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Cultural Significance | Relationships | Religion | Influence on other Countries The history of the zodiac is based on the Chinese calendar, which is associated with Chinese astrology and ancient religion. One of the religions that influenced the zodiac was Taoism. In the Taoist beliefs, they use constellations and space to determine a person's "future." This applies to the zodiac because in Chinese astrology, they believe that the positions of the things in space can affect a person's destiny. They used the sun to decide how all zodiac signs were going to function according to the dates and times. Often in many zodiacs, a yin-yang symbol is embedded in the center, which represents any two opposing principles in the universe and how everything works. The origin of the yin-yang is from the religion Taoism. It is one of the well known symbols in Taoism, which is a belief "that a man is a microcosm for universe." The yin-yang ties in with the zodiac because it is combined with the Zodiac's five elements in order to read the ten stems; in which the zodiac uses to count days, months, and years. When it is combined, the yin-yang also affects the characteristics of the 12 zodiac animals. Another example of how religion ties in with the zodiac is with Buddhism, and how one of the legends tells how Buddha invites all the animals that were chosen for the zodiac. This is important to Chinese culture because the majority of people practice this religion, which has had the greatest religious impact on China. The religious influence has had a great effect on how the zodiac is structured and what is has become. Cultural Significance | Relationships | Religion | Influence on other Countries
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