The Great Race[edit]
An ancient folk story tells that Cat and Rat were the worst swimmers in the animal kingdom. Although they were poor swimmers, they were both quite intelligent. To get to the meeting called by the Jade Emperor, they had to cross a river to reach the meeting place. The Jade Emperor had also decreed that the years on the calendar would be named for each animal in the order they arrived to the meeting. Cat and Rat decided that the best and fastest way to cross the river was to hop on the back of Ox. Ox, being naïve and good-natured, agreed to carry them both across. Midway across the river, Rat pushed Cat into the water. Then as Ox neared the other side of the river, Rat jumped ahead and reached the shore first, claiming first place in the competition and the zodiac.[10][11]

Following closely behind was strong Ox, who was named the second animal in the zodiac. After Ox, came Tiger, panting, while explaining to the Jade Emperor how difficult it was to cross the river with the heavy currents pushing it downstream all the time. With its powerful strength, it made it to shore and was named the third animal in the cycle.[9]

Suddenly, from a distance came a thumping sound, and the Rabbit arrived. It explained how it crossed the river: by jumping from one stone to another in a nimble fashion. Halfway through, it almost lost the race, but it was lucky enough to grab hold of a floating log that later washed him to shore. For that, it became the fourth animal in the zodiac cycle. In fifth place was the flying Dragon. The Jade Emperor was deeply curious as to why a swift airborne creature such as the Dragon should fail to reach first place. The mighty Dragon explained that it had to stop and make rain to help all the people and creatures of the earth, and therefore it was held back. Then, on its way to the finish, it saw the helpless Rabbit clinging onto a log so it did a good deed and gave a puff of breath to the poor creature so that it could land on the shore. The Jade Emperor was very pleased with the actions of the Dragon, and it was added into the zodiac cycle. As soon as it had done so, a galloping sound was heard, and the Horse appeared. Hidden on its hoof was the Snake, whose sudden appearance gave it a fright, thus making it fall back and giving the Snake the sixth spot, while the Horse placed seventh.

Not long after, the Goat, Monkey, and Rooster came to the shore. The three creatures helped each other to get to the shore. The Rooster spotted a raft, and took the other two animals with it. Together, the Goat and the Monkey cleared the weeds, tugged and pulled and finally got the raft to the shore. Because of their combined efforts, the Emperor was very pleased and promptly named the Goat as the eighth creature, the Monkey as the ninth, and the Rooster the tenth.

The eleventh animal was the Dog. Although it was supposed to be the best swimmer, it could not resist the temptation to play a little longer in the river. Though his explanation for being late was because it needed a good bath after a long spell. For that, it almost did not make it to the finish line. Just as the Jade Emperor was about to call it a day, an oink and squeal was heard from a little Pig. It got hungry during the race, promptly stopped for a feast and then fell asleep. After the nap, it continued the race and was named the twelfth animal of the zodiac cycle. The cat eventually drowned, and did not make it in the zodiac. It is said that this is the reason cats always chase Rats.

Another folk story tells that the Rat deceived the Ox into letting it jump on its back, in order for the Ox to hear the Rat sing, before jumping off at the finish line and finishing first.

In Buddhism, legend has it that Buddha summoned all of the animals of the earth to come before him before his departure from this earth, but only 12 animals actually came to bid him farewell. To reward the animals who came to him, he named a year after each of them. The years were given to them in the order they had arrived.

The twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac were developed in the early stages of Chinese civilization, over hundreds of years before it developed into the current version; it is difficult to investigate its real origins. Most historians agree that the cat is not included, as they had not yet been introduced to China from India, with the arrival of Buddhism.