It's the Year of the Metal Rat according to the Chinese zodiac, which could mean big changes in the new year.
On 1/25/20 at 8:00 AM EST2020 is the Year of the Rat, inaugurating a new 12-year cycle in the Chinese zodiac, beginning on Saturday, January 25—the Lunar New Year.
The exact origins of the Chinese zodiac are unknown, but associations between animals and years developed were codified during the Han Dynasty—sometime between the second century B.C. and second century A.D.—and became popular as birth year indicators in subsequent centuries. The lunar calendar on which the Chinese zodiac depends is even older, with origins in the Zhou dynasty, which ruled parts of China for nearly 800 years until its final defeat in 222 B.C.
Fireworks are lit to celebrate Lunar New Year and the advent of the Year of the Rat on January 25, 2020 in Hue, Vietnam.Each Chinese zodiac year couples an animal with one of five rotating elements—water, wood, fire, metal, earth—making 2020 not just the Year of the Rat, but the Year of the Metal Rat. Or, since the Chinese symbol for rat can also refer to a mouse and other small rodents, those born between January 25, 2020 and February 11, 2021 could also consider themselves metal mice.
The spread of coronavirus has blunted celebrations of the Lunar New Year in China, where travel restrictions have affected celebrants, like this girl standing next to a"Year of the Rat" display in a Beijing railway station.Similar to astrology, the zodiacal Rat is laden with multiple layers of symbolism. Associated with the hour before and after midnight, the rat typically represents new beginnings.
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