Why is the cat not in the Chinese zodiac (生肖)?
There is a famous Chinese folk story about this. The Jade Emperor (玉皇大帝) invited all animals to take part a race (赛跑). The first 12 animals to finish the race would become part of the zodiac.
At that time, the cat and the rat were good friends. When they (hear) about the race, the cat said to the rat, "we should arrive early to sign up for the race, but I (usual) wake up late." The rat promised to wake his friend up they could go together. , on the morning of the race, the rat was so (excite) when he woke up that he forgot his promise. He went directly to the gathering area for the race. The cat woke up only (find) that the race was already over.
But it is only story. The real reason is that there were no cats in China in ancient times. Researchers say that before the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220), China didn't have house cats. There were some descriptions of cats in China in some ancient (book), but they were mostly wildcats.
Nowadays it is (believe) that house cats in China since the Eastern Han Dynasty. But by that time, the animals of the Chinese zodiac had already been chosen.
