Rat (zodiac)
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The Rat or Mouse is the first of the repeating 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac, constituting part of the Chinese calendar system.
Zodiac rat, showing the shǔ (鼠) character for rat/mouse
Stone monument with a carving of a mouse, at Mount Hôrai-ji Buddhist Temple, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, showing the zǐ (子) character designating the first of the twelve Earthly Branches
A sign in Gardens by the Bay, Singapore, 2016
The rat and the other animals as shown on a Romanian postage stamp
Ox (zodiac)
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The Ox is the second of the 12-year periodic sequence of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar, and also appears in related calendar systems.
Rat (zodiac)
…which they encountered, (a pig). After the start of the competition, the rat achieved first place by performing on the flute while upon the back of the ox. Impressed, the Jade Emperor placed the rat at the beginning of the twelve-year cycle (and the ox second, for being so generous as to allow the rat to…
Zodiacal ox, showing the Chinese character niú (牛), meaning "ox" or "bovine creature". The same character is also used in some related languages.
Carving of a bovine animal ("ox"), at Mount Hôrai-ji Buddhist Temple, Aichi Prefecture, Japan: a stone monument showing the Earthly Branch symbol chǒu (丑)
Twelve jade figurines from China representing the zodiacal "circle of small animals", beginning with the rat (left front), and then going clockwise to the next figure on the left (the ox) and then continuing clockwise around to the pig (right front)
Stamp from a zodiacal series from Ukraine commemorating Years of the Ox