Kigel Studio
YEAR OF THE HORSE SERIES
The year 2002 on our calendar is the 4699th year in the Chinese calendar; in the Chinese calendar, it is traditionally called the Year of the Horse. In honor of this Chinese calendar, Kigel has painted a series of horses viewable on line. (See view images.)
In general, each year contains twelve lunar months of twenty-eight or twenty-nine days, with occasional adjustments. Accordingly, Chinese years vary in length and do not begin or end at the same time as Western year.
The current year of the Horse lasts from February 12, 2002, to January 31, 2003.
Dating from as early as 1000 B.C.E., the traditional Chinese method of counting years is based on the sixty-year rotation of the planet Jupiter (known as the "year star") around the sun. Every sixty-year period is divided into five cycles of twelve years, and each of the twelve years is associated with a particular animal. The sequence order is year of the Rat, Cow, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Chicken, Dog, and Pig.