The origin of the zodiac

The zodiac is also called the Twelve-Year Animal. In the calendar of China, there are twelve animals on duty in turn, so in our China year, rats, cows, tigers, rabbits, dragons, snakes, horses, sheep, monkeys, chickens, dogs and pigs are used in the calendar?
The zodiac began in the sixth century BC, and it was initially applied to a group of numbers of earthly branches, and then it became the year number of the year.

In fact, there has always been a story among the people: In those days, the Buddha called all the animals to attend the meeting of the beasts, and the twelve beasts who arrived first would be regarded as the twelve year numbers.
On the day of the herd meeting, the mouse arrived first, so it ranked the largest in the Year of the Animal, followed by cattle, tigers, rabbits, dragons and snakes, horses, sheep, monkeys, chickens and dogs. The pig arrived last, so it ranked last among the twelve animals.

Another chapter of this story tells why cats and mice become enemies. At that time, the cat and the mouse were good friends. Before going to the mass meeting, they slept together and made an appointment to wake who would wake up first.
I'm afraid the mouse got up early the next day and went to the meeting alone quietly, ignoring the cat. By the time the cat woke up and rushed to the conference, the Buddha had already assigned the twelve-year number. Since then, the cat and the mouse have formed a deep hatred.

Of course, the legend belongs to the legend, and the folklore scholar Guo Licheng's view can be proved by historical records. People call the animals that represent the twelfth birthday heavenly stems and earthly branches for the sake of remembering his famous age.