
The "Twelve Animals Stones" were originally named "Wushan Twelve Peaks," as recorded in old chronicles: "There are twelve handsome stones, rising from the flat ground, delicate and slender, standing apart like mountains, each named after its image, such as the Pen Rack, Incense Burner, Chessboard, Elephant Trunk, Jade Bamboo, Tortoise Breathing, Coiling Dragon, Sword Spring, Ox's Resting, Dancing Crane, Singing Phoenix, and Crouching Tiger." The people of Hangzhou, seeing that the shapes of these stones resemble the animals of the twelve zodiac signs—rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig—thus, they are collectively known as the "Twelve Animals Stones."































