Year of the Pig in the Chinese Zodiac

Where the pig sits in the cycle

World History Encyclopedia calls the pig the twelfth animal of the Chinese zodiac. A post on The Bowes Museum Blog says the pig had the twelfth year named after it as a reward for finishing the race, “or so the legend says.”

The Cleveland Museum of Art describes a twelve-animal zodiac series of earthenware mortuary figures, and the list it gives names a boar and never uses the word pig.

Legends about the pig’s place

The Bowes post ties the pig to the Great Race set by the Jade Emperor: it came last because it stopped for food and a nap. World History Encyclopedia tells the Great Race too and calls it the better known of two stories. In its telling, the pig says it was hungry, stopped for snacks and took a nap after eating, and the Jade Emperor welcomes it to the zodiac.

In the article’s other story, the Jade Emperor turns a person who was lazy and self-indulgent all their life into a pig. An officer misunderstands the order to send it back to earth and places it in the sky, and so the pig becomes the last sign.

A page on China.org.cn gives a separate legend, in which Emperor Xuanyuan decides the order. The pig, aware of its clumsy body and slow speed, rose early and faced numerous hardships to reach the Heavenly Palace, only to find the ranking already concluded. Impressed by its determination, the emperor assigned it the last position.

What the tradition says about the pig

The China.org.cn page says that in traditional Chinese culture the pig symbolizes wealth, abundance and good fortune. World History Encyclopedia says pigs symbolize good fortune and happiness as they seem to live a care-free existence.

People born in the Year of the Pig are expected to be sincere, honest, diligent, generous and open-minded, according to China.org.cn. The Bowes post says the pig’s characteristics are said to be conscientiousness, generosity, calm and compassion, though it can also be gullible and quiet.

World History Encyclopedia adds that the pig is not always featured positively. It also symbolized sloth, self-indulgence, intemperance and lack of self-control.

Pigs in objects and art

A V&A blog post by Ming Wilson lists a jade pig of the Han dynasty among its examples. Some models of pigs are made of jade rather than pottery, the post says, and the style is known as the “Han eight cut”, meaning the craftsman made minimal use of the carving knife.

More broadly, the Bowes post says the pig did not get as much “canvas” time as other animals in the history of arts, and that when it is depicted it is usually associated with farm and everyday peasant life.