This paper discusses the important influence of animals on the traditional culture of China.

Xuanyuan Huangdi wanted to choose twelve kinds of animals as court guards, and the cat asked the mouse to sign up. As a result, the mouse forgot and the cat missed the appointment. Since then, cats have sought revenge on mice. Originally, the cow was pushed first, but as a result, the mouse sneaked up the cow's back and took the lead. The mouse ranked first and the steak came second. Not convinced, the tiger and dragon were named mountain gods and sea gods, ranking behind rats and cows. This time, the rabbit refused to accept it and wanted to race with the dragon. The rabbit ran in front of the dragon again. The dog didn't like it, so he bit the rabbit in a rage and was sent to the bottom. Snakes, horses, sheep, monkeys and chickens still experienced some competitions. Finally, You Zhu came, and the dog was the penultimate.

The legend above also explains why there are no cats in the zodiac. In fact, there were no cats in ancient China. The hometown of domestic cats was in Sudan, Africa, and later it was introduced to Egypt, and from Egypt it was introduced to China. At that time, the zodiac was already formed.

This legendary story is far from a scientific explanation of the problem, but reflects people's desire to explain the zodiac.