Many people find it strange that, among the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac, the rat is ranked first. Given that the rat is the smallest and possibly the weakest among the twelve, why does it take the lead? Today, let's explore why the rat holds the top spot in the zodiac.
When Did the Chinese Zodiac Begin?
The Chinese zodiac originated during the reign of the Yellow Emperor (Huangdi), who defeated the Flame Emperor (Yandi) and unified the Yellow River and Yangtze River regions. During this time, he noticed a widespread issue: most people were illiterate. The system of tracking years using the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches (such as the Bingyin year or Wuxu year) was too complex for the common folk to understand.
Using Animals to Record Time
To solve this problem, the Yellow Emperor devised a simpler method: each year would be represented by an animal. He selected twelve animals, and the cycle would repeat every twelve years. The people could easily remember the years by associating them with these animals.
But how did the Emperor choose these twelve animals? According to legend, the Emperor announced that on the first day of the New Year, all the animals should come to him to pay their respects. The first twelve to arrive would be selected as the twelve zodiac animals.
The first 12 animals became the symbolic representatives of each year in the zodiac, and that’s how the system was established. On the night before the New Year, the Yellow Emperor’s warehouse was visited by an unexpected guest—the rat. It had come out to scavenge in the middle of the night, hoping to find some food. However, after searching left and right, the rat couldn’t find anything to eat.
Just then, it noticed two pairs of bright, red, glowing objects. What were they? Two large red candles.
Where Did the Candles Come From? These candles were a gift from Chiyou, a fierce warrior defeated by the Yellow Emperor. As part of his tribute to the Emperor, Chiyou had presented these special candles. The rat, thinking they might be tasty, took a bite out of each of the two candles. But to its disappointment, they were tasteless and hard, leaving its teeth sore. So, the rat spat them out, leaving two small holes in the candles. Looking around, it saw there was nothing else to eat.
The Rat's Unfortunate Delay As the rat looked around, it spotted a jar of wine. With its love for alcohol, the rat couldn’t resist and took a few sips. But soon enough, it became drunk and, feeling drowsy, curled up to sleep right there in the warehouse. Hours passed, and before long, it was the first day of the New Year.
At dawn, the Yellow Emperor immediately instructed his people to hold a ritual at the "Bai Xiang Hall" to honor Heaven and Earth. The animals were to come in order and pay their respects. The first to arrive was the ox, known for its hard work and diligence. After the ox came the tiger, followed by the rabbit, then the dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig. The last to arrive was the cat.
The Fortuitous Distribution of the Zodiac
When it was time to assign the twelve animals their positions in the zodiac, the Yellow Emperor took the pair of candles from the warehouse. As he was about to light them, a careful immortal noticed something strange: each candle had a small hole in it. And from these holes, black powder seemed to be leaking out.
A Deadly Trap Unveiled The immortal quickly approached, dipped his finger into the black powder, and sniffed it with alarm. He was horrified to discover that it was a type of poison. If the candles were lit, the poison would be released into the air, and everyone nearby would perish.
It was then that they realized these were the very candles Chiyou had given to the Yellow Emperor. Chiyou had secretly harbored ill intentions, hoping to poison the Emperor and all his ministers and soldiers. The immortal explained that if the candles had been lit without the holes, the poison would have been trapped inside, and once the candles were burned, the gas would have killed everyone.
The Yellow Emperor immediately demanded to know who had made the holes in the candles. His guards searched the warehouse and soon discovered the drunken rat still lying there, groggy and unaware. They pulled it up and asked, "What is going on here?"
Terrified, the rat thought it was being accused of a serious crime. It was brought before the Yellow Emperor, where it nervously confessed everything. "I came to steal some food yesterday," the rat explained. "But when I couldn't find anything, I chewed two holes in the candles."
Upon hearing the rat’s confession, the Yellow Emperor burst into laughter. "If it weren’t for you, we’d all be doomed! We would have been poisoned!" He added, "This is truly a case of fate and coincidence in the creation of the zodiac calendar. I hereby appoint you as the leader, ranking first."
Thus, the rat unexpectedly earned the top spot. Its unintentional act of saving the Emperor granted it the honor of being first in the zodiac. From there, the order of the animals was set: the Ox in second, the Tiger third, the Rabbit fourth, the Dragon fifth, the Snake sixth, the Horse seventh, the Sheep eighth, the Monkey ninth, the Rooster tenth, the Dog eleventh, and the Pig twelfth.
Originally, the cat was supposed to be in the twelfth position, but because the rat took the lead, the cat was pushed out of the order entirely. This caused the cat to harbor a deep grudge against the rat. And so, from that moment on, cats and rats became sworn enemies—whenever a cat saw a rat, it would chase, catch, and eat it.
Conclusion
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