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The 12 Symbols of the Chinese Zodiac
from: http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Island/3268/symbols/12zodiac/12zodiaclegend.html
Each Chinese Lunar
Calendar Year is represented by one of the 12 animals. Five cycles of the 12 years make up
one complete cycle of 60 years. When a Chinese reaches his/her 60th birthday, he/she
usually celebrates it with large banquet because he/she completed a full cycle. The order
of the 12 animals is as follows: Year of the Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse,
Ram, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and lastly, the Year of the Boar.
Legend has it that many centuries ago, Chinese has no means to measure time. Jade Emperor,
the Emperor of Heaven, decided to arrange a contest. He invited all animals to a race on
his birthday. The first 12 animals who cross the swift current river and reach the
designated shore would be assigned to the 12 Zodiac Years.
The cat and the rat, who were once good friends and poor swimmers, convinced the ox to
carry them across the river. Being naive, gullible, good-natured, the powerful swimmer ox
agreed. As they were crossing the river, the rat was worried that the cat might win the
race; so the rat pushed the cat into the river. This explains why cats hates rats because
they never forgave the rat for the incident. Right before the ox and the rat reached the
shore, the rat jumped off the ox's back and took first place in the race.
As the Jade Emperor named the ox as the 2nd zodiac animal, the tiger reached the finished
line. Panting his way toward the Jade Emperor, the tiger explained that he had difficulty
crossing the river because the current kept pushing him down stream. With his powerful
strength, he was able to reach the shore safely. The Emperor recorded the tiger as the 3rd
zodiac animal.
From a distance, the crowd heard a thumping noise. Twitching its pinkish nose, the rabbit
told the crowd that he had to hop from one stone to another in order to cross the river.
Luckily, he was able to get hold of a floating log which finally washed him to shore. The
Emperor named the rabbit, the 4th zodiac animal.
In the 5th place came the dragon flying and belching fire in the air. Jade Emperor was
very curious as to why the dragon came in late for he can fly and swim. Because the mighty
dragon could not bare to see his people and all the creatures on earth suffer a drought,
he had to stop to make rain. When he reached the river, he spotted a helpless little
rabbit clutching tightly to a log, so he gave a little puff and blew the log with the
rabbit on it to the shore.
Just as the Jade Emperor complimented the dragon for his consideration, he heard the horse
whining and galloping. Out from the horse's hoof sneaked out the shrewd slimy snake. The
sudden appearance and the hissing of the snake startled the horse and made him jump
backwards, thus forcing the horse to fall in 7th place and the snake to take the 6th place
in the race.
From a distance, approached the sheep, the monkey, and the rooster. The rooster proudly
described how he had spotted a raft from a high ground, picked up the sheep, and the
monkey. Along the way, the monkey and the sheep helped clear the weeds, pulled and pushed
the raft to the shore. The Emperor complimented the trios for their combined efforts and
named the sheep the 8th of the zodiac animals, the monkey the 9th, and the rooster the
10th.
Just as the Emperor was making the record official, next came the dog . The dog was trying
to justify to the Emperor why, being one of the best swimmer, he was late. It turned out
that the dog hadn't had a bath for a long time. The river water was so clean and fresh
that he had to stop. The dog was recorded as the 11th zodiac animals.
Jade Emperor was about to dismiss the crowd and retire from the long day when he heard an
oink and a squeal from the little pig who was waddling down the path. Needless to explain,
the pig was hungry during the race and he stopped for a feast. After the feast, he felt
tired and took a little nap. The little pig made it as the last of the 12th zodiac
animals.
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