A tale about how the Chinese Horoscope came into being....

The Jade Emperor ruled over everything but had never been to earth and therefore had never seen any of the animals that lived there. One day, he called his Chief advisor and asked what type of creatures lived on the earth. He also wanted to know what features they have, their intelligence, their movements and what sounds they make.

His chief advisor told him that there were many creatures on the earth and did he want to see them all? It would take many months to gather the animals to present to him. The Jade Emperor decided against this and told his advisor to select the 12 most interesting animals to present to him as he wanted to put them in an order of importance.

The advisor thought for a while and decided on the Rat, Cat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Ram, Monkey, Rooster and Dog. He asked each animal to present themselves before the Emperor the following morning. The Cat was afraid that he would oversleep and asked the Rat to wake him the next morning. However the Rat decided that he wouldn't measure up to the Emporer's inspection standing next to the Cat so he decided not to wake the Cat up.

The next morning, only 11 animals were present. The Jade Emperor asked his advisor why there were only 11 animals. He had no answer. The advisor quickly despatched a servant to earth to bring back the first animal that he came across. The servant saw a farmer carrying a pig. The servant quickly explained the situation and the farmer handed over the pig and the servant returned to heaven with it.

The Rat was afraid he would go unnoticed as he was so much smaller than all the rest so he jumped on the Ox's back and started playing a flute.

The Emporer was delighted at this so he gave the first place to the Rat. Second place was awarded to the Ox as he let the Rat jump on his back. Third went to the Tiger as he looked couragous. Fourth, the Rabbit because of his white fur.

Fifth was the Dragon because he looked powerful. Sixth, the Snake because of his curving body. Seventh, the Horse because of his elegance. Eighth the Ram because of his strong horns. Ninth, the monkey because of his agility. Tenth, the Rooster because of his feathers. Eleventh, the Dog because he was protective. The Pig was given last place as he made the effort to show up.

When the ceremony was over, the Cat rushed into the palace and begged the Emperor to consider him but all the animals had been chosen. When the Cat saw the Rat standing at the top of the line, the Cat pounced on him and chased him with intent to kill him.

This is why, the Cat and Rat will never be friends.

Adapted from "The Jade Emporer and the Twelve Animals"
Chinese Astrology written by Man-Ho Kwok