Chinese calendar years

The Chinese calendar was invented in 2637 BC by Emperor Huang Ti, who introduced the first cycle of the zodiac. It is believed that Buddha invited all the animals to celebrate the New Year (on the second New Moon after the winter solstice, in January or February) with him but only 12 came. As a reward, Buddha named a year after each of them in the order in which they arrived, with the rat first and the pig last.