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

传说，在玉帝下旨挑选十二动物当属相的时候，动物们都想当上属相，被封为神，都尽量把自己的优点表现出来，争论谁对人类贡献大。

猫和狗同人的关系都十分密切，猫认为狗吃得太多，成天只趴在门口，没什么贡献。狗认为猫成天只吃好的，不过是念念经，吓唬吓唬老鼠，也没什么贡献。他们争执不休，一同到玉帝面前评理。

玉帝问狗：“你一顿吃多少?”狗老老实实地回答：“我每天看门守园，一顿一碗。”玉帝又问猫：“你一顿吃多少?”猫灵机一动，说：“我会念经，抓老鼠，每顿吃一把。”猫巧妙地告诉玉帝，自己会自食其力，抓老鼠吃。

听了狗和猫的话，玉帝断定，猫吃得少干事多，贡献比狗大。狗一听，气愤极了，觉得猫是用花言巧语胜了自己。它一边骂，一边追咬猫。猫一路跑个不停，到了家也不敢露面，东躲西藏，不敢出来。

趁着猫躲避它的机会，狗连忙同鸡一块去天宫排队当属相，鸡连飞带跑，排到狗的前面。躲在暗处的猫很久不见狗的影子，出来后才知道狗抢先排队去了。最后，猫与属相无缘。

作为最早被驯化的动物，狗一直是人类最亲密的朋友，中国古代对狗也有着非同一般的崇拜。

《后汉书》记载，相传远古高辛帝时，戎吴部落十分强盛，屡次侵犯边境，高辛帝向全国发出告示，谁能斩下吴某之首级，就能封邑赏金，把公主嫁给他。后来，一只身有五彩毛、名叫盘瓠的狗衔着一个人头到王宫门外。国王仔细察看，正是戎将吴某的头。

高辛帝虽然不舍得将女儿嫁给一条狗，但君无戏言，只能让盘瓠带着公主登上南山。

三年后，公主陆续生下六个男孩和六个女孩。盘瓠死后，六对孩子自己互相结成配偶，成了夫妻。他们用树皮编织衣服，用草籽染上颜色，喜欢穿像父亲盘瓠毛色那样有五种颜色的衣服，裁制的衣服都有尾巴。

“盘瓠”传说在中国南方瑶、苗、黎等少数民族中广为流传，形成先民的图腾崇拜。“他们把‘盘瓠’视为始祖和至高无上的尊神，时至今日，这些民族仍保存了舞火狗、祭狗等仪式。”华中师范大学孙正国教授介绍。

在现实生活中，狗不仅是人类最亲密的朋友，还为人类提供很多方便，例如导盲犬能帮助盲人带路，警犬能帮助警察破案等。

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)