Highlights:
- Zodiac animals compatibility is very important when choosing a partner to marry
- Which lucky Lunar New Year to have a baby
Lunar New Year 2022 is the Water Tiger. Each of the zodiac animals will take their turn to govern the Lunar New Year cycle of 12 years and it will restart and repeat that cycle again and again.
There are many countries in Asia, East Asia, Southeast Asia or other part of the world having their own unique rituals and believes in regards to Lunar New Year and its zodiac animals. But how important are these Lunar New Year and zodiac animals toward Hmong culture?
Chai Khue Xiong is a Hmong Australian elder who practices and know Hmong culture very well says there will be zodiac compatibility issues when selecting a partner to marry.
''For instance when we talk about Lunar New Year animal, those who were born in the year of Ox can not marry those who are born in the year of Tiger and vice versa. And if they do marry each other, it will be a very problematic marriage," says Mr Xiong.
Our elders often told us and we used to know that this is very important. Therefore, those who were born in Ox Lunar Year must married a different zodiac animal not the one who were born in Tiger lunar year, and that person's life will be different. Thus if someone want a bride, there is always a saying - my son want to get married can you please calculate a suitable time so he can marry some one, says Mr Xiong.
Though this traditions of calculating an auspicious time is mostly practiced by men and rarely seen women involved.
When either a daughter or a son want to get married and whatever zodiac animal they were born in, you would calculate and figure out which zodiac animal control that particular month, or that day, and the time you calculate. Therefore if that time is happened to fall in Rabbit or Dragon time, it is the best time for a daughter or a son to get married, as this is the most auspicious time that will ensure a prosperous life. And the other side of that is if the couple has an incompatible zosays Chai Khue Xiong.
What will happen to the couple whose zodiac animals are incompatible?
"If the couple has an incompatible zodiac animals, their marriage could be a very problematic one and could end up separating and would not form a family as it should be," says Mr Xiong.
But why marrying is not just getting married but zodiac animals compatibility is involved?
Me as an elder, I remember correctly that those who were born in Dragon Lunar Year and Hare Lunar New Year particularly, if they are still born right on Rabbit day as well, those people will not only live a comfortable life but will not experience any hardship whatsoever no matter if they were female or male. They will raise healthy children, they will earn a fortune. And mostly for those who are born these Lunar New Years will live a happy life without worries, says Chai Khue Xiong.
"So if a person was born in that particular Lunar New Year with that certain zodiac animal, and if the day that the person was born also falls into that Lunar New Year zodiac animal, or even falls into the time which that zodiac animal is in control - that person will live a comfortable life."
But what does it actually mean if someone just happened to be born on that particular Lunar Year, and falls into the day and time of that zodiac animal influence as well?
In Hmong tradition, our elders haven't taught us much about these zodiac animals but when we migrated to this country (Australia), my children are happened to work with their Chinese colleagues and they said - In this modern era when Chinese people (Chinese Australian) want to conceive, they will make sure that their children are only born in the Lunar New Year of the Hare, the Dragon and the Pig, says Chai Khue Xiong.
"Since my existence and I saw those who are born according to these particular time is so significant. For instance, in my family particular my children, I personally calculate the most auspicious time to conceive either daughter or son, and I choose a very good name that is suitable for that particular time for that child, s/he will grow up healthily without much hassle," says Mr Xiong.
Take my family as an example, ''I give birth to my 12 children, 6 girls and 6 boys, it seems like all of them are healthy because I believe in the 12 zodiac animals which I calculate an auspicious time for my wife to conceive according to what our elders advices."
Others who have lots of trouble raising children and and their children are not so healthy, they would come to ask me to be their god father. I would calculate the auspicious time and bring some strings to tie their children's wrists and give them a blessing. After that it seems that their children stop getting sick and so they grow up healthy. And their children who are born after their first sicky child will have no issue growing up, that is because I calculate the auspicious time from these 12 zodiac animals to give them the blessing. So it seems to make you feel that you are more powerful, the words of mouth from one person to another, the belief from one person to the next, making other people call upon me to help them with their sicky children or helping those that are not growing up properly as they should. So my blessing seems to work because I calculate the auspicious time according to these 12 zodiac animals.
Chai Khue Xiong says that ''Since we had war with Chinese past dynasty, we lost everything and we suffered tremendously. What we can still hold onto until these days is the knowledge and wisdom about the 12 zodiac animals which our elders pass on to us. And for those who want to preserve and carry on this knowledge they can still practice if they want to follow exactly as Hmong traditional footsteps."
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