Year of Tavışgan
Meaning: hare, rabbit
A short history
"Tavışgan" is the older form of today's Turkish word for hare. Known for speed and wariness, it often stands for quiet cleverness in folk tales.
Cultural background
In Turkish it is "tavşan" and in Kazakh "qoyan"; this slot matches the rabbit of the Chinese calendar. In folk tales the hare is an image of agility, watchfulness and quiet wit: a character who finds its way by instinct rather than strength.
Symbolic qualities
- gentle
- intuitive
- diplomatic
- careful
Tavışgan describes the grace that finds a way without conflict. It reads a room quickly and speaks without hurting. Its shadow side is choosing never to raise an uncomfortable subject.
Things you might reflect on
- Which conversation are you postponing to keep the peace?
- What has your intuition been telling you lately?
- Where do you feel the difference between being kind and holding yourself back?
Years it falls on
Each year begins on 21 March and ends on 20 March of the following year.
1903 · 1915 · 1927 · 1939 · 1951 · 1963 · 1975 · 1987 · 1999 · 2011 · 2023 · 2035 · 2047 · 2059 · 2071 · 2083 · 2095
Chinese counterpart: Rabbit →Where does the Turkic 12-animal calendar come from?
In the Divanu Lugati't-Türk, written in the 11th century, Mahmud of Kashgar explains that the Turks counted years by the names of twelve animals and lists them in order. The work also tells a story about the origin of the cycle: of the animals driven into the Ila (Ili) river before a ruler, the names of the twelve that crossed were given to the years.
An older witness is the Orkhon inscriptions (8th century). The Kül Tegin inscription dates his death to the "koń yıl" (year of the sheep, 731) and the Bilge Kagan inscription dates the kagan's death to the "it yıl" (year of the dog, 734). So animal year names were already used to give dates in that period.
The cycle follows the same order as the Chinese calendar and is a heritage shared with neighbouring cultures. Sources reckon the start of the year differently; this page takes Nevruz (21 March) as the start of the year.
- Kaşgarlı Mahmud, Divanu Lugati't-Türk (1072–1077).
- Kül Tegin yazıtı (732) ve Bilge Kağan yazıtı (735), Orhun Vadisi.
- Erkoç, H. İ., Divanü Lugati't-Türk'te Vahşi Hayvanlarla İlgili Kelimeler ve Terimler, Hacettepe Üniversitesi Türkiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi 23 (2015), 177-208.
- Karimova, G. ve Türkmen, F., Kazakistan'da Hayvan Kültü ve 12 Hayvanlı Halk Takvimi (2022).
The twelve animals
For entertainment and self-reflection. Year animals are presented as cultural history and character symbolism; they do not tell you what a year holds.
The images on this page were generated with AI.