A CRAFTY RAT AND A GREEDY PIG

The Chinese zodiac is based on a 12 year cycle with one animal honoured for each year. The 12 animals rotate in a specific sequence and 2 different legends tell how the 12 animals were chosen from all the animals in the kingdom. As one goes... a race was held across a river by the Jade Emperor to detemine which animals will represent the Chinese zodiac. All animals were invited to participate and who ever arrives first will take the first year of the zodiac followed by the second till the twelfth and last. The rat and the cat were good friends at the time and both hitched a ride on the strong ox across the strong currents in the river. However, the rat wanted to win the race and pushed the gentle cat into the river. When the ox almost reached the end, the crafy rat hopped off and ran across the finishing line first. Thus, the zodiac starts with the crafty RAT followed by the strong OX, TIGER, Tiger decorations to paste on our front doors to welcome the New Year RABBIT, DRAGON

SNAKE, HORSE SHEEP, MONKEY
ROOSTER, DOG AND LASTLY THE PIG
The pig got hungry during the race and stopped for a meal and rest. The cat did made it to the finishing point at number 13 and thus, was not included into the zodiac. This is why rats and cats do not get along today and cats hate water!!

THE 12 ANIMALS IN SEQUENCE
In another legend, Lord Buddha asked all the animals to visit him before he departed from Earth. Only 12 animals turned up and in return, he honoured each animal with a year. Both the cat and the rat agreed to wake each other up to go together in the morning, but the rat went alone, while the cat over slept.

Characterisitics of people born in each animal sign:

RAT: 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996 - charming, hard working perfectionists, easily angered, generally successful; compatible with Dragon, Monkey and Ox; incompatible with horse and rabbit

OX: 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997 - patient, inspire confidence in others, easy going but stubborn, compatible with snake, rooster and rat; incompatible with tiger and horse

TIGER: 1962, 1974, 2010 - Brave, competitive, born to lead, tendency to be selfish; compatible with dog and horse; incompatible with goat and ox

RABBIT: 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999 - Creative, compassionate, avoids confrontation, classy, stylish; compatible with pig and dog; incompatible with rooster and rat.

DRAGON: 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000 - mightiest of the animals, driven, ambitious, loner, quick tempered; compatible with monkey and rat; incompatible with ox and goat

SNAKE: 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001 - intelligence, graceful, analytical, materialistic; compatible with rooster and ox; incompatible with pig and monkey

HORSE: 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002 - strength, wit, energy, multi taskers, self centred and tantrum throwers; compatible with dog and tiger; incompatible with rat and monkey

GOAT: 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003 - dependable, calm, creative, excellent care givers, simple; compatible with rabbit and pig; incompatible with rat and ox

MONKEY: 1968, 1980, 1992 2004 - curiosity, mischievous, city people, adaptable; compatible with rat and dragon; incompatible with horse and snake

ROOSTER: 1969, 1981, 1993 2005 - confident, pompous, loyal, blunt; compatible with ox and snake; incompatible with goat and rabbit

DOG : 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006 - deep loyalty, honest, stubborn, care little for wealth but always have money; compatible with horse, incompatible with rabbit, tiger

PIG: 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007 - dilligent, generous, entertaining, brand consious and not exactly thrifty; compatible with rabbit and goat, incompatible with monkey and snake

WELCOME TO THE YEAR OF THE TIGER: FEB 14 2010 - FEB 13 2011