The Chinese New Year- An Article by Gabriel Lee Robinson Brighton WCMA

The Chinese New Year

The Year Of  The Goat.

The Zodiac calendar is based on the ancient Chinese myth of the race of all the animals.

All of the animals wanted a year named after them, but they all wanted the first year to be theirs. They went to the Jade Emperor to decide the outcome. However, the wise king of the gods settled on a race between all the animals, the winner with the first year named after them.

The resourceful, quick-witted rat was a good friend with one of the laziest animals, the cat. The dopey cat requested the lively rat to wake him on the morning of the legendary race, only to the shame of missing the competition because of his inexhaustible slumber and the distractible rat. First came the most favored in the Chinese Zodiac story, the rat, by stealthily creeping up the Ox’s neck and leaping out between the Ox’s horns seconds before he reached the finish line, putting the diligent, thorough Ox in second place. The confident Tiger came third, fourth the gentle Rabbit, fifth the ambitious dragon, sixth the materialistic snake, seventh the sentimental horse, eighth the amicable goat [we’ll come back to him later], ninth the quick-witted monkey, tenth the observant rooster, eleventh the prudent dog, and last of the compassionate yet sleepy Boar.

Finally, I would like to inform everyone that there is a religious argument between Southern and Northern China whether it is a sheep or a goat, so don’t be confused!

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!