The name Year of the Horse in Chinese / Japanese...

火馬 is the title, “Fire Horse.”

火馬 is not a common title for calligraphy. You might be looking for 丙午, the 43rd year of the sexagenary cycle (the year of the Fire Horse, renowned for disasters and the birth of women destined to kill their husbands).

麒麟 is the title of a mythical beast of Asia.

The animal is thought to be related to the giraffe, and in some ways, it is a giraffe. However, it is often depicted with the horns of a dragon or deer and sometimes with the body like a horse, but many variations exist.

In Japanese, it is pronounced “Kirin” as in “Kirin Ichiban” beer.


Notes:

1. This is sometimes spelled as “kylin.”

2. In Japanese, this is the only Kanji word for giraffe. Therefore in Japan, this word needs context to know whether you are talking about the mythical creature or the long-necked giraffe of Africa.

3. Apparently, this was the first word used for regular giraffes in China (some were brought from Africa to China during the Ming Dynasty - probably around the year 1400). Though the mythical creature may have existed before, the name “qilin” was given to the “new giraffe.” This is because, more than 600 years ago, giraffes somewhat matched the mythical creature's description when Chinese people saw them for the first time. Later, to avoid such an ambiguous title, a three-character word was devised to mean a “giraffe of Africa.” The characters for “qilin” shown here are only for the mythological version in modern Chinese.

4. More information about the qilin / kirin from Wikipedia.

5. This creature is sometimes translated as the “Chinese Unicorn,” although it is generally portrayed with two horns. I think this is done more for the fantasy aspect of the unicorn and because most westerners don't know what a qilin or kirin is (this avoids a long explanation by the translator).

6. In Korean, this can mean kirin or simply giraffe (usually, the mythological creature is what they would think of when seeing these characters alone on a wall scroll).

During the Tang Dynasty, a man named Jia Dao (born in the year 779), a well-studied scholar and poet, went to the capital to take the imperial examination.

One day as he rides a donkey through the city streets, a poem begins to form in his mind. A portion of the poem comes into his head like this:

“The bird sits on the tree branch near a pond,
A monk approaches and knocks at the gate...”

At the same time, he wondered if the word “push” would be better than “knock” in his poem.

As he rides down the street, he imagines the monk pushing or knocking. Soon he finds himself making motions of pushing and shaking a fist in a knocking motion as he debates which word to use. He is quite a sight as he makes his way down the street on his donkey with hands and fists flying about as the internal debate continues.

As he amuses people along the street, he becomes completely lost in his thoughts and does not see the mayor's procession coming in the opposite direction. Jia Bao is blocking the way for the procession to continue down the road, and the mayor's guards immediately decide to remove Jia Bao by force. Jia Bao, not realizing that he was in the way, apologizes, explains his poetic dilemma and awaits his punishment for blocking the mayor's way.

The mayor, Han Yu, a scholar and author of prose himself, finds himself intrigued by Jia Dao's poem and problem. Han Yu gets off his horse and addresses Jia Bao, stating, “I think knock is better.” The relieved Jia Bao raises his head and is invited by the mayor to join the procession, and are seen riding off together down the street, exchanging their ideas and love of poetry.

In modern Chinese, this 反復推敲 idiom is used when someone is trying to decide which word to use in their writing or when struggling to decide between two things when neither seems to have a downside.

馬 is the character for a horse in Chinese, old Korean, and Japanese.

If you were born in the year of the horse, you . . .


Are outgoing and active.
Don't give up easily.
Are known to have a bad temper.

See also our Chinese Zodiac page.

金馬 is Golden/Metal Horse in Chinese.

In the Chinese zodiac and sexagenary (60-year) cycle, this combination occurs in years that include 1870, 1930, 1990, and 2050.

In the sexagenary cycle, this year is represented by 庚午.

See Also:  Horse

水馬 is Water Horse in Chinese.

In the Chinese zodiac and sexagenary (60-year) cycle, this combination occurs in years that include 1882, 1942, 2002, and 2062.

In the sexagenary cycle, this year is represented by 壬午.

See Also:  Horse

木馬 is Wood Horse in Chinese.

In the Chinese zodiac and sexagenary (60-year) cycle, this combination occurs in years that include 1894, 1954, 2014, and 2074.

In the sexagenary cycle, this year is represented by 甲午.

See Also:  Horse

火馬 is Fire Horse in Chinese.

In the Chinese zodiac and sexagenary (60-year) cycle, this combination occurs in years that include 1906, 1966, 2026, and 2086.

In the sexagenary cycle, this year is represented by 丙午.

See Also:  Horse

土馬 is Earth Horse in Chinese.

In the Chinese zodiac and sexagenary (60-year) cycle, this combination occurs in years that include 1918, 1978, 2038, and 2098.

In the sexagenary cycle, this year is represented by 戊午.

See Also:  Horse