To the Chinese, the horse is a beautiful and noble animal, peace-loving and hardworking. And in the coming lunar year, the horse will be galloping even faster than usual, because this is the time period when the signs of the horse and of fire occur together. This is, in short, the Year of the Fiery Horse.
Chinese lunar years run in cycles of 60. The best known aspect of this is the zodiacal series of animals—12 in number and in this order: rat, ox, tiger, hare, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, chicken, dog, and pig. Additional to the animal identifications are the five elements: wood, fire, earth, gold, and water. Each of these is expressed in two Chinese characters called the 10 Celestial Stems, which combines with the zodiacal signs in such a way as add up to 60. When the series has run its course the whole thing begins all over again. This year will present the combination of ping-wu, or fiery horse.
In olden times, the people paid close attention to the astrological effects of various combinations. A girl born in a year of fire was sure to consume a husband who came from a year of wood. However, the wood-year man or woman would derive sustenance from a water-year mate—and so on. Similarly, some signs of the zodiac may have an affinity or an antagonism for each others. As one marriage aphorism puts it, "The white horse shares no stall with the black cow. " In other words, a "horse " man should not mate with a "cow " woman, and vice versa.
Entirely apart from astrology, Chinese physiognomists classify humankind into 14 animal types. On of these is the horse-faced individual: long face, big eyes, huge teeth. His body is long, too, and he canters or gallops instead of walking.
The God of Horses had his own birthday on the 23rd day of the 6th moon. The cult of horse worship tended to center in northern China, where the animal is still important as a means of transportation. Ponies of Mongolia and Manchuria are renowned for their endurance—and on the Great Steppes a man's life may depend on them. The god had four hands and three eyes, the latter for his three incarnations.
Taiwan has few horses. In this island province the water buffalo is the beast of all work, doubling in duty behind plow and cart. Yet the horse remains a favorite animal in art in myth, in story, and in the hearts of the people. The Year of the Horse is supposed to be lucky. People of Taiwan enter the Year of Fiery Horse confident they can maintain the economic growth and prosperity of the island, and hopeful that coming months also will be marked by progress toward the supreme goal: a free and democratic China.