Gung Hay Fat Choy!

Happy New Year!

Today ushers in the Year of the Rat. Since I was born during a Rat year, I'm rather partial to this Chinese astrological sign. Being a Rat doesn't have the negative connotations that Westerners might associate with it. On the contrary, Rat people are thought to be charming, hard-working and intellegent, although they can also be cool, calculating, ambitious and quick to anger when threatened. The Rat happens to be the first sign in the Chinese zodiac. There are a couple of different legends as to how this came to be and they lend some insights into the nature of Rats.

Legend of the Chinese Zodiac

According to Chinese legend, the twelve animals quarreled one day as to who was to head the cycle of years. The gods were asked to decide and they held a contest: whoever was to reach the opposite bank of the river would be first, and the rest of the animals would receive their years according to their finish.

All the twelve animals gathered at the river bank and jumped in. Unknown to the ox, the rat had jumped upon his back. As the ox was about to jump ashore, the rat jumped off the ox's back, and won the race. The pig, who was very lazy, ended up last. That is why the rat is the first year of the animal cycle, the ox second, and the pig last.

From the Chinese Culture Center

In other stories the animals are summoned before either Lord Buddah or the Jade Emperor, yet the intellegent rat stows away aboard the ox and leaps onto the bank to arrive before all the other animals. An entirely different version has the Rat using trickery on his friend the Cat in order to elevate his status amongst animals:

The Rat and the Cat

A long, long time ago, the Cat and the Rat were the best of friends. They accompanied each other everywhere they went and they shared their food. One day, the Cat learnt that the Jade Emperor was going to elect twelve animals to represent the twelve calendar years, and invited all animals to a party. The Cat suggested to the Rat that both of them should make a presence.

When the day finally arrived, the Cat told the Rat, 'I am going to take a nap so that I will be in my top form. Can you please wake me up when it's time to go to the party?' 'No problem.' the Rat replied, 'Just relax and rest. I will wake you up when the time comes.'

After the Cat fell asleep, the Rat thought to himself, 'I am among the smallest of all animals and I don't stand a chance in making one of the twelve if the Cat will go.' So when the time came, the Rat left on his own without waking up the Cat, and was elected as one of the twelve Zodiac Animals.

When the Cat found out what the Rat had done, he was furious. The two became worst enemies. This is the reason why cats are not one of the twelve animals and they love to chase after rats.

From Yutopian Online