The Story Behind the Chinese Zodiac

The Jade Chinese Zodiac Bracelet

From left to right: Snake, Dog, Tiger, Rooster, Dragon, Ox, Monkey

Clockwise: Rabbit, Sheep (goat or ram), Rat, Pig, Horse

Hello, friends! I would like to feature the interesting and well-known stories behind the Chinese Zodiac and how each year is named after the twelve animals. All the animals are featured in a jade bracelet.

 The 12 Zodiac animal signs (生肖 shengxiao) are, in order, the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep (ram or goat), monkey, rooster, dog, and pig. There are many legends to explain the beginning of the zodiac. One of the most popular reads, in summarized form, as follows:

The rat was given the task of inviting the animals to report to the Jade Emperor for a banquet to be selected for the zodiac signs. The cat was a good friend of the rat, but the rat tricked him into believing that the banquet was the next day. The cat slept through the banquet, thinking that it was the next day. When he found out, the cat vowed to be the rat’s natural enemy for ages to come.

Interestingly, the cat does make it into the Vietnamese Zodiac, in place of the rabbit (see below).

Another popular legend has it that a race was used to decide the animals to report to the Jade Emperor.

The cat and the rat were the worst swimmers in the animal kingdom. Although bad swimmers, they were both intelligent. They decided that the best and fastest way to cross the river was to hop on the back of the ox. The ox, being a naïve and good-natured animal, agreed to carry them across. However, overcome with a fierce competitiveness, the rat decided that in order to win, it must do something and promptly pushed the cat into the river. Because of this, the cat has never forgiven the rat, and hates the water as well. After the ox had crossed the river, the rat jumped ahead and reached the shore first, and it claimed first place in the competition.

Following closely behind was the strong ox, and it was named the 2nd animal in the zodiac. After the ox, came the tiger, panting, while explaining to the Emperor just how difficult it was to cross the river with the heavy currents pushing it downstream all the time. But with powerful strength, it made to shore and was named the 3rd animal in the cycle.

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 the rabbit was lucky enough to grab hold of a floating log that later washed him to shore. For that, it became the 4th animal in the zodiac cycle. Coming in 5th place was the dragon, flying and belching fire into the air. Of course, the Emperor was deeply curious as to why a strong and flying creature such as the dragon should fail to reach first. The mighty dragon explained that he had to stop and make rain to help all the people and creatures of the earth, and therefore he was held back a little. Then, on his way to the finish line, he saw a little helpless rabbit clinging on to a log so he did a good deed and gave a puff of breath to the poor creature so that it could land on the shore. The Emperor was very pleased with the actions of the dragon, and he was added into the zodiac cycle. As soon as he had done so, a galloping sound was heard, and the horse appeared. Hidden on the horse’s hoof is the snake, whose sudden appearance gave the horse a fright, thus making it fall back and gave the snake 6th spot while the horse took the 7th.

Not long after that, a little distance away, the ram, monkey and rooster came to the shore. These three creatures helped each other to get to where they are. The rooster spotted a raft, and took the other two animals with it. Together, the ram 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 ram as the 8th creature, the monkey as the 9th, and the rooster the 10th.

The 11th animal is the dog. His explanation for being late—although he was supposed to be the best swimmer amongst the rest—was that he needed a good bath after a long spell, and the fresh water from the river was too big a temptation. For that, he almost didn’t make it to finish line. Just as the Emperor was about to call it a day, an oink and squeal was heard from a little pig. The pig got hungry during the race, promptly stopped for a feast and then fell asleep. After the nap, the pig continued the race and was named the 12th and last animal of the zodiac cycle. The cat finished too late (thirteenth) to win any place in the calendar, and vowed to be the enemy of the rat forevermore.

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 twelve 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.

This jade bracelet is now more meaningful and unique as you can enthrall your friends with the intriguing and mesmerising stories behind it.

The Jade Chinese Zodiac bracelet is available at:

http://www.tmour.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=45_49&products_id=338

 

Taken from www.wikipedia.org

Limelight on the Rat

 

   

WITH the exception of Mickey Mouse and the adorable Jerry from the Tom & Jerry cartoon, rodents – rats, particularly, – are a rare find on anyone’s favourite list.From the days of old, these animals have been commonly and understandably viewed as pests, no thanks to the trail of domestic and health-related destruction they leave in their wake.While in reality, the rat is looked upon with distaste, literature and the silver screen, ironically, paints a more endearing picture of these animals.Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows, Tor Seidler’s A Rat’s Tale and Steven Spielberg’s animation direction of The American Tail are examples of works that more often than not stirred heart-warming feelings.Despite the mixed responses of disgust and affection that they inspire, rodents have been kept as pets from as early as the late 19th century.According to a number of pet storeowners and managers, there is a market out there for rodents, as the animals are sociable, intelligent and easy to keep.“Rodents, particularly those more similar to the rat species, are actually quite well-received especially among teenagers and the younger ones,” Pets Wonderland Mid Valley branch manager Dr Wong Won Hong said.These rodents include the various species of hamsters, guinea pigs and mice, as well as gerbils.And, this being the Year of the Rat, an increased demand for rodents as domestic pets is expected.To meet the expected demand, pet stores are also increasing the quantity and variety of rodents, and giving special discounts and promotions.Pets Wonderland will be giving away a pair of mice with every purchase of a starter kit that comprises food, bedding and cage.“Customers get either a pair of satin mice, Syrian long-haired hamster, dwarf hamster or Roborovskii hamster,” Wong said.He said that the promotional package costs RM108.80 or RM138.80.Petsmore.com will be giving away discounts from 10% to 20% on accessories to its members with every purchase of a rodent, in all its store branches.“We are expecting an increase in the sale of rodents during the two weeks before and after Chinese New Year, because that’s when the youngsters have received their ang pow money,” Petsmore.com retail manager Sean Saw said.This practice of having promotions to coincide with the zodiac year is not a new one.“We always try to have some kind of promotion to mark the new zodiac year whenever possible,” Saw said.According to Jusco Home Centre Pet House manager Daniel Lee, although the store will not be selling imported and more exotic species of rodents this year, there will be a special promotional discount on white mice and various types of hamsters.“Hamsters are going at only RM15 each and white mice cost RM3 each,” Lee said.Although pet stores expect a demand, a chat with a few pet store visitors revealed mixed responses.“I’ve always wanted a winter pearl hamster, but my mother doesn’t agree. I’m giving it more thought this year,” Winnie Lim, 22, said.While his girlfriend is not too keen, Ian Heng, 25, is quite interested in keeping rodents as pets.“They’re quite cute, but I’m not too sure if I can keep them, what with work commitments and all,” he said.David Tong, 29, will never keep a rodent as a pet, Year of the Rat or not.“I don’t like rats, and because the Year of Rat does not really hold a significance for me, I’m not going to change my sentiments,” he said

By VIVIENNE PAL

www.thestar.com.my