This poem of the zodiac is obviously written in the order of animals assigned by the twelve branches, which shows that people at that time were already very familiar with the zodiac. This poem embeds the names of the animals of the 12 Zodiac in sequence at the first letter, which highlights the natural characteristics of each animal and plays the role of finishing touch. It can be described as unique and entertaining.
Brief introduction of the zodiac
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.
The zodiac is also a visual 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).
The origin of the zodiac is related to animal worship. According to the Qin bamboo slips unearthed in Yunmeng Shuihudi, Hubei Province and Fangmatan, Tianshui, Gansu Province, there was a relatively complete zodiac system in the pre-Qin period. The earliest handed down document that recorded the same Chinese zodiac as the modern one was Lun Heng written by Wang Chong in the Eastern Han Dynasty.
With the development of history, it has gradually merged into the concept of folk belief, which is reflected in marriage, life, annual luck and so on. Each zodiac has rich legends, forming a conceptual interpretation system and becoming an image philosophy in folk culture, such as the zodiac in marriage, the blessing in temple fairs, the animal year and so on. In modern times, more people regard the zodiac as the mascot of the Spring Festival and become a symbol of entertainment and cultural activities.