Year of the Horse

The Year of the Horse identifies Li Yan’s birth-year sign and, in a family gathering’s zodiac reading, becomes a playful measure of compatibility. The sign links a matter-of-fact detail about Li’s age to the scene’s emerging romantic tension: Nien Mei-Ling is identified with the tiger, which Aunt Teng places in the same compatible group as the horse.

Li Yan’s Birth-Year Sign

When asked what sign he was, Li Yan first misunderstood the question, then clarified that he was born in the Year of the Horse. Nien Mei-Ling quickly calculated that he was two years younger than she was. The exchange establishes the sign as a simple biographical detail before it acquires a more charged meaning in the later conversation about compatibility.

Zodiac Compatibility

At a gathering where the group discusses birth signs, Jingjun asks Li about his animal sign, adding that compatibility matters only if one believes in it. Li again names the Year of the Horse. Nien Mei-Ling responds with delight that she is a tiger, and Aunt Teng explains that the twelve animals are arranged in groups of three whose members get along well. She places tiger and horse in the same group, turning the sign pairing into an approving match.

Narrative Function

The zodiac reading gives the characters an indirect language for discussing romantic suitability. Its lighthearted assurances bring Li and Nien Mei-Ling together as a supposedly compatible pair, while Margaret Campbell’s ironic comments introduce a note of rivalry. She challenges the easy conclusion by asking where monkeys and horses fit, prompting Jingjun to ask whether she is a monkey. The exchange leaves that question unanswered in the available scene; its significance lies in how a customary compatibility scheme becomes a vehicle for teasing and unspoken personal tensions.