Pig in the Chinese Zodiac
A sourced guide to Pig’s twelfth zodiac place, its 亥 branch, early domestication, tomb pigsties, and the separate literary figure Zhu Bajie.
Reviewed
- Cycle position
- 12 of 12
- Earthly branch
- 亥 Hài
- Sequence
- Twelfth of twelve · after Dog, before Rat
Pig closes the twelve-animal sequence. Pig and Boar both appear in English-language zodiac material, while archaeology, tomb models, folktales, and Journey to the West place pig figures in contexts far more specific than a generic emblem of fortune.
Historical context
Domestication, households, and tomb models
Pigs were domesticated in China in the Neolithic period and became closely tied to settled household economies. Later tombs sometimes included pottery pigsties or farm compounds, material provisions that can reveal ideas about sustenance and wealth in an afterlife.
Such models document burial practice and daily economy; they do not prove that every pig image means prosperity. Wild boars, domestic pigs, zodiac figures, and food-related objects require different descriptions even when English writing sometimes uses Pig and Boar for the same calendrical place.
Traditional interpretation
The last arrival in the race
In a familiar race version, Pig stops to eat and sleep before reaching the finish, taking twelfth place. The calendrical animal is paired with the earthly branch 亥 (Hài), completing the sequence before it begins again with Rat.
Zhu Bajie, the pig-faced companion in Journey to the West, is a separate literary character with comic appetites, failings, and moments of assistance. He is not the origin or definition of the zodiac Pig.
Modern practice
A closing sign with many afterlives
Modern zodiac designs may choose a domestic piglet, an adult pig, or a boar according to regional language and visual preference. Museums use zodiac years to place ancient tomb objects beside later painting, ceramics, and contemporary sculpture.
These juxtapositions are most useful when differences remain visible. A Han tomb pigsty, a Journey to the West illustration, and Ai Weiwei’s Boar head each carries its own historical questions.
Sources & further reading
- Chinese zodiac figure of a pigThe Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads — BoarHirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution
- Legend of the twelve Zodiac AnimalsInternational Dunhuang Programme, British Library