The course included a huge river which every creature, large or small, had to cross. The wily rat made sure it won the race. The exhausted rat used its cunning to navigate the water by persuading the kindly ox to let it sit on its head as it crossed.
The Jade Emperor asked, 'Why didn't you win the race, when you can fly?' 'I needed to make some rain, because some people and animals needed water to drink,' the dragon explained.
After the rat and the ox, the first animal to cross the finish line was the tiger followed by the rabbit, dragon, horse, snake, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and finally the pig. The pig was a slow and lazy animal who got hungry during the race and stopped to eat some grass at the side of the river.
According to myths, the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac were selected through a race. This race is meant to create a time measurement for the people. There could only be twelve winners and in order to win, the animals had to cross a rapid current river and reach the finish line on the shore.
The rat jumped in front of the ox and came first in the race. The ox came in second and the tiger finished in third.
The wily rat made sure it won the race. The exhausted rat used its cunning to navigate the water by persuading the kindly ox to let it sit on its head as it crossed. Rather than say thank you on the other side, the rat made a dash for the finish with the ox not far behind.
Cat and Rat were the best of friends. Cat liked to sleep late so on the morning of registration, Rat had agreed to wake him up. But, when the day came, Rat forgot all about his promise. And without his friend's alarm call Cat overslept, missing his chance to sign up, which is why there's no cat in the lunar calendar.
It turns out the kind-hearted Dragon had noticed a village that was on fire, so he rushed over to douse out the flames before returning to the race. In this way, he landed fifth place and became the fifth animal of the zodiac.
As the Ox was approaching the other side of the river, the Rat pushed the Cat into the river, then jumped off the Ox and rushed to the Jade Emperor, becoming the first in the zodiac. All the other animals made it to the Jade Emperor, while the Cat was left to drown in the river after being sabotaged by the Rat.
Everyone thought the mighty Dragon would arrive first, but he came after Rat, Ox, Tiger and Rabbit. The Dragon was late because he halted to make rain for a village that was suffering from drought.
In Chinese culture, the Dragon is the "luckiest" sign represents "good luck, strength and health", and is "unique because it is the only mythical creature of all the animals in the Chinese zodiac", reported Cosmic Fusion.
Among the 12 Chinese zodiac signs, the Ox is 2nd and the Rabbit is 4th.
Pig in the Chinese zodiac legend
According to the myths, the Pig was the last to arrive when the Jade Emperor called for the great meeting. Other sources said that Buddha called for a great meeting when he was about to leave the Earth. The Pig arrived last.
Although Hatori is the Dragon of the Zodiac, he transforms into an eight-centimeter long seahorse rather than an actual dragon. It is explained that in mythology, all dragons start out as seahorses, and only some gain the opportunity to ascend to dragon-hood.
Seemingly born under a lucky star, the dragon is the most vital and powerful of any in the Chinese zodiac, although with an infamous reputation for being hotheaded - and possessing a sharp tongue!
Who Would Win in a Fight Between a Komodo Dragon and a Tiger? A tiger is too much for a Komodo dragon to handle. A tiger would win a fight against a Komodo dragon. An ambush by the tiger would instantly end a fight against a Komodo dragon, and the tiger would just as easily win a battle without the element of surprise.
The cat was the thirteenth to arrive and would not be assigned to the calendar. Filled with rage, the cat chased the rat he once thought of as a friend. And that is why the cat is missing from the Chinese zodiac.
Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer is sometimes called the 13th or forgotten constellation of the zodiac. That's because the sun passes in front of Ophiuchus from about November 30 to December 18 each year. And yet no one ever says they're born when the sun is in Ophiuchus.
While lesser known, it's said that the 13th Chinese zodiac sign is the cat.
As the lore goes, the rabbit was among the 12 animals who raced to the Jade Emperor in a cosmic contest that ultimately determined the order of the Chinese zodiac signs. Though it was a weak swimmer, the rabbit used its brain, opting to cross the river portion of the course on a raft.
The rooster found a raft, and the monkey and sheep hopped on. Working hard together through the water currents and the weeds, they reached shore: the sheep came in eighth place, the monkey in ninth place, and the rooster in tenth place. In eleventh place was the dog. Even though it was a great swimmer, it was late.
Various takes on the legend say that the pig arrived last for any one of a number of reasons: He got hungry and stopped to eat on the way. He was a little too stout to keep up with the other animals. He overslept.
Originally, there was no tiger among the 12 zodiac signs, in its place was a lion. But the lion was savage and cruel, consequently 玉皇大帝 (yù huáng dà dì) "the Jade Emperor" wanted to replace him with a tiger. At this time, there was great unrest amongst the creatures on earth, and they were endangering humans.
He tricked the Ox into carrying him to the other side, where he jumped ahead and was named the first animal of the Chinese zodiac. Not only that, but Rat had betrayed his best friend, Cat, leaving him to sleep through the entire race instead of waking him up that morning.
Venus is a female cat, and like many female cats, it has a fur that looks like a mixture of black and orange pigments. Such cats are called tortoiseshell or calico – a name given to tortoiseshell cats with white patches.