There are many versions about the legend of twelve animals, For example, According to Chinese legend, during a Chinese New Year celebration. Buddha invited all the animals to his kingdom, but unfortunately, for reasons only known to the animals, a total of 12 turned up. The mouse was naturally the first, followed by the ox, then the tiger, the rabbit and so on and finally the pig. Out of gratitude, Buddha decided to name the year after each of the animals in their order of arrival, and people born of that year would inherit some of the traits of that particular animal. These animals are also supposed to have some influence over the period of time they were named after. Another legend of Chinese zodiac is that the twelve animals quarreled one day as to who was to head the cycle of years. The gods were asked to decide and they held a contest: whoever was to reach the opposite bank of the river would be first, and the rest of the animals would receive their years according to their finish. All the twelve animals gathered at the river bank and jumped in. Unknown to the ox, the rat had jumped upon his back. As the ox was about to jump ashore, the rat jumped off the ox’s back, and won the race. The pig, who was very lazy, ended up last. That is why the rat is the first year of the animal cycle, the ox second, and the pig last. It’s one of the versions about Chinese legend.
Shengxiao is an important part of Chinese traditional culture. The Chinese word “Shengxiao(生肖 shēngxiāo)”, better known in English as the Chinese Zodiac, is a scheme that relates each year to an animal and its reputed attributes, according to a 12-year cycle. The zodiac traditionally begins with the sign of the Rat, and the twelve zodiac signs are Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Ram, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. The zodiac signs cycles continuously, and determines the animal or sign under which a person is born.
The Origin of Chinese Zodiac
Long long ago, our ancestors invented the 10 tian gan (heavenly stems) and 12 di zhi (earthly branches) for chronological purposes. The signs are used to designate the hours, days, months and years. However, since most people at that time were illiterate, the signs were difficult to use. Later, to make things easier to memories, people used animals to symbolize the 12 earthly branches. The old time division was mostly related to number 12: one ji equals 12 years, one year has 12 months, one day has 12 time periods called shi chen. Ancient people observe that there are 12 full moons within one year. So, the origin of Chinese zodiac is associated with astronomy. In Chinese tradition, each animal sign is usually related with an earthly branch, so the animal years were called zi(子 zǐ) rat, chou(丑 chǒu) ox, yin(寅 yín) tiger, mao(卯 mǎo) rabbit, chen(辰 chén) dragon, si(巳 sì) snake, wu(午 wǔ) horse, wei(未 wèi) sheep, shen(申 shēn) monkey, you(酉 yǒu) rooster, xu(戌 xū) dog and hai(亥 hài) pig. Many Chinese people strongly believe that the time of a person’s birth is the primary factor in determining that person’s personality.
The Legend of Twelve Animals
