The Chinese zodiac, explained | ShaoLan

1,327,153 views ・ 2016-06-30

TED


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

Translator: Alan Watson Reviewer: Elvis Wei
00:12
Have you ever been asked by your Chinese friend,
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各位有無試過畀你嘅中國朋友問
00:15
"What is your zodiac sign?"
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「你係乜嘢生肖?」
00:17
Don't think they are making small talk.
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唔好以為佢哋同你傾閒計
00:20
If you say, "I'm a Monkey,"
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如果你話:「我係屬𤠣。」
00:22
they immediately know
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佢哋即刻知道
00:23
you are either 24, 36, 48 or 60 years old.
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你嘅年齡一定係 24、36、48 或者 60 歲
00:27
(Laughter)
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(笑聲)
00:28
Asking a zodiac sign is a polite way of asking your age.
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問人屬乜嘢生肖係問人年齡嘅禮貌方法
00:32
By revealing your zodiac sign, you are also being evaluated.
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你講咗自己嘅生肖,人哋就會幫你算命
00:36
Judgments are being made about your fortune or misfortune,
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佢哋算下你會行好運定係唔好運
00:40
your personality, career prospects
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你嘅性格、事業前程
00:42
and how you will do in a given year.
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同你會喺某一年點樣過
00:45
If you share you and your partner's animal signs,
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如果你將自己同伴侶嘅生肖話畀人聽
00:48
they will paint a picture in their mind about your private life.
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佢哋嘅腦海就有咗你私生活嘅畫面
00:52
Maybe you don't believe in the Chinese zodiac.
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或者你唔信中國生肖運程
00:55
As a quarter of the world population is influenced by it,
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但佢影響全世界嘅四分一人口
00:59
you'd be wise to do something about that.
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你最好認識下佢比較好
01:02
So what is the Chinese zodiac, exactly?
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到底乜嘢係中國生肖呢?
01:05
Most Westerners think of Greco-Roman zodiac,
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多數西方人都會諗起希臘羅馬嘅星座
01:09
the signs divided into 12 months.
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佢哋將星座分為十二個月
01:11
The Chinese zodiac is different.
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中國嘅十二生肖就唔同
01:13
It's a 12-year cycle labeled with animals,
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佢係用動物命名,每十二年一個循環
01:17
starting with a Rat and ending with a Pig,
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排頭位嘅係老鼠,最尾嘅係豬
01:19
and has no association with constellations.
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呢啲運程同星座無關
01:23
For example, if you were born in 1975, you are a Rabbit.
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例如你係 1975 年出世,咁你屬兔
01:29
Can you see your zodiac sign there?
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你見唔見嗰度有屬於你嘅生肖?
01:32
Our Chinese ancestors constructed a very complicated theoretical framework
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我哋嘅祖先根據陰陽五行同十二生肖
01:37
based on yin and yang, the five elements and the 12 zodiac animals.
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做咗一個好複雜嘅理論架構
01:42
Over thousands of years,
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經過幾千年以嚟
01:44
this popular culture has affected people's major decisions,
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呢啲通俗文化已經影響人民做重大決定
01:48
such as naming, marriage, giving birth and attitude towards each other.
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譬如改名、結婚、生仔同人際關係
01:54
And some of the implications are quite amazing.
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有時會出現啲出人意表嘅結果
01:58
The Chinese believe certain animals get on better than the others.
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中國人相信有啲生肖比其他生肖匹配
02:03
So parents choose specific years to give birth to babies,
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於是夫婦會揀特定嘅年份生仔
02:07
because they believe the team effort by the right combination of animals
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因為佢哋相信大家生肖配合
02:12
can give prosperity to families.
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群策群力可以為家族帶來繁榮
02:15
We even refer to the zodiac when entering into romantic relations.
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我哋搵伴侶都要睇下生肖運程
02:20
I'm a Pig; I should have perfect romance with Tigers, Goats and Rabbits.
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我屬豬,咁同老虎、羊仲有兔都會好夾
02:27
Chinese people believe some animals are natural enemies.
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中國人相信有啲動物天生相沖
02:31
As a Pig, I need to be careful with a Snake.
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我屬豬, 所以要小心屬蛇嘅朋友
02:35
Raise your hand if you are a Snake.
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在座邊個係屬蛇嘅,唔該舉舉手
02:37
Let's have a chat later.
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我哋遲啲傾吓
02:39
(Laughter)
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(笑聲)
02:40
We believe some animals are luckier than the others,
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我哋相信有啲動物比其他動物好運
02:43
such as the Dragon.
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譬如龍
02:45
Unlike the Western tradition,
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唔似西方嘅傳統習慣
02:47
the Chinese Dragon is a symbol for power, strength and wealth.
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中國嘅龍象徵權力同財富
02:52
It's everyone's dream to have a Dragon baby.
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所以每個人都夢想生個龍仔龍女
02:55
Jack Ma's parents must have been very proud.
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馬雲嘅父母一定為佢覺得驕傲
02:58
And they are not the only ones.
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佢哋唔會係唯一孤獨嘅父母
03:00
In 2012, the Year of the Dragon,
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2012 年係龍年
03:03
the birthrate in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan
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中國、香港同台灣嘅出生率
03:05
increased by five percent.
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增加咗 5%
03:07
That means another one million more babies.
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即係代表比平時多咗一百萬有多嘅嬰兒
03:12
With a traditional preference to baby boys,
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由於中國傳統偏愛男嬰
03:15
the boy-girl ratio that year was 120 to 100.
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男仔同女仔喺呢一年係 120 :100
03:20
When those Dragon boys grow up,
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當呢啲龍仔大個之後
03:22
they will face much more severe competition in love and job markets.
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喺戀愛同搵工都會競爭得好犀利
03:27
According to the BBC and the Chinese government's press release,
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根據 BBC 同中國政府嘅新聞發布
03:31
January 2015 saw a peak of Cesarean sections.
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2015 年 1 月係剖腹生產手術嘅高峰
03:36
Why?
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點解?
03:38
That was the last month for the Year of the Horse.
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因為呢個係馬年嘅最後一個月
03:42
It's not because they like horses so much,
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佢哋唔係特別鍾意馬年
03:44
it's because they try to avoid having unlucky Goat babies.
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而係唔想生個唔好運嘅羊仔
03:48
(Laughter)
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(笑聲)
03:49
If you are a Goat, please don't feel bad.
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如果你屬羊,唔好唔開心
03:52
Those are Goat babies.
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呢啲人都係羊仔羊女
03:53
They don't look like losers to me.
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佢哋睇嚟都唔似輸家
03:56
(Laughter)
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(笑聲)
03:57
Tiger is another undesirable animal,
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老虎係另一隻唔受歡迎嘅動物
04:00
due to its volatile temperament.
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因為老虎性格變幻無常
04:02
Many Chinese regions saw a sharp decline of birthrate
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好多中國地區喺呢啲生肖年份
04:06
during those years.
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都見到出生率急劇下降
04:08
Perhaps one should consider zodiac in reverse,
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或者我哋應該反過嚟睇
04:11
as those Tiger and Goat babies will face much less competition.
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呢啲虎年同羊年嘅嬰兒面對少啲競爭
04:16
Maybe they are the lucky ones.
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可能佢哋係幸運兒
04:20
I went through the Forbes top 300 richest people in the world,
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我喺福布斯查過世界頭三百個有錢人
04:24
and it's interesting to see
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發現一件有趣嘅嘢
04:26
the most undesirable two animals, the Goat and Tiger,
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就係大家最唔想做嘅老虎 同羊呢兩個生肖
04:30
are at the top of the chart,
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竟然名列榜首
04:32
even higher than the Dragon.
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甚至高過龍
04:34
So maybe we should consider,
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咁樣我哋或者要諗下
04:36
maybe it's much better to have less competition.
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面對少啲競爭可能仲好
04:40
One last but interesting point:
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最後一點但係喺最有趣嘅一點
04:42
many Chinese people make their investment decisions
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好多中國人根據生肖運程
04:45
based on the zodiac sign index.
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嚟做投資決定
04:48
Although the belief and tradition of the zodiac sign
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雖然人民信賴生肖嘅傳統
04:52
has been over thousands of years,
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已經超過幾千年
04:55
the trend of using it in making major decisions
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但係人民利用生肖做重大嘅決定
04:58
did not really happen until the past few decades.
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直到呢幾十年,呢種熱潮先真正出現
05:01
Our ancestors were very busy surviving poverty, drought,
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以前我哋嘅祖先為咗生計奔波
05:06
famine, riot, disease and civil war.
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要抵受貧窮飢荒 乾旱、疾病同內戰暴亂
05:10
And finally, Chinese people have the time, wealth and technology
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最後中國人多咗時間,財富同科技
05:15
to create an ideal life they've always wanted.
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去創造自己一直希望嘅理想生活
05:19
The collective decision made by 1.3 billion people
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十三億人集體做嘅決定
05:23
has caused the fluctuation in economics and demand on everything,
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已經令到經濟波動,佢哋每樣嘢都需要
05:27
from health care and education to property and consumer goods.
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由醫療服務,教育到房屋同消費品
05:33
As China plays such an important role in the global economy and geopolitics,
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中國喺世界經濟同地緣政治都好重要
05:38
the decisions made based on the zodiac and other Chinese traditions
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佢哋根據生肖同其他中國傳統做決定
05:42
end up impacting everyone around the world.
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最後會影響到全世界每一個人
05:47
Are there any Monkeys here?
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呢度有無猴年出世嘅人
05:50
2016 is the Year of the Monkey.
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2016 係猴年
05:53
Monkeys are clever, curious, creative and mischievous.
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猴子生性聰明、好奇、多計同頑皮
05:58
Thank you.
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多謝
06:00
(Applause)
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(掌聲)
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