Chinese Zodiac

Chinese Zodiac
There are several legends about how the animals were chosen for the Chinese
zodiac. This is one of them. The Jade Emperor is the name of the Emperor of
Heaven.
Long ago, in China, the Jade Emperor decided there should be a way of
measuring time. On his birthday he told the animals that there was to be a
swimming race. The first twelve animals across the fast flowing river would be
the winners and they would each have a year of the zodiac named after them.
All the animals lined up along the river bank. The rat and the cat, who were
good friends, were worried because they were poor swimmers. Being clever
they asked the strong ox if he would carry them across the river.
'Of course' said the kind ox. 'Just climb on my back and I will take you across.'
The rat and the cat quickly jumped up and

were very excited when the ox soon took
the lead in the race. They had almost
reached the other bank when the rat
pushed the cat into the river leaving him to
struggle in the water. Then just before the
ox was about to win the race the rat leapt
on his head and on to the bank to finish
first.
'Well done,' said the Jade Emperor to the

proud rat. 'The first year of the zodiac will
be named after you.'
The poor ox had been tricked into second place and the second year of the
zodiac was named after him.
Shortly after the exhausted tiger clawed his way to the river bank to claim third
place. Swimming across the river had been an enormous struggle for him
against the strong currents. The Emperor was so delighted with his efforts that
he named the third year after him.
Next to arrive was the rabbit, who hadn't swum across at all. He hopped
across on some stepping stones and then found a floating log which carried
him to the shore.
'I shall be very happy to call the fourth year after you,' the surprised Jade
Emperor explained.
Just then a kind dragon swooped down to

take fifth place.
'Why didn’t you win the race, as you can fly as well as swim?' the Jade
Emperor asked.
'I was held up because some people and animals needed water to drink. I
needed to make some rain,' the dragon explained. 'Then when I was nearly
here I saw a poor little rabbit on a log in the water and I blew a puff of wind so
that the log would float to the river bank.'
'Well that was very kind of you and now you are here you will have the fifth
year of the zodiac named after you.'
The next thing the Jade Emperor heard was the sound of the horse’s hooves.
Just as he was thinking the horse would be the next animal to arrive, a sneaky
snake wriggled out from around one of the horse’s hooves. The horse was so
surprised that he jumped backwards giving the snake a chance to take the
sixth place in the race. The poor horse had to be satisfied with seventh place.
Not long afterwards a raft arrived carrying
the goat, the monkey and the rooster. They explained to the Emperor how
they had shared the raft that the rooster had found. The goat and monkey had
cleared weeds and pushed the raft to the shore. The Emperor was very
pleased that the animals had worked together. He said the goat would be the
eighth zodiac animal, the monkey the ninth and the rooster the tenth.
The next animal to finish was the dog.
'Why are you so late when you are one of the best swimmers?' asked the Jade
Emperor.
'The water in the river was so clean that I had to have a bath on the way,'
explained the dog.
His reward was to have the eleventh year named after him.
Now there was one place left in the zodiac and the Emperor wondered when
the last winner would come. He had nearly given up when he heard a grunt
from the boar.
'You took a long time to cross the river,' said the Emperor to the boar.
'I was hungry and stopped to eat,' explained the boar. 'After the meal I felt so
tired that I fell asleep.'

'You have still done well,' said the Jade Emperor. 'The last year of the zodiac
will be named after you.'
As for the cat who had been pushed into the

water by the rat, he finally crawled out of the water but was too late to have a
year named after him. He felt very cross with the rat and since then cats have
never been friends with rats.
From that day to this the Chinese Zodiac has followed this cycle of years
named after these twelve animals.

Chinese Zodiac

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Chinese Zodiac

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Chinese Zodiac

The rat and the cat quickly jumped up and

'Well done,' said the Jade Emperor to the

Just then a kind dragon swooped down to

The next animal to finish was the dog.

tired that I fell asleep.'

As for the cat who had been pushed into the

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