Chinese Zodiac Stories
In the Chinese Zodiac there are twelve animal signs. They are in
order as follows: the rat, the ox, the tiger, the rabbit, the dragon,
the snake, the horse, the sheep, the monkey, the rooster, the dog and
the pig. There are various legends that would explain the zodiac’s
beginning. The following is possibly one of the most popular and is
summarized:
The animals were told by the rat, which was selected to invite the
animals, to report one day to the Jade Emperor to participate in the
banquet that had been made for the selection of the zodiac signs. Even
though the cat was a close friend to the rat, but was tricked by the rat
into thinking that the banquet was going to be held on the following
day. Thus, the cat slept while the banquet was being held as he was lied
to. When the cat found out about the rat’s deceit, he vowed that the rat
would become the cat’s enemy for all the days to come.
Another version of the popular legend reports that there was a race held
to decide which animals and they were told to report to the Jade
Emperor. The rat and the cat were known to be the worst swimmers among
the animal kingdom. Even though they couldn’t swim well they both
displayed great intelligence. They both decided that since they couldn’t
swim well that they best and quickest way to get across the river was to
ride over there on the ox’s back. Since the ox was a good-natured animal
and very naïve, he agreed to carry them on his back across the river.
The rat was fiercely competitive and decided that if he was to win, he
would need to push the cat into the river. Due to the rat’s
deceitfulness the cat never forgave the rat and still hates water. As
the ox neared the other bank of the river, the rat jumped off and raced
to the shore first and became the first animal in the zodiac signs.
Following the rat closely was the strong ox that came in 2nd and won
it’s place in the zodiac. The tiger followed in third place but
complained that the strong currents kept pushing him downstream
throughout the race but with his great strength made it to the shore.
The rabbit came next and told how he had jumped from one stone to the
next nimbly and reached the other side of the river. The rabbit claims
that he almost lost the race but was able to get hold of the floating
log that carried him to the shore. That is how he became the fourth
animal in the cycle.
The fifth animal to come across the river was the dragon that was
belching fire and flying in the air. The dragon was asked by the Emperor
that with his strong, flying abilities why he was not the first to
arrive. The dragon answered that he needed to make rain so that he could
help all of the creatures on earth. Then he saw the rabbit clinging
helplessly to the log and he blew on the log to aid the rabbit in
reaching the shore. The Emperor was so happy with this story that he
added him to the cycle. Next came the horse that actually had the snake
on his hoof and when he saw the snake the horse got frightened and fell
back. This is the explanation for the snake securing the sixth spot and
the horse came in seventh.
Not too long after this, the ram, rooster and the monkey had helped each
other get across the river and they showed up together. The rooster had
found a raft and brought the other animals with it. The monkey and the
ram cleared the way as they tugged to get the raft all the way to the
shore. The Emperor saw the cooperation and named the ram as the eighth
animal, the ninth was the monkey and the rooster became the tenth animal
to be named to the zodiac cycle.
Because the dog was too tempted to take a bath in the cool water, he
almost didn’t make it to the finish line. When he did he became the
eleventh animal to be added to the cycle. The Emperor was ready to close
out the day he heard the oink of the pig. He came out in last that day
as on his way to the other shore became hungry and stopped along the way
for a huge feast and promptly fell asleep. When he woke up he became the
12th and final animal named to the zodiac cycle. |
