Rat is the first sign of the chinese zodiac. why does the Chinese New Year not begin with the Rat month, instead it begins with the Tiger month?

Hi Balthasar,

The Chinese Solar Calendar (HSIA) starts on 04th February which is the begining of Spring (Lap Chun).
The 4 Seasons of the year are Spring (Wood), Summer (Fire), Autumn (Metal) and Winter (Water).
The 12 Earthly Branch Zodiac signs are
Spring (Wood) = E-3 YIN Tiger (Yang Wood), E-4 MAO Rabbit (Yin Wood), E-5 CHEN Dragon (Yang Earth),
Summer (Fire) = E-6 SI Snake (Yin Fire), E-7 WU Horse (Yang Fire), E-8 WEI Sheep (Yin Earth),
Autumn (Metal) = E-9 SHEN Monkey (Yang Metal), E-10 YOU Rooster (Yin Metal), E-11 XU Dog (Yang Earth),
Winter (Water) = E-12 HAI (Yin Water), E-1 ZI Rat (Yang Water), E-2 CHOU Ox (Yin Earth).

You can see that all Season ends with the Earth element and also the Yin / Yang sequence.
Tiger Months are always the 1st month of the Chinese Calendar and there are 5 Tigers in the 10 Year cycle.

Please refer to my XKDG 2010 Calendar (free) should you want to select Auspicious dates.

Best Regards,
astroace

thank you very much.