Year of Horse

"The Year of Horse":
1918, 1930, 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002

People born in the Year of Horse are popular. They are cheerful, skillful with money, and perceptive, although they sometimes talk too much. The are wise, talented, good with their hands, and sometimes have a weakness for members of the opposite sex. They are impatient and hot-blooded about everything except their daily work. They like entertainment and crowds. They are very independent and rarely listen to advice. They are most compatible with Tigers, Dogs, and Sheep.

Year 2002 is a Chinese Black Horse Year . Why do the Chinese name year 2002 as the Black Horse Year ? Chinese calendar uses the Stem-Branch system to count the days, months and years. There are 10 Stems and 12 Branches in the 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. From Year 1924 to Year  1983 is a complete cycle. Year 2002 is Yang Water Horse, the 19th of the Stem-Branch in the system. Because Water is equivalent to color Black in the Five-Element system, Year 2002 is also called Black Horse year. In Chinese astrology, Horse contains Fire element and color Red can represent Fire. Since Fire element in the Year 2002, therefore the water is not cold anymore.