A snake coiling under a tree, this framed handmade paper cut features the snake, one of the animals from the Chinese Zodiac signs. 

The Chinese animal signs are a 12-year cycle used for dating the years. They represent a cyclical concept of time, rather than the Western linear concept of time.  A cultural sidelight of the animal signs in Chinese folklore is that horoscopes have developed around the animal signs, much like monthly horoscopes in the West.  These horoscopes are amusing, but not regarded seriously by the Chinese people.