2020年既是鼠年，它也標志著中國新一輪生肖周期的第一年，因為老鼠是十二生肖中的第一個。老鼠是十二生肖中體格最小的，卻排在十二生肖的最前面。這是怎么來的呢？快跟隨西迪斯翻譯公司的小編一起去了解一下吧！

       To those who might not be quite familiar with the zodiac, it is a repeated cycle of 12 years, with each year being represented by an animal. The cycle begins with the Year of the Rat, and goes through Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, ending with the Year of the Pig.
       一些人還不太熟悉生肖，它是一個重復的十二年循環，每一年都有一個動物代表。生肖周期從鼠年開始，之后是牛、虎、兔、龍、蛇、馬、羊、猴、雞、狗，直到豬年結束。

       It is not difficult to notice that the rat is the smallest animal in the group, so how comes it ranks on top of the list? Well, there are several explanations.
       不難發現，老鼠是十二生肖中最小的動物，那么它是怎么排在首位的呢？對此有幾種解釋。

       One Explanation: Terrestrial Branches
       一種解釋：地支

       The 12 Chinese zodiac signs are based on the 12 Terrestrial Branches. Ancient Chinese people invented the system based on observations of the orbit of Jupiter, which has a 12-year rotation basis.
       中國的十二生肖以十二地支為基礎。中國古人根據對木星軌道的觀測發明了這一系統，木星的公轉周期為12年。

       Chinese people named each of the Terrestrial Branches, and use them to mark the year, month, date, as well as different periods of the day. Therefore, Jupiter is also known as the "Year Star" in ancient China.
       中國人給每一個地支命名，用它們來標記年、月、日以及一天中的不同時間。因此，木星在中國古代也被稱為“年星”。

       The order of the zodiacs was based on their habits and activity time during the day. For example, the rats usually come out around midnight, therefore it is arranged at the beginning of the Terrestrial Branches, referring to the period between 23:00 pm and 1:00 am.
       十二生肖的順序是根據動物們一天的習慣和活動時間來確定的。例如，老鼠通常在午夜前后出來活動，因此它被安排在地支的首個，用來指午夜23點到凌晨1點之間的時間。

       Likewise, the ox is the second because the animal ruminates after 1:00 am, and the tiger comes next for it is believed to start wondering around preying between 3:00 to 5:00 in the morning. The same order was transplanted to the arrangement of the 12 zodiac signs.
       同樣的，牛排在第二位，因為它在凌晨1點之后開始反芻，而老虎排在第三位，因為人們認為老虎在凌晨3點到5點之間開始四處捕食。十二生肖都以此排序。

       Without any records on archives, this is the most believable explanation, since it is more of a summary of the ancient people's observation of nature. Most of the ancient systems used by the Chinese were created in the same way.
       在沒有任何記載的情況下，這是最可信的解釋，因為它更像是古人對自然的觀察總結。中國人使用的大多數古代系統同樣按此創造。