Rat, one of the 12 zodiac animals, is the first in the earth. Mice are small and exquisite, agile and flexible. When mice were young, they were the most courageous and active. There are three main reasons why rats rank first in the zodiac: First, the arrangement of the zodiac in folklore stories. Secondly, Chinese ancient scholars explained the relationship between earthly branches and Xiao beasts from the perspective of twelve o'clock in ancient times.

Thirdly, according to China people's belief in Yin and Yang, twelve kinds of animals are divided into Yin and Yang, and the Yin and Yang of animals are arranged according to the odd-even difference of toes. Animals generally have the same number of toes in front, back, left and right, only mice have four front feet and five rear feet, even and odd, and things are rare, so they naturally rank first.

Liu Zongyuan, a writer in the Tang Dynasty, wrote a fable about a person born in the second year, "Rats are gods because they love rats". Another example similar to the characters in Liu Zongyuan's fable, see Qing Ren Lei Copy: "What's Yancheng's surname? The master thinks that the core relic of life is a mouse, but he doesn't have a cat. When he sees mice, he needs to forbid people to catch them. For a long time, the mice were very happy, going in and out every day, not afraid of people. "

There was a festival in history when mice married women. Generally, on the 25th night of the first month, every household doesn't light a lamp that night, and the whole family sits on the kang in the hall, silently eating food such as "mouse claws" made of flour in the dark, so as to provide convenience for the mouse to marry a daughter, so as not to offend the mouse and bring hidden dangers to the next year.

Residents in Taiwan Province Province believe that the third day is a small year, and it is said that the night of the third day is the day when mice get married. The folk paper-cut story of "mice get married" is a reflection of this belief. Therefore, people who don't light a lamp at night, sprinkle rice and salt on the ground and go to bed in the morning will not affect the happy event of mice.