The zodiac signs symbolize twelve months, but no one knows that they also symbolize twelve guardians. Twelve guardians who inherit the blood of the zodiac. They have the ability of their own zodiac, silently guarding the East.
The Cultural Symbol of Rats
Although the mouse has a bad reputation and an unpleasant appearance, it has long been condemned as "a mouse crossing the street, everyone cries out for it", but from the perspective of society, folklore and culturology, it has already been thoroughly remoulded, and has evolved from an unscrupulous pest into a small creature with great spirituality, intelligence and mystery.
As early as thousands of years ago, the so-called primitive animal worship of "four lords" and "five gates" spread among the people in our country, which reflected the awe of foxes, weasels, thorns, mice and snakes. It is generally believed that these animals
Things have extraordinary spirituality and represent providence and the will of ghosts and gods. Rats are on the list again, which shows that rats are inextricably linked with human life. Mouse culture will naturally not be hidden in every aspect of human daily life.
Obviously, mouse culture makes mice more and more lovely and mysterious.
The first symbolic meaning of the mouse is spirituality, including its intelligence and performance channeling.
Rats have a keen sense of smell, are timid and suspicious, and are highly vigilant. Besides, their bodies are very dexterous and they can run like flies. Moreover, they have two other sudden abilities: from tens of meters or even hundreds of meters high, on the roof.
Stick to the ground, turn around, take a breath, and do what you should do as if nothing happened. Don't worry about your life at all. Although it is not an aquatic animal and has no super swimming ability, it is blocked by narrow and shallow ponds.
If you can't live with it, in order to survive, it can drill several meters (more than 10 times its length) in one breath without being hurt. So it's useless to fall to death or drown a mouse.
People often use "smarter than the mouse" to describe someone's cleverness, and the cleverness of the mouse has become a standard for category comparison, which shows that its cleverness has reached a considerable level, just as people will say "better than Mercedes-Benz" instead of "better than Volga" when describing the excellent quality of cars. Similarly, to describe a person who is quick and responsive, we often say that he is "as fickle as a mouse."
People also believe that mice have special functions and can predict good luck or bad luck. In fact, rats are born in nature and grow longer than nature. It is normal for them to respond to unexpected events that will happen in nature, such as earthquakes, floods, droughts and locust plagues. This is a special instinct of life on earth, but there is also some knowledge limited to human beings, which does not reveal its mystery and law.
On the eve of the Tangshan earthquake, people were surprised to find that rats were running around in the suburbs or curled up in relatively empty places such as roads and streets. It is not clear what this sign means. Similar things must have been repeated many times in ancient times, so the mouse became a psychic in human mind. We can get a glimpse of it by analyzing Duke Zhou's explanation of turning off mice in his dreams.
In life, everyone dreams. All kinds of things will appear in dreams. If you dream of a mouse, are you happy, worried, blessed or cursed? As the saying goes, "It's a blessing, not a curse, but a curse." Let's listen to what ancient Zhou Wenwang said:
If you dream of muskrats, your career will be successful. Dream that there are many muskrats, and difficulties and misfortunes are coming.
Dream that mice will make too many enemies. Married women dream of having children with domestic mice in their hands. Dreaming that catching mice will make dishonest friends. Dreaming that catching mice would be countered by the enemy's conspiracy. I dreamed that the cat scratched the old man.
Rats are a blessing. The enemy will kill each other and lose both sides. Dream of dead mice, good luck. Dream that there are many mice, and failure will continue to happen. I dreamed that the mouse dug a hole in his living room and the house was stolen. Men dream of mice.
Bite yourself and disaster will be avoided. The doctor dreamed of mice, where infectious diseases would appear.
Dream of squirrels, and you will gain something from your efforts. Women dream of squirrels and will be separated from their husbands. The deported people dreamed of squirrels, and their purpose was achieved, and they could finally return to their motherland. Travel will be comfortable and your career will be successful.
Work. Dreaming of killing a squirrel is ominous and will bring disaster. Dreaming of catching a squirrel, or holding a squirrel in your hand, is a good sign, and you will find hidden treasure. Dreaming that a squirrel bit itself will lead to disagreement with friends on major issues.
Ambiguous. Farmers dream of squirrels, and the harvest is in sight.
To sum up, "mice fight with each other for business, and mice bite for nothing." "The mouse will never come back, and the cat will get the money."
The second symbolic meaning of the mouse is its strong vitality. One is strong reproductive ability and high survival rate. For example, a female rat can give birth to 5- 10 rats per fetus in natural state, with a maximum of 24 rats, and the gestation period is only 2 1 day. The mother rats can be pregnant again on the day of delivery, and the young rats mature after 30-40 days, in which the mother rats join the breeding ranks.
In this way, mother mouse can give birth to about 5,000 children a year, but there are too many grandchildren, Ceng Zi and great-grandchildren. According to research, female mice contain a unique chemical substance that can stimulate male mice forever.
Worship to its "pomegranate skirt" is probably one of the reasons why the rat community can be endless, so the folk call the good mother of the child "rat fetus" or "rat belly", indicating that her fertility is particularly strong.
Rats have high survival rate and long life. Most of them can enjoy their old age, die of old age, and have a large number of children, which is beyond the reach of other animals unless they are attacked by natural enemy cats or put out on a large scale by human beings.
The third symbolic meaning of the mouse is exquisiteness and compactness. Mice are naturally small and exquisite, like jumping up and down, and cannot be associated with the word "big". China's first book of poetry, The Book of Songs, contains an article called Shuo.
Mouse compared corrupt officials to giant mice, not really such big mice; The ancient book "Biography of Korean Poetry" contains "rats", which is also a metaphor for raising rats:
Qi Jinggong asked Stefanie, "What are you most afraid of?"
Yan Zi smiled and said seriously, "The mice are hiding in the earth temple. They just come out to steal food. People want to seize it, but they are afraid of destroying the artifacts in the land temple and offending the land god, so they have to take it. Now there are such community rats around the king. May the king no longer shelter them. "
This is Yan Zi's advice to Qi Jinggong on governing the country. As far as the metaphorical meaning of mouse is concerned. It's always insignificant and doesn't need to hang teeth together, just like a mouse stealing a dog and a thief pointing to an ordinary "little thief", described in the old Tang book "The Legend of Filial Piety".
Describing the social chaos at the end of the Sui Dynasty, he said: "Since the Sui Dynasty, Yuxian County has been divided up, with thieves and robbers as the small ones and tigers as the big ones." Since the end of Sui Dynasty, there has been chaos in the world and heroes have stood side by side. Thieves and bandits have fallen to the second place, and the land points are called the king's harm.
The heaviest. )
Another example is mouse skill, which refers to the skill of carving insects. Xunzi's "Persuasion" said: "Flying snakes have no feet, flying mice are poor in five skills." Literally, although flying snakes have no feet, they can run as fast as flying. Although flying squirrels have many skills, they are difficult to display. The implication is that it is enough for you to master one skill. If you are greedy but not refined, you should learn some introductory kung fu, even if you know more, it will be of little use.
Others, such as "rat" and "rat", have the same meaning and imply contempt and contempt. During the Three Kingdoms period, Wang Yun hated Hu Wencai and Yang Xiu in Liangzhou, and deliberately said in public: "What do the Kanto rats want?" (What do these two Kanto villains want to do? ) to express their dissatisfaction.
In addition, because the teeth of rats grow fiercely, they need to grind their teeth constantly to keep their length. People often use "rat's teeth arguing" as a metaphor for people who like to gossip.
The Cultural Symbolism of Cattle
Niuhua, Niuhua, Niuhua
In China's Chinese characters, as long as they are compatible with cows, there is either a little cow or a cow spirit, otherwise they are real cows.
The words yak, yak, calf, rhinoceros and yak refer to different kinds of cattle.
"Grazing" refers to the place where cattle are kept. "Plow" refers to the artifacts of Niu Gengdi. "Sacrifice" in ancient times refers to a sacrifice made of cattle. As stubborn as an ox, it is called "stubborn". The horn is called "Wei" This stubborn cow is naturally called "here". In addition, such as "eye", "thing", "special" and "essence" are also related to cattle.
Cow is the largest animal in the zodiac, which is in direct contrast with mouse, so people use "mouse" to mean small or small, and "cow" to mean big or big. For example, being overqualified means "trying a cow knife" or "how to kill a chicken with a cow knife" or "cooking a chicken with a cow". "Cow's eye, cow's mouth, cow's anus and cow's foot" describe some parts of the human body that are rough and indecent.
The voice of swearing is rude and ugly, which sounds like "the roar of cattle and horses" or "the voice of cattle and horses"
It is said that it is better to be a leader in a small place than a subordinate in a big place.
Cattle are big and naturally hairy, so the metaphors of "cow hair" are numerous and detailed. The book "Bao Puzi" says: "Learning is like many horns, and those who get it are like horns", emphasizing that learning is not easy. Du Fu's poem "Shang Yang is in Qin, and there are a lot of laws" is a concrete description of complex ancient laws.
The ancients painted with bamboo and cows, and pulled books on cars with cows, so there is a story of "full of sweat and cows" Liu: "It's a book, but it's all over the building and I'm sweating." Later generations called books "full of sweat", which shows that cows have long been contaminated with books.
Cows have four sacs. After eating, they can ruminate and eat a lot. People laugh at people who eat a lot as "tripe", call people who are good at drinking "booze" and call people who have a big temper "bull temper". Call it stopping losing your temper or telling lies.
Pull the cow's nose. Calling people "cow gods" doesn't care about things. It's "bull-like" for a swearing family to be rude and unclean, and it's "slow fever" for a swearing family. Those who buy wives and beg for grass are ridiculed as "bumping into a cow's head", that is, wearing fake clothes to hide their shame.
Call a boaster "bragging" or "bragging". Today, criminals who try to be unfair, talk nonsense and take advantage of opportunities are called "scalpers". Everything that disagrees is "irrelevant" or "the bull's head is not right for the horse's mouth". It is irrelevant to say that "the mosquito bites the horn", but it makes no sense at all. It's good to bypass the side door for personal gain. "Mud cattle into the sea" means never to return.
Cows are famous for their loyalty. People often refer to ignorant people and fools as "stupid cows" or "feeding cows". In ancient times, people who laughed at illiteracy were called "green cows" (blind cows). The word "unknown" means "casting pearls before swine". Call it an honorary cause
Man-made "called ox and horse" as Zhuangzi said, "Call me ox, call me horse." Describe virtuous and dull, regardless of "killing cattle and horses." Ugly or ugly children are called "ghosts and monsters"
Then the teacher was humiliated. Repaying kindness is "being a cow and a horse", that is to say, being a cow and a horse is the meaning of farming to people.
In Hanshu, there is a saying that "it is evil to cry because you only read the clothes of a cow", so later generations describe the poor situation of being a poor wife as "crying because of the clothes of a cow"
Meng Ziyun's "Beautiful Wood in Niu Shan" originally refers to the beauty of local trees in Niu Shan, Linzi County, Shandong Province, and later generations use it as a metaphor for baldness. Han Yu Yun said, "An ox is only the skin of a drum." Later generations described the smallest things as useful, so-called "ox".
In addition, "returning to the horse to herd cattle" is a metaphor for the end of the war and the soldiers returning to the fields to rest forever. "Mao Jiu" is a small part of the vast majority. "Nine cows and one tiger" describes great power. The metaphor of "Native Cow Forest Trojan Horse" is tangible but not real. "Riding an ox to find an ox" is a metaphor for forgetting one's roots and asking for trouble. Wu Niu Chuan Yue describes excessive fear. The "old ox cart" mocked human incompetence.
In the folk proverb, "one black man, one plowman, one livid horse, and one worker is two" means that one person is strong and strong, and one person does two things. "It is better to be angry than to have money to buy cattle and horses", which means that people should choose generous talents instead of paying attention to trivial matters without grasping the key points. This is unrealistic. "Cows eat straw, ducks eat fish and shrimp", which means everyone is very lucky.
The cultural symbol of the tiger
Interesting proverb
Proverbs, some people say it is a "flower of wisdom". Proverbs with the content of the zodiac are abundant and widely spread, which are rich in breath and interest language expressions created and loved by the masses. such as
"A dragon gives birth to a dragon, a phoenix gives birth to a phoenix, and mice can make holes when they are born", "Cows can't press their heads without drinking water", "Rabbits don't eat grass beside their nests" and so on. There are many proverbs related to tigers, some of which reflect the tiger's personality.
Brave, powerful and violent, people are daunting and afraid to approach, just like in front of the "emperor" or authority.
For example, those officials in feudal society, whether they are civilian military commanders living beside the emperor or subordinates of powerful people, must be cautious in everything, obey the will of superiors and emperors, and treat the emperor, monarch and powerful people as dignitaries.
Look at your eyes, cater to their likes and dislikes, or you will be offended by an carelessness, an idea and a word. The light ones will be put in prison, and the heavy ones will be shackled, even beheaded, and slaughtered by Jiuzu.
Proverbs reflecting the above mentality are popular in officialdom or folk: "A companion is like a tiger" and "It is difficult to be an official in Humen". In people's minds, the tiger is a symbol of majesty and strength, and its behavior is awe-inspiring and inviolable.
The king's demeanor cannot be offended or provoked, so there is a saying in folk proverbs: "You can't touch the tiger's ass" and "Who dares to touch the tiger's beard?" "Tigers don't eat people, but they look like they want to kill people." .
Some proverbs show the tiger's habits and its special relationship with human beings, the environment and other animals. The former is like "tigers sometimes take a nap" and "tigers hide in holes without showing prestige"; The latter is like "the front door refuses the tiger, the back door enters the wolf", "the sheep hit the tiger", "the tiger enters the city, everyone closes the door" and "a good tiger can't hold the wolf" ...
Some proverbs, the vast majority of which have superficial metaphor or symbolic meaning, also have deep meaning of their essence, showing or having some philosophy of life, or reminding people of the essential characteristics of things, or reminding people of their lives.
The summary of experience, or behind these proverbs, hides the first meaning and interest of life. This proverb is actually a metaphor, perhaps a symbol, a beautiful flower of thought, which is something people do for a certain purpose.
Imaginary or fictional.
Such as "flying on the tiger's head", "scratching on the tiger's head", "Two tigers are bound to get hurt when they fight", "Sheep are still afraid when they see the tiger", "Sheep and tigers will lose one day when they make friends", "Pigs pay a New Year call to the tiger and never come back", "tyranny is fiercer than tigers" and "Never enter the tiger's den". "There is no tiger in the mountain, and the monkey is king." ...
These proverbs are all moral, have the characteristics of saying one thing and doing another, and some can even be the generalization and condensation of fables, which are extremely exquisite language arts. As the proverb mentioned above says.
"Sheep wear tiger skin, but they are still afraid when they see tigers", which is similar to the fable of "Sheep wear tiger skin" described by Yang Xiong in Fa Wu Yan Zi in the Han Dynasty, whether it is novel in conception, profound in theme or expressive technique.
It is a far-reaching old saying, and it can also be a motto or famous saying or epigram that inspires people to work hard to realize their ideals.
On the surface, it means not late autumn, which means that you can't get the little tiger you want without entering the cave where tigers live. However, the main idea of this proverb from metaphor is very profound. It tells people
Dear friends, if you want to realize your ideal or achieve a certain goal, you can't succeed and win without taking risks and working hard, and you can't get what you want and achieve the expected goal.
This proverb is very popular among the people or the upper class, and its classic comes from the original text of Biography of Ban Chao, "Don't venture into the tiger's den, don't venture into the tiger's den". The allusion is: Ban Chao led the Han army to attack the border.
Often invaded the Huns, and over time, the soldiers were somewhat war-weary. On one occasion, Ban Chao was drinking with 36 soldiers. They were all flushed, cheerful and enthusiastic. So Ban Chao took wine and noodles.
Tired of fighting, he angrily encouraged the soldiers to say, "If you don't explore the tiger's den, you will get nothing.". Now our only way is to attack the Xiongnu barracks with fire in the dark night. So not only the Huns don't know about our army.
How many troops are there? If we take them by surprise, the Xiongnu army will be frightened and caught off guard, and will be wiped out by my mighty army! "
This allusion developed and evolved, went deep into the people, and became a folk mantra. This is known to all women and children. This is almost a maxim or a warning proverb, and "Nothing ventured, nothing gained" (Reflection on Monroe
Biography); However, the most commonly used in later generations is "nothing ventured, nothing gained"; Some say from the front, but also write "nothing ventured, nothing gained"; Finally, it is condensed into the idiom "How to get a child in a tiger's den"
It can be seen that any proverb related to tigers, from the perspective of its emergence or evolution, embodies the wisdom and hard work of the people. It is a gram of radium extracted from the language mine, and it is also the refinement or essence of language.
The tiger is the king of the mountains and the king of all animals. People love tigers, but they are afraid of them. Therefore, people will also regard them as fierce and cruel animals. There are many legends about tiger hunting among the people, and there have been many brave men who hunt, kill and shoot tigers, from Li Guanghu, who shot tigers into stones in the Han Dynasty, to Li Kui jy, a black whirlwind who killed tigers and saved mothers, and Song Wu, a tiger hunter in Jingyanggang, and so on.
Today, these stories are contrary to the reality of protecting human ecological environment, saving and protecting endangered tigers, and even illegal. However, from the historical background and social psychology of these stories, it reflects the psychology of human beings to protect themselves from tigers, which is also reflected in folklore or folk proverbs.
Therefore, although the tiger is fierce, there are also heroes who are not afraid of the tiger's fierceness and dare to fight it. They link the tiger with some powerful evil potential and fight, fight and destroy it with a brave and fearless spirit. The tiger here is not a tiger in essence, but a symbol of powerful evil forces. There are also many proverbs that contain people's above-mentioned psychology or thoughts and wishes.
Such as: "If you dare to dismount the emperor, the tiger will break its teeth", "The dragon swims in the shallow water and the tiger falls in Pingyang and is bullied by the dog", "Hanging a broom on the tiger's tail is completely discredited", "The wolf is afraid of whips, the tiger is afraid of circles, and the dog is afraid of lowering its head and picking up big bricks",
"the tiger is trapped and cornered" ... this shows that the tiger can be conquered, and it is not enough to be afraid. It also shows that a fierce and cruel tiger as a symbol of some kind of power or authority will die.
Wei, the fate of dying. The moral or gist of these proverbs is enough for people with small beards to learn.
Say another two-part allegorical saying about tigers. Two-part allegorical saying is also a kind of common saying, which is created, liked and used by the masses, and has the characteristics of humor, popular image and special structure. Two-part allegorical saying generally consists of two parts.
Take action on success: the first part is a metaphor; The latter part is the original intention, which is an explanation or extension of the former part. When you use it, you usually only say the first half, hide the second half, deliberately stop to let the listener think deeply, and so on.
Call it "after the break" or code word. There are two kinds of two-part allegorical sayings, one is homophonic and the other is metaphor.
Tiger-related allegorical sayings are also very rich and wonderful in the languages of all ethnic groups. If the tiger-related allegorical sayings are classified according to the nature of their contents, they can be divided into the following categories:
Show the tiger's character, such as courage, strength, fortitude, boldness and vitality. ;
Tiger enters the village: no one dares to speak.
The tiger tripped: his back was hard.
Tiger with a halter: No one dares to ride.
The beard on the tiger's mouth: Who dares to touch it?
The tiger went down the mountain: it was fierce.
Tiger going up the mountain: Who dares to stop it?
It has special symbolic, metaphorical and extended meanings:
Tiger butt plucking: broken back
The tiger's tail hangs firecrackers: it's fried.
The tiger is lying in the shade: lie down and play dead.
The tiger chased the cat up the tree: thanks to leaving a hand.
Tiger friend: unscrupulous beast (Xibo nationality)
Tiger jumps over the mountain stream: the mystery is revealed.
The Cultural Symbol of Rabbit
"Rabbit" is a beautiful word in China. It is not only one of the twelve zodiac signs of human beings, but also closely related to human life and people's good hopes.
"Rabbit" is an hieroglyphic for animal rabbits. Xu Shen's Shuo Wen Jie Zi in the Han Dynasty explained: "Rabbit is an animal name, and its tail shape is far away." Its Oracle Bone Inscriptions and seal script depict the image of a rabbit with long ears and short tail.
There are not many Chinese characters derived from the word "rabbit", but they are all very distinctive.
For example, "Yi" is a cognitive word. A fast rabbit is called "escape". Books such as Shuo Wen Jie Zi all think that the word "escape" means that rabbits are "good at escaping".
Thus, the rabbit deserves to be the champion of long-distance running. So there are words such as escape, escape, escape, escape, seclusion, comfort, anecdote and transcendence. Three rabbits are stacked together to form a Chinese character, indicating the appearance of running fast.