|
2003 Chinese New Year and Chinese Black Sheep Year
|
Year 2003 is a Chinese Black Sheep (Black Goat, Black Ram) Year. Why do the Chinese name year 2003 as the Black Sheep Year? Chinese calendar uses the Stem-Branch system to count the days, months and years. There are 10 Stems and 12 Branches in
this system. Stems are named by the Yin-Yang and Five Elements (Metal, Water, Wood, Fire and Earth). The Stem sequence order is  Yang Wood, Yin Wood, Yang Fire, Yin Fire, Yang Earth, Yin Earth, Yang Metal, Yin Metal, Yang Water and Yin Water. Branches use the animal names. |
The Branch sequence order is 
Rat, Cow, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Chicken, Dog and Pig. Stem and Branch are used together to form a cycle of 60 counting systems which begin from 
Wooden Rat and end with 
Water Pig. You can see the entire sequence from the Chinese New Year's page. From Year 1924 to Year 1983 is a complete cycle. Year 2003 is Female Water Sheep, the 20th of the Stem-Branch in the system. Because Water is equivalent to color Black in the Five-Element system, Year 2003 is also called Black Sheep year. Snake (2001), Horse (2002) and Sheep (2003) are the cycle of Fire years. The Sheep is the ending year of the cycle. Sheep contains Fire, Earth and Wood elements. Therefore, the year of Sheep will carry the old business from the Horse year, then face the new business from the Earth element. In the end period of Sheep year is the precursor of next Metal cycle. That means 2003 is a turning point year for many people.
Chinese New Year
 |
The Chinese New Year day is on February 1st, 2003. Because this is the new moon day, the first day of the first Chinese lunar month in the Chinese Lunar Calendar system. The new moon time is at 18:48 of 1-Feb-03 in China time zone and the new moon time is at 02:48 of 1-Feb-03 in the US Pacific Standard Time, so the Chinese New Year day is on February 1st, 2003 for USA time zones. |
In China, the first day of the Black Sheep Year is February 4th, 2003 in the Fortune-Telling Calendar system, because February 4th, 2003 is the first day of Tiger month and the Tiger month is the first month of a year in Chinese Fortune-Telling Calendar system.
In the Chinese Fortune-Telling calendar, the first day of the first month, Tiger month, is called "Start of Spring", which is when the sun enters 315th degree on the tropical zodiac. In the China time zone, the time of Start of Spring is at 02-04 14:06. So the first day of the Black Sheep year 2003 is on 04-Feb-03. For USA the time of Start of Spring is on 02-03 at 22:06 PST, therefore we can say that the first day of the Chinese Black Sheep year is February 3rd, 2003 in US Pacific Time zone. If a baby was born on or after month Start of Spring, then she or he is a black sheep in the family.
The Year 2003 (Black Sheep) is the 4700th Chinese year. The Chinese believe that the first king of China was the Yellow King (he was not the first emperor of China who completed the Great Wall). The Yellow King became king in 2697 B.C., therefore China will enter the 4700th year on February 4th, 2003. Also, the Chinese Year uses the cycle of 60 Stem-Branch counting systems and the Black Sheep is the 20th Stem-Branch in the cycle. Since 4700 = (60 *78) + 20, therefore this Black Sheep Year is the 4700th Chinese Year.
Some web sites say the year 2003 is the 4701st Chinese year. If you cannot find the explanation, here is a possible answer for you. The Yellow King's inauguration was held in the spring of 2697 B.C.. But the calendar of Yellow King used the winter solstice day as the first day of the year. So the first winter solstice was on around December 23rd, 2698 B.C. Today's January 1st means nothing to Yellow King. If we count that extra eight days in 2698 B.C. for a year, then year 2003 is the 4701st Chinese year.
Forecast using the theory of Five Elements
George Bush vs. Saddam Hussein
Let's look back to the forecast of last year first. 2002 is the year of Black Horse, which contains Water and Fire. Year 2002 is not a peaceful year, because Water and Fire are hostile each other. When Water and Fire are together, the disputes and arguments will be there. The solution for this conflict is the Wood.
It's quite coincident that we heard news about terrible flood and fire accidents in USA, China and Australia in 2002. It looks like that the countries with less green trees (Wood) have more political conflicts. People had less luck in 2002 probably because they had less Wood in their birth charts or didn't stay in Wood environments often.
Year 2003 is the year of Black Sheep, which contains Water, Fire, Earth and some Wood. Again, Water and Fire are incompatible as in 2002; Water and Earth are unfriendly. Fortunately, there is a little Wood inside the Sheep. When Water is fighting with Fire or Earth, Wood has a chance as the mediator between them. Also, 2002 Black Horse is a pair of male Fire and male Water; 2003 Black Sheep has a pair of female Fire and female Water. The conflict between males always comes stronger than the one between females. Therefore, the impact of the conflict between Fire and Water in 2003 is much lesser than in 2002. This means 2003 will be more peaceful than 2002 and year 2003 continues the Five Element cycle flow from 2002. Any unfinished business in 2002 will carry over to the next year until the fall of 2003.
Year 2004 is the year of Wooden Monkey. Monkey is in the first year of the Metal cycle. Year 2003 is the last year of the Fire cycle. 2003 is the year between the two Element cycles. Chinese astrology calls this type of the year as a corner year. That means 2003 is a changing and unpredictable year. People who had luck in 2003 will come and go, because Black Sheep mixes Water, Fire, Earth and some Wood. Roughly, if your lucky element is Water, then you will be lucky during the first half of the year. If your lucky element is Fire, then the summer of 2003 is your lucky season. If your lucky element is the Earth, the second half of the year will make you luckier.
The first day of the 2003 Black Water Sheep year is on 2-04-03 in China. Actually, the Water cycle of 2003 begins in November, 2002. Water flow will pause in the beginning of summer, then quietly come back in the beginning of winter. If your lucky element is Water, you can push your luck from the winter of 2002, not wait till 2003. If you don't know your lucky months, you will miss your Water luck in 2003.
If your lucky element is Earth, then beginning month for Earth in 2003 is July. The precursor (developing) month of Earth is from the beginning of summer. The sudden luck only goes to very few people. If you just sit waiting for July luck, it is guaranteed that the luck won't come to you. If you are a businessperson and want to sell your products well in July, you need to be well-prepared from precursor months of May and June. The energy of Earth will help you succeed in July.
If your lucky element is Fire, then the lucky months are in May or June. The precursor month of Fire is from February. If your lucky element is Metal, then August and September are the best months for you in 2003, because Metal is extremely strong in the fall of 2003. If your lucky element is Wood, then the strong Wood months of February and March will make your day.
No one has year long luck in 2003, and everyone has at least two months of luck. We need to push our luck to the limit during the lucky months. If you miss the Wood Luck in the spring, then you have to wait for 2004. Wood Luck doesn't have any chance at all during the fall, because Wood is quite unfavorable in the territory of strong Metal in the fall of 2003.
What Will Happen To You?
If you are not quite sure about your Lucky Element, then you still can know what might happen to you in 2003 using the theory of Five Stars, which are Companion Star, Child Star, Money Star, Career Star and Parent Star.
Applying the Five Stars into yearly cycle, we can know something will happen in that year. But if you want to know how much they can impact your life, then you still have to study the Five Elements relationships among your Lucky Element, yearly cycle and 10-Year Major cycle in your birth chart.
Click here to predict your 2003
When Things Go Wrong
If you are doing well in 2002, then you can skip this paragraph. Bad economy impacts many people's lives in 2003. Many people are struggling for better lives. Here is the theory of sow and reap in Chinese astrology. If you know the concept, you will be more sure about tomorrow, and will have more confidence to face in the years to come and quickly to bring your luck back.
Feng Shui 2003
|
The southeast area of the house is an unlucky area in 2003. Do not have any home improvement in this direction. The eastern area is not lucky area, either. Do not let weak or sick family member live in the bedroom in this direction. The southern area is an auspicious area and gives people career and money luck in 2003. The northern
area is good area for a study room. |
Archive Article
How to Prepare Chinese New Year in USA
Why Do We Need Five Elements Calendar?
May joy, happiness, wealth and health
come to you
throughout the Year of the Black Sheep!
Home of Chinese Astrology Online