Rats are so bad, why are they still listed in the 12 zodiac? And also ranked first.

12 Zodiac, there are several special Zodiac. The first special animal is a mouse, because it ranks first. However, no matter from what point of view, the mouse has no superiority. It is not big, its appearance is not beautiful, its meat is not delicious, and it also steals people's food, biting clothes and utensils, and spreads terrible diseases such as plague.

Everyone who has lived in the northern countryside knows that rats (voles) have the custom of storing food in autumn. At that time, the mice will be in pairs, one will hang the wild valley upside down, and the other will drag the tail of his companion into the hole. Before winter, the storage room of the rat hole will be filled, and the food in these wild valleys can usually be eaten until spring blossoms. Mice have been living such a happy life for thousands of years, before human beings invented agriculture. However, since humans started hunting in Yamakaji in spring, rats often didn't have time to eat up the wild valleys stored in rat holes, and these wild valleys gained a better chance of survival (more sunshine, water and fertilizer) in the virgin land after burning mountains. Over time, the grain-full wild valleys that these mice like to eat are getting denser and fuller in the burnt fields. Finally, one day, people discovered the taste and nutritional value of these wild valleys (when burning mountains, it is possible to smell burnt grain in some mouse holes) and began to plant and harvest these wild valleys purposefully. At this epoch-making moment, one of the greatest pioneering works of mankind-agriculture was born.

As we all know, agricultural production needs to grasp the seasons more, so the demand for astronomical calendar in agricultural society is more urgent and accurate. In this case, when people in agricultural society observe the 12 cycle of climate change and form the zodiac calendar and zodiac culture, it is logical to put the mouse in the first place. This is not only because rats have made great contributions to the invention of agriculture, but also because in the early stage of agricultural production, a large number of rats appeared, indicating that the climate began to change in a direction conducive to crop harvest. In the zodiac year, the year of the rat, the year of the ox and the year of the horse are the years of abundant aquatic plants and bumper crops. As the agricultural proverb says, "The Year of the Ox and the Year of the Horse are good years for agriculture".