Why does the mouse rank first in the zodiac?

Legend has it that one day, the Jade Emperor will arrange the Zodiac, and he designated cows, tigers, rabbits, dragons, snakes, horses, sheep, monkeys, chickens, dogs, pigs and cats. The next day, the Jade Emperor ranked them. At that time, cats and mice were good friends. The cat said to the mouse, "You should wake me up early tomorrow. I am one of the 12 Zodiacs, and I will be ranked second in heaven tomorrow. " The mouse readily agreed. The next day, the mouse woke up early. He didn't wake the cat, but went to heaven by himself. At that time, it happened to be the second time. The Jade Emperor arranged the twelve zodiac animals in the order of ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, chicken, dog, pig and cat. The jade emperor asked the animals if they had any opinions. The mouse objected: "I don't think cats should be chosen. He has no respect for you at all. " You see, he is still sleeping, and he doesn't care about your arrangement of the zodiac at all. "The jade emperor saw the cat really asleep! He broke out in a rage. In a rage, he decided never to allow cats to go to heaven again. At the same time, he replaced the cat with a mouse. The mouse spoke again: "I must be the first!" """why? Is your contribution greater than that of an ox? ""People think I'm much bigger than an ox. " The Jade Emperor had no choice but to let people judge him. People from the world to the clouds say, "Oh! What a big cow! " Then, they saw the mouse standing on the cow's head and said, "What a big mouse! It is even bigger than a cow! " The jade emperor had to put the mouse first.

Secondly, Chinese ancient scholars explained the relationship between earthly branches and Xiao beasts from the perspective of twelve o'clock in ancient times. There is chaos in the darkness. Rats come out in the middle of the night and bite the chaotic state between heaven and earth out of the gap. "Rats bite the sky", so they belong to rats.