In ancient times, In order to make people easily remember the years , our ancestors came up with an idea use the animals represent the years. A popular folk method which reflected the cyclical method of recording years are the Twelve Animal Signs. Every year is assigned an animal name or sign according to a repeating cycle: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Boar. The Chinese animal signs are a 12-year cycle used for dating the years. They represent a
