The Zodiac, also known as the Zodiac, is twelve kinds of animals in China that match the twelve earthly branches according to the year of birth, including rats, cows, tigers, rabbits, dragons, snakes, horses, sheep, monkeys, chickens, dogs and pigs.
In Shen Jiong's Poem of the Zodiac, a poet in the Southern Dynasties, the zodiac signs are embedded at the beginning of the sentence in turn:
In the case of mice and dust, cattle and sheep came down at dusk.
Tigers sit in empty valleys for food, and rabbits open windows to the moon.
The dragon ridge is far green, and the snake willow lingers near.
Ma Lanfang is far away and breeds sheep in spring.
The monkey chestnut shames the fragrant fruit, and the chicken anvil leads to a clear cup.
Dogs are proud of owning, but pigs are carefree.
The origin of the zodiac is related to animal worship. According to Qin bamboo slips unearthed in Yunmeng Sleeping Tiger Land in Hubei Province and Fangmatan in Tianshui, Gansu Province, a relatively complete zodiac system existed as early as the pre-Qin period. The earliest handed down document that recorded the same Chinese zodiac as today was Lun Heng written by Wang Chong in the Eastern Han Dynasty.
The zodiac is an intuitive representation of the twelve earthly branches, namely, Zi (mouse), Ugly (ox), Yin (tiger), Mao (rabbit), Chen (dragon), Si (snake), Wu (horse), Wei (sheep), Shen (monkey), You (chicken) and Xu (chicken). In modern times, more people regard the zodiac as the mascot of the Spring Festival and become a symbol of entertainment and cultural activities.
In Qing Dynasty, Liu Xianyan quoted Li Changqing from Miscellaneous Notes of Yang Guang Matsushita Pavilion.
Why do children belong to mice? Yue: Born in the child, it will not open until it dies. Rats eat insects. Therefore, in night is still young, positive mice have to wait, so children belong to mice. The ground is ugly, and the cow opens the ground, so ugliness belongs to the cow. If born in yin, if born, kill. Murderer, tiger, Yin people, fear. If you are awesome, you are a tiger, then Yin is a tiger. At the end of the day, the sun rises. In vitro, it contains the essence of Taiyin Jade Rabbit, so it is a rabbit. The morning of divination in March is when the dragon rains, so the morning belongs to the dragon. The last person, divination in April, was lush and the snake was in its place. Also, when a snake is not on the road, it is a snake. At noon, the sun is born, and the sun is born. Horses are healthy, never leave the ground, and belong to the shade, so they belong to horses in the afternoon. The reason why a sheep is not a sheep is that it has sprouted after eating untimely grass. When applying, the ape cries at sunset, and the arm is also applied. By analogy, chaos runs rampant, so the application belongs to monkeys. Unitary, the moon comes out, the moon is the body, containing the essence of the sun golden rooster, so it belongs to the chicken. When it is night, the dog is night, so it is a dog. When the sea and the world are chaotic, if all fruits are centered on business and pigs know nothing but food, then they are pigs.
Because of the different living environment and familiar animals, the selection and arrangement order of zodiac signs of ethnic minorities are different from those of Han nationality.
Yi people in Ailaoshan: tiger, rabbit, pangolin, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, chicken, dog, pig, mouse and cow.
Yi people in western Guangxi: dragon, phoenix, horse, ant, human, chicken, dog, pig, sparrow, cow, tiger and snake.
Dai: Rats, cows, tigers, rabbits, snakes, snakes, horses, sheep, monkeys, chickens, dogs and elephants.
Li nationality: chicken, dog, pig, mouse, cow, insect, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep and monkey [90]
Mongolians: tigers, rabbits, dragons, snakes, horses, sheep, monkeys, chickens, dogs, pigs, rats and cows.
Uighurs: rats, cows, tigers, rabbits, fish, snakes, horses, sheep, monkeys, chickens, dogs and pigs.
Kirgiz: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, fish, snake, horse, sheep, fox, chicken, dog and pig.
Tibetans: The combination of Yin and Yang, five elements and Xiao beast, such as the Year of the Rabbit in the Year of the Sheep, the Year of the Monkey in the Year of the Loong and Jin Yang.
The changes of the times have not made the zodiac culture decline. As the protagonist of the Spring Festival, the zodiac has been strengthened compared with ancient times. In addition to traditional Spring Festival couplets, New Year pictures and paper-cuts, it is also fashionable to carry Chinese zodiac greetings such as "Lucky Year of the Rooster" and "Sylar Year of the Monkey". Every year, there are some topics in CCTV Spring Festival Evening, such as "The Golden Rooster Announces Dawn" in the Year of the Rooster and S.H.E in year of the snake. In the Year of the Ox, there are pictures of five cows. In the Year of the Horse, the calendars of Xu Beihong and Lang Shining are the most popular.