“Chinese Zodiac Chart,” 1831. Reproduced by Philipp Franz von Siebold.
Each Lunar Year brings another Chinese New Year parade into the streets of Chinatown.
The celebration surges through streets lined with people eager to receive their share of good luck for the new year while commemorating their culture and identity with pride, in displays of red and gold hues, poppers and confetti abound. Each celebration picks up where the previous year left off and community groups, lion dancing crews, and beauty pageant contestants take turns kicking off the two-week long festivities. Each new year is brought in under a new patron, under the jurisdiction of a different sign of the Chinese Zodiac. The order is as follows: the year of the rat is followed by that of the ox, then the tiger, the rabbit, the dragon, the snake, the horse, the goat, the monkey, the rooster, the dog, until the year of the pig closes of the cycle before it begins anew. Each sign has different attributes, personalities, and omens; yet they are all equally celebrated and a variety of effigies, red envelopes, home decor, and talismans are annually crafted in their honor.
Why this specific assortment of animals, one may ask? Many believe that the selection boiled down to two factors: specimen that were present in the every day lives of the ancient Chinese–ox, horse, goat, rooster, pig, and dog– or those that were already associated with good luck and fortune–rat, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, and monkey.
There are no certainties when it comes to myth, neither when it comes to the legend of the Great Race: the tale of how these animals came to guard each gate of the twelve year cycle. There are many variations to this story but every time it begins with the Jade Emperor, the ruler of the heavenly kingdom and all those who dwell in it, and the call he put out to all the animals under his domain. He let it be known that he was soon to pick annual guardians for each consecutive year of a twelve year cycle. The first twelve animals to arrive to the gates of his palace would be the lucky winners; and so each creature in the kingdom heard his call and set off on their journey to the Emperor. Depending on who is telling this story the ensuing competition, the Great Race, is slightly different (especially when it comes to the rivalry between the Cat and the Rat) but the order remains the same: the Rat came in first through the use of his cunning and wit as he crossed the river on the back of the diligent Ox and then ran to the finish line. The Ox was second, followed by the Tiger, the Rabbit, the Dragon, the Snake, the Horse, the Goat, the Monkey, the Rooster, the Dog, and then finally the Pig.
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