The Chinese New Year Animals or as some people call the zodiac animals have their own characteristics that reflect on the person who is born in that given year.
There are several different stories for the Chinese horoscope, that how the animals present in the horoscope were selected to represent the 12 different years of the Chinese calendar. This offers an insight to the nature of that particular animal.
This “Chinese New Year Animals” story involve the Jade Emperor and the all the heavenly animals. The story starts with all the animals gathered around and every animal wanted his name to be presented as the name of the year. But due to a great number of animals it could not be decided easily.
When the Jade Emperor came to know about this situation, he called upon all the animals and told them to make a race of crossing the river stream and the first twelve winners would be awarded with a New Year Zodiac named after him.
All the animals agreed to this and lined up at the river bank and waited for the race to begin.
Chinese New Year Animals
The Rat, Cat And Ox
The rat and the cat who were the best friends at that time got worried because of their small size, that how will they compete with the strong animals. They requested the Ox to carry them on his back and swim across the stream to which the Ox agreed.
But when they were just about to reach the end the rat pushed the cat into the water and jumped over the shore and made it to the Emperor’s feet. The Emperor questioned the Ox about the situation and told him that the rat defeated you with his cunning wit. As the rat came in first, so according to the Chinese Zodiac Animals we have the first year as the year of the rat. The second come the Ox, so the second year is the year of the OX.
Tiger, Rabbit And Dragon
The tiger although being a fast swimmer came in third in the race and got the third zodiac year of the Chinese calendar. Fourth came the rabbit who without swimming the river just hopped around on the logs in the river and after slipping one or two times reached the shore.
The Dragon came in flying to the river shore reaching in on the fifth place of the zodiac year’s calendar. The Emperor was quiet astonished and questioned the dragon, that after flying he could have reached the shore at the first position. But the kind dragon replied that he had stopped before the race started as there were some people who needed his help. And the Emperor was amazed of hid kind gesture.
Horse And The Snake
The Horse and the snake reached at the same time at the shore of the river but as they were coming towards the Emperor the snake hissed the horse back and came to the Emperor’s feet making him the sixth animal for the Chinese Zodiac New Year. And the horse was the seventh contender.
Goat, Monkey And The Rooster
The goat monkey and the rooster had made a raft to cross the river and they came in at the eighth, ninth and tenth places of the Chinese New Year Animals list like wise, due to the slow speed of the raft.
Dog And The Bore
When the dog reached the shore he was at the eleventh number. The Emperor was shocked to see that the dog reached at the eleventh number, he asked the dog that why was he came so late after all being such a good swimmer.
The Dog replied that while he was swimming in the water he liked the water so much that he started to play and take bath in the water. That’s why he got late and reached at the eleventh place.
The bore came in at the twelfth position the reason being that he got so hungry in the middle of the race that he stopped to eat. After eating he felt sleepy and slept for quiet a long time, and came in the last.
The Mouse And The Cat Rivalry
Now you must all be thinking that what happened to the cat?
Well the cat was very happy while they were riding on the Ox’s back, that they would reach the shore and take the first three places. But when the mouse pushed the cat off the Ox’s back the cat was so disheartened and disappointed that she did not even finish the race.
The cat thought that she was betrayed by the most loyal friend, and she grew a lot of anger and hatred towards the rat. This is the reason that to this day the cat and the mouse are always rivals of each other and when ever the mouse sees a cat he runs away of the shame that what he did to a friend on the day of the Chinese Zodiac New Year.
Each animal of the Chinese Zodiac possesses specific characteristics utilized in the Chinese horoscope. This is all what became to be the story behind the Chinese New Year Animals.
Names Of Zodiac Animals In Chinese
| Rat | 鼠 |
| OX | 牛 |
| Tiger | 虎 |
| Rabbit | 兔 |
| Dragon | 格拉貢 |
| Horse | 馬 |
| Snake | 蛇 |
| Goat | 羊 |
| Monkey | 猴 |
| Rooster | 公雞 |
| Dog | 道德 |
| Bore | 缸徑 |
