His new calendar was not only able to keep tract of lunar and solar movements, it also adhered to the four seasons. His achievements were so great that the emperor appointed him as the Minister of the Astronomical Bureau. At the palace he studied astronomy well into old age, and is often described for his long white beard. The new calendar was named in his honor Wan-nien-li, which can be translated into a 'perpetual calendar'. The beginning of Wan-nien-li's calendar was to become the Chinese New Year. His influence is still felt today, as a decoration Chinese families hang a picture or a statue of an old man with a white beard in their homes, as a representation of the Star God of Longevity, Shou-hsing. Perhaps it was not a coincidence that his name is literary translated to ten-thousand years, everlasting, forever or perpetual. Even after Emperors devised new calendars or adopted the calendar we used today, people continued to be guided by Wan-nien-li's calendar and celebrated Chinese New Year on the first day of the perpetual calendar. The calendar underwent minor revisions throughout history, but its foundation remained strong.
Among the various changes the addition of twelve animals to represent the New Year is perhaps the most notorious. The twelve animals were once only seen as the twelve earthly branches in the calendar. These branches had only symbols and soon people began to associate each symbol with an animal. While no one seems to know the true origin of how the symbols morphed into animals various stories are told. One of the stories says that Buddha called all the animals in the world, but only twelve answered. To decide the order of the years he conducted a race. The ox was the favorite to win, but the rat was cunning and hoped on his back. At the finish line the rat jumped from the Ox's back and won the race. The order is as follows: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig (Hu, 1991).
