What year comes after the Year of the Cat? - briefly
The Year of the Cat is not part of the traditional Chinese zodiac cycle. The correct terms used in the Chinese zodiac are the Year of the Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig.
What year comes after the Year of the Cat? - in detail
The concept of the "Year of the Cat" does not exist in traditional Chinese zodiac systems. The Chinese zodiac, which is based on a 12-year cycle, includes animals such as the Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. Each year is associated with one of these animals, and the cycle repeats every 12 years. However, the cat is not part of this cycle.
The misconception might arise from various cultural adaptations or folklore, but within the traditional Chinese zodiac, there is no "Year of the Cat." Instead, the cycle proceeds in a fixed order. For instance, if the current year is the Year of the Tiger, the following year would be the Year of the Rabbit, and so on.
To clarify, here is the sequence of the Chinese zodiac animals:
- Rat
- Ox
- Tiger
- Rabbit
- Dragon
- Snake
- Horse
- Goat
- Monkey
- Rooster
- Dog
- Pig
Given this sequence, it is evident that there is no place for the cat in the traditional zodiac cycle. Therefore, the notion of a "Year of the Cat" is not recognized in the standard Chinese zodiac system. If one were to follow the traditional cycle, the year following any given animal would be determined by its position in the aforementioned list. For example, if it were the Year of the Tiger, the subsequent year would be the Year of the Rabbit, and so forth.