In the Chinese zodiac, the Pig comes last in the 12-year cycle.
The traditional sequence begins with the Rat and continues through the Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. Pig is linked with the earthly branch hai (亥), the twelfth and final branch. The same animal order is used in related East Asian calendrical traditions, although some cultures substitute different animals earlier in the sequence.
A popular legend says the Jade Emperor held a race to determine the zodiac order. The Pig arrived last, sometimes because it stopped to eat and sleep; in other versions, it was simply slow. That story explains the order folklorically, while historians connect the system to the older cycle of the Twelve Earthly Branches.
The Pig is also associated with the final double-hour of the traditional day, approximately 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. The zodiac is a calendrical cycle, not the Western zodiac’s band of constellations.