On February 7th, 2008, Chinese New Year and the year of the rat last began. The much-maligned rodent is in fact wonderfully clever and makes a lovely pet. According to Chinese tradition, the first in the zodiacal cycle is the year of the rat, though it appeared the ox would be first of the twelve animals in line. The crafty rat however, hitched a ride on the back of the ox and jumped ahead in line at the opportune moment. In southern China, legend has it that it was the rat who brought rice to humankind. The word (or rather the character) for rat (shu) is the same as that for mouse, thus the rat is distinguished from the mouse by the addition of a qualifier such as lao ("old") or da ("big"). This rat is the big mouse.

The edition is limited to a total of 30 prints. The prints are made in environmentally-friendly water-based block printing ink on handmade Japanese kozo (or mulberry) paper. The sheets are 9" (22.9 cm) wide and 6.25" (15.9 cm) tall.

The prints are suitable for framing and would make a great gift for Chinese New Year, those born in the year of the rat or fans of the large, intelligent, rodent. The Chinese calendar is lunar, rather than solar like the Western calendar, therefore the New Year varies from year to year. It is typically in late January or early February. People born after that in the years 1900, 1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996 and 2008, are born in the Year of the Rat.

The other animals in the Chinese zodiac are all here:
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