The ox carried the rat, who pushed the cat, who nearly drowned and lost the race in a popular legend behind the Chinese zodiac, an ancient system steeped in lore that both puzzles and enthralls around the world.
This year, the 15-day Chinese New Year began Monday, ushering in the Year of the Ox.
But why does the year begin then, and why are the years marked by roosters and dragons and pigs?
The Chinese zodiac is said to follow the stations of Jupiter’s orbit around the sun, which is just shy of 12 years. The animals mark years in a 12-year cycle that begins with rat, followed by ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and boar.
Why they fall that way has a colorful past.
One story has Buddha inviting all the animals in the kingdom to a meeting. In another, it’s the Jade Emperor holding a great banquet. Some animals outwit others to get there first, with their places in the zodiac assigned according to when they arrived.
A third legend is more like “The Amazing Race,” with plotting and scratching and clawing in a competition that includes a river crossing followed by a gathering at the emperor’s palace. The kindly ox agrees to carry the scheming rat and the cat across the water on his back, but the rat betrays his friend the cat by pushing him into a swift current and hops off the ox to claim the top spot.
Millions of people consult horoscopes around the world, including Chinese. The animal of your birth year defines and influences you as it “hides in your heart” for the rest of your life, a Chinese saying goes. In addition to dictating individual destiny and personality, some believe the animal influences events through the year.
“People definitely draw inspiration from what animal they are,” said Oliver Chin, a San Francisco publisher who writes books for children on the Chinese zodiac.
Chinese New Year fluctuates with the appearance of the second new moon after the winter solstice.
Seemingly intended to create order from chaos by marking positions of celestial bodies, the calendar has parts dating to the Shang dynasty in the 2nd millennium B.C. Unlike other cultures that had separate calendars to track the incongruous cycles of the moon and the sun, the Chinese calendar reconciled them in one system.
When the animals were integrated is not known.
Current 12-year cycle of years based on the Chinese zodiac:
Rat: 2008
Ox: 2009
Tiger: 2010
Rabbit: 2011
Dragon: 2012
Snake: 2013
Horse: 2014
Sheep: 2015
Monkey: 2016
Rooster: 2017
Dog: 2018
Boar: 2019
The Associated Press
