Rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, pig. Anyone from East Asia has memorized this order of twelve animals at least once; we call it the twelve earthly branches, or the zodiac animals. But why these animals, and why does the smallest, the rat, stand at the very front? Here lies a fond old tale handed down through the ages.
As the legend goes, long ago the Lord of Heaven told the animals, "On an appointed morning, cross the river and reach me; I will name the twelve years in the order you arrive." The diligent ox set out earlier than anyone. But the cunning rat secretly climbed onto the ox's back to cross the river, then leapt off just before the finish and seized first place. The ox, who had plodded on in silence, came second; the brave tiger, third. The rabbit hopped across the stepping-stones for fourth; the dragon, arriving on a cloud, was delayed by scattering rain and came fifth. The snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, and dog arrived in turn, and the easygoing pig came in last of all, becoming the twelfth.
Of course, this is not a record of fact but a symbolic tale likened to each animal's nature. The rat's cleverness, the ox's sincerity, the tiger's courage, the rabbit's nimbleness—each of the twelve animals holds one facet of a temperament a person might carry. So to know your zodiac animal becomes a kindly mirror for looking, through that animal, at one grain within yourself.
Each of the twelve animals is said to carry its own character. The rat is witty and diligent; the ox, steadfast and persevering; the tiger, dignified and brave. The rabbit is gentle and delicate; the dragon, full of spirit and drive; the snake, marked by deep insight. The horse is free and active; the sheep, warm and artistic; the monkey, clever and full of talent. The rooster is industrious and meticulous; the dog, loyal and faithful; the pig, generous and blessed with abundance. The animal sign also pairs with a Heavenly Stem (jia, yi, bing, ding, and so on), so the same combination returns every sixty years—which is why a year may be called by color and animal together, as in "the year of the Blue Dragon." Yet such readings of character are not meant to lock people into twelve boxes, but rather to speak fondly of a loose common grain shared by those born in the same year.
The twelve branches are more than a list of twelve animals; they are East Asia's very system of time. Not only is a year called by one of the twelve animals, but the day was divided into twelve double-hours—from the hour of the rat (11 p.m. to 1 a.m.) to the hour of the pig—each assigned an animal, and the twelve branches were matched to directions and months as well. People of old read the energy of the year and hour of birth through these twelve characters, making them the foundation of saju and animal-zodiac fortune.
That we still feel a fondness each new year, saying "this is the year of such-and-such animal," is because this old tale lives on beside us. FortuneLeaf's animal-zodiac content, too, is offered in this spirit—conveying the symbolism held in the twelve animals not as a fixed fate but as a story for looking upon the year and yourself more warmly. What story might your zodiac animal be telling you today?