The twelve zodiac animals, also known as the zodiac signs, are the twelve animals in China that are matched with the twelve earthly branches based on the year of human birth, including the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, chicken, dog, and pig.
The origin of the twelve zodiac animals is related to animal worship. According to the Qin bamboo slips unearthed from Yunmeng Sleeping Tiger Land in Hubei and Fangmatan in Tianshui, Gansu, it is known that there was a relatively complete zodiac system in the pre Qin period. The earliest surviving document that records the same twelve zodiac animals as modern times is Wang Chong's "Lun Heng" from the Eastern Han Dynasty.
As a long-standing symbol of folk culture, the Chinese zodiac has left behind a large number of poems, couplets, paintings, calligraphy, and folk crafts depicting the image and symbolic significance of the zodiac throughout history. Besides China, many countries around the world issue zodiac stamps during the Spring Festival to express their blessings for the Chinese New Year.