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There is an old Chinese story concerning the origins of the Animal Years. It is said that the Yellow Emperor, the legendary ancestor of the Chinese people, decided to hold a competition to select twelve animals to serve as his bodyguards. When this news was announced, it caused a great stir throughout the animal kingdom. Rat was supposed to sign up for Cat, but forgot. As a result, Cat was unable to compete, and Cat and Rat have been enemies ever since. Elephant, although the largest of the animals, lost when Rat distracted him by running up his trunk. In the end, the twelve victors of the competition became the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac. Of course, this story is merely apocryphal. Most likely, the ancient practice of naming the years after animals originated with the prehistoric worship of animal totems. Later, the Chinese zodiac was developed as a way to keep track of when people were born, with years and animals associated in a fixed order for clarity and ease of recording.

How was the order of the Animal Years determined? According to one legend, Ox, as the largest of the twelve selected animals, should have been in first place. However, Rat, the cleverest of the animals, cut to the front of the line by hopping onto Ox's back. How the order actually was determined will never be known.

The order of the twelve Animal Years of the Chinese zodiac is as follows: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig.

 The Twelve Animal Years and the Solar and Lunar Calendars

The standard Gregorian calendar is generally referred to as the solar calendar in China. The traditional Chinese lunar calendar, also known as the jiazi calendar, counts the years in sixty-year cycles by combining two series of numbers - the ten Heavenly Stems and the twelve Earthly Branches. The ten Heavenly Stems are jia (first), yi (second), bing (third), ding (fourth), wu (fifth), yi (sixth), geng (seventh), xin (eighth), ren (ninth), and gui (tenth). The twelve Earthly Branches are zi (first), chou (second), yin (third), mao (fourth), chen (fifth), si (sixth), wu (seventh), wei (eighth), shen (ninth), you (tenth), xu (eleventh), and hai (twelfth).