Legend of the Year of the Dog

By Liu Dongli

The story goes that all the animals wanted to be deified as a zodiac sign when the Jade Emperor decreed that he would select the twelve Chinese zodiac signs. Therefore,all the animals tried hard to show their merits and prove that they were good assistants to human beings.

Both Cat and Dog had close relationships with humans.Cat thought Dog ate too much and slept in front of the door all day without making any contributions, while Dog thought Cat just ate the good food and did nothing but chant scriptures and scare the rat all day. They argued and asked the Jade Emperor to decide which side was right.

So the Jade Emperor asked Dog, “How much do you eat for a meal?” Dog replied honestly,“I watch the door and guard the house every day, and I eat a bowl of food for a meal.” Then, the Jade Emperor asked Cat, “What about you?” On a sudden inspiration,Cat said, “I can chant scriptures and catch rats, and I only eat a handful of food for a meal.”Cat just wanted to tell the Jade Emperor tactfully that it could earn its living by catching rats.

After listening to what Dog and Cat said, the Jade Emperor thought Cat ate less but did more,so its contribution was greater than Dog’s. Dog was very angry because it thought Cat had won it just by a glib tongue. Therefore,Dog abused and chased after Cat trying to bite it. Cat kept running and dared not show its face, even in its home, and hid from place to place.

When Cat was hiding away,Dog seized the opportunity and went with Rooster to the Heavenly Palace. The rooster flew in front of Dog. After hiding in the dark for a long time, Cat went out and learned that Dog had gone to the Heavenly Palace to participate in the race for the Chinese zodiac.Unfortunately, Cat was too late and missed its chance.

As one of the earliest domesticated animals, dogs have always been mankind’s best friends. In fact, dogs were also highly worshipped in ancient China.

According to History of the Later Han Dynasty, during the reign of Emperor Ku (ca. 2480-2345 BC), the Xirong tribe

(Western barbarians), headed by General Wu, was powerful and prosperous, and they always launched invasions at Emperor

傳說，在玉帝下旨挑選十二動物當屬相的時候，動物們都想當上屬相，被封為神，都盡量把自己的優點表現出來，爭論誰對人類貢獻大。

貓和狗同人的關系都十分密切，貓認為狗吃得太多，成天只趴在門口，沒什么貢獻。狗認為貓成天只吃好的，不過是念念經，嚇唬嚇唬老鼠，也沒什么貢獻。他們爭執不休，一同到玉帝面前評理。

玉帝問狗：“你一頓吃多少?”狗老老實實地回答：“我每天看門守園，一頓一碗。”玉帝又問貓：“你一頓吃多少?”貓靈機一動，說：“我會念經，抓老鼠，每頓吃一把。”貓巧妙地告訴玉帝，自己會自食其力，抓老鼠吃。

聽了狗和貓的話，玉帝斷定，貓吃得少干事多，貢獻比狗大。狗一聽，氣憤極了，覺得貓是用花言巧語勝了自己。它一邊罵，一邊追咬貓。貓一路跑個不停，到了家也不敢露面，東躲西藏，不敢出來。

趁著貓躲避它的機會，狗連忙同雞一塊去天宮排隊當屬相，雞連飛帶跑，排到狗的前面。躲在暗處的貓很久不見狗的影子，出來后才知道狗搶先排隊去了。最后，貓與屬相無緣。

作為最早被馴化的動物，狗一直是人類最親密的朋友，中國古代對狗也有著非同一般的崇拜。

《后漢書》記載，相傳遠古高辛帝時，戎吳部落十分強盛，屢次侵犯邊境，高辛帝向全國發出告示，誰能斬下吳某之首級，就能封邑賞金，把公主嫁給他。后來，一只身有五彩毛、名叫盤瓠的狗銜著一個人頭到王宮門外。國王仔細察看，正是戎將吳某的頭。

高辛帝雖然不舍得將女兒嫁給一條狗，但君無戲言，只能讓盤瓠帶著公主登上南山。

三年后，公主陸續生下六個男孩和六個女孩。盤瓠死后，六對孩子自己互相結成配偶，成了夫妻。他們用樹皮編織衣服，用草籽染上顏色，喜歡穿像父親盤瓠毛色那樣有五種顏色的衣服，裁制的衣服都有尾巴。

“盤瓠”傳說在中國南方瑤、苗、黎等少數民族中廣為流傳，形成先民的圖騰崇拜。“他們把‘盤瓠’視為始祖和至高無上的尊神，時至今日，這些民族仍保存了舞火狗、祭狗等儀式。”華中師范大學孫正國教授介紹。

在現實生活中，狗不僅是人類最親密的朋友，還為人類提供很多方便，例如導盲犬能幫助盲人帶路，警犬能幫助警察破案等。

Wu’s borders. So Emperor Ku decided to recruit warriors from all across the country, promising that whoever brought him the head of General Wu would be rewarded with land, gold, and the hand of one of his daughters. Later, a five-colored dog by the name of Pan Hu (literally“plate and jar,” the place where it was born) appeared outside the royal palace with a head in its mouth.Emperor Ku looked at it carefully and realized it was General Wu’s head.

The Emperor,despite not wanting to marry his daughter to a dog, kept his promise and allowed Pan Hu to take the princess to the South Mountain.

Three years later, the princess gave birth to six boys and six girls. After Pan Hu died, his twelve children got married and formed six couples.They wove with tree bark and dyed with grass seeds. They loved to wearfive-colored clothing that looked like Pan Hu’s fur and their clothes were usually tailored with a tail.

The legend of Pan Hu is widely circulated among many southern ethnic groups in China, such as Yao, Miao,and Li, the ancestors of whom even formed the Totemism of Pan Hu. “In their culture, Pan Hu was regarded as their earliest ancestor and supreme god. To this day, these minority ethnic groups have preserved many traditional rituals, like thefire dog dance and dog worshipping ceremony,”said Professor Sun Zhengguo from Central China Normal University.

In real life, dogs are not only our best friends,but also our good assistants. For example,guide dogs can provide mobility to the blind,police dogs can help the police to track down criminals, and so much more.(Translation: Zhu Yaguang)