Are there any cats in the Chinese zodiac in Vietnam?

Vietnam's zodiac has a cat just after the Lunar New Year, which is called the Year of the Dog. China is not the only country that marks calendars with cadres and branches. Countries around China, such as Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Mongolia, Viet Nam, etc., are also used to using the lunar calendar due to the historical influence of China culture. Among these countries, Vietnam is particularly prominent.

Vietnamese culture and China culture are of the same origin, and their customs are similar. There are 12 species of Zodiac animals in Viet Nam that are almost the same as those in China, and 12 species of animals correspond to 12 earthly branches. The Chinese zodiac used by Vietnamese is only 1, which is different from that used by China-there are no rabbits in Vietnam, but there are cats. Therefore, the Year of the Rabbit in China became the Year of the Cat in Vietnam, and people who are rabbits in China became cats in Vietnam.

Vietnamese like to ask each other's name and age when they meet for the first time. Surprisingly, when interacting with Vietnamese, as long as you say your zodiac sign, the other party can immediately calculate your actual age according to the calculation method of the stem-branch cycle, and almost every Vietnamese can do this.

Since the zodiac was first introduced to Vietnam from China, why did China's "rabbit" become a "cat" in Vietnam? There is no way to prove the real reason. One theory is that when China's Zodiac Chronology was introduced into Viet Nam, the pronunciation of Mao rabbit was similar to that of Chinese cat, and as a result, the year of Mao was misunderstood as the year of cat. Another way of saying it is that there was no rabbit in Vietnam at that time, so it was replaced by a cat, and the rabbit became a cat.

In fact, there are many examples of such "misquoting" in modern Vietnamese. At least 70% of the words are Chinese loanwords, and many of them have the wrong meaning. For example, the word "difficult" in Chinese has become a swear word in Vietnamese; In Chinese, "burly" has become a description of a child's beautiful facial features in Vietnamese. This is when Chinese words entered Vietnamese, and they were mistaken at first, and then they were mistaken.

Vietnam also has many views on the zodiac. Vietnamese people think that "bad year" is "disaster year", so we should be extra careful. A local friend of the reporter said that the disaster year is calculated according to the main branch and the underground branch, and it only happens once every 60 years. The last time was 1945, and a serious national drought occurred in Vietnam. This friend invited reporters home for dinner years ago. During the dinner, he sighed and said, "The unlucky year has finally passed!" My friend's wife echoed: "Vietnamese people are really afraid of the past B&Y years, and many young people should try to avoid getting married."

Vietnamese also have the concept of "getting rich in the year of the dog". China people think that dog barking is homophonic with "Wang"; Vietnamese people think that dog barking is homophonic with the word "fu" in Vietnamese, but the dog barking in Vietnamese is "ou, ou", which is the same as the vowel of the word "fu" in Vietnamese. On the other hand, "cat" is the antonym of "dog", and its "meow, meow" is homophonic with the vowel of "poverty" in Vietnamese, so the Vietnamese are most afraid of wild cats coming home, but their cats are fine.