Rooster takes the 10th position among the 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac cycle. People born in the Year of the Rooster are believed to be sharp-minded and highly perceptive.

As a symbol of motivation, there are many Chinese idioms that describe such positive states like "wen ji qi wu," meaning "to get up to practice martial arts on hearing the crow of the rooster." And "jin ji bao xiao," meaning "the golden rooster crows at dawn," with the connotation of hope and auspiciousness.

A rooster is an adult male chicken, or Gallus gallus domesticus. Through genetic analyses, domestic chickens are believed to have evolved over 8,000 years from ancient red junglefowls, who still live in tropical forests below an elevation of 1,000 meters, and are able to fly.

Being one of the most common animals we see, the total number of roosters on the planet is counted by dozens of billions, much more than the total human population.

Being a high-yielding species is one of the reasons there are so many of them. Thanks to genetic mutations that took place over a millennia, a hen can lay more than 300 eggs on a yearly basis, far more than their seasonal mating ancestors.

Last but not the least, hens and their eggs are significant food source for humans.

The Chinese zodiacs are based on a 12-year cycle, with each year related to an animal: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.

But how much do you know about these animals and their symbolic meanings in Chinese zodiac? Follow the series to find out.

The 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac: Ox

The 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac: Tiger

The 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac: Rabbit

The 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac: Dragon

The 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac: Snake

The 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac: Horse

The 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac: Goat

The 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac: Monkey

(Cover is designed by CGTN's Li Yueyun.)

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