What are the meanings of the Chinese zodiac?

Answer 1

They were first invented to count years.

There is a story about how the Chinese zodiac is decided:

To help humans count years, the Jade Emperor held a ferrying race between animals, and the first 12 animals who arrives at the coast first will become the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac.

The Rat and the Cat were good friends at that time. They decided to go to the race together, but the problem was that neither of the two could swim. Then the Rat came up with the idea of asking the Buffalo to ferry them. Other animals either swam or used a log as a raft.

When they got very close to the destination, the Rat, who really wanted to win the first place, pushed the Cat off the Buffalo's back and into the river. The Buffalo, who was swimming swiftly, did not notice it. When they reached the destination, the Rat jumped off the Buffalo and got the first place. The Buffalo, therefore, had the second place. The Tiger got the thrid place, the Rabbit the fourth, the Dragon the fifth, the Snake the sixth, the Horse the seventh, the Sheep the eighth, the Monkey the ninth, the Chicken the tenth, the Dog the eleventh, and the Pig the twelfth.

When all was settled down, the Cat had finally got up from the river. He asked everyone what place he had gotten, but everybody laughed at him and told him that he was in the "13th place."

The Cat knew that he had arrived late, and it was the Rat who made him fall into the river. He pranced at the Rat and tried to grab him. From then on, the Cat and the Rat had become enemies, and cats still chase rats from that day to this. And this is the origin of the 12 Chinese zodiac signs.

For each lunar year, the Taisui (太歲, gods of the years) of the year goes against the people born on the years of two certain Chinese zodiac signs, and things would not go very well or smooth to them in the following year. Therefore, during the Chinese New Year, usually in the first few days of the Chinese New Year, those people go to temples or shrines to ask for luck.

Answer 2

its like the horoscope
each have different meaning