya //Vietnam// by Nelles http://www.waytovietnam.com/culture-detail.asp?qCLId=101 http://www.vietnam-war.info/battles/fall_of_saigon.php