Shengxiao (生肖) in Chinese refers to the twelve animals that make up the Chinese Zodiac. The ancient Chinese included in this list eleven animals closely associated with farming, plus the dragon, a legendary animal which has cultural symbolic meaning in China. They were then associated with the twelve Earthly Branches (in a twelve-year cycle) to each represent a year. Thus a person’s year of birth is also associated with a specific animal. Combining the Zodiac with the Branches produces the following order: zishu (子鼠rat), chouniu (丑牛ox), yinhu (寅虎tiger), maotu (卯兔rabbit), chenlong (辰龙dragon), sishe (巳蛇snake), wuma (午马horse), weiyang (未羊sheep), shenhou (申猴monkey), youji (酉鸡rooster), xugou (戌狗dog), and haizhu (亥猪pig). The Zodiac had already entered into use by the Eastern Han Dynasty, and has been a distinctive feature of Chinese culture and folk tradition ever since. Today, the influence of the Chinese Zodiac culture can still be found in the tradition of a person’s animal birth year, marriage and fortune-telling, during festivals and in folk arts, like paper-cutting.

When I lived in the town of Wuchuan, you three brothers were born. The eldest is a Rat, the second a Rabbit, and you are a Snake.

(The History of Zhou of the Northern Dynasties)