Discover the Chinese New Year story

Watch the story behind Chinese New Year unfold in this shadow animation about how the animals of the Chinese Zodiac decided who would have which year named after them.

According to myth, as the new year approached, twelve animals were arguing. There was a rat, an ox, a tiger, a sheep, a rabbit, a dragon, a snake, a dog, a horse, a rooster, a monkey, and a pig. They thought the new year should have a name. They were arguing because each animal wanted the year to be named after itself. The noise was so great that they disturbed the Jade Emperor. The Emperor asked, "What is the matter with you animals?"

One by one, each animal explained their problem. The Jade Emperor thought it over and came up with an idea. The Emperor told the animals to race across the river, and the winner would have the new year named after them.

The animals agreed and began to swim across the river. The ox was a good swimmer, and the rat could see he was going to win. The clever rat climbed onto the ox's back and, at the last minute, jumped off and won the race.

The Emperor told the ox that he was the strongest animal, but the rat was the cleverest and had won the race. Therefore, the new year would be named after the rat. Since the ox came second, the next year would be named after the ox. As each animal finished the race, the Emperor told them that he would name a year after each of them in the same order they finished the race.

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