Meanings of the Chinese Zodiac

This is the year of Horse ccording to the Chinese Zodiac. There are twelve animal signs including Rat, Ox, Tiger, Hare, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Cock, Dog and Boar. The origin of Chinese Zodiac is still a mystery. Why those animals are selected into Chinese Zodiac? What they stand for?
Some stories about the animal signs
Some Chinese scholars attribute those animal signs to the worship of animals or totemism in ancient time, because the animal signs are familiar among Chinese ancestors in their daily life. For instance, ox, horse, sheep, cock, dog and boar are on the list of the main six livestock. As they can not live without those livestock, Chinese ancestors admire those animals. As for tiger and snake, their life is mysterious to ancient Chinese and they are adored as fetish. There is a principle for human being that they tend to adore something they can not understand or are afraid of. They are terrified by those things and wish those things would bring them good luck. For example, dragon composes of characters of many animals and endowed with the imagination or best wishes of ancient Chinese.
The meanings of the animal signs in Chinese Zodiac
The twelve animals can be separated into six groups. In each group, the animals have the opposite characters, which indicate the golden mean and the expectation of ancient Chinese people.
The first group includes rat and ox. Rat stands for wisdom while ox stands for diligence. Chinese ancestors educated their descendants to be the person with wisdom and diligence. Without wisdom, diligence will become foolishness, while wisdom is street smart if it without diligence.
The second group is the combination of tiger and hare. Tiger symbolizes braveness and hare the cautiousness. The success comes from the cautiousness in braveness. Most failures lie in the braveness without cautiousness, namely recklessness. Success will not smile on the person hesitating all the time which seems to be cautious but actually is timid.
The third group contains dragon and snake, which stands for pliability with hardness. Chinese people love peace and avoid any conflicts with others, but it does not mean they will give up attack or bear any humiliation. This principle is carried out skillfully in Chinese martial arts.
The fourth is the group of horse and sheep. This group expresses the harmonious development of China. Horse stands for fast developing and sheep means all Chinese people must work together to realize the common goal and enjoy the pleasant times.
The fifth team is monkey together with cock, which indicates the great changes with an unchangeable core. With the materials flourishing, Chinese people can not abandon the traditional morals of thousands years. Holding a belief, the person dares to try something new.
The last team includes dog and boar. The former means loyalty and the latter means amiableness. In a team, qualified members must be loyal to their boss and amiable to their colleagues, which represent the golden mean completely.

All Chinese people have animal signs when they were born, by which Augurs can predict their destinies.