As most of you may know, there are 12 star signs known as zodiac signs or horoscopes. The Chinese have a similar belief relating to the zodiacs. However, these zodiacs correspond to the years rather than the months. The order of the zodiacs was determined by a race. This was a race across a river and through the heavenly gates to become the guards of the Jade Emperor. 12 animals were selected and they each had distinct characteristics that earned them their placement.
- The witty rat: crossed the river on the ox and sprinted to the emperor early in the morning
- The hard-working ox: tread through the river
- The fast tiger: dashed through and to the finish
- The fast rabbit: although not as fast as the tiger, the rabbit was still fast
- The handsome dragon: won with its looks
- The sneaky snake: got ahead by scaring the horse
- The kind horse: disregarded the snake’s scare but trembled towards the finish
- The polite goat: won for its modesty and eagerness to help
- The agile monkey: nimbly made its way through the woods
- The chicken: floated across on a raft
- The fun-loving dog: had too much fun swimming in the river
- And the lazy boar: straddled behind to find food
The zodiac cycle is a 12-year cycle, repeating over and over again.
- The rat: 1996, 2008
- The ox: 1997, 2009
- The tiger: 1998, 2010
- The rabbit: 1999, 2011
- The dragon: 2000, 2012
- The snake: 2001, 2013
- The horse: 2002, 2014
- The goat: 2003, 2015
- The monkey: 2004, 2016
- The chicken: 2005, 2017
- The dog: 2006, 2018
- The boar: 2007, 2019
Which zodiac are you?
It is believed that when it becomes the year of your zodiac, one will have bad luck. 2019 will be the year of the boar, so watch out you superstitious people.
Wow, cool article! I have heard of the Chinese zodiacs before, but I never knew the story behind it! I found it really interesting how each animal placed in the race due to their uniqueness. I liked the story of how the fun loving dog had too much fun in the river. Also, I now know that I was born in the year of the monkey! I am fairly superstitious, so I enjoyed reading about how it is believed that during the year of your zodiac, you will have bad luck. Interesting read, thanks for sharing!
Great article! It’s interesting to see the different characteristics associated with each zodiac animal. The story behind the race of the zodiac animals is quite fascinating as each animal’s traits ultimately helped them succeed. I’ve always thought that the year of your zodiac would be a year of great fortune and prosperity so it was shocking to learn that one would have bad luck during that year. Hopefully, all those who were born during the year of the boar have good luck this year!
This is a really cool article! I like how each zodiac animal was determined by a race. I like how each zodiac has a method of winning the race that tells about their personality. Also, I am born in the year of the monkey. It’s unusual to me that there is a zodiac for bad luck. I always thought that all zodiacs had good luck because each animal must win the race to qualified as a zodiac.
A well thought out and written article!!! I think it is interesting you could tell a lot about each animal by the way they completed the race. I already knew I was a monkey, but didn’t know the reasoning behind it. I am happy that I am under a zodiac of good luck and not a bad luck one. I wish everyone born in the year of the boar to not get too frightened!!!! Thank you Emily so much for writing this!
This article was really fascinating! This article informed me a lot about the 12 zodiacs. I learned things such as how each zodiac has their own distinct characteristics, or how the order of the zodiacs depended on who finished the race first. It was surprising that when it becomes the year of a person’s zodiac, the person will have bad luck. I still have around 6 years until it’s the year of my zodiac, so I don’t have to worry now. Thanks for sharing this article!
Another great article Emily! I already knew I was sheep/goat but I never knew that my siblings and my mom are all of the dog zodiac. I never knew that each zodiac animal was determined by a race! It’s really cool to see that each animal had their own way to win the race too! I don’t know if I match the same characteristics of the goat though…
I never knew that you would have bad luck when its the year of your zodiac animal. I thought that it was really interesting because usually you have good luck in the year, or month, or day of your birth. I also never knew that according to the story of the zodiac signs they raced to become the guards of the Jade Emperor. I knew that they had a race but I always thought that the race was to prove who was the superior animal. Thanks for the article.
This is a very interesting article. This article is extra special to me because i have two zodiac signs. If I go by the american calendar I am a monkey because I was born after january first. However if I went by the lunar calendar I would be a sheep because I was born before chinese new year. What is even more interesting is that i share both the monkey and sheep’s traits.
Great article! This article told me a lot about the zodiac signs. I did not know of the different meanings of the signs. Comparing it to horscopes made it much easier to understand. I never knew that you have bad luck the year of your animal. It is cool to see how I can relate to the traits of a monkey.
This article was great! I haven’t really heard about zodiac signs often so it was very interesting finding out info on it. I never knew that the order of the zodiac signs were determined by race. It was also very interesting finding out that when it becomes the year of a person’s zodiac, they will get bad luck. Hopefully people that have a boar zodiac doesn’t catch any bad luck!
This is a great article! I never knew when it becomes the year of your zodiac, one is believed to have bad luck. I thought all the zodiacs meant good luck. I knew there was a race. Thank you for the article
It’s intriguing to see the distinctive qualities related with every zodiac creature. The story behind the race of the zodiac creatures is very captivating as every creature’s attributes at last helped them succeed. I’ve generally suspected that the time of your zodiac would be a time of awesome fortune and flourishing so it was stunning to discover that one would have misfortune amid that year. Ideally, every one of the individuals who were conceived amid the time of the hog have good fortunes this year! Overall great article.
This article is great. It was amazing to learn about the 12 different zodiac animals. I never knew when it is the year of your zodiac animal you are believed to have bad luck. Also I didn’t know the order of zodiac signs were determined by race. I learned that I was born in the year of the monkey. Great article!!
This is an amazing article! It included a lot of super interesting information that I never knew about zodiacs. One thing I didn’t know was how the order of the zodiacs was determined by a race. How the zodiacs finished he race was also super fascinating because of how it was determined by their characteristics. Another fact I never knew about zodiacs was how the year of your zodiac was the year you will have bad luck. This was super interesting to read, amazing job!
I thought this was a great article! I knew there were 12 animals in the zodiac but never really paid attention to the detail of the actual story. It is interesting that all 12 animals have their own unique trait. I also didn’t really pay attention to the different years the animals fall on and just find out when others tell me about it. I also didn’t know that the year of your zodiac you are supposed to have bad luck! Great article and keep up the good work!
This was a great and informative article! I never knew that the 12 zodiac animals were competing to earn the position of guards for the emperor, and all the animals had distinct characteristics that helped them earn the position. I like how you listed each of the animals, and how they managed to outwit the others or use brute force in order to win the race. My favorite zodiac animal is the dog, as you mentioned that he had too much fun crossing the river. Something that I didn’t know before reading this article is that the year of your zodiac symbol is bad luck. Before reading the article, all I knew about the zodiac was that there are twelve animals, and each person’s zodiac animal is based on the year that they were born. Keep up the good work!
This article was really well written. I’ve heard the story before from my parents when I was younger, and its great to read again, You listed out all the animals and explains thoroughly what each animal did to win. I am the year of the monkey. I did not know that if it was your year of the zodiac, it symbolizes bad luck. I guess its my year every year. Good Job!
This article was so fascinating. I enjoyed reading about the 12 zodiacs and quick little fun facts. One thing I learned was that when it becomes the year of your zodiac, one will have bad luck. I also enjoyed reading about some of the characteristics each zodiac has. I am born in 2004, so I am a monkey. Though I do not think im agile not nimble.
This is such an interesting and educational article! It is interesting to see that the animals not only relied on speed and strength but also on wit and sneakiness. This applied to the rat when he road on the ox to save energy then jumped off to Sprint ahead to the finish line. I also had no idea that your zodiac’s sign’s year was supposed to a year of misfortune or bad luck for you. I will be sure to look out for that in 2028! Haha!
Wow! This article was very interesting because this can tell me what zodiac symbol I am! Before I read this article, I found the zodiac calendar but never knew what symbol I was. Also, Thanks for also putting up the characteristics for each symbolic animal! I also never knew that the zodiac calendar was a 12 year cycle. Thanks for sharing this article with us and keep up the good work
Amazing article, Emily! I’m so glad you joined the TDC family~~ You did a wonderful job explaining each of the zodiac signs! I love how you also included the specific years for each of the zodiac signs! I think my zodiac – the horse – description was extremely accurate! Keep up the wonderful work! I can’t wait to read your future articles.
I was born in 2003, so my Chinese zodiac is a goat. It says that a goat is won for its modesty and eagerness to help, but I don’t think it’s necessarily true..? Anyways, I think zodiacs and constellations actually tell us about things in our lives. Looking back, 2015 actually was sort of a bad-luck year! Although there are people who don’t believe them, constellations still give great influence to certain people who really believe in it. I should study more about these. Nice article, Emily!!
Interesting article Emily! I always knew there was a story about the Chinese zodiac signs, but I didn’t know it involved with a race! Since growing up in a Chinese household, I never understood why my parents had a lot of animal paintings, but I now understand why. It’s so interesting how many cultures have a different view of the zodiac signs. Majority of the people I know are born from the same year I am, which is the horse, and I believe that the description matches up with the majority of them. I hope to read more articles like these!
Nice article, Emily!! I have always been so amazed with the Chinese zodiac, and I’ve learned a lot from this article. I’ve always wanted to be the rat because it is the first animal on the list, which means it might be the cleverest, but I’m still really glad that I’m the horse. People say that usually if your the year of the horse, you tend to run faster than other people. Unfortunately, that’s not the case for me. Despite the fact that this information wasn’t that accurate, i still really believe in the zodiac. Overall, I really liked this article!! Great job!!
Great article Emily! It was great to hear the story of the zodiac animals race again. I remember hearing for the first time when I was about 10. There are so many superstitions based off of zodiac animal signs. It’s so interesting to read how each animals’ personality shaped how quickly or how slowly they made it across the video. Thank you for sharing!
Very interesting! I did a project about the Chinese zodiac before and knew the story of the zodiacs. My Chinese zodiac is goat, I liked it because goat always gave people a quiet figure, even though I’m not a quiet person. Haha. Also I really loved to ask people about what Chinese zodiac they were. I like to guess their age by counting the zodiacs since it has a 12-year-cycle, as stated in the article.
Wow, great article Emily! I have a distant memory of reading about the story of Chinese Zodiac, and reading this helped me remember it. I was born in 2001, so my zodiac is the sneaky snake. It’s a little funny to know that children born in 2013 have the same zodiac as me, I always knew the day would come but not so soon. I also think it is a little funny that the snake placed ahead of the horse by scaring it because I don’t think that I’m the type of person who would do that in order to win a race. I also never knew that the year of your zodiac would be considered a year of bad luck. I was 12 in the last year of the snake, and considering that that was when I was in middle school, it can be safe to assume that it was a year of bad luck.
十二生肖是中国十分富有神秘色彩的文化之一。我在2001年出生，是属蛇的。我妈妈属龙，我爸爸属虎。生肖里面每种动物都代表了一个特殊的性格，有的好友的坏。不过这和十二星座一样深深地吸引着人们的好奇心。
It is safe to say that everyone is Horse right? I want to see more informative articles like this one. I wonder who invited this Chinese Zodiac sign? and it is the same as astrological sign? The story behind the zodiac creatures is very captivating and every creature’s attributes different personality. More interesting fact that I never heard the order of each zodiac creatures was determined by a contest.
Love this article, it is very fun, very well thought-out and developed article! I never knew that the 12 zodiac animals were competing to earn the position of guards for the emperor, and all the animals had distinct characteristics that helped them earn the position. And I also never knew that the order of the zodiacs was determined by a race, now I finally understand why they are being listed in order like this. And personally, my zodiac is a horse. And I am very proud because the horse is kind and has a characteristic of disregarded the snake’s scare but trembled towards the finish. Loved this article, taught me a lot, and very informative.
The 12 signs on the Chinese Zodiac represent as animals. In the legend, the animals were selected to participate in a race to cross over a river. Each of the animals had their distinctive characteristics, which make the way for order of the zodiac by every 12 years. The animals are also represented as star signs, similar to the western Latin zodiac. The 12 animals are the Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. The Japanese also use the same type of zodiac as the Chinese.
This is very interesting. I didn’t know that the pig was lazy- in another legend where they competed for the 12 zodiacs, pig won because he was ambitious enough to find a bridge to cross. These are one of the many interpretations, so I am not surprised. This is very well written and I learned a lot. Keep up the good work!
以前小时候我的姥姥姥爷经常会教我“子鼠丑牛寅虎卯兔辰龙巳蛇午马未羊申猴酉鸡戌狗亥猪”但是我从来都不知道他们他们会成为玉皇大帝的守卫。我自己就是属马的，我也很喜欢马，而且就像文章说的—马很善良。
This is such an informative article. I’ve known about zodiac signs for so long but never thought about where they come from or the story behind it. I was born in 2004 which means I’m a monkey. It’s fun to know about the characteristics associated with each zodiac sign. I never knew that if it’s the year of your zodiac sign, you’ll have bad luck.
Very Interesting article! I always see those zodiac signs in Chinese restaurants but I never really understood what it meant to be born the year of the goat. This article has informed me of what your Chinese Zodiac represents. Now I’m going to be more careful when hanging out with people that are the year of the snake. Thanks for writing the article, it is very well done and I have learned a lot about this topic.
Great article! My mom used to tell me about the zodiacs but she only told me the story about how the rat won. I didn’t know that there were so many more stories to the zodiac. I was born in year of the goat and I think it’s very interesting on how every animal has its own personalities.
This article is very interesting! Before I read this article, I knew the characteristics of my own zodiac. However, I didn’t know what the other zodiacs were like. It’s nice to read about the other zodiacs so I could learn more about the Chinese beliefs. Thank you for writing this article!
This article was very interesting. I didn’t know that in the Chinese culture Zodiac signs corresponded to years instead of months. I also didn’t know the animals behind the zodiac signs. It was also cool to find out some of the characteristics about the animals. I also learned for the first time today what zodiac sign I was.
记得小时候妈妈会给我讲十二生肖的故事，我是2003年出生，所以是属羊的，我觉得每个生肖都会代表不同的个性，就像星座一样，每个星座都有不同的特征与性格，真的很喜欢研究这些，感觉好有趣呀。
As an astrology enthusiast, this was very fun to read. I never knew the goat was associated with politeness. I don’t know how much the goat really fits my personality, but it is still cool to read about the zodiacs. I have no recollection of anything that happened to me in 2015, but I’m sure I was at least a little unlucky. Good luck to any boar people!
This is a very interesting article! I am fairly familiar with Chinese zodiac signs, and it was interesting to learn more about them. I’ve heard a lot about the legend of the race for the order of the zodiacs. I had no idea what some of the animals’ characteristics were, such as the goat being polite and modest. I also didn’t know that the year of your zodiac might bring bad luck.
Great article, Emily! I have always known that the zodiacs were in the order of who won the race in the legend, but I never knew that each animal had its own special characteristic. I learned that I was born in the year of the polite goat that had won for its modesty and eagerness to help. Thanks for sharing and I can’t wait to read more of your articles!
十二生肖大概真的是中国独有的东西了，是其他国家都没有的。只属于中国独一无二的文化。其实关于十二生肖也有很多故事了。比如说本来老鼠的位置是属于猫的，但因为猫那天起晚了所以没有挤进十二生肖的位置，就让老鼠得到的，以至于猫是特别恨老鼠的。其实这篇文章呢也让我更加了解了十二生肖的不同意义什么的。我是属羊的，2003年出生。原来羊是很有礼貌的。然后以后会更多关注这些的！
Wow, this was super interesting! I’ve always known there were zodiacs in the Chinese culture but didn’t know the story behind it. I liked how you included the descriptions of the different animals during the race. I was able to imagine the different animals and what they did. I also never knew that when it becomes the years of zodiac, they may get bad luck. Thanks for sharing!
I never knew how much meaning was behind the Chinese zodiac animals. Also, I really didn’t know that when it is the year of your animal, there will be bad luck. This means I have to be careful the next time it is horse. I was born in 2002, so I am the year of the horse. Additionally, the fact that the animals were selected to be in a race, and then the results dictated the animal’s year is so fascinating. I know it is a legend, but I wonder how that would happen in real life. Thank you for sharing with us. I learned a lot of new information.
Great Article! I knew about zodiac signs but I never really got in depth on what years are what zodiac signs. I only know that I was a goat and that’s it. The only other thing that I knew is that the order of the zodiac is by the order of the animals that won the race out of all of them. Thanks for sharing this information to everyone.
Thanks for informing me about the zodiac signs and the meaning behind the Chinese zodiac animals. It’s great to know that I am the polite goat who won for its modesty and eagerness to help. This is so cool to know about this. I wonder how realistic the zodiac signs are in real life. Great job Emily!
This article was very informational. I’ve never fully learned about the zodiac signs and the meaning of each animal. But, after reading this article I learned what each zodiac sign actually means. This was very helpful, thank you.
This was an interesting article. I didn’t know there was a legend about these animals racing. It’s nice to learn about the characteristics of other zodiac signs. I feel like my zodiac sign doesn’t fit me at all. Good job on the article though.
My zodiac symbol is the monkey. It is the same as my mother, and the same as my brother. My sister zodiac symbol is the snake and my dad hate snakes, so perfect. And my older brother is that of the tiger, but he is not that fast so I don’t think he is a fast tiger.
This article was very interesting. My zodiac sign is a monkey. I’ve heard of the legend of the race, but I never knew it in detail. It was very cool to read what every animal did. I also liked how you added the character traits of all the different animals. Thank you for sharing.
这个十二生肖是中国才有的东西，我是属羊的，以前我不知道这个十二生肖的意义是什么，虽然我现在还是不知道，十二生肖在中国有许许多多的传说故事，很有趣
It’s intriguing to see the distinctive qualities related with every zodiac creature. The story behind the race of the zodiac creatures is very captivating as every creature’s attributes at last helped them succeed. I’ve generally suspected that the time of your zodiac would be a time of awesome fortune and flourishing so it was stunning to discover that one would have misfortune amid that year. Ideally, every one of the individuals who were conceived amid the time of the hog have good fortunes this year! Overall great article.
Great article! My zodiac sign is a goat. I have heard many different stories and versions about the race. I never knew it in depth, now I do! I had no idea of some of the animals’ characteristics. I didn’t know the goat was polite and modest.
This article was very intriguing. I have always known about the zodiac signs and that if you were born a certain year, you would be assigned a certain zodiac animal. But, I knew very little about the legend involving the zodiac animals. It’s amazing to read about these legends and see the true meaning behind each animal. My zodiac sign is a goat.
Great article Emily! I knew about the are 12 star signs known as zodiac signs or horoscopes, but never really knew about the zodiacs. It’s so interesting that these zodiacs correspond to the years rather than the months, and the order of the zodiacs was determined by a race. When I was younger, my dad actually read me the story about the race across a river and through the heavenly gates to become the guards of the Jade Emperor. I never thought myself as a goat!
So cool! I’ve always been fascinated by astrology and the Western zodiacs. I’m a goat! That’s so interesting. There are always character traits associated with zodiac signs. Nice job!
The story behind the race of the zodiac creatures is very captivating as every creature’s attributes at last helped them succeed. I’ve generally suspected that the time of your zodiac would be a time of awesome fortune and flourishing so it was stunning to discover that one would have misfortune amid that year. Ideally, every one of the individuals who were conceived amid the time of the hog have good fortunes this year! Overall great article.