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| Fan showing the Chinese Zodiac |
In Chinese Folklore, the
story of how the Chinese Zodiac came into being tells about rivalry,
competition and cooperation amongst the animals vying for an honored place in
the zodiac. If you are an aficionado of
cats, you may ask yourself’ “Why no cats? Isn’t the cat a lucky animal in Asian
cultures?”
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| maneki-neko |
It is true that cats are
considered lucky, especially in Japan where the maneki-neko or beckoning cat originated. You may have seen a maneki-neko in Asian business establishments because it represents
a wealth and prosperity feng shui
cure. If you know nothing about feng shui, it literally means wind and
water, which we think of as harmony.
Practitioners of feng shui
take the bagua, “a grid that
reveals how the different areas of any building [or space] you occupy are
connected to specific aspects of your life,” and place that grid over homes and
businesses to let the owners know how to arrange their belongings to the best
advantage. So the maneki-neko in a business is placed near the entrance to welcome
good customers; in a home it should be placed in the southeast (to the right of
the entrance) part of the bagua, the
wealth and money area.
But to get back to the Chinese
Zodiac story which begins with the Jade Emperor who ruled the Heavens. On his birthday he arranged for a swimming
race to be held across a fast running river.
The first twelve animals to cross the finish line would have a year of
the zodiac named for them.
Rat and Cat, good friends
back then, were afraid they might not stand a chance as they were not good
swimmers. “Let’s ask Ox (water buffalo)
for a ride! He’s a wonderful
swimmer.” So they asked; and Ox, who was
easy going and kind as well as a good swimmer, complied.
The river was swift and
rather deep, but Ox was strong. Rat and
Cat cheered as he took the lead. Close
the far side of the river, Rat crept up behind Cat and suddenly pushed him into
the water where Cat began to flounder.
Then climbing onto Ox’s head Rat jumped to the shore before Ox could
step upon the land, and proudly presented himself to the Jade Emperor.
“Ahhh...,” said the Jade Emperor. “The first year of the zodiac will be
named after you, Rat.”
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| Calendar from May Wa Restaurant |
Ox was tricked into second place, but he was content with the second year of the
zodiac being named after him. The rest
of the animals followed in this order: Tiger, also a strong swimmer; Rabbit,
who hopped across the river on stones and then floated on a log; Dragon, who
was not first because he helped the others by providing rain and pushing Rabbit
with a little extra breeze; Snake who rode across on Horse’s hoofs; Horse, who
is now fearful of snakes; Goat, Monkey and Rooster, who shared a raft and
arrived together; Dog, who had taken the time to bathe in the river; and Boar,
who ate and rested before coming. Twelve
animals in all.
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| Comet |
As for Cat, pushed into the water by Rat, he finally crawled out of the
water wet and bedraggled, but was too late to have a year named after him. Cat has taken his frustration out on Rat and
his cousins the mice ever since.
(In some versions Rat promises to wake Cat; but fails to so, which is just as devastating to Cat.)
So now you know why there is no Year of the Cat.
Some other interesting notes about Chinese New Year. The Chinese New Year follows the lunar calendar, thus changing from year to year as to when it begins. The celebration lasts fifteen days, ending with the Lantern Festival. The whole fifteen days are known as the Spring Festival.
This year begins on January 31. It is year number 4712, the Year of the Horse. Each animal has special characteristics attributed to it. If you want to know what your zodiac animal is click here . There are also other interesting articles about the Chinese Zodiac on this website. Here's another website with fun activities.
Karen Chace, a storytelling friend, has a wonderful blog. Click here for her offering of stories about horses.
Another interesting blog about the Year of the Horse can be found here. To quote from it, "...grab a fistful of mane, hang on to the reins, cast your old cares to the wind and let out a whoop of delight–Yeeehaaw!"
One of the earliest
stories I remember is Millions of Cats
written and illustrated by Wanda Gág. So
it wasn’t surprising to me that I learned to tell Millions of Cats early on in my storytelling career. I was teaching second grade and used my
storytelling skills to enhance my teaching and to keep the children engaged
while we had to wait – for lunch, for P.E., for recess, for library. Right away they learned the refrain,
“Hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and billions and trillions of
cats.” And chanted with me each time I
used the refrain. Sometimes we enacted
the story with the children being the cats trailing behind me as we “went over
the sunny hills and through the cool valleys.”
For a Summer Reading program, where a craft was expected to go along
with the stories, I came up with the idea of paper bag cat puppets. The story has grown and changed through the
years, but it is still one of my favorites to tell.
