Constellation

Compaired with the year of 12 animals, young people prefer to talk about the constellation from western culture. Most of them are quite clear about their character of 12 signs of the zodiac and willing to talk about other’s. The best way to join them is to know some Chinese words of the zodiac. Let’s look at the words below:

12 signs of the zodiac

Symbol	Latin name	English translation
♈	Aries	The Ram
♉	Taurus	The Bull
♊	Gemeni	The Twins
♋	Cancer	The Crab
♌	Leo	The Lion
♍	Virgo	The Maiden
♎	Libra	The Scales
♏	Scorpio	The Scorpion
♐	Sagittarius	The Archer
♑	Capricorn	Goat-horned
♒	Aquarius	The Water-Bearer
♓	Pisces	The Fish

 

The Ram: 白羊座 (Báiyánɡ zuò).  Bái in Chinese means white. And yánɡ means ram. Zuò is a shorter form of xīnɡzuò, which means constellation in Chinese.

 

Taurus: 4/21-5/21

The Bull: 金牛座 (Jīnniú zuò). Jīn means gold and niú is cattle, bull in Chinese.

 

Gemini: 5/22-6/21

The Twins: 双子座 (Shuānɡzǐ zuò). Shuāng means double, a pair of. Zǐ means child in ancient Chinese. The whole phrase means twins.

 

Cancer: 6/22-7/22

The Crab: 巨蟹座 (Jùxiè zuò). Jù is huge in Chinese. Xiè means crab. 

 

Leo: 7/23-8/23

The Lion: 狮子座 (Shīzi zuò). Shīzi means lion in Chinese.

 

Virgo: 8/24-9/23

The Maiden: 处女座 (Chúnǚ zuò). Chúnǚ means maiden.

 

Libra: 9/24-10/23

The Scales: 天秤座 (Tiānchènɡ zuò). Tiānchènɡ menas scales. But due to another Chinese word tiānpínɡ which also means scales, people sometimes call the Scales Tiānpínɡ zuò as well.

 

Scorpio: 10/24-11/22

The Scorpion: 天蝎座 (Tiānxiē zuò).  Tiān means sky and xiē means scorpion. So these two words together means scorpion in the sky….

 

Sagittarius: 11/23-12/21

The Archer: 射手座 (Shèshǒu zuò). Shèshǒu means the shooter in Chinese. 

 

Capricornus: 12/22-1/20

The Goat-horned: 摩羯座 (Mójié zuò).  Mójié means high goat in Chinese.

 

Aquarius: 1/21-2/19

The Water-Bearer: 水瓶座 (Shuǐpínɡ zuò). Shuǐ means water and pínɡ means bottle in Chinese. So the whole phrase means water bottles.

 

Pisces: 2/20-3/20

The Fish: 双鱼座 (Shuānɡyú zuò).  Shuānɡ means double and yú means fish.
 

How to talk about constellation with Chinese people?

 

你是什么星座？

Nǐ shì shénme xīnɡzuò? ( xīnɡzuò: constellation)

 

我不相信星座运势。

Wǒ bù xiānɡxìn xīnɡzuò yùnshì. (xīnɡzuò yùnshì: horoscope)

 

 

我是摩羯座。

Wǒ shì Mójié zuò.