Each of the twelve Chinese zodiac animals creates a measure of time to mark the beginning of a Lunar New Year.  In Chinese custom, each animal is bestowed with unique power colours, lucky numbers and quirky characteristics that guide our human place in the world.  The lunar cycle, which is repeated every twelve years, is traceable to the Han Dynasty (201 BC - 220 AD) and was strikingly portrayed in a group of anthropomorphic zodiac figures from the Tang Dynasty in the 8th Century.