Chinese zodiac actually has a story behind. You might search with the keyboard story.
I did searched.
From Chinese government related site,
關於生肖的故事，是一個十分有趣的話題，這裡所説的故事，包括神話傳説、典故等。
在十二生肖的排位上，為什麼鼠小為大，排在第一位呢？這個問題首先就讓人類的先哲和當今的智者百思不得其解：論體形，老鼠小得可憐，讓人一把提住能玩開在股掌之間，十二生肖動物中，它是最小的一個。；論蠻力，它與牛的強壯、虎的威猛、龍的神力、馬的騰躍，簡直不能同日而語；論品質，牛的踏實、兔的善良、馬的勤奮、羊的溫順、豬的實在，也都顯得比老鼠好上許多倍；再論智慧，猴的靈巧、狗的聰慧，也都在老鼠之上。退一萬步説，就算比誰最狠毒，恐怕蛇也該排在鼠的前面。但事實是小小的老鼠是十二生肖的排行老大！
這個問題至今仍是個懸案，有人説，今日説法，大概只有一個解釋：分管十二生肖排行的傢伙，是個貪贓枉法的貪官污吏，他收了老鼠的巨大好處而做了權錢交易的色當，把第一名的金冕加在了無德無才的小小老鼠頭上。這當然只是一個牽強附會的玩笑。但確確實實的是，人類對此始終沒有找到令人信服的解釋。不過，人類畢竟是動物裏最聰明的高級動物，在十二生肖確定了許多年後，人們終於編出了一個或許是自欺欺人自圓其説的民間故事，藉以説明為什麼老鼠在十二生肖排行第一。這個叫做"老鼠第一大"的故事流傳在中原的湘鄂一帶：
老鼠和牛馬羊等當選十二屬相後，老鼠説："我應該擺在第一位。"牛、馬、羊它們不服氣，説："你憑什麼排第一位呢？"鼠説："我大，所以我要排在第一。"牛馬等忍俊不禁笑了："你有我們大嗎？"老鼠説："我們幾個爭了不算數，還是讓人來説吧。"牛馬羊等都同意讓人來評議。於是它們商量了辦法：由牛領頭，馬、羊、鼠先後一個接一個從大街上走過，看人們怎麼評議。
在大街上，牛走過來了，人們説："這頭牛很壯。"馬過來了，人們説："這匹馬真高。"羊走過來的時候，人們説："這只羊很肥。"最後，老鼠大搖大擺地挺著肚子走過來，人們看見大街上突然走出一隻大老鼠，都追著它喊："好大一隻老鼠呀，好大的一隻老鼠呀！"這樣一來，牛馬羊也無話可説了，讓老鼠排在了第一位。
另外，民間還有類似的十二屬相排位的故事。
關於十二生肖是如何排列次序的，説起來還有一段有趣的故事：
混沌初分，天干地支剛定時，玉皇大帝下令普召天下動物，要按子、醜、寅、卯、辰、巳、午、未、申、酉、戌、亥十二地支選拔十二個屬相。
消息傳出後，驚動了花貓和老鼠這兩個相好的朋友。花貓對老鼠説："明日五更去天庭應選，我有個貪睡的毛病，到時你可要喊我一聲啊！"老鼠連聲道："好説，好説！"
可是第二天一早，不講信義的老鼠卻偷偷起床不辭而別了。
這天，靈霄寶殿上禽獸雲南集，開始應選，玉帝按天地之別，單挑了龍、虎、牛、馬、羊、猴、雞、狗、豬、兔、蛇、鼠十二種水陸獸類來作十二屬相。公雞當時長著兩隻美麗的角，也被列入獸類裏。
玉帝剛要給它們排一下座次，只見黑狸豬閃了出來，別看它生得笨嘴拙腮，卻專愛惹事生非，它奏道："玉帝既已選好首領，小臣願替君分憂解愁，當個公正人，為兄弟們依次排位。"玉帝聞言大喜，囑咐豬要秉公而斷，就退朝了。
玉帝一走，十二生肖就鬧成了一鍋粥。
開頭，大家一致推選溫和、寬厚的老黃牛居首位，連威武的老虎、蒼龍也敬它幾分，表示同意。可是，縮在墻角的老鼠卻鑽了出來，提出抗議。它説："論大數我大，不信咱們到人間比試比試，聽聽百姓的評論。"於是，老黃牛和老鼠來到街頭鬧市。
牛在人群中走過時，人們毫無反應。這時，老鼠"哧溜"一下子爬到牛背上打起立樁來，街上的人們紛紛亂嚷："好大的老鼠！"等人們拿出棍棒趕來撲打時，老鼠早已跑遠了。
老鼠回來大吹大擂，眾動物都替黃牛打抱不平，只有黑豬暗自高興，它覺得只有這樣大小不分，好壞難辨，才能魚目混珠，自己也從中漁利，於是，它大筆一揮先挑了老鼠，後排了老牛。
這可惹惱了在一旁的老虎和蒼龍，它倆大聲喧叫起來，震得眾動物們發抖。眾動物忙向龍和虎朝拜，一致推選老虎為山中之王，蒼龍為漁中之王，統管天下。猴子為老虎寫了"王"字金匾，挂在老虎前額上，公雞把兩隻角送給了蒼龍。從此，蒼龍戴上了桂冠。老虎、蒼龍有了人間權勢，也就甘居老鼠和老黃牛之後了。這時，又跳出一個多事的野兔，它冷笑一聲説："嘿嘿！論長相我和老鼠差不多，論個子我比老鼠大，我是山王的護衛，應該排在海王前面。"
蒼龍一聽大怒，説："你休得胡攪蠻纏，不服氣咱就比試比試。"黑豬一聽正中下懷，忙説："一言為定，你們就比比賽跑吧，讓獵狗來做你們的裁判員。"
狗和雞素來不和，它見雞討好龍，便想借機捉弄它們一下，它選了條荊棘叢生的跑道，暗地裏對兔説："你的尾巴太長了，會妨礙比賽的，要忍痛割愛。"它給兔子剪斷了一大截尾巴，只剩下一點尾巴根。
比賽開始了，蒼龍騰雲駕霧，片刻間就飛到了前面去了，可是，當跑到灌木叢中時角就被樹藤挂住了，怎麼也摘不下來。野兔一躥十八個垅，一口氣跑到了終點。
黑豬不顧眾動物的反對，把兔子排在了蒼龍之前老虎之後。
狗去給野兔賀喜，它向兔賣好説："要是不選這樣的跑道，不幫你割斷尾巴，你哪有今天的勝利呀。"野兔正捧著那截粗大的尾巴惋惜，聽了狗的話，撇著三瓣嘴説："哼！我是憑本領取勝的，沒有你，我還丟不了這條漂亮的尾巴呢！"狗一聽，眼都氣紅了，它説："既然你有本領，那咱們也遛一遭！"野兔傲慢地説："這有什麼難，我先跑，你要能追上我，我請你啃骨頭。"説著就得意洋洋地跑起來。獵狗磨了磨爪子，箭一樣地追了上去。不一會兒，就攆上了野兔，它用嘴咬住野兔的脖子，一邊吃一邊説："好了，這下該我啃骨頭了。"
為這事，狗也受了處分，被排到最後頭。
蒼龍比賽失敗後，經常背地裏抱怨那對雞角挂累了它，公雞聽到了又後悔又傷心，它來到海邊對龍説："龍哥哥，既然這兩隻角對你毫無益處，那就請你還給我吧。"龍狡猾地説："這雙角雖然害了我，但能裝飾我的儀錶，還你不難，要等太陽出西山，月亮下東海。"説完，便一個猛子紮下海底去了。天真的公雞信以為真，它每天天不亮就起來，盼望太陽從西山出來，還不時伸長脖子，向大海呼叫："龍哥--哥！角--還--我……"
從此，公雞失去了兩隻角，也被排在後頭。
只剩下猴、蛇、馬、羊、豬的排位沒有確定了。豬又別有用心地煽動起來："猴弟是陸上的雜耍大王，蛇弟是水中的泅渡能手，你們誰先誰後呢？"經過一番議論，它們決定再到人間進行一次民間測驗，進行雜技表演。青蛇邀了紅馬，猴子邀了山羊，讓它倆幫助做服裝道具。
當時，蛇腹下有十二條腿，行走起來又笨又慢。紅馬是個助人為樂的實干家，它不聲不響地用薄皮給蛇做了一身去筒龍衣，龍衣上面用馬鬃編了方格花紋，煞是好看。紅馬雙從腹下刮了一層油脂涂在龍衣上，使龍衣非常滑膩。青蛇穿上龍衣，遮住了笨腿，用滑行代替了步行，既靈敏又美觀。
山羊平時就討厭猴子，嫌它整天躥上跳下，給它踩壞了青草，所以對猴子的幫助不那麼熱心，猴子想彌補一下光腚的缺陷，身山羊求援道："羊大哥，請你剪給我一點絨毛，讓我補補後腚吧。"山羊不高興地説："天要冷了，你知道我全憑這身寶衣呢！"猴子沒辦法，只好仍舊光著腚。
比賽那天，青蛇披著龍衣，一會兒在樹枝上盤卷如藤，一會兒在水面上滑行如梭。它昂起頭頸，只用尾尖著地，表演各種雜技，人們連連喝彩。輪到猴子錶演了，只見它攀杠子、盪鞦千，也贏來不少喝采，當表演到"倒挂竹簾"時，猴子用尾尖卷在樹枝上，頭朝下做起各種驚險動作，忽聽有人喊："看啊！猴屁股眼著火了！"人們都大聲哄笑起來。猴子向來護短，它臉紅心慌，忙用尾巴去遮屁股，只聽"撲通"一聲，頭朝下跌了個滿臉花。
就這樣，青蛇和紅馬排在了前頭，山羊和猴子排在了後頭。
給眾動物排完座次，黑豬把自己寫在最前頭，心裏説："這回可是我陞官發財、名利雙收的時候了！它來到靈霄殿，見了玉帝。玉帝接過座次表，看了一眼，二話沒説，就把前面黑豬的名字勾掉，填在最後頭。於是，玉帝讓太白金星按地支排寫成：子鼠、丑牛、寅虎、卯兔、辰龍、巳蛇、午馬、未羊、申猴、酉雞、戌狗、亥豬十二生辰表，並降下一道諭旨，令值日功曹到人間發佈。
排選已定，玉帝怒氣未消，又給黑豬批幾句話：
無用蠢才，顛倒黑白。
罰去吃屢，一年一宰。
黑豬被貶，一下子氣了個大肚子。它終日躺在茅窩裏，再也懶得管閒事了。可是，有時仍然心裏發癢，按捺不住，用嘴巴拱這拱那，撥弄是非。
老鼠回到家裏，高興地捋著三根半鬍鬚跳起舞來，把熟睡的花貓驚醒了。花貓問："還不到時候嗎？"老鼠説："早過了，咱還爭了第一呢！"鼠向花貓繪聲繪色地吹噓起自己的乖巧。花貓惱悔地説："我再三跟你説過，你怎麼不叫我一聲呢？"老鼠卻搶白花貓説："你自己沒長耳朵？我叫你去，你還興搶了我的位置呢！"貓一聽，氣得長鬚倒豎，杏眼圓睜，它張開鋒利的爪子，一個箭步撲上去，把老鼠吃掉了。
從此，貓和老鼠就成了世代冤家。
“ Translation “
The story about the Chinese zodiac is a very interesting topic. The stories mentioned here include myths, legends and allusions.
In the ranking of the Chinese zodiac, why is the mouse small and big, ranking first? This problem is first of all puzzled by human sages and today’s wise men: in terms of body shape, mice are so small that they can be held and played between the palms of their arms. Among the animals of the Chinese zodiac, it is the smallest. one of. ; On brute force, it is indistinguishable from the strength of the ox, the mighty power of the tiger, the supernatural power of the dragon, and the leaping of the horse; on the quality, the steadiness of the ox, the kindness of the rabbit, the diligence of the horse, the docility of the sheep, and the pig The reality of the monkeys seems to be many times better than that of the mouse. In terms of wisdom, the dexterity of the monkey and the intelligence of the dog are also superior to that of the mouse. Ten thousand steps back and said, even if it is the most vicious, I'm afraid the snake should be in front of the rat. But the fact is that the little mouse is the leader of the zodiac!
This issue is still an unsolved case. Some people say that today’s statement probably has only one explanation: the guy in charge of the Zodiac ranking is a corrupt official who is corrupt and perverts the law. He has taken the huge benefits of rats and made power and money transactions. , Added the gold crown of the first place to the head of the little mouse without virtue and talent. This is of course just a far-fetched joke. But it is true that humans have never found a convincing explanation for this. However, after all, human beings are the smartest advanced animals among animals. Many years after the Chinese zodiac was determined, people finally made up a folktale that may be self-deception and self-justification, in order to explain why the mouse ranks the first in the Chinese zodiac. One. This story, called "The Largest Mouse", is spread in the Hunan and Hubei regions of the Central Plains:
After the mouse, cow, horse, and sheep were elected as the twelve signs of the zodiac, the mouse said: "I should be in the first place." The cow, horse, and sheep were not convinced, and said, "Why do you rank first?" The mouse said:" I'm big, so I want to be the first." Niu Ma waited and couldn't help but laughed: "Are you older than us?" The mouse said: "We are not counted in the fight, let's let people talk." Niu Ma Yang waited. Agree to let someone comment. So they discussed a solution: let the cow take the lead, and the horse, sheep, and rat walked through the street one after another to see how people commented.
On the street, the cow came over and people said, "This cow is very strong." The horse came over, and people said, "This horse is really tall." When the sheep came over, people said, "This sheep is very fat." "Finally, the mouse came over with a big stomach, and people saw a big mouse suddenly walk out on the street, and they all chased it and shouted: "What a big mouse, what a big mouse!" , The cows, horses and sheep have nothing to say, making the mouse the first place.
In addition, there are similar stories about the ranking of the twelve zodiac signs among the people.
There is also an interesting story about how the zodiac signs are arranged in order:
At the beginning of the chaos, the heavenly stems and the earthly branches were just right, the Jade Emperor ordered the general call of the world's animals to select twelve zodiac signs according to Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu, and Hai.
After the news came out, it alarmed the two close friends, Cat and Mouse. The flower cat said to the mouse: "I have a sleepy problem when I go to the heaven to be elected tomorrow night. You have to call me when the time comes!" The mouse repeatedly said: "Good talk, good talk!"
But early the next morning, the unfaithful rat got up secretly and left without saying goodbye.
On this day, the Yunnan Gathering of Animals and Animals in the Hall of Lingxiao Palace began to be selected. The Jade Emperor singled out dragons, tigers, cows, horses, sheep, monkeys, chickens, dogs, pigs, rabbits, snakes, and rats according to the difference between heaven and earth. Species of amphibious beasts to make twelve signs. The rooster had two beautiful horns and was also included in the beast.
Just as the Jade Emperor was about to place them in a seat, the black raccoon pig came out. Don’t look at it with a clumsy mouth and cheeks, but he loves to cause trouble. It said: "The Jade Emperor has chosen the leader, and the minister is willing to replace him. The king divides his sorrows and relieves his sorrows, and becomes a just man, ranking his brothers in order." The Jade Emperor was overjoyed when he heard the words, and asked the pig to be judged impartially, and he retreated.
As soon as the Jade Emperor left, the Zodiac became a pot of porridge.
At the beginning, everyone unanimously elected the gentle and generous old scalper first, and even the mighty tiger and the blue dragon respected him a bit, and agreed. However, the rat shrank in the corner came out and protested. It said: "I am big in terms of large numbers. If you don't believe me, let's go to the world to compete and listen to the comments of the people." So the old scalpers and mice came to the streets.
When the cows passed by the crowd, people didn't respond. At this time, the mouse "chuckled" all of a sudden and climbed onto the back of the cow to set up a stake. People on the street shouted: "What a big mouse!" When people came to fight with their sticks, the mouse had already run far away.
When the mouse came back, all the animals were fighting for the scalpers. Only the black pig was secretly happy. It felt that it was only so big and small that it was difficult to distinguish between good and bad, so that it could confuse the fish and profit from it. So, it picked the mouse with a big stroke. Lined up old cows.
This annoyed the tiger and the blue dragon on the side, they both yelled loudly, shaking the animals trembling. The animals rushed to worship the dragon and the tiger, unanimously choosing the tiger as the king of the mountains, and the blue dragon as the king of fishing, and rule the world. The monkey wrote a gold plaque with the word "king" for the tiger and hung it on the tiger's forehead. The rooster gave two horns to the dragon. From then on, Canglong wore the crown. Tigers and blue dragons have power in the world, and they will be behind the rats and old scalpers. At this time, another troublesome hare jumped out. It sneered and said, "Hey! I am similar to a mouse in terms of appearance, and I am bigger than a mouse in terms of size. I am the guard of the mountain king and should be ranked in front of the sea king."
As soon as the blue dragon heard the anger, he said: "You are so stubborn, let's try and try if you are not convinced." The black pig heard it right, and said hurriedly: "If the word is settled, you can run ahead of the game, and let the hounds be your referees. member."
Dogs and chickens have always been at odds. Seeing chickens please dragons, it wants to take the opportunity to tease them. It chose a thorny track and secretly said to rabbits: "Your tail is too long, it will hinder the game, so bear with it. Cut love." It cut off a large section of the rabbit's tail, leaving only a few tail roots.
The game started, the blue dragon soared through the clouds, and flew to the front in a moment, but when it ran into the bushes, the corners were caught by the vines and couldn't be taken off. The hare jumped eighteen ridges and ran to the finish line in one breath.
Regardless of the opposition of the animals, the black pig placed the rabbit before the dragon and the tiger.
The dog went to congratulate the hare. It sold it well to the rabbit and said: "If you don't choose such a runway and don't cut the tail for you, how can you have today's victory." The hare is holding the thick tail in regret, and listened to the dog. If he said, he curled his three-petal mouth and said: "Huh! I won on my own merits. Without you, I wouldn't be able to lose this beautiful tail!" When the dog heard it, his eyes were red with anger, and he said, "Since you If you have the ability, let's take a walk!" said the hare arrogantly: "What's the problem here, I will run first, if you can catch up with me, I will ask you to chew your bones." Then he ran triumphantly. The hound sharpened its paws and chased up like an arrow. After a while, he drove the hare. It bit the hare's neck with its mouth, and said as it ate, "Okay, it's time for me to chew my bones."
For this, the dog was also punished and was ranked last.
After the Canglong failed the competition, he often complained secretly that the pair of chicken horns were tired from hanging it. The cock heard it and regretted it and was sad. He came to the beach and said to Long, "Brother Long, since these two horns are of no benefit to you, then Please give it back to me." Long said slyly, "Although these horns have harmed me, they can decorate my instrument. It is not difficult to pay you back. You have to wait for the sun to go out of the west and the moon to go down to the East China Sea." A fierce boy went down to the bottom of the sea. The innocent rooster believes that it is true. It gets up every day before dawn, hoping for the sun to come out of Xishan, and cranes its neck from time to time, calling out to the sea: "Brother Long--Brother! Horn--also--I..."
Since then, the rooster has lost two horns and was also ranked behind.
Only monkeys, snakes, horses, sheep, and pigs are left undecided. The pigs were incited with ulterior motives: "The monkey brother is a land-based juggler, and the snake brother is a swimmer in the water. Which of you will come first?" After some discussion, they decided to go to the world to conduct a folk test and perform acrobatics. . The green snake invited the red horse, the monkey invited the goat, and let them help make costume props.
At that time, there were twelve legs under the belly of the snake, and it was awkward and slow to walk. Red Horse is a doer who helps others. It silently made a gown with thin skin for the snake. The dragon suit was woven with a checkered pattern with horsehair, which was really good-looking. Red Horse Shuang scraped a layer of grease from under his abdomen and applied it to the dragon's clothing, making the dragon's clothing very smooth. The green snake put on a dragon suit to cover his stupid legs, and used sliding instead of walking, which was both sensitive and beautiful.
Goats usually hate monkeys. They think it jumps up and down all day long and tramples on the grass. Therefore, they are not so enthusiastic to help monkeys. The monkey wants to make up for the shortcomings of the light. The goat asks for help: "Brother Yang, please Cut me some fluff and let me make up the slack." The goat said unhappily, "It's going to be cold, you know I rely on this treasure!" The monkey had no choice but to remain naked.
On the day of the game, the green snake was dressed in a dragon's clothing, coiled like a vine on the branches for a while, and glided like a shuttle on the water for a while. It raised its head and neck, only landed on the tip of its tail, performing various acrobatics, and people cheered. It was the monkey's turn to perform. I saw it climbing bars and swings, and won a lot of applause. When the performance was "upside down bamboo curtain", the monkey curled its tail tip on the branch and performed various thrilling moves head down. Suddenly, someone shouted: "Look! The monkey's butt is on fire!" People all laughed loudly. The monkey has always been guarding shortcomings. It blushed and flustered, and hurriedly covered its ass with its tail, only to hear a "plop", and its head fell into a flowery face.
In this way, the green snake and the red horse were in front, and the goat and the monkey were in the back.
After arranging the seats for the animals, the black pig wrote himself at the forefront, saying in his heart: "This time it's time for me to get promoted and fortune, to gain both fame and fortune! It came to the Lingxiao Hall and met the Jade Emperor. The Jade Emperor took it. After taking a look at the seat schedule, without saying anything, he tick off the black pig's name in front and fill it in the last. So, the Jade Emperor asked Taibai Jinxing to write it down according to the earthly branches: Zishu, Ugly Cow, Yinhu, Maotu, Chenlong, Sisnake, Wuma, Weiyang, Shenhou, Youji, Xugou, Haizhu's twelfth birthday table, and sent an decree to order the day Gongcao to publish it in the world.
The selection has been set, and the Jade Emperor is still angry, and gives the black pig a few words:
Useless stupid talent, reverse black and white.
Punishment to eat repeatedly, slaughtered once a year.
The black pig was demoted and got a big belly all of a sudden. It lay in the hut all day long, and didn't bother to worry about it anymore. However, sometimes I still feel itchy in my heart and I can't hold it back.
The mouse returned home, danced with three and a half beards happily, and awakened the sleeping tabby cat. Huamao asked, "Isn't it time yet?" The mouse said: "It's too early, we are still fighting for the first place!" The mouse boasted of his cuteness to the flower cat. Huamao said regretfully: "I told you again and again, why don't you call me?" The mouse grabbed the white cat and said, "You don't have long ears yourself? I told you to go, and you were happy to steal me. Where is the place!" When the cat heard it, his long beard was standing upright and his apricot eyes were wide open. It opened its sharp paws, lunged on it with a stride, and ate the mouse.
Since then, the cat and the mouse have become enemies for generations.
