Chinese Zodiac Animals in Order: The 12 Signs and the Great Race Story

The 12 Animals, in Order

The twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac appear in a fixed order that has been stable for over two thousand years. Each animal is paired with an Earthly Branch (地支), a Yin/Yang polarity, and a fixed element. Click any animal to read its full page: personality, years, compatibility and meaning.

1. #1
   Rat shǔ · 子 (zǐ) · Yang · Water

   The Rat is the first animal in the Chinese zodiac cycle. People born under this sign are traditionally described as quick-witted

2. #2
   Ox niú · 丑 (chǒu) · Yin · Earth

   The Ox is the second animal in the zodiac cycle. Ox-born people are traditionally associated with diligence

3. #3
   Tiger hǔ · 寅 (yín) · Yang · Wood

   The Tiger is the third animal in the zodiac. Tiger-born people are traditionally associated with courage

4. #4
   Rabbit tù · 卯 (mǎo) · Yin · Wood

   The Rabbit is the fourth animal in the zodiac. Rabbit-born people are traditionally associated with gentleness

5. #5
   Dragon lóng · 辰 (chén) · Yang · Earth

   The Dragon is the fifth animal in the zodiac and the only mythical creature in the set.

6. #6
   Snake shé · 巳 (sì) · Yin · Fire

   The Snake is the sixth animal in the zodiac. Snake-born people are traditionally associated with wisdom

7. #7
   Horse mǎ · 午 (wǔ) · Yang · Fire

   The Horse is the seventh animal in the zodiac. Horse-born people are traditionally associated with energy

8. #8
   Goat yáng · 未 (wèi) · Yin · Earth

   The Goat is the eighth animal in the zodiac. Goat-born people are traditionally associated with kindness

9. #9
   Monkey hóu · 申 (shēn) · Yang · Metal

   The Monkey is the ninth animal in the zodiac. Monkey-born people are traditionally associated with cleverness

10. #10
    Rooster jī · 酉 (yǒu) · Yin · Metal

    The Rooster is the tenth animal in the zodiac. Rooster-born people are traditionally associated with precision

11. #11
    Dog gǒu · 戌 (xū) · Yang · Earth

    The Dog is the eleventh animal in the zodiac. Dog-born people are traditionally associated with loyalty

12. #12
    Pig zhū · 亥 (hài) · Yin · Water

    The Pig is the twelfth and final animal in the zodiac. Pig-born people are traditionally associated with generosity

The Great Race Story

The traditional story that sets the order of the zodiac animals is the Great Race. According to the most widely told version, the Jade Emperor declared that the order of the zodiac would be set by the order in which the animals reached him after crossing a great river. The race would decide which animal opened the 12-year cycle, which came second, and so on through all twelve.

The Rat won first place not by size or strength but by cleverness and timing. A poor swimmer, the Rat asked the Ox for a lift across the river. The generous Ox agreed. As they neared the far bank, the Rat leapt from the Ox's nose to the shore and crossed first, winning the race and the opening slot in the zodiac.

The Ox accepted second place without complaint, which in Chinese folk tradition is read as the defining Ox quality: strength that does not need to insist on itself.

The Tiger swam across the river with such force that the Jade Emperor recognised its bravery and placed it third.

The Rabbit crossed the river by hopping from stone to stone, a path no other animal thought to take, which is read as the defining Rabbit quality: progress through precision and timing rather than force.

The Dragon could have arrived earlier (it can fly), but it stopped to make rain for a drought-stricken village and arrived fifth, a story that reframes the Dragon's power as something used on behalf of others, not only for itself.

The Snake crossed the river by coiling itself around the Horse's leg and startling the Horse at the finish line, strategy that operates quietly and arrives at the right moment.

The Horse would have finished earlier but was startled at the finish line by the Snake, losing its lead, a story about how fast, powerful energy can be thrown by surprises it didn't see coming. (The Horse is the host animal of 2026.)

The Goat, Monkey and Rooster crossed the river together on a raft, cooperating rather than competing, and the Jade Emperor placed them in the order they stepped off the raft.

The Dog was a strong swimmer but stopped to play in the water along the way, arriving eleventh, a story about how capable energy can be distracted by what matters in front of it.

The Pig arrived last because it stopped to eat along the way, a story that captures the defining Pig quality: a love of life's pleasures that takes priority over competition.

How the Order Maps to the Calendar

The 12-animal order is fixed, but the calendar boundary is the Lunar New Year, not January 1. This means a Rat year begins on Lunar New Year in a Rat year (for example, January 25, 2020 began the Metal Rat year) and ends the day before Lunar New Year the following year. Each animal holds the year for roughly one lunar year, then passes to the next animal in the order. After the Pig year, the cycle returns to the Rat.

The 12-animal cycle is paired with the 10-year element cycle to produce the full 60-year cycle. See What Is the Chinese Zodiac? for the full framework and the complete zodiac years chart for 1900–2100.

Reading the Order: What the Sequence Means

The order itself is part of the symbolism. The cycle opens with the Rat (observation, timing, the reading of a situation before acting) and closes with the Pig (enjoyment, abundance, the savouring of what has been built). In between, the sequence moves through strength (Ox), courage (Tiger), diplomacy (Rabbit), vision (Dragon), wisdom (Snake), motion (Horse), kindness (Goat), cleverness (Monkey), precision (Rooster), loyalty (Dog). Read this way, the 12-sign cycle is a small philosophy of how a life moves: observe, build, defend, harmonise, vision, understand, move, care, invent, refine, hold, enjoy. The order is not a ranking (the Pig is not 'worst' and the Rat not 'best') but a sequence of qualities that a complete life contains.