The question
Where did the twelve animals come from?
The short answer
The twelve Earthly Branches were counting signs in use over 3,000 years ago. Animals were attached to them later, and appear in texts by the 3rd century BCE; the famous race of the animals is a folk tale.
What science knows
Historical FactShang dynasty oracle bones, from around 1200 BCE, already use the twelve Earthly Branches with the ten Heavenly Stems to count days in a 60-day cycle.
Bamboo slips found at Shuihudi, from the Qin period around 217 BCE, link branches to animals, some different from today’s. By the 1st century CE, the philosopher Wang Chong lists twelve animals much as they are now.
The pattern
Established MathematicsPair ten stems with twelve branches, stepping both at once, and the combinations repeat every 60 steps, the least common multiple of 10 and 12. That is the sexagenary cycle, used for days, years and more.
What is still uncertain
Mixed EvidenceWhy these animals, and why twelve, is uncertain. One link is Jupiter, which takes about 11.86 years to circle the sky and was used in early Chinese year counts, but the connection to the animals is debated.
Why humans find it interesting
Cultural TraditionIn the folk tale, the Jade Emperor held a race and ranked the animals by finishing order, with the clever Rat riding on the Ox. Each year’s animal changes at the Lunar New Year, which falls between 21 January and 20 February.
CUE perspective
CUE PerspectiveCUE’s Chinese astrology rests on this cycle, which is why your animal follows the Lunar New Year date, not 1 January.
CUE uses the Cat where China uses the Rabbit, as in the Vietnamese zodiac. Either way, it is a cultural system CUE reads symbolically.