The Chinese have many beliefs. Often, we in the West, don’t understand their beliefs of traditions and dismiss them away as superstition. Yet, they really aren’t grounded in fantasy at all. They follow a belief or an understanding on how the universe works.

Let’s take a look at the Ben Ming Nian, or the twelve-year cycle of change…

Introduction

The Chinese believe that every twelve years, a person has a year of change and readjustment. Often this period can bring about some significant stress and discomfort if the person is not aware of what is going on or understands why this period is important.

This means, obviously, that when a person hits the Ben Ming Nian, that their lives will start to experience some changes. This will occur when they are twelve years old, twenty four years old, thirty six years old, forty eight years old, sixty years old, seventy two years old, and eighty four years old. Those who survive their eighty four year old birthday can look forward to a Ben Ming Nian at ninety six, and one hundred and eight years of age.

A Time of Bad Luck?

It is easy to dismiss this time as a time of bad luck. However, that is not really accurate. It is a time when you have too much of what you naturally possess.

Think of it like this; imagine that you are like a pot of chilli. You have meat, sauce, salt, peppers and it is a good and decent pot of chilli.

Every year different ingredients are added to the pot. One year, you might have sweet yellow peppers added. Another year, you might have hamburger added. A different year, you might have onions added. However, every Ben Ming Nian, all of the normal ingredients are doubled!

According to the Chinese astrology, the zodiac year is a year of bad luck. Most Chinese people are afraid to spend their birth sign year. 

Why is it unlucky? It's said that the people during the Ben Ming Nian are easy to encounter Tai Sui who is the legendary God in charge of people's fortune. Their fortune usually fluctuates during the year. Many bad things such as illness, financial loss, extramarital affair etc. may happen to them. 

Some people think it's superstitious to believe this. 

In fact, it's not completely bad for people in the zodiac year. It varies greatly from individual to individual. Some people may have good fortune instead of bad luck. But in general, marriage, moving house, travel, starting business…are thought to be worthy of great attention during the year.

-Fortune in Ben Ming Nian

So, continuing on the chilli analogy, consider that on some Ben Ming Nian years, you have too much salt, while on others, you might have too much meat, or too many peppers. Now, too many peppers might make the chilli far too spicy to eat. Thus, it would be a very bad year for the pot of chilli.

Not every Ben Ming Nian is bad. Though the raw truth is that things can get choppy and dicey at times. You need to take care and be careful in what you do, say and behave.

In folklore, it is a very popular superstition that people's zodiac year of birth is really unlucky, so it is also called Threshold Years, which means a year with a lot of obstacles in life. Why is Ben Ming Nian considered ominous? It is said that starting from the Chinese New Year of one's year of birth, people will offend 'Tai Sui', a mysterious power or celestial body that could control people's fortune. Impacted by this power, people will suffer either exultation or misery during that year.

-Travel China Guide

Caution

In general, a person is advised to “lie low”. Don’t start anything new or over extend yourself. It is easy to get entangled in troubles and conflicts.

So the best thing that you can do is spend time in nature, don’t get too upset about anything. You need to realize that like it or not, when bad things occur, they are fated. It is beyond your control.

Theory

Contemporaneously, it is believed that a person is surrounded by a non-physical reality. Within this non-physical are cyclic events and attributes that ebb and flow  depending on a host of causes and effects.

This non-physical reality differs from person to person. However, it consists of things that ebb and flow according to synchronized events that are triggered upon birth.

The Chinese have given these various components and their behaviors all sorts of names. They have created a series of “animal characteristics” such as dog, pig, and snake to describe a set of initial non-physical conditions. They have also created a series of names to describe how the non-physical components behave as a group. They go by such names as a “strong earth”, or a “weak wood”. It’s easy for the ignorant to make fun of this entire system. To them, it sounds a lot like a more detailed version of Western astrology.

The Ben Ming Nian is itself classified as a “star”. It is known as the “God of Age” Star (Tai Sui).

Tai Sui doesn't actually exist as a real star! (It roughly corresponds to Jupiter, which takes 11.86 years to orbit earth, and is probably where the idea for the star came from). It's an imaginary star that changes position exactly 30 degrees of direction each year, i.e. orbiting Earth every 12 years exactly.

-China Highlights

It all sounds just a little silly. Right?

Mapping your Situation

According to the Chinese, a person can “map” the non-physical reality influences that they were born with.

To do this, you need to identify the exact moment you were born (within a fifteen minute window). This will tell you the relative positions of the non-physical reality that surrounds you at birth. There are all sorts of people who can help you out in doing this. I would suggest that for casual interest, you go visit a free website and have the initial conditions mapped out for you.

Find Your Chinese Zodiac Sign

The above is a pretty decent on-line calculator that will set you in motion to follow your traits and attributes. I suggest you use it first.

If you, the reader, find it is useful then you can investigate other related Chinese studies such as Bazi (八字) and Fengshui. To do this, you will need a detailed study of the non-physical realities that surround you. You can go here, for a very detailed and free analysis;

Feng Shui analysis of your Bazi conditions

Considerations

There are some things that really need to be considered before discounting this belief so readily.

• There is a non-physical reality that surrounds the physical reality.
• Within is non-physical reality are “things”.
• These “things” move about in cyclic motion.
• These “things” interact with other “things”.
• By mapping out the movement of these “things” one can predict the ebb and flow of fortune.

For instance, consider the weather. It changes. One day it is sunny and then on another day it rains. For the football player, if it rains, it is an unlucky day. The poor guy can’t play his beloved football. Yet, for the farmer, it is a lucky or auspicious day. For his crops will grow.

There really isn’t any good or bad luck. Instead what you have is the perception of advantage or auspiciousness, as determined by the movement of the non-physical reality that surrounds us all.

Takeaways

• The Chinese believe that there are non-physical influences that can affect the physical reality that surrounds a person.
• These influences go by different names.
• The influences are mapped by characteristics. These characteristics are given animal traits and names.
• The influences operate within relationships that go by terms such as strong, weak, or neutral. They also have characteristics that are defined by elements such as water, wood, earth, fire, etc.
• There are also specific influences that operate independently. They are called “stars”. Examples include inauspicious stars ‘Tai Sui’ (太岁), ‘Jian Feng’ (剑锋) and ‘Fu Shi’ (伏尸).
• To ward off any negative influences in a Ben Ming Nian year, the Chinese like to wear red, and certain amulets and do positive things to keep from getting sucked down into negativity.

FAQ

Q: What is the Ben Ming Nian?
A: It is the zodiac year of one’s birth. It repeats every twelve years. Thus when a person reaches the year where they would turn twelve, it would be their first Ben Ming Nian.

Q: Is the Ben Ming Nian unlucky?
A: It is a very popular superstition that people’s zodiac year of birth is really unlucky. Therefore, it is also called a Threshold Year, which means a year with a lot of obstacles in life. Why is Ben Ming Nian considered ominous? It is said that starting from the Chinese New Year of one’s year of birth, people will offend ‘Tai Sui’, a mysterious power or celestial body that could control people’s fortune. Impacted by this power, people will suffer either exultation or misery during that year.

Q: How can one protect themselves during a Ben Ming Nian?
A: To cope with the big rise and fall in one’s Ben Ming Nian, it is unwise to make moves in career and life. In the first place, they should avoid starting a new business or making a large-amount investment in case of any economic loss. Traveling far would also incur potential dangers. Moving house and getting married in one’s Ben Ming Nian are all considered ominous. It is quite necessary to keep themselves modest and in a low profile or else their relationships with people around would break up.

Q: Do you believe in the Ben Ming Nian?
A: Well, personally the worst year in my life just happened to fall on a Ben Ming Nian. My second worst year fell on a Ben Ming Nian as well. However, all of this might just be a coincidence. Being in China, I take their traditions seriously and follow them.

In many ways, I follow Carl Sagan, who dismissed astrology and superstition as unscientific ways of explaining the world.

But then I think of my mother’s last benmingnian, when cancer snuffed out her life before the end of the year. Or my father’s last benmingnian, when he went to the hospital for a life-threatening condition. Or even my own recent benmingnian, where I battled hardship after hardship, from losing my job to workplace abuse, over and over until the end. None of us wore our red.

It could be coincidence, as Carl Sagan and other scientists might say. But, then again, come my next benmingnian, a little red sure couldn’t hurt.

-The Chinese Zodiac Effect 

Q: How do practitioners know how to calculate the “threat analysis” for a Ben Ming Nian?
A: Dì Zhī (地支), or Earthly Branches, were the original terms used for the years. These branches are also assigned to the hours of the day, based on solar time. The animals were later added as mnemonics and categorized as either yīn (阴) or yáng (阳).

Ten Celestial Stems (天干—tiān gān) pair with the Earthly Branches for a 60-year calendrical cycle. Then add in an element. These cycle through, but each zodiac also has a fixed element. This fixed element is what determines which sign you’re compatible with.

Q: What are the twelve branches?
A: The Twelve Earthly Branches: zi (子), chǒu (丑), yín (寅), Mao (卯), chén (辰), sì (巳), wǔ (午), wèi (未), shēn (申), yǒu (酉), xū (戌), hài (亥).

Q: What are the ten celestial stems?
A: The Ten Celestial Stems: jiǎ (甲), yǐ (乙), bǐng (丙), ding (丁), wù (戊), jǐ (己), gēng (庚), xīn (辛), rén (壬), guǐ (癸).

Q: What are the five elements?
A: Five elements: water (水—shuǐ), wood (木—mù), fire (火—huǒ), earth (土—tǔ), metal (金—jīn).

Another Opinion

They say a man enters a new chapter in life every twelve years. Mine haven’t been that exact but it’s pretty damn close.

0-12. Childhood. Carefree. Annoying the shit out of your parents. Exploring and learning about your surroundings. Catching frogs and snakes. Skateboarding and riding bicycles. Scraping your knees and banging your forehead on the corner of coffee tables. You learn about stitches and chicken pocks.

12-24. Your nuts drop. You’re growing from a boy to a young man. You want to fuck all the cute girls in class and fight other boys at recess. The teen years are fun. You’re jacking off like a mad man and developing a drinking problem. You’re becoming a young adult. You learn about these green pieces of paper that can buy you nice things. You realize they can also get you women so you try to obtain some of these green pieces of paper for yourself. Hopefully you were raised right and become a productive member of society.

24-36. Young adult. During these years you strike out on your own, figuring out what you want to do in this world while making massive mistakes along the way. You’re optimistic while trying new things but most of them fail. You learn about depression. You contemplate the best way to kill yourself and decide on drop hanging. You pussy out and don’t do it. Instead you go out drinking. While completely hammered you have the brilliant idea that you will say FUCK THIS SHIT, quit your job, sell everything you own and move half way across the globe for a fresh start. Your family laughs and thinks you’re joking. You do it and don’t look back. You mature and become stronger during this process…

This is where I’m at right now. And I think it’s time for the next phase.

36-48. Mastery. Pick something you want to do in life and master it. I’ve tried a lot of things over the years. I’ve dabbled in various odd jobs and started businesses. I’ve chased the get rich quick schemes. I sold drugs, played sports and was even in a rock band. Always dabbling, never mastering. But now it’s time to really focus on something with 100% of my effort and MASTER it. Find my passion. My purpose in life. I’m an adult. No more excuses for juvenile behavior and limited thinking. Time to adopt new productive habits and embrace a healthy lifestyle. Time to evolve into the next stage of development as a man. Change my thought process and also how I spend my time.

–The different stages of a man’s life

Metallicman’s last Ben Ming Nian…

Well, it was a choppy year for certain, but I managed to keep everything calm and under control. When issues cropped up, I deferred them. I calmed my self. And dealt with them in a way that was productive. I performed no reactionary actions.

Finally, after one year of this, things were calming down. One more day to go…

So on CNY eve, the day right before the next Chinese years and when I would exit my Ben Ming Nian, I was startled when I heard splashing sounds in my living room.

Guess what happened?

The sewer line was blocked up, and all 24 floors above me were dumping their shit and feces into my apartment. It was a shower of shit. It was pouring out of all the drains in the house and it was gurgling grey-water and feces all over. Little turds were floating in the living room, and toilet paper “ghosts” were wafting all over and sticking to my couches, my books, and everything.

This is on CNY eve, right?

That’s right! No one was around. I had to deal with it myself.

Long story short. …

My Ben Ming Nian literally shit on me and my family. 24 floors of waste resulted in two feet deep of shit. And I spent my CNY cleaning up the mess, shoveling shit and throwing away my furnishings and gear.

Oh…

And the culprit?

Some jackass was flushing complete towels down the commodes. A big wad of six or seven of them ended up blocking the massive sewer pipe under the complex (One that was two feet in diameter). Jackass.

The Ben Ming Nian. Treat it with care.

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