The Myths/Stories
Since nothing comes out of nowhere, the Chinese Zodiac was made up with certain stories. One of the most known story is the one about the race.
One day Buddha/Jade Emperor decided to have a race between the animals, and the prize was a place on the Chinese Zodiac. The way they determined which animal would go on the zodiac was that they had to race across a river and whoever passed the finish line first would be on the top of the zodiac, and the rest would follow in order. The day before the race, the rat and the cat decided to help each other during the race because they were not as fast or as strong as the other animals, but they were the smartest out of all of the animals. The plan they came up with was that they would get the strongest swimmer to help them both across the river. The plan was perfect except that the race was at 10 O'clock in the morning and the cat was a sleepy head and barely ever woke up before noon, so the cat told the rat to help him wake up early for the race. When the morning of the race came, the rat decided that he would have a better chance of winning if the cat wasn't in the race, so he didn't wake up the cat in the morning. (They believe that this is the reason that cats chases rats). At the beginning of the race, the rat knew that he was no match compared to the ox and other animals, so instead of using his physical strength, he decided to use his brain and decided to go along with the plan that he and the cat came up with. So at the beginning of the race, he got on the ox because he knew that the ox was the fastest and strongest swimmer. After the ox got across the river, the rat ran as fast as he can and crossed the finish line before the ox. That is how the rat came on top on the zodiac, followed by the ox, the tiger, the rabbit, the dragon, the snake, the horse, the sheep, the monkey, the rooster, the dog, and finally the pig/boar, who finished last.
Another story is sort of the same except that instead of the rat not waking up the cat on time, they both were in the race and followed through on their plan except, when they were close to the finish line the rat pushed the cat into the river letting it struggleand the rat won the race, then came the ox, the tiger, the rabbit, the dragon, the snake, the horse, the sheep, the monkey, the rooster, the dog and finally the pig/boar.
Here's a video of the story I just told on top.
One day Buddha/Jade Emperor decided to have a race between the animals, and the prize was a place on the Chinese Zodiac. The way they determined which animal would go on the zodiac was that they had to race across a river and whoever passed the finish line first would be on the top of the zodiac, and the rest would follow in order. The day before the race, the rat and the cat decided to help each other during the race because they were not as fast or as strong as the other animals, but they were the smartest out of all of the animals. The plan they came up with was that they would get the strongest swimmer to help them both across the river. The plan was perfect except that the race was at 10 O'clock in the morning and the cat was a sleepy head and barely ever woke up before noon, so the cat told the rat to help him wake up early for the race. When the morning of the race came, the rat decided that he would have a better chance of winning if the cat wasn't in the race, so he didn't wake up the cat in the morning. (They believe that this is the reason that cats chases rats). At the beginning of the race, the rat knew that he was no match compared to the ox and other animals, so instead of using his physical strength, he decided to use his brain and decided to go along with the plan that he and the cat came up with. So at the beginning of the race, he got on the ox because he knew that the ox was the fastest and strongest swimmer. After the ox got across the river, the rat ran as fast as he can and crossed the finish line before the ox. That is how the rat came on top on the zodiac, followed by the ox, the tiger, the rabbit, the dragon, the snake, the horse, the sheep, the monkey, the rooster, the dog, and finally the pig/boar, who finished last.
Another story is sort of the same except that instead of the rat not waking up the cat on time, they both were in the race and followed through on their plan except, when they were close to the finish line the rat pushed the cat into the river letting it struggleand the rat won the race, then came the ox, the tiger, the rabbit, the dragon, the snake, the horse, the sheep, the monkey, the rooster, the dog and finally the pig/boar.
Here's a video of the story I just told on top.
