The Worth: Chinese New Year

“Say goodbye to the Rooster, and welcome the Year of the Dog”

With the Chinese New Year approaching on February 16^th, in this round of The Worth we asked the British public whether they would pay to change their Chinese zodiac sign.

The zodiac system in China, and most of Eastern Asia (including its variations), uses animals to represent each year of a 12-year cycle, which roughly replicates the 11.86-year period that Jupiter takes to do a full rotation around the sun.

The tale goes that the zodiac animals were invited by the Jade Emperor to attend a meeting, with their order in the Chinese calendar dictated by the order of their appearance at the summon. Thus, the journey to the palace turned into a race, in which each of the animals showed character traits thought to be inherent to them.

Our data shows that only 6% of the British public would pay £20 or more to change their zodiac symbol. The small group who would pay are younger, and over-index in minority ethnic groups such as “White and Asian” or “Indian”. Just over 60% of Brits don’t know their zodiac symbol, and even amongst those who would pay to change 46% don’t know what they’re changing it from.

Within the animals themselves, our study found that people are more willing to pay for certain symbols. The animals most likely to be paid for are Dragon, Rabbit and Pig, while the Goat and Tiger are least popular. The Dragon is confident, kind-hearted and ambitious, while the Rabbit is known for its cleverness, compassion and sensitivity, and the Pig is known to be gentle and happy.

People have hypothesised that zodiac signs have such immense meaning in the Chinese culture, that they affect birth rates in certain years as no parent wants their child to be born under the sign of the Rat, for example, who is thought to be clever and charming, yet greedy and devious. In the original tale, having to swim through a river on the way to the Emperor, the rat hid on the Ox’s back and won the race by a nose, jumping on the shore before the Ox came out of the water.

On Feb 16^th we’ll move from the Year of the Rooster to the Year of the Dog. Although they are good swimmers, the dog got tempted to play in the river and arrived almost last to the meeting. Its journey is characteristic of the Dog’s nature, as it’s playful, loyal and honest. Tigers and Rabbits will have good fortune this year, so stick close to them!