The Great Race The Story of the 12 Chinese Animal Birth Signs Chinese Zodiac
There are many stories and folktales about the Great Race of the 12 Chinese birth sign animals. Here is a simple version and it is quite exciting.
THE STORY STARTED WITH…
Jade Emperor, the God of all Gods, announced that animal names would be added to the calendar years according to their arrival order to the big meeting.
Then, the word got out.
CAT māo 貓|猫 and MOUSE lǎo shǔ 老鼠 were the first ones to head out. They got a ride on the back of the kind COW niú 牛 who agreed to carry them across a river. As CAT, MOUSE, and COW were approaching the other side of the river, MOUSE pushed CAT into the water.
Then, MOUSE jumped off COW and ran to Jade Emperor.
MOUSE was first! COW came in second.
Then, the third to arrive was TIGER lǎo hǔ, who was slowed down by the strong current of the river. Next was RABBIT tù zi 兔子, who conquered the difficulties on the road and made it to the meeting.
WHERE IS THE DRAGON?
You see, Jade Emperor was expecting Dragon to show up sooner. So what happened to this powerful amazing creature?
DRAGON lóng 龍|龙 came in fifth. The dragon stopped on the way to the meeting because he had to produce rain for villagers who needed water. Jade Emperor was very happy with his good deed.
Next came SNAKE shé 蛇, who secretly held the leg of HORSE mǎ 馬|马for a free ride. HORSE was startled and slowed down when he spotted the SNAKE. So, he placed seventh.
Soon after, RAM yáng 羊, ROOSTER jī 雞|鸡, and MONKEY hóu 猴 arrived at the meeting at the same time. These three worked together to find ways to go across the river. Jade Emperor was happy to see such good teamwork of the three. He placed RAM as the eighth. MONKEY was the ninth and ROOSTER was the tenth.
Then, DOG guǒ 狗 showed up. DOG was a good swimmer and should have gotten to the meeting sooner. But, the DOG had too much fun in the water so he came in late. However, he told Jade Emperor a different story… Ask your child what did the dog say?
As the meeting door was about to close. PIG zhū 豬|猪 came in with his sleepy eyes. PIG was hungry during the race so he had to look for some food. Afterward, PIG took a nap. Well, PIG came in last and was placed in the twelfth place.
This completes the 12-year cycle on the calendar!
Many Chinese believe each animal sign resembles the characteristics of the people who were born in that year. You can find out and see if there are any similarities in this listing.
For more Lunar New Year and cultural stories, you can see the book recommendations for 2020.
Image by cdn.powerofpositivity.com
The Great Race The Story of the 12 Chinese Animal Birth Signs Chinese Zodiac
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