The 12 Chinese zodiac animals in a cycle are not only used to represent years in China but are also believed to influence people's personalities, careers, compatibility, marriages, and fortunes.

There are theories that suggest the twelve animals were chosen for their symbolic traits, based on their revered status in traditional Chinese culture.

This standardization connected these animals into a cyclical timekeeping system, which is seen as a way to reflect personality traits and the broader society (Zhou, 2017).

Each Earthly Branch was linked to an animal, and to the twelve zodiac signs: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig.

In the Eastern Han dynasty, Xu Shen said that the character si (巳) was the image of a snake, and the same was true for hai (亥) and shi (豕; 'pig').

[citation needed] The following are the twelve zodiac signs in order, each with its associated characteristics (Heavenly Stems, Earthly Branch, yin/yang force, Trine, and nature element).

[citation needed] It is a common misconception that the animals assigned by year are the only signs, and many Western descriptions of Chinese astrology only reference this system.

[citation needed] Michel Ferlus (2013) notes that the Old Chinese names of the earthly branches are of Austroasiatic origin.

Ferlus (2013) suggests that the terms were ancient pre-Shang borrowings from Austroasiatic languages spoken in the Yangtze River region.

These three signs are associated with the element of fire, said to seek true love, pursue humanitarian causes, and be idealistic and independent, but they tend to be impulsive.

These associations extend beyond just symbolism, they reflect ancient people's deep understanding of the universe's cyclical nature.

This connection set a direction for agricultural practices and societal rituals, maintaining harmony between humanity and nature (Hui, n.d.).

In addition, the connection of the lunar calendar with the zodiac signs also reflects the importance of celestial movements in day-to-day life.

This implication of astronomy, philosophy, and daily life reflected the open worldview of ancient China, where timekeeping was not just a practical tool but a way to achieve a balance between cosmic and societal harmony.

An ancient folktale[20] called "The Great Race" tells of the Jade Emperor's decree that the years on the calendar would be named for each animal in the order they reached him.

Halfway through, it thought it might lose the race, but it was lucky enough to grab hold of a floating log that later washed it to shore.

Then, on its way to the finish, it saw the helpless Rabbit clinging onto a log, so it did a good deed and gave a puff of breath in the poor creature's direction so that it could land on the shore.

The Jade Emperor was pleased with their teamwork and decided to name the Goat as the eighth animal, followed by the Monkey and then the Rooster.

Another variant says that the Rat cheated the Cat out its place at the finish line, by hiding on the back of the Dog, who was too focused to notice that he had a stow-away.

However until recently, the Vietnamese moved away from their traditional texts[22] and literature and, unlike all other countries who follow the Sino lunar calendar, include the Cat instead of the Rabbit as a zodiac animal.

[citation needed] The Japanese zodiac includes the Sheep (hitsuji) instead of the Goat (which would be yagi), and the Wild boar (inoshishi, i) instead of the Pig (buta).

Similarly the Malay zodiac replaces the Rabbit with the mousedeer (pelanduk) and the Pig with the tortoise (kura or kura-kura).

[33] The Gurung zodiac in Nepal includes a Cow instead of an Ox, a Cat instead of Rabbit, an Eagle instead of a Dragon (Loong), a Bird instead of a Rooster, and a Deer instead of a Pig.

[citation needed] The Bulgar calendar used from the 2nd century[34] and that has been only partially reconstructed uses a similar sixty-year cycle of twelve animal-named years groups.

[35] The Old Mongol calendar uses the Mouse, the Ox, the Leopard, the Hare, the Crocodile, the Serpent, the Horse, the Sheep, the Monkey, the Hen, the Dog and the Hog.

The Volga Bulgars, Kazars and other Turkic peoples replaced some animals by local fauna: Leopard (instead of Tiger), Fish or Crocodile (instead of Dragon/Loong), Hedgehog (instead of Monkey), Elephant (instead of Pig), and Camel (instead of Rat/Mouse).

[37][38] In the Persian version of the Eastern zodiac brought by Mongols during the Middle Ages, the Chinese word lóng and Mongol word lū (Dragon) was translated as nahang meaning "water beast", and may refer to any dangerous aquatic animal both mythical and real (crocodiles, hippos, sharks, sea serpents, etc.).

[42] In the Turkish version of zodiac, the animals are almost the same, but it replaces Tiger with Leopard (Pars), Dragon with Fish (Balık) and Goat with Sheep (Koyun).

Remarkably, the practise of zodiac persisted since the Ottoman Empire, including the presence of Pig (Domuz) despite contradicting Islamic rule.

[43][44] Due to confusion with synonyms during translation, some of the animals depicted by the English words did not exist in ancient China.