Zodiac Animals

The Order of Chinese Zodiac 

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The Chinese Zodiac Order Table

First Place: Rat

Second Place: Ox

Third Place: Tiger

Fourth Place: Rabbit

Fifth Place: Dragon

Sixth Place: Snake

Seventh Place: Horse

Eighth Place: Goat (or Sheep)

Ninth Place: Monkey

Tenth Place: Rooster

Eleventh Place: Dog

Twelfth Place: Pig

People who like to recite the Twelve Earthly Branches know that their order is: Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu, Hai. From the above Chinese Zodiac order table, it can be seen that the Rat is in the first place, corresponding to the first Earthly Branch “Zi,” and the Pig is in the last place, corresponding to the last Earthly Branch “Hai.”

The Origin of the Zodiac Order: The order of the Chinese Zodiac was explained by ancient Chinese scholars from the perspective of the twelve double hours of ancient day and night, elucidating the relationship between the Earthly Branches and the Zodiac animals. The Zhou Yi (I Ching) explanation of the Chinese Zodiac order is as follows:

  1. Zi Rat: Active around midnight, the rat creates a crack in the chaos of heaven and earth, “the rat bites open the sky,” so Zi belongs to the Rat.
  2. Chou Ox: After the sky opens, the earth must be cultivated, “the earth is cultivated in Chou,” and the ox plows the field, hence Chou belongs to the Ox.
  3. Yin Tiger: Yin time is when people are born; where there is life, there is death. Placing people in a life-or-death situation is akin to a fierce tiger, so Yin belongs to the Tiger.
  4. Mao Rabbit: Mao time symbolizes sunrise. The sun should belong to the Li trigram, which symbolizes fire. The moon, represented by a jade rabbit, is contained within, so Mao belongs to the Rabbit.
  5. Chen Dragon: Chen represents March, a time when dragons bring rain. Naturally, Chen belongs to the Dragon.
  6. Si Snake: Si represents April, a time when spring grass is lush and snakes thrive. Additionally, snakes return to their holes during the morning of Si time, so Si belongs to the Snake.
  7. Wu Horse: At Wu time in the afternoon, yang energy peaks while yin energy begins to grow. Horses gallop and leap, embodying both yin and yang, so Wu belongs to the Horse.
  8. Wei Goat (or Sheep): The best time for goats to graze and gain weight is in the afternoon during Wei time, so Wei belongs to the Goat (or Sheep).
  9. Shen Monkey: After Wei comes Shen time, when monkeys cry in the mountains and like to leap and stretch their limbs, so Shen belongs to the Monkey.
  10. You Rooster: You time is when the moon appears, associated with water and the Kan trigram. The rooster, representing the essence of the sun and the golden crow, belongs to You.
  11. Xu Dog: At nightfall, Xu time, dogs guard the home, hence Xu belongs to the Dog.
  12. Hai Pig: Following Xu, Hai time arrives, enveloping the world in chaos once again. The pig, oblivious and muddled, belongs to Hai.
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The famous Song Dynasty Neo-Confucian scholar Zhu Xi held this view regarding the origins of the Zodiac order.

The Chinese Zodiac Order and Years Order/Animal/Year of Birth (from 1948 to 2019):

  1. Rat: 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008
  2. Ox: 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009
  3. Tiger: 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010
  4. Rabbit: 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011
  5. Dragon: 1952, 1764, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012
  6. Snake: 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013
  7. Horse: 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014
  8. Goat (or Sheep): 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015
  9. Monkey: 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016
  10. Rooster: 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017
  11. Dog: 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018
  12. Pig: 1989, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007, 2019
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