The same twelve animals are also used to symbolize the cycle of hours in the day, each being associated with a two-hour time period.

In this story, the snake compensated for not being the best swimmer by hitching a hidden ride on the Horse's hoof.

Each snake year may traditionally be said to correspond with a cycle of five changes of Wuxing (Chinese philosophy), often translated as "elements".

For whatever reason, never seeming to lose popularity, modern trends include a tendency towards syncretism, in which various beliefs of different origin are compounded together.

[5] Depictions of zodiacal snakes, alone or with the other eleven signs, show how they have been imagined in the calendrical context.