Kristen Finlayson

Want to know what animal you are? Find out the historical origins of the Chinese New Year animals.

The Chinese New Year is an important event in the Chinese lunar calendar. Celebrations have been carried out in the most traditional way since ages now and the merry-making spirit is still very much alive at present. The rare characteristic of the Chinese New Year is that according to the twelve year rotation, the coming of the year is related to an animal symbol significantly.

The Chinese New Year animal reappearsevery twelve years. According to their present standing the next year should be the year of the Ox. The ancient philosophers of China studied the behavior of the animals in the calendar and drew a similitude with their personality traits and human nature.

Hence a person conceivedin the year of a particular animal is considered to have certain behaviors found in that particular animal. The individual born in the year of the ox for example is supposed to have good organizational skills, they are considered dependable and loyal as well as patient and strong.

The concept behind the twelve year cycle with these beasts symbolizing each year was taken from the Buddhist dharma. Ancient history records that it was Buddha himself who summoned all these animals before he himself descended to Earth. Then a race was held amongst these animals where the victorious one would be responsible for the first year.

The race began with heavy contesting between the animals. The sly rat after making a deal with the cat decided to cheat. All the while it looked like the Ox would win the race as it maneuvered through the crowd. But the ox was unaware of the fact that the cunning rat was sitting on his back all through the race and when he came close to the ending line, the rat jumped off his back and became the winner.

Hence, we will see that the first year of the twelve year lunar cycle is the year of the rat as he cleverly managed to come first in the race and then it is followed by the year of ox as the hardworking animal secured second place. The ox is then followed by the rest of the animals in order of the positions they claimed with pig having the last position.

If you are in a doubt as to why just twelve animals came to Buddha and why only these specific animals came, then do not search for any answers to such questions. As a matter of fact, this is nothing but an ancient tradition which has been just made alive up till now and is strongly believed. As a token of honor and appreciation for their coming, Buddha assigned a year each to the animals.