Why is it Year of the Cat but not Year of the Rabbit in Vietnam?

According to the lunar calendar of many Asian countries, each year corresponds to one animal and that cycle restarts once every 12 years. The animals are the Rat, Ox/ Water buffalo, Tiger, Rabbit/ Cat, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. Except for Ox (other countries) and Water buffalo (Vietnam) seems the same, the biggest and most noticeable difference lies in the fourth animal, the rabbit or the cat. Let’s find out the reason with CHUS.

In Vietnam, the story is different. Emperor Jade, a Taoist god, organized the race. During the race, the cat is the one who wins his place among the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac.

Another explanation would be that most Vietnamese people are farmers, and rabbits have nothing to do with Vietnamese farmers.

Lunar New Year in the culture of Asian countries

When the first day of the year on the lunar calendar comes near, Vietnamese people prepare to celebrate Tet, also known as "Tet Nguyen Dan" or "Tet Ta." This can be considered the most important holiday of the year for Vietnamese people, when people temporarily put aside all work to focus on family, relatives, and ancestors. Besides Vietnam, some other Asian countries also celebrate this day, such as China, Korea, and Singapore.

A zodiac year cycle is divided into 12 animals, which are Rat, Ox/ Water buffalo, Tiger, Rabbit/ Cat, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. While the Chinese zodiac in most countries is the same, Vietnam and the rest differ in the fourth year. In Vietnam, the fourth year is the Year of the Cat, while other Sino-Asian countries, such as China, Japan, Korea, or Singapore, etc., feature that specific year as the rabbit. The Year of the Rabbit or the Year of the Cat falls in 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011, 2023, 2035, and each subsequent 12-year cycle. 

The cause of this difference is still unclear. However, there have been some theories put forward to explain it, mainly based on culture and language.

The legend about the great race of twelve Chinese zodiac animals

The zodiac race

Once upon a time, the Jade Emperor wanted to name the years with animal names. Each year then would be represented by one animal, and the cycle consisted of 12 years. The animals, whose names are selected, would help the Jade Emperor look after the Earth. In order to pick the most suitable and worthy animals, a great race was hosted, and only the first twelve animals to reach the goal would have their names engraved in the zodiac list. As becoming one of the twelve zodiac animals is a greatly honorable achievement, all moving creatures on earth were super excited and looking forward to the zodiac race.

The Rat got up extra early on the great race day to get a head start on the others. When he almost reached the heaven gate, there was a wide river with a furiously strong current that stopped his steps. The smart Rat waited patiently until the Ox came and jumped onto his ear for a free ride. The Ox, which was a hardworking and gentle one, didn’t really care and consistently crossed the river with ease to reach the heaven gate. That was just when the quick-witted little animal jumped out of Ox’s ear and went into the heaven palace first, hence its first position in the twelve zodiac animal list. The Ox was placed second after the Rat.

The strong and fierce Tiger didn’t struggle much and came third in the zodiac race. After a while, the Rabbit also made his way to the goal as the fourth winner. Rabbit was small and weak yet smart and quick, so he jumped on the big rocks to cross the river. Coming fifth was the almighty Dragon. Despite being the strongest among the animals and even possessing supernatural power, he came later than the other four because he had to stop midway to help humans put out fire with his magical water. After the Dragon, there were the Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, and Dog as the 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th places. The last place was filled with the Pig - who lazily stopped during the race several times to eat and rest.

According to this story, the Rabbit was placed fourth, while the Cat is off the list as he didn’t participate in the race. That is why it’s the Year of The Rabbit in most Sino-Asian countries instead of the Cat.

And if you ask where the Cat was in this story, it is told that the Cat overslept on the day of the race. Cat liked sleeping and napping a lot, so he asked his close friend Rat to wake him up so he could join the race. Rat agreed but didn’t do as he promised and let Cat be late for the competition. That was the reason why Cat didn’t show up, and lost his chance to be one of the zodiac animals. Cat also felt tricked by Rat and despised him so much that they have become grave enemies since then. In another version of the myth, the Cat went together with the Rat and they both sat on the Ox’s back. The squeaky animal, however, pushed the Cat into the river so he could win, which led to the same result and made the Cat hate water.

Vietnamese version of the story, where it’s Year of the Cat

With one exception, this story's Vietnamese adaptation is essentially the same as the original. Actually, the Cat joined the race rather than the Rabbit. He traveled with his big brother, the powerful Tiger, and the two of them arrived at the heaven gate simultaneously. Tiger was ranked third because he was the older brother, while Cat was ranked fourth. The Year of the Cat is therefore the fourth year of the twelve-year cycle in Vietnam.

Vietnam prefers Cat to Rabbit due to geographic, climate, and culture differences

Vietnam has the ideal natural habitats for cats and felines in general

If you’re asking us why the Vietnamese choose the Cat to be the participant in the race instead of the rabbit, it is probably because of geographical and climate conditions, as well as the culture. 

China, the country that has had the most influence on other Sino-Asian countries, has an abundance of meadows, or wide grasslands. This is also the ideal habitat for rabbits to grow and expand in number.

Meanwhile, Vietnam is known for its tropical climate, with tropical forests stretching from north to south and supporting a diverse range of flora and fauna. Rabbits are not, however, a familiar part of the fauna: the jungle does not really welcome this small, quick animal because the soil is not suitable for rabbits to dig their cave, while predators such as tigers, leopards, and wild cats were present. Yes, there were countless dangers for rabbits living in such a place.

Wild cats are the ancestors of domestic cats. Therefore, this small feline animal is much more familiar to the Vietnamese than the rabbit. This is probably why Vietnam favors cats more and decides it should be the Year of the Cat, going the opposite way of China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, or Singapore, where it’s the Year of the Rabbit.

The difference in language

When it comes to linguistics, the Chinese have a rare and uncommon way to call rabbits that is almost a homophone to cats, and that is "野猫" (pronounced as / Yěmāo /). Meanwhile, / māo / is a way to call cats in Vietnamese. This is probably why, when the Chinese zodiac travels to Vietnam, there is a difference in which animal is chosen for the fourth year, or, in other words, why the Vietnamese see it as the Year of the Cat instead of the Rabbit.

The Cat and the Rabbit in Vietnamese culture

Not only are cats kept by many people, but they were also considered useful pets by Vietnamese farmers in the past thanks to their tendency to catch rats. Rats are harmful to the harvest, which makes cats important to the lives of Vietnamese people, who belong to the rice culture.

Thanks to their familiarity, cats appear very frequently in Vietnamese literature. That is shown via proverbs or idioms related to cats. Some of them are: Mèo lại hoàn mèo (Cats will be cats), Mèo khen mèo dài đuôi (The cat toots its own horn), Ăn ít như mèo (Eats as little as a cat - it’s like "Eat like a bird", but the cat is used instead), etc.

And if cats are put into comparison with rabbits, Vietnamese people would describe them as clever, quick, and smart, while seeing rabbits as weak and fainthearted, hence the saying "as coward as the rabbit king" in Vietnamese. 

Because of all of those, it is reasonable that the Vietnamese like the idea of the Year of the Cat instead of the Year of the Rabbit.

Conclusion

Up until now, the reason why it’s not the Year of the Rabbit but the Year of the Cat in Vietnam has not been answered accurately. However, CHUS still hopes that the above theories can partly answer your questions.