In China, everyone has their own animal sign, you are a tiger, he is a rabbit, I am a dragon and so on. To know a person's age geometry, just ask his animal sign and you will probably know.
Whenever the Spring Festival comes, people love to say that this year is the Year of the Loong, the year of the dragon. Next year is year of the snake, and the year after next is the Year of the Horse. Tracing back to its historical origin and cultural background, it naturally leads to the following topics.
The ancient records of the 12 Zodiacs
Since the reign of Emperor Shun, China has started to use the "Chronology of the Branches and Branches" which combines ten symbols of heavenly stems and twelve symbols of earthly branches. The method of animal chronology originated from the nomadic minorities in the west and north of ancient China. "The Book of the Tang Dynasty" states: "The year of the Year of the Tiger is marked by twelve things. If the year is in Yin, it is called the Year of the Tiger." Zhao Yi, a famous textual research scholar in Qing Dynasty, made a textual research in Yu Yu Cong Kao: "In the early days, the custom of benefiting the northern part of China didn't have the twelve characters of son, ugliness, yin and Mao, but when rats, cows, tigers and rabbits were divided into years, by the time of Han Dynasty, they called Han Xie (Khan) money to live in Wuyuan, which was mixed with Qi people, and it spread in China, so it didn't waste their ears.
The zodiac was first seen in The Book of Songs, the first poetry collection in the world. "The Book of Songs Xiaoya Chegong" says: "It's an auspicious day and it's noon, so I'm short of horses." See also "Book of Rites, Moon Order and Winter Season": "Unearth cattle to send cold air." When did the theory of the zodiac come into being? There is a historical cloud: it should be formed in the Han Dynasty at the latest. Its basis is the cloud in Wang Chong's "On the Balance of Things" in the Eastern Han Dynasty: "Yin, wood, its birds, tigers. Hey, the soil is also, its birds and dogs are also. " Another cloud said, "Afternoon, Ma Ye. Son, mouse also. Unitary, chicken also. ..... Shen, monkey also. " * * * Put forward eleven zodiac names. In addition, in Zhao Ye's "Wu Yue Chun Qiu" in the Eastern Han Dynasty, "Wu Zaichen is the dragon." Just added "Chen Long", and completed the zodiac. It can be seen that the zodiac has been formed in the Eastern Han Dynasty. As for the use of the zodiac, it has appeared at least in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. The Biography of Yuwen Hu, a northern history, records a letter written to him by Yuwen Hu's mother, which reads: "Your brother was born in Wuchuan Town, the eldest was a mouse, the second was a rabbit, and you were a snake." It can be seen that at that time, the Chinese zodiac was widely used by the people to record people's birth years.
however, in the mid-1971s, that is, in February, 1975, thousands of bamboo slips were found in the unearthed cultural relics of No.11 Qin Tomb in Shuihudi, Yunmeng, Hubei. Among them, "Sunrise Thief" clearly records the words used to predict the appearance characteristics of thieves in the zodiac. The appearance of this miracle proves that the zodiac was used in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Because Qin Tomb No.11 was buried in the first emperor's thirty years, that is, in 217 BC. Some people say that our ancestors used the zodiac to record the year long before Qin Shihuang proclaimed himself emperor, and specifically pointed out that "it began in summer and spread in Shang and Zhou Dynasties." However, how to cite it remains to be further explored by historians and cultural relics scholars.
In ancient China, the Southern and Northern Dynasties not only used the zodiac calendar, but also appeared Shen Jiong's Poem of Twelve Genus:
The case of rats and dust, and cattle and sheep came down at dusk.
the tiger roars in an empty valley, while the rabbit opens its window to the moon.
the dragon shade is far green, and the snake willow lingers near.
Malan is far away, and sheep are planted in spring.
a monkey's chestnut is ashamed of its fragrant fruit, and a chicken's anvil attracts its bosom.
the dog is outside the house, and the window of the pig is leisurely.
This poem embeds the names of the 12 Chinese zodiac animals in sequence in the first letter, and highlights the natural characteristics of each animal, which plays the role of finishing touch.
The poems of the zodiac written by Hu Yan, a great scholar in the Ming Dynasty, are not only embedded with the names of the zodiac in turn, but also have a code for each name, which is quite interesting. As the poem goes:
A mouse drinks a river and does not do it, but a cow and a girl never meet again for years.
It's a long day to get a rabbit in the middle of the month.
a dragon with beads often stays up, so it's enough to draw a snake.
the old horse never had horns, and the sheep touched the vassals with anger.
don't laugh at the Chu people's crowning and bathing monkeys, and wish the chicken an empty nest.
Wuyang slaughtered dogs in Peizhong City, and Pingjin released the head of Gui Haidong.
The first sentence "Zokor" is the water rat. The "cowgirl" in the second sentence is the legend of the folk cowherd and weaver girl. The five-sentence "jackal" is a kind of dragon, and there is a treasure ball under its chin, so it is called jackal. In the eight sentences, the "lick the sheep" is the ram, and "touch the fan" means that the horn touches the fence. The eleven sentences of "Wuyang" refer to the Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang who named Fan Kuai as the marquis of Wuyang. He used to slaughter dogs in Pei County, Jiangsu Province for a living. The last sentence refers to Gong Sunhong, Prime Minister of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, who once spared pigs in the East China Sea.
the origin and legend of the zodiac
according to the literature records, there were twelve earthly branches in the Yellow Emperor's era, which were related to the twelve constellations such as Aries, Taurus, Gemini and Cancer. The earliest twelve earthly branches and twelve constellations all represented twelve different monthly seasons and festivals every year. Ten characters such as A, B, C and D were invented in the Yin and Shang Dynasties. Later, people who studied numerology called them heavenly stems and used them in combination with earthly branches, such as Jia Zi and E Chou, to count years, months, days and hours.
According to legend, it is a masterpiece of Dong Fangshuo in the Han Dynasty to replace the twelve earthly branches with twelve kinds of animals to represent the twelve-month season. There is a clear record of "Yan Du Pian" in Lun Heng written by Wang Chong in the Eastern Han Dynasty. He mentioned the names of twelve animals. Counting the years by the zodiac also started in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Zhao Yi's Textual Research on Yu Yu in Qing Dynasty also pointed out this historical fact. As for why twelve kinds of animals are chosen as symbols, it may be related to totems at the earliest. In ancient times, all tribes chose an animal that they were particularly afraid of or loved, and took its pattern as the symbol of their tribe. Hong Xun's "Yang Gu Man Quan" in Song Dynasty and Lang Ying's "Seven Revision Manuscripts" in Ming Dynasty all explained this. In addition, the Buddhist scripture "Dajijing" records the story of the 12 Zodiacs marching in turn, but there are lions instead of tigers. Therefore, some people think that the 12 Zodiacs were introduced to China from ancient India, and the replacement of lions by tigers may be related to the fact that lions are not produced in the Central Plains.
Some people think that the Chinese zodiac first appeared in the calendar. A day and night is twenty-four hours, and ancient astronomers divided day and night into twelve hours. At the same time, when they watch the celestial phenomena, they determine the zodiac according to the living habits and activities of twelve animals. From eleven o'clock at night to one o'clock the next morning, it is the time when mice are active in the dead of night, and they are called "mice". From 1 am to 3 am, it is ugly. Cattle are used to eating grass at night, and farmers often get up late at night to feed them, so they are called "ugly cows". From three o'clock to five o'clock in the morning, it belongs to Yinshi. At this time, the tigers that lie in the daytime and walk at night are the fiercest. The ancients often heard the roar of tigers at this time, so they were called "Yinhu". From five o'clock to seven o'clock in the morning, it is maoshi. At first light, rabbits leave their nests and like to eat grass with morning dew, so they are called "Mao rabbits". From seven o'clock to nine o'clock in the morning, it is the time of day. At this time, it is generally easy to get foggy. It is said that the dragon is happy to fly in the clouds, and it is worth the rising sun, so it is called "Chen Long". From 9: 11 am to 11: 11 am, it is the fourth time. The fog cleared, the sun shone brightly, and snakes came out of their holes to feed, pretending to be "snakes." From eleven to one noon, it is noon. In ancient times, wild horses were not tamed by human beings. Whenever noon, they ran around screaming, so they were called "afternoon horses". From one to three in the afternoon, it is untimely. In some places, it is called "sheep out of the slope", which means it is a good time to herd sheep, so it is called "weiyang". From three o'clock to five o'clock in the afternoon, it is the application time. The sun is west, and monkeys like to crow at this time, so it is called "Shen Monkey". From five o'clock to seven o'clock in the afternoon, it is a unitary time. When the sun goes down, the chicken spins around in front of the nest, so it is called "unitary chicken". From 7: 11 to 9: 11 in the evening, it is a time of sorrow. After a hard day's work, I bolted the door and got ready for a rest. Dogs lie in front of the door and guard. When there is any movement, they bark and shout, so they are called "dogs". From 9: 11 to 11: 11 at night, it is Haishi. In the dead of night, you can hear the sound of pig arches, so it is called "Hai Pig". In this way, the time of day is arranged with animals: mouse, ugly cow, yinhu, maotu, chenlong, sishu, afternoon horse, sheep, monkey, you chicken, dog, and sea pig. Later, people used this method to date the year, and the zodiac appeared.
There is a similar saying that twelve animals match twelve hours. It is said that heaven and earth came into being at the beginning of life, and there was no gap, so gas could not escape and matter could not be used. When bitten by a mouse, the gas escaped and matter could be used. Rats have the magical power to open celestial bodies, and they belong to rats when they are young. The mouse opened the gap between heaven and earth, and the cow came out to cultivate the ground, so the clown belonged to the cow. Legend has it that people were born in Yin, and the word "Yin" has the meaning of awe. In ancient times, people were most afraid of tigers, so Yin was a tiger. Maoshi has entered the early morning, but the sun has not yet come out. It is the moon that illuminates the earth, and the only animal in the moon palace is the "Jade Rabbit", so Maoshi is a rabbit. Legend has it that it is the time when the dragons are raining, and they naturally belong to dragons at this time. Snakes are good at using grass to hide their whereabouts. It is said that when they were young, they didn't swim on the road where people were walking and couldn't hurt people, so they belonged to snakes. At noon, the yang reaches the limit, and the yin is just about to produce, so the horse can't run without the ground. It belongs to the yin animal, so it belongs to the horse at noon. Legend has it that sheep eat untimely grass, which does not affect the regeneration of grass, and it belongs to sheep when it is untimely. Shen has the meaning of "stretching", and monkeys are best at stretching, bending and climbing, so Shen is a monkey. At this time, the chicken began to return to the nest, and at this time it was a chicken. When it is getting dark, the dog begins to "work" and watch the house and protect the hospital. At this time, it belongs to the dog. When it is night, everything is silent and the world is chaotic, and pigs, like the chaos of heaven and earth, know nothing except "eating", so Haishi naturally belongs to pigs.
Fayuan Zhulin quoted Dajijing as saying: "Outside Jambu-Di^pa, there are twelve animals in the square sea, which are bodhisattvas. When humanity was born, when the Bodhisattva lived in the cave, it belonged to this beast to protect and benefit, so the twelfth day of the Han Dynasty followed this trip. " Another cloud said: "The reason why it is distributed is quite detailed in" Sui Gu Man Lu ". According to it, children, yin, Chen, noon, Shen and Xu are all yang, so rats, tigers, dragons, monkeys and dogs are all five fingers, while horses have only one hoof; Ugliness, stubble, jealousy, ignorance, unitary and sea belong to yin, so cows, sheep, chickens and pigs named after even numbers of the same genus all have four claws, rabbits have two claws and snakes have two tongues. " According to this, twelve animals are arranged in odd-even order according to their toes: cattle have four toes, which are even; It is strange that the tiger has five toes; Rabbit four toes, even; Dragon five toe, it is strange; The snake has no toes but two tongues, which is even; It is strange that a horse has one toe (one hoof); Sheep have four toes, even; It is strange that monkeys have five toes; Chicken four toes, even; It is strange that dogs have five toes; Pigs have four toes, even; Among the twelve animals, only the mouse is the most special, with four toes on its front feet, which is even; It's amazing that the hind foot has five toes. In this way, the original is odd and even, so it ranks first among the twelve animals.
in the northwest of Lishan ancestral temple in Lintong, Shaanxi province, there is a huge monument with the images of twelve animals, such as rats, cows, tigers, rabbits, dragons, snakes, horses, sheep, monkeys, chickens, dogs and pigs, which is called "Twelve Elephant Stones". There is also an interesting legend in this "Twelve Elephant Stones": In ancient times, there was a "chronology method of branches and branches" in which heavenly stems and earthly branches cooperated first. In practice, our ancestors felt that the chronology of cadres and branches was complicated and difficult to be popular among the people. Therefore, it was suggested that the year should be marked by the zodiac. This suggestion was approved by the Yellow Emperor and Cang Xie was ordered to undertake this matter. On the first day of the first month of this year, all animals in the world were called to stand for election in front of the The Yellow Emperor's Palace Temple. When the animals learned this news, they all cheered and rushed to prepare for the meeting. Among them, the cow knew that her legs and feet were slow, so she left home on New Year's Eve and got the first place. The second one is a tiger, the third one is a rabbit, the fourth one is a dragon, followed by snakes, horses, sheep, monkeys, chickens, dogs, pigs and rats. The dragon was born majestically, covered in scales and shining; Eyes slip round, like a bright lamp; Silver beard and gold beard, fluttering in the wind; Tiger's hoof and eagle's paw, riding fog and clouds. The fly in the ointment is that the top of the head is bare, and something seems to be missing. When Kong Lung jumped out of the pool, he caught sight of the rooster. I saw that the rooster not only had beautiful feathers, but also had a pair of beautiful horns on his head. I couldn't help but feel excited and went forward to borrow the horns on his head. The rooster shook his head and said, "No, I have to attend the Zodiac campaign meeting tomorrow!" " The dragon said, "Your horns are redundant on your head. With your colorful clothes, you will definitely be selected." The rooster loves flattery and flattery, and he is willing to lend his horn to the dragon, but he still can't bear it. Just then, a big centipede climbed up and said, "Brother Chicken, just lend your horn to Brother Long. If you don't trust me, how about I be the guarantor?" The cock saw that there was a centipede as a guarantee, so he agreed. The dragon was so happy that he promised to return the horn to the rooster immediately after the election meeting of the zodiac. Besides, mice and cats were good friends. The cat is sleepy. Before going to the meeting, the cat said to the mouse, "Will you call me early tomorrow morning?" The mouse nodded and said, "OK, I will definitely call you." In this way, the cat went to sleep at ease. When the mouse woke up, it was getting late. He hurried to call the cat, and when he saw the cat sleeping soundly, he thought, Why should there be another competitor? He left the cat alone and turned out to be the last one present.
how lively the Zodiac campaign meeting is! Those flying in the sky, those running on the ground, those swimming in the water and those living in trees are all gathered together. Bustling, very lively. The Yellow Emperor selected twelve kinds of animals from all kinds of animals and birds and ranked them. The Yellow Emperor thought to himself: Although the cow is clumsy, it is tall and strong, has great strength, and comes first, so it decides the steak first. Rats are unremarkable and come at the latest, so they should come last. As soon as the voice of the Yellow Emperor was spoken, the mouse had a brainwave and quickly jumped in front of the Yellow Emperor and said, "If you want to talk big, you have to count me. Do not believe, please let the people identify it. " The Yellow Emperor was amused at the mouse's words. This little guy said, "Since we chose the zodiac for the people, it is better for the people to identify it." So he gave orders to let all twelve kinds of animals take a walk in the street. When the cow went to the street, people were friendly to it, some touched their heads, some praised it, but no one said it was big. At this time, the mouse suddenly jumped on the cow's back, which startled people. I heard someone in the crowd exclaim, "Oh dear! Where did such a big mouse jump out! " This cry made the mouse show off, and the Yellow Emperor was not good at breaking his word, so he had to rank the mouse first in the zodiac.
In the election meeting of the Chinese Zodiac, the mouse was not only selected, but also ranked first, so it was naturally very proud. When I got home, I saw that the cat had just woken up and said, "Brother Cat, the Zodiac Festival is over, and I was chosen as the first." Hearing this, the cat shouted, "What? Why didn't you wake me up? You are a wicked bad thing. " Then he pounced on the mouse. When the mouse saw that the cat really turned over, it was scared and hurriedly fled back to the mouse hole. Since then, cats and mice have become bitter rivals, which continue to this day.
Besides, the rooster was ranked behind the dragon, and he was very unconvinced and regretted that he really shouldn't have lent his horn to the dragon. After the meeting, the rooster hurried to the dragon to beg for his horns. When the dragon saw the rooster, he knew he was wrong, but he didn't want to give it back such a beautiful horn. He jumped into the deep pool around him and hid. The cock can't swim, so he has to go to the centipede as a guarantor. The centipede said, "You have to ask the dragon for your horn, but he just won't give it back. What can I do?" Say that finish, centipede also hid. Since then, the rooster has no horns on his head, leaving only a red comb. Climb high every morning and shout, "Brother Long, give me back my horn!" " Usually, I use my claws to dig for centipedes everywhere, and I peck at them whenever I see them.
After the zodiac signs were selected and arranged in order, the Yellow Emperor ordered Cang Xie, who created characters, to carve the names of twelve animals on stone tablets, which have been handed down to this day.
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The origin of the zodiac
In ancient China, the time and life characteristics of animals were rooted, and twelve animals were regarded as the zodiac, that is, each animal was an hour. When the mouse ranks first (with "Zi")