It is said that in ancient times, human knowledge was limited and they did not even know how to calculate and distinguish years and months. So, in response to human requests, the Emperor of Heaven came up with the idea of ??naming each year after some common animals.
But which animal to choose? After much thought, the Emperor of Heaven decided to hold an animal crossing competition on his birthday, and the top twelve animals were chosen as the twelve zodiac animals to mark the year. After the news spread, all the animals were full of energy and eager to try to get a place among the twelve zodiac animals. In the end, the mouse used a trick and got the first place, the buffalo got the second place, the tiger got the third place, and so on, that is, in the order of the twelve zodiac signs, the dragon should have been the first place, but because the Emperor of Heaven ordered it to rain, Long Shan It was late, and the cat missed the game because the mouse deliberately told it a wrong game time, so it didn't make the zodiac list. This is also the reason why the cat and the mouse are not in love. Later, these twelve animals became the way for mortals to record the year, such as the year of the ox, the year of the dog, the year of the snake, etc.