Cat | |
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Real Name |
Cat |
First Appearance |
Chinese Mythology |
Created by |
Unknown |
Origin[]
In Chinese mythology, a story tells that the cat was tricked by the Rat so it could not go to the banquet. This is why the Cat is ultimately not part of the Chinese zodiac.
In the ancient folktale called "The Great Race" tells of the Jade Emperor's decree that the years on the calendar would be named for each animal in the order they reached him. To get there, the animals would have to cross a river.
The Cat and the Rat were not good at swimming, but they were both quite intelligent. They decided that the best and fastest way to cross the river was to hop on the back of the Ox. The Ox, being kindhearted and naive, agreed to carry them both across. As the Ox was about to reach the other side of the river, the Rat pushed the Cat into the water, and then jumped off the Ox and rushed to the Jade Emperor. It was named as the first animal of the zodiac calendar. The Ox had to settle for second place.
The Cat eventually drowned and failed to become part of the zodiac. It is said that this is the reason why cats hate water. It is also the reason for the rivalry between the Cat and Rat, as it was the Rat's callous act to push the Cat into the river.
Another version of the folktale tells that the Rat deceived the Ox into letting it jump on its back by promising the Ox that it could hear the Rat sing, before jumping off at the finish line and finishing first. While another variant says that the Rat cheated the Cat out its place at the finish line, by hiding on the back of the Dog, who was too focused to notice that he had a stow-away. The Cat tried to attack the rat in retaliation, but hurt the Dog by accident. This is said to account for the antagonistic dynamic between cats and rats, beyond normal predator and prey behavior, and also why dogs and cats fight.
There have been various explanations of why the Vietnamese, unlike all other countries who follow the Chinese calendar, have the cat instead of the Rabbit as a zodiac animal. The most common explanation is that in the ordering system (Earthly Branches) that is used for lunar year, the word for used for the "rabbit zodiac" 卯 (Mão ~ Mẹo) sounds like the Vietnamese word for "cat" (con mèo).
Public Domain Literary Appearances[]
All published appearances of Cat from the Chinese Zodiac legend from before January 1, 1929 are public domain in the US.
Some notable appearances are listed below:
- Ancient Calendars and Constellations (1903)
- Things Japanese (1905)
- 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica