The use of 12 zodiac animals to record the year began in our country at least during the Southern and Northern Dynasties. (1) The twelve zodiac animals in our country are opposite each other and the six reincarnations reflect all the expectations and requirements of our ancestors for us Chinese. Group 1: Rat and Ox. The rat represents wisdom and the ox represents diligence. The two must be closely integrated. If you only have wisdom without hard work, it will become a little cleverness. If you only have hard work without using your brain, it will become stupidity. Therefore, the two must be combined. This is the first set of expectations and requirements of our ancestors for the Chinese people, and it is also the most important set. Group 2: Tiger and Rabbit. The tiger represents bravery and the rabbit represents caution. The two must be closely integrated to achieve the so-called boldness and carefulness. If courage leaves caution, it becomes reckless, and blind caution turns into cowardice. This group is also very important, so it is placed second. The third group is dragons and snakes. The dragon represents strength and the snake represents flexibility. It is said that those who are strong are easy to break, those who are too strong are easy to break; those who are too soft are easy to be weak, and those who are too soft are easy to lose their opinions. Therefore, the combination of hardness and softness is the motto of our ancestors throughout the ages. The fourth group is horses and sheep. The horse represents perseverance and forging ahead towards the goal, while the sheep represents unity and harmony. The Chinese nation is a big family, and we need a united and harmonious internal environment. Only with collective harmony can we be free to pursue our own ideals. If a person only cares about his own interests and does not pay attention to unity and harmony, he will inevitably end up alone. Therefore, personal progress and collective harmony must be closely integrated. The fifth group is monkey and chicken. The monkey represents flexibility, and the rooster crows regularly, representing stability. Flexibility and constancy must be closely combined. If you are only flexible but without stability, no matter how good your policy is, you will not gain anything in the end. But if you were just constant, a pool of stagnant water or a piece of iron, then we would not have the reform and opening up we have today. Only the very harmonious combination between them can provide stability on the one hand and maintain the overall harmony and order, and on the other hand can continuously move forward in a flexible manner. Finally there are dogs and pigs. Dogs represent loyalty, and pigs represent easy-going. If a person is too loyal and does not know how to be easy-going, he will exclude others. On the other hand, if a person is too easy-going and lacks loyalty, he will lose his principles. Therefore, whether it is loyalty to a nation, loyalty to a team, or loyalty to one's own ideals, it must be closely combined with easy-going, so that it is easy to truly maintain the loyalty deep in the heart. This is what we Chinese people have always insisted on: a circle on the outside and a square on the inside. Gentlemen are harmonious but different. Everyone in China has his or her own zodiac sign. Some people are pigs and some people are dogs. What is the significance of this? In fact, our ancestors expected us to be harmonious and not biased, and required us to know how to approach the corresponding side. Characteristics and Disadvantages of the Zodiac Sign Rat: Attractiveness, sociability, influence, intelligence, frugality, charm, nervousness, desire for power, verbosity, cunning, greed, interference. Ox: Integrity, innovation, purposefulness, diligence, stability, good words, stubbornness, indifference, prejudice, slowness, revenge. Tiger: Enthusiasm, good luck, courage, charity, charm, authority, impulsiveness, bragging, irritable, indulgent, disobedient, wandering. Rabbit: Wit, prudence, skill, longevity, virtue, secret, amateur, too reserved, melancholy, self-dazzling, complicated, kind, hopeful, gentle, loving, beautiful, cute. Dragon: Strength, enthusiasm, success, courage, health, passion, stiffness, confusion, distrust, boastfulness, dissatisfaction and talkativeness.
Snake: intuition, wisdom, attraction, alertness, caution, sympathy, concealment, greed, luxury, arrogance, laziness, self-admiration. Horse: Persuasiveness, fashion, autonomy, agility, popularity, achievement, selfishness, impatience, arrogance, impatience, resistance, arrogance. Sheep: Invention, whimsy, sensitivity, politeness, perseverance, taste, attachment, pessimism, lack of vision, impracticality, slowness, worry. Monkey: Improvisation, leadership, wit, intelligence, stability, loyalty, cunning, confidence, scheming, stupidity, talkative, speculation. Rooster: Flexible, conservative, enthusiastic, beautiful, frank, humorous, arrogant, self-showing, boastful, blind worship, debauchery.
Dog: Persistence, responsibility, heroic spirit, intelligence, respectability, moral sense, restlessness, ridicule, criticism, unsociable, self-righteous, smooth. Pig: Prudent, cheerful, brave, cultured, sincere, honest, gullible, materialistic, angry, hesitant, foolish.
Edit this section of zodiac matching
Rat: It is auspicious to meet dragon, monkey, and ox. It cannot be matched with sheep, horse, rabbit, and chicken. Other zodiac animals are less auspicious. Ox: Good luck when meeting rats, snakes, and chickens. It is not compatible with dragon, horse, sheep, dog, and rabbit. Other zodiac animals are less lucky. Tiger: Good luck with horses and dogs, but not with snakes and monkeys. Other zodiac animals are less lucky. Rabbit: Good luck when meeting sheep, dogs, and pigs. It cannot be matched with rats, cows, dragons, chickens, and horses. Other zodiac animals are less lucky. Dragon: It is auspicious to meet rat, monkey, and chicken. It cannot be matched with dog, ox, dragon, and rabbit. Other zodiac animals are less auspicious. Snake: good luck when meeting ox, rooster, and horse. It cannot be matched with tiger, monkey, or pig. Other zodiac animals are less auspicious. Horse: It is very auspicious when meeting snakes, sheep, and dogs. It cannot be matched with rats, cows, rabbits, and horses. Other zodiac animals are less auspicious. Sheep: Good luck with rabbits, horses, and pigs, but not with rats, cows, and dogs, and other zodiac signs are less auspicious. Monkey: It is very auspicious when meeting rat or dragon. It cannot be matched with tiger, snake or pig. Other zodiac animals are less auspicious.
Rooster: Good luck when meeting Ox, Dragon, and Snake. It is not compatible with Rabbit, Rooster, and Dog. Other zodiac animals are less auspicious. Dog: It is auspicious to meet tiger, rabbit, and horse. It cannot be matched with ox, dragon, sheep, and chicken. Other zodiac animals are less auspicious. Pig: Good luck with Sheep and Rabbit, but not with Snake, Pig, Monkey. Other zodiac animals are less lucky.
The zodiac was originally a set of symbols used to mark the year. It was part of the ancient astronomical calendar and later became the zodiac calendar that is generally recognized by people. Ancient Chinese philosophical concepts are "the unity of man and nature" and "the five elements of Yin and Yang are the foundation of the universe". They believe that the five elements of Yin and Yang determine the survival and development of all things in the world. They believe that the sun and moon are the source of Yin and Yang, and that metal, wood, water and fire are the source of Yin and Yang. , the five elements of earth are the foundation of all things, and they are combined into the seven days. The sun, moon, and stars are called the sun. The five stars of the sun, moon, metal, wood, water, fire, and earth are collectively called the seven days. In the old days, they were used to refer to the seven days of a week respectively. The day of the sun is Sunday, the Sunday of each month is Monday, and so on. Dominate everything, and the twelve zodiac signs are placed in the sky to record the twelve celestial bodies and to be unified by the seven rays. Therefore, the twelve zodiac signs are infiltrated by the concepts of yin and yang and the five elements and become part of folk religious beliefs. Since the concept of zodiac appeared in the folk, it has been popular among the people with the popularity of fortune telling. Folk superstition believes that each element in the five elements is mutually restricted and will have a significant impact on a person's life. People can use different elements of the Five Elements to coordinate and make their lives and work go smoothly. Folks classify the zodiac animals as yin and yang, corresponding to the five elements, thus generating a set of fortune-telling techniques that determine destiny based on the zodiac. At the same time, people also believe that there is a certain relationship between the zodiac signs and people's personalities. Even people with the same zodiac sign will have different personalities and fates due to different times of birth. A very important part of the zodiac belief is the Chinese concept of the year of birth. The birth year of the Han people is derived from the cycle of the twelve zodiac signs, and it is closely connected with the twelve zodiac signs. In which year of the lunar calendar a person was born, then each zodiac year in the future will be the person's birth year. Due to the cycle of the twelve zodiac animals, people will meet their own birth year every 12 years, and so on. It is derived from the folk belief that the year of birth is an unlucky year, and it is necessary to seek good luck and avoid bad luck, and to eliminate disasters and avoid disasters. Every time when the year of birth comes in the Han Dynasty in the north, both adults and children buy a red belt and wear it, which is called "red tie". Children also wear red vests and red pants, believing that this can help them avoid disasters and avoid disasters. This custom is still popular in various places today. During the Spring Festival, red and yellow silk ribbons with "auspicious belts" and "auspicious knots" are sold everywhere in the market. People in the year of their birth will tie them around their waists and wrists, so that they can Resolve disasters and turn evil into good fortune. Many ethnic groups in our country attach great importance to the 60th birthday of the elderly, which is called "the sixtieth birthday". The sixtieth birthday is the fifth zodiac year in life, and it is also a cycle of zodiac signs. It must be celebrated well to express people's wishes for longevity, health and good fortune. . Taoism is a native religion native to my country. It was founded in the Eastern Han Dynasty and has a history of more than 1,800 years. Taoism takes Yin-Yang and Five Elements as its core teachings. Under the influence of the concept of Yin-Yang and Five Elements, Taoism has a natural close relationship with the heavenly stems, earthly branches, twelve zodiac animals, etc. The famous Taoist temple Baiyun Temple in Beijing includes the Yuanchen Hall, also known as the "Sixty Jiazi Hall", which is a hall where believers pray to the god of Yuanchen. The year of my birth is called the Yuan Chen of my birth year. In the old days, it was customary to worship the star god of the Yuan Chen of my birth year and pray for good luck, which was called "Shunxing". According to Taoist teachings, one must devote oneself to one's life and get rid of distracting thoughts and selfishness in order to live a long and eternal life. Worshiping the natal star has become a custom that has been passed down to this day. Every year on the seventh and eighth day of the first lunar month, Beijingers go to the Yuanchen Hall of Baiyun Temple to "sacrifice the stars", burn incense and worship to their respective natal stars, and pray for a safe year, that is, "follow the stars" ”, which means that even if you encounter an unfavorable year, you can turn it into success by receiving the protection of your natal god through prayer. The above sixty natal gods enshrined in the temple are all heavily colored clay sculptures, and they are all seated figures, incorporating the animal images of their respective zodiac signs. Some of the names of the sixty statues are real historical figures, and their images bear obvious zodiac signs, such as: Jiazi, Taisui, Jinsui, Jinsui, General, Rat, and Peach. From Taoism’s content about natal gods and sixty-year-olds, we can see the mutual integration relationship between zodiac belief and Taoism. Taoism believes in Laozi’s “Tao” and believes that “Tao” is omnipresent and is the beginning of everything. Everything in the world is made up of It transforms and governs life, and life is no exception. The concept of sixty years when the zodiac signs match the heavenly stems and earthly branches is a manifestation of the fusion of the zodiac signs and Taoist beliefs. People worship the god of Yuanchen in order to pray for the gods’ blessing and peace. As one wishes. From here we can see that the zodiac sign has become a factor that dominates people's lives and has become a part of life beliefs. "Zodiac" is the 12 animals used to represent people's birth instead of the twelve earthly branches, namely rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, chicken, dog, and pig. For example, people born in the Year of Yin are in the Year of the Tiger, and people born in the Year of the Mao are in the Year of the Rabbit. "Zodiac" is also known as "zodiac sign" as the saying goes. It is a unique way for Chinese people to express the time of birth, which is equivalent to the twelve constellations of the Western zodiac (Pisces, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius).
Edit this paragraph for other twelve zodiac signs
In China, a multi-ethnic country, the zodiac is not exclusive to the Han people. Many ethnic minorities use the twelve zodiac signs to record their years. First, let’s take a look at the comparison table of the twelve zodiac signs of various ethnic groups.
Twelve zodiac animals of various ethnic groups
Twelve animals of the Yi ethnic group in western Guangxi: dragon, phoenix, horse, ant, human, chicken, dog, pig, sparrow, ox, tiger and snake. The twelve animals of the Ailao Mountain Yi Nationality: tiger, rabbit, pangolin, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, chicken, dog, pig, rat, and cow. The twelve animals of the Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou Yi people: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, chicken, dog, and pig. The twelve animals of the Li ethnic group in Hainan: chicken, dog, pig, rat, cow, insect, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, and monkey. The twelve animals of the Dai people of Yunnan: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, big snake, serpent, horse, goat, monkey, chicken, dog, and elephant. The twelve animals of the Zhuang ethnic group in Guangxi: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, chicken, dog, and pig. Mongolian twelve animals: tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, chicken, dog, pig, rat, and cow. Xinjiang Uygur’s twelve animals: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, fish, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, chicken, dog, and pig. The twelve animals of the Kirgiz tribe: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, fish, snake, horse, sheep, fox, chicken, dog, and pig. It can be seen from the above table that the zodiac signs of many ethnic minorities in my country, such as the Mongolian, Zhuang, and some Yi people, are influenced by the Han people and are basically the same as the Han people. However, some ethnic groups have developed some variations while accepting the Han zodiac culture. The Yi people in Ailao Mountain use the pangolin to occupy the position of the dragon in the zodiac series; the Kirgiz people in Xinjiang use fish instead of the dragon in the zodiac series. A fox is used instead of a monkey; compatriots of the Li ethnic group in Hainan use twelve zodiac animals to mark the day, with the chicken starting at the beginning and the monkey at the end; the Dai people living in Xishuangbanna use oxen instead of cattle and goats instead of sheep. Hai's zodiac sign is not pig but elephant. . It can be roughly seen from the above changes that when various ethnic groups choose the zodiac animals, due to different living environments and different species, they choose the closest animals as the zodiac animals, which brings certain differences to the zodiac culture. In addition to variations in the selection of zodiac animals, ethnic minorities have also developed their own different methods of counting years and dates, and have also produced many folk customs related to the zodiac.
The Twelve Zodiac Signs of the Liangshan Yi People
The Yi people’s universal twelve-animal calendar, also called the twelve zodiac signs calendar, is related to the Yi people’s ancient epic "Leoteyi" and the Yi people. The legend about the origin of the twelve zodiac signs (animal calendar). See Wang Changfu's "Etiquette and Customs of the Yi Nationality in Liangshan". The year, month and day of the Yi people living in Liangshan area of ??Sichuan are marked by rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. Each animal name has one year, and one cycle lasts twelve years. There is a convenient formula for calculating years and ages: "One round is thirteen, two rounds are twenty-five, three rounds are thirty-seven, four rounds are four Nineteen, five rounds of sixty-one, six rounds of seventy-three..." and so on. The Yi people in Liangshan also use twelve zodiac signs to mark the year, including rat month, ox month, tiger month, rabbit month, dragon month, snake month, horse month, sheep month, monkey month, rooster month, dog month and pig month. Twelve months. The big month of each month has thirty days, and the small month has twenty-nine days. The big month and the small month are determined according to whether the moon of the previous month is fifteen or sixteen. The fifteen-round moon is a small moon and twenty-nine days, and the sixteen-round moon is a big moon. Thirty days. However, the first month used in different places is different. Some places use the Horse month as the first month, some places use the Sheep month as the first month, and some places use the Monkey month as the first month. The method of recording dates also uses twelve beasts. Twelve days form a cycle, which is not limited by years and months (including leap months). It can be postponed indefinitely and never ends. The calendar of the twelve zodiac signs of the Yi people is also used in folk witchcraft for fortune-telling. The Yi people in Liangshan believe that people are closely related to the five elements of wood, fire, earth, iron and water, and people can only live in harmony with them. , is the destiny of talent. Human beings' destinies are among the ten destinies formed by the combination of five elements and "male" and "female", namely "wood male", "wood female", "fire male", "fire female" and "earth male". The harmony of "Tou Mu", "Tiegong", "Iron Mu", "Shui Gong" and "Jellyfish" is called "Te Bu Te Mo". "Te" means harmony, "Bu" means Yang, and "Te Bu Te Mo" means harmony. "Mo" is yin, and it is believed that the above ten kinds of fate are harmonious combinations of yin and yang. In addition, the ten kinds of destiny are matched with the twelve zodiac signs to form a "chronological periodic table", which is used to calculate people's destiny with a sixty-year periodic table. The twelve zodiac animals of the Yi people are also used in marriage. The Yi people attach great importance to nationality, class and other conditions when choosing a mate and getting engaged. In addition, it is also important whether the birth dates of the man and woman are consistent. The folk saying goes: "Rabbit, pig and sheep go together, and cattle follow each other." Snakes and chickens accompany each other, dogs, horses, and tigers are compatible, and monkeys, dragons, and rats are compatible." Those who are consistent with the above formula are not very strict. The most taboo is for those born in the year of tiger to be matched with those born in the year of chicken or sheep. It is taboo that "the tiger comes to eat the chicken and the sheep." .
According to Mr. Zhang Gongjin’s point of view, around the time of the Han Dynasty, the Han people’s method of keeping track of the stems and branches was gradually introduced into the Dai area, and this method of keeping track of the stems and branches has been in use to this day (see Zhang Gongjin’s "Dai Culture", Jilin Education Publishing House Published by the Press in 1986) is still an important part of the Dai calendar. The method is the same as that of the lunar calendar, which is to match the ten heavenly stems and the twelve earthly branches to form sixty years. These sixty numbers are used to record the years and days, and at the same time, the twelve earthly branches are used to record the months. Probably not long after the stems and branches were introduced into the Dai area, the twelve zodiac signs of the Han people were also introduced. The twelve zodiac animals of the Dai people are slightly different in different places. In Dehong area, they are exactly the same as those of the Han people. In Xishuangbanna, "pig" was changed to "elephant" , the dragon is a "big snake" or a "dragon", which is slightly different. The twelve zodiac animals used by the Dai people are rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, serpent, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and elephant.
In Xishuangbanna and other places, the twelve zodiac signs match the earthly branches and are used not only to mark the year, but also to mark the month and day. For example, in the Zi Nian Rat Bone Dai calendar, the "bone" is the year, the "blood" is the month, and the "skin" is the day. , Ox bone in the Chou year, tiger bone in the Yin year; rabbit blood in April, snake blood in June, horse blood in July; monkey skin in Shenri, chicken skin in Youri, etc... It can be seen that after the twelve zodiac signs in the Han lunar calendar were absorbed into the Dai calendar, their use range is wider than that of the lunar calendar.
The Tibetan Zodiac
Traditionally, the Tibetan zodiac system was introduced by Princess Wencheng of the Tang Dynasty when she married Songtsen Gampo in the seventh century AD. According to the Tibetan zodiac, sixty years is a period of one year, which is called "Huiteng" in Tibetan, which means wood rat. The sixty years of Tibetan people start from the year of the wood rat, which is equivalent to the year of the year of the Han people. The Tibetan zodiac calendar has the characteristics of integrating yin and yang, the five elements, and animals, so it is called "Yin Fire Rabbit Year", "Yang Earth Dragon Year", and "Yang Gold Monkey Year". The Tibetan zodiac calendar has a corresponding relationship with the yin and yang and the five elements, with the ten heavenly stems, with A and B as wood, Bing and Ding as fire, Wu and Ji as earth, Geng and Xin as gold, and Ren and Gui as water. Of the above five pairs, the former in each pair is Yang and the latter is Yin. Although the Tibetan calendar does not clearly indicate the heavenly stems and earthly branches, it implies the order of the stems and branches. In addition, in the Tibetan calendar, male and female are used instead of yin and yang. For example, the yin year of the golden ox is also called the female year of the golden ox, and the yang water tiger year is also called the male water tiger year.
Twelve Zodiac Signs of the Naxi Nationality
The Naxi nationality is an ethnic minority living in Yunnan Province and is a branch of the ancient Qiang people. The Naxi people also use the zodiac to mark their dates, with a unique method and directions. They divided the twelve months of the year into big and small months, with 30 days in each month. The first day of a single month is the monkey day. According to monkey, rooster, dog, pig, rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, In the order of Horse and Sheep, the 29th day of a single month is the Rat day; when entering a double month, the first day of the double month is separated by the Ox day and is designated as the Tiger day.
The Vietnamese have twelve zodiac signs, which are basically the same as the Chinese zodiac signs. Just use "cat" instead of "rabbit", that is: rat, ox, tiger, cat, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, chicken, dog, pig, basically the same as in China. Indians have twelve zodiac animals, two of which are different from the Chinese ones: "lion" instead of "tiger" and "canary" instead of "chicken". The Egyptians had twelve zodiac animals: bull, goat, monkey, donkey, crab, snake, dog, cat, crocodile, flamingo, lion, and eagle. Koreans have twelve zodiac animals, namely: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig, which are consistent with China. The Greeks have twelve zodiac animals, which are basically the same as the Egyptians, except that the Greeks have "rat" but not "cat", while the Egyptians have "cat" but not "rat". Mexicans have twelve zodiac animals, including tiger, rabbit, dragon, monkey, dog, pig and other six unique Mexican animals. Europeans The zodiac signs of people from various European countries are basically the same, and most of them use astronomical stars as their zodiac signs. For example, the French use Aquarius, Pisces, Capricorn, Taurus, Aries, Cancer, Gemini, Lion, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, etc. to form the twelve zodiac signs, which are called twelve constellations.
The emergence of the twelve zodiac signs has a background in astronomy. In primitive times, our ancestors experienced the cycle of alternating cold and heat. Hong Hao of the Song Dynasty recorded in Song Mo Ji Wen: "The Jurchens are extremely small in old age, beyond the reach of Zhengshuo. Their people don't know the chronology. When asked, they will say, 'How many times have I seen green grass?', because one green grass is one year old." Meng Gong's "Mengta Beilu" of the Song Dynasty also said: "It is customary that every green grass is one year old. If someone asks how old he is, he will say how many grasses he has." Another skywatcher discovered that the moon's waxing and waning cycle can be used to measure the length of a year, and found that twelve full moons equaled one year. This discovery was one of the most accurate achievements of the early calendar, and "twelve" was regarded as conveying God's will. The "big number in the sky". The heavenly stems need to be accompanied by the earthly branches, the sun and the moon are opposite each other, and the sky and the earth are opposite, so it must be the "Twelve".
Twelve Zodiac Bronze Animal Heads
Name: Twelve Zodiac Bronze Animal Heads Manufacturing Year: Qianlong Period Category: Red Bronze Statue Value: Sotheby’s Auction - Bronze Monkey The first is HKD 8.18 million, the first is HKD 7.74 million for Bronze Bull, and the first is HKD 15.44 million for Bronze Tiger. The bronze pig head is less than HK$7 million. Christie's auction - At about 3 a.m. on the 26th, Beijing time, the rat head numbered 677 had a starting price of 9 million euros and was finally sold for 14 million euros. The starting price of the rabbit head was also 9 million euros, and it was finally sold for 14 million euros. Time of loss: In 1860, the British and French forces burned the Old Summer Palace. Last seen: After the bronze animal heads were stolen, 7 were found abroad, namely rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, horse, monkey and pig. Among them, cows, tigers, horses, monkeys and pigs appeared in several auctions. The pig head and horse head were auctioned in New York and London in 1987 and 1989 respectively. In the 1980s, the heads of cows, tigers, horses, and monkeys were bought by a Taiwanese entrepreneur at a Sotheby's auction, and were later returned to the China Poly Group. The pig heads were purchased by a museum in the United States.
Related poems
In the thousands of years of traditional Chinese culture, the zodiac is not only a vivid method of counting years and months, but has also been integrated with everyone, giving them A magical character. According to research by Zhao Ji in the Qing Dynasty, the theory of the twelve zodiac signs originated in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Since then, many zodiac poems written by literati have been circulated among the people.
The earliest zodiac poem is said to be the "Poem of the Twelve Zodiac Signs" by Shen Jiong, a poet of the Chen Dynasty in the Southern and Northern Dynasties: "Rat traces create dust cases, cattle and sheep come down at dusk. Tigers roar in the empty valley, and the rabbit moon opens to the window. The dragon is far away in the green, Snakes and willows are lingering nearby. Horses and orchids are picking in the distance. The monkeys and chestnuts are shy of fragrant fruits. The first words of each sentence in the poem point out the names of the twelve zodiac animals in order, and highlight the habits and characteristics of each animal. The Southern Song Dynasty writer Zhu Xi also wrote a "Twelve Zodiac Poems" with a rigorous structure, easy to understand, and full of wit: "In the daytime, I hear empty baskets gnawing at hungry rats, and at dawn, I drive lean oxen to plow the waste fields. When I was in the tiger circle, I listened to the boasts of the powerful, The rabbit garden in the old industry is full of wild beasts. You see the dragon sleeping for three winters, and the horns of his head are not competing with the snakes. He destroys the car and kills the horse, then he cooks the sheep and drinks the green wine. He grows kiwis and chickens in his hands. Mingjiao. Guests come and the dogs bark to urge them to make tea, but the host doesn’t need to buy pork.” Liu Yinyong's poem about the twelve zodiac signs of the Yuan Dynasty is: "A hungry eagle can't frighten a rat, just like an ox sleeping high on its back. The tigers in the country have come thousands of miles away to find the rabbit's hole in Jingzhou. When fish and dragons enter the water, they are boundless, and they hook into the mirror." It's the snake in the cup. The autumn wind of horses has gone away, and the sheep's intestines have returned home early. The monkeys dance in the high gate, and the chickens in the intestines are all happy. The twelve zodiac signs are embedded in the poem, and each sentence is a story with a brilliant meaning, which is wonderful.
Traditional Chinese medicine "Twelve Zodiac Signs"
Rat - Mouse Curcuma: It has the effect of nourishing the spleen and replenishing qi, dispelling wind and reducing phlegm. It is suitable for cough due to wind-cold, spleen deficiency and edema, and chronic bronchitis. Ox - Achyranthes bidentata: has the functions of promoting blood circulation, removing blood stasis, strengthening muscles and bones and being a diuretic. It is suitable for amenorrhea, dystocia, waist and knee pain, rheumatic pain of lower limbs, hematuria, and urethral pain. Tiger-Polygonum cuspidatum: has the effects of promoting blood circulation and qi, dispelling wind and removing dampness. Suitable for chronic appendicitis, rheumatic joint pain, eczema and other diseases. Rabbit - Cuscuta: It has the effects of nourishing the kidneys and strengthening essence, nourishing the liver and improving eyesight. It can be used for kidney deficiency, spermatorrhea, impotence, frequent urination and dizziness. Long - Gentian grass: has the effects of antipyretic, clearing fire, detoxifying, clearing dampness and heat. It is suitable for high fever, twitching and spasms of hands and feet, jaundice, cholelithiasis, wind-fire red eyes and other symptoms of acute febrile diseases. Snake - Snakeberry: It has the effect of clearing away heat and cooling blood. It can be used for blood-heat metrorrhagia, mastitis, herpes zoster, snake bites and other diseases. Horse - Purslane: It has the effect of clearing away heat, detoxifying and stopping dysentery. It is suitable for diseases such as bacillary dysentery, sores, heat poison, and erysipelas. Sheep - Sheep's Foot: It has the effect of detoxifying and killing insects. It can be used for ringworm, sweat spots, aphtha, bruises and other diseases. Monkey - Monkey ginger (Drynariae rhizome): It has the effect of strengthening muscles and activating collaterals, removing blood stasis and stopping bleeding. It can be used for joint rheumatism, tooth decay pain, childhood malnutrition, bruises and other diseases. Chicken - Chicken Spatholobus: It has the functions of nourishing blood and activating blood circulation, relaxing muscles and activating collaterals, strengthening muscles and bones. It is suitable for diseases such as blood deficiency and weakness, muscle and bone pain, irregular menstruation, and amenorrhea. Dog - Dog kidney: It has the functions of nourishing liver and kidney, strengthening muscles and bones and dispelling rheumatism. It can be used for low back pain, rheumatic pain and other symptoms. Pig - Pig ear (Houttuynia cordata): It has the effect of clearing away heat and promoting dampness. It is suitable for lung abscess, tuberculosis, dysentery, wind-heat and cold.