Have you ever been asked by your Chinese friend, "What is your zodiac sign?"
你有没有被中国朋友问过“你的生肖是什么？”
Don't think they are making small talk.
不要以为他们只是寒暄.
small talk闲聊
...
Asking a zodiac sign is a polite way of asking your age.
问生肖是问年龄的礼貌方式。
By revealing your zodiac sign, you are also being evaluated.
知道了你的生肖还可以对你进行评估。
Judgments are being made about your fortune or misfortune, your personality, career prospects and how you will do in a given year.
可以预测你幸运与否，你的性格，职业前景接下来一年的运势走向。
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The Chinese zodiac is a 12-year cycle labeled with animals, starting with a Rat and ending with a Pig, and has no association with constellations.
中国生肖是以动物命名的一个12年的循环,以鼠开始,以猪结尾。它们与星座没有任何联系。
Our Chinese ancestors constructed a very complicated theoretical framework based on yin and yang, the five elements and the 12 zodiac animals.
中国的老祖先以阴阳,五行和12生肖为基础建立了一套非常复杂的理论框架。
Over thousands of years, this popular culture has affected people's major decisions, such as naming, marriage, giving birth and attitude towards each other.
千百年来，这种流行文化影响着人们的大部分决定，比如起名,婚介,生产甚至对彼此的态度。
And some of the implications are quite amazing.
其中一些涵义令人称奇。
The Chinese believe certain animals get on better than the others.
中国人相信某些生肖与其它生肖比较好相处。
So parents choose specific years to give birth to babies, because they believe the team effort by the right combination of animals can give prosperity to families.
所以夫妇选择特定的年份生孩子。因为他们相信特定的生肖组合会让家族更加繁荣。
Chinese people believe some animals are natural enemies.
中国人相信有些生肖天生相克。
As a Pig, I need to be careful with a Snake.
对于属猪的人来说我要小心属蛇的人。
We believe some animals are luckier than the others, such as the Dragon.
我们相信有些生肖更加好运比如生肖龙。
Unlike the Western tradition, the Chinese Dragon is a symbol for power, strength and wealth.
不同于西方传统中国龙是权力,力量和财富的象征。
It's everyone's dream to have a Dragon baby.
每个人都希望有一个龙宝宝。
Jack Ma's parents must have been very proud.
马云的父母就非常自豪。
And they are not the only ones.
这种现象非常普遍。
In 2012, the Year of the Dragon, the birthrate in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan increased by five percent.
2012年是龙年,中国大陆,香港和台湾的婴儿出生率提高了5%。
That means another one million more babies.
比正常多出了一百万新生儿。
With a traditional preference to baby boys, the boy- girl ratio that year was 120 to 100.
加之生男孩的倾向明显,那年的男女比例为120比100。
When those Dragon boys grow up, they will face much more severe competition in love and job markets.
According to the BBC and the Chinese government's press release,
根据BBC和中国政府的官方消息，
January 2015 saw a peak of Cesarean sections.
2015年1月迎来了剖腹产的高潮。
Why?为什么？
That was the last month for the Year of the Horse.
因为这是马年的最后一个月。
It's not because they like horses so much, it's because they try to avoid having unlucky Goat babies.
并不是大家喜欢生肖马而是大家尽量避免不祥的属羊的孩子。
If you are a Goat, please don't feel bad.
如果你属羊,也不要伤心。
They don't look like losers to me.
我可不觉得他们是失败者。
Tiger is another undesirable animal, due to its volatile temperament.
还有一个不受欢迎的生肖是虎，也许和它的喜怒无常有关。
Many Chinese regions saw a sharp decline of birthrate during those years.
在不受欢迎生肖的年份中国很多地区的婴儿出生率都有明显下降。
Perhaps one should consider zodiac in reverse, as those Tiger and Goat babies will face much less competition.也许对于生肖我们应该逆向思维，因为虎宝宝和羊宝宝将会面临最少的竞争。
Maybe they are the lucky ones.也许他们才是最幸运的。
I went through the Forbes top 300 richest people in the world, and it's interesting to see the most undesirable two animals, the Goat and Tiger, are at the top of the chart, even higher than the Dragon.
我调查了世界福布斯财富榜前300位的生肖，有趣的是属最不受欢迎的羊和虎的人数，反而排在前两位，甚至高于龙。
So maybe we should consider, maybe it's much better to have less competition.
也许我们应该考虑，减轻竞争压力才是更好的选择。
Thank you.
谢谢。
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