The Great Race - The Story of the Chinese Zodiac and Chinese New Year

As Chinese New Year approaches (also known as the Lunar New Year), people across the world prepare to welcome in the next year and the next animal in the Chinese Zodiac. In Chinese tradition, each year is represented by one of twelve different Zodiac Animals. For 2026, it's the year of the horse, for 2027 it's the Sheep (sometimes referred to as a goat or ram) and for 2028, it's the monkey. The theory goes that each person shares similar qualities and characteristics with the animal from the year they were born.

But where do all of these animals come from? And how do we know which animal comes next?

The answers to these questions comes from the mythological story of the Great Race. This story has been part of Chinese culture for thousands of years and, as with most myths and legends, the story can vary depending on who tells it. But here at Imagining History, we love a good myth or folk tale, so we couldn't wait to share this one with you.

The Great Race - The Story of the Chinese Zodiac and Chinese New Year

The story starts with the Jade Emperor, one of the most important gods to turn up in Chinese mythology. He decided he wanted to name each of the twelve zodiac years. To do this he organised a great race and invited each of the animals in the kingdom to take part. The race was tricky and involved passing over a huge river but each animal was eager to join in. Let the race begin!

First and second place

The rat knew the river was much too deep for it to cross on it's own. So the clever rat turned to the ox for help. The supportive ox agreed and soon the rat had jumped onto the ox's head and the pair waded out across the great river. Just as they were about to reach the water's edge, the rat seized the opportunity to hop off the ox's head and jump across the finish line, bagging the first place prize. The ever-patient ox then waded in at second place. The Jade Emperor named the first Zodiac year after the rat and the second year after the ox.

Third place

Following up behind the winning duo was the tiger. The tiger had struggled swimming against the tide and was utterly exhausted. But it was strong and determined and had pushed through to take third place and the name of the third zodiac year.

Fourth place

The rabbit was swift to take fourth place. It had hopped from rock to rock across the river but had almost fallen foul of the tides just like the tiger. Luckily, the rabbit had spotted a log drifting down the river and had bounced on board. The log miraculously drifted the rabbit ashore to claim the fourth place and fourth zodiac year.

Fifth place

What the rabbit didn't know is that the dragon was swooping up behind and had spotted the rabbit in need of some help. It used it's powerful breath to kindly blow the rabbit and the log to the finish line. The dragon then flew in at fifth place taking the fifth zodiac year. The Jade Emperor questioned the dragon, wondering what had taken the creature so long to reach the finish line, consider it's ability to fly straight over the river! The dragon explained that it had needed to make a short detour to save a nearby village from a fire. What a hero!

Sixth and seventh place

The energetic horse was next and was confident that it had sixth place in the bag. Unfortunately, in the horse's rush to cross the river, it hadn't noticed the sly snake that had coiled itself around the horse's leg. Approaching the riverbank, the snake quickly uncoiled itself and sprung for the finish line. The movement took the horse by surprise, giving the snake time to steal sixth place and the sixth zodiac year. The horse was content with seventh place. The Jade Emperor named the seventh zodiac year after the horse.

Eighth, ninth and tenth place

The sheep, monkey and rooster were the next to turn up at the finish line, demonstrating the perfect example of teamwork. The three sociable creatures had worked together to sail a small raft across the river. It was then a dash for the finish line when the raft made the shore with the friendly sheep skipping into eighth place, the cheeky monkey swinging into ninth and the chatty rooster bringing up the rear in tenth.

Eleventh place

The Jade Emperor and the animals didn't have too long to wait before the eleventh animal turned up. The playful dog had taken the time to have a good splash around in the river before eventually doggy-paddling over to the finish line. Why waste an opportunity for a good energising swim? The dog claimed eleventh place and the eleventh zodiac year. But where was the final animal?

Twelfth place

The crowd collected at the finish line had almost given up by the time the pig arrived in last place. The pig had got a little peckish during the race and had stopped off for a snack or two. After all that eating, the pig had gotten a little sleepy and decided to get forty winks. But the Jade Emperor couldn't help but forgive the charming pig and awarded the animal twelfth place and the final year of the zodiac.

But what about the other animals?

There was one other animal that was particularly bitter about not making onto the zodiac calendar. That was the cat. The cat had a habit of sleeping in and had asked the rat to wake it up before the race. The rat, of course, had got far too excited and had forgotten to wake the cat. The cat missed out and never forgave the rat. This is why cats and rats hate each other so much, even to this day!

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What's Your Zodiac Animal? - Activities

Do you know what zodiac year you were born in? Check out the list below to work it out:

Animal	Birth Year
Rat	1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020, 2032
Ox	1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009, 2021, 2033
Tiger	1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010, 2022, 2034
Rabbit	1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011, 2023, 2035
Dragon	1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012, 2024, 2036
Snake	1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013, 2025, 2037
Horse	1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014, 2026, 2038
Sheep	1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015, 2027, 2039
Monkey	1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016, 2028, 2040
Rooster	1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017, 2029, 2041
Dog	1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018, 2030, 2042
Pig	1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007, 2019, 2031, 2043

• Can you use the story to work out each animal's qualities and characteristics? EG, are they clever, lazy, strong, kind, supportive, selfish, cheeky, etc?

• Now you know your zodiac year, can you use the story to work out what qualities you share with your zodiac animal?

• What zodiac animal do your friends and family members have? Do they share qualities with their zodiac animal?