Think pig

It was widely reported in the media earlier this year that it was the Year of the Golden or Metal Pig. However, those in the fung shui industry know this is actually the Year of the Fire Pig. So how many kinds of pig are there?

In Chinese astrology, each of the 12 animals of the zodiac can be assigned any of the five elements. Thus, there are five types of pigs: the wood, fire, earth, metal and water pig. With this classification, there are 60 types of animal, also known as the sexagenary cycle. The cycle starts with the wood rat, runs through the next 58 animals then ends with the water pig, before starting again with the wood rat. Hence, it was considered an important event in ancient China when one lived to the age of 60 as he or she had gone through all the different animals and types of energy and had therefore lived a full life. Each additional year after the age of 60 was considered a bonus.

Fung shui masters are also able to correlate the final digit of the year of birth with one's element. For instance, wood years end with the digits '4' or '5'. Those still alive today and born in the wood pig year would thus have been born in 1995 or 1935. This information is used to predict a person's character in Chinese astrology.