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When did the blockchain Zodiac start
Publish: 2021-05-06 22:53:49
1. 1. The origin of the zodiac
as an ancient folk cultural phenomenon, scholars of different dynasties have different opinions on the origin of the twelve zodiac animals. Some people think that the Chinese Zodiac has the same origin with the earthly branches, which can be traced back to the prehistoric legend era. According to the records of the historian, the Yellow Emperor "built Jiazi to live for years" and "Da Nao made Jiazi" are the reflection of this kind of saying. Scholars believe that Jiazi here refers to the twelve Chinese zodiac. Zhao Yi, a scholar in the Qing Dynasty, believes that the zodiac originated from the nomadic people in the north of China. He said in his new Yu Cong Kao: "at the beginning of Gaibei custom, there was no such thing as the twelfth hour of zichouyin. However, when the zodiac was divided into years, such as the rat, ox, tiger and rabbit, it was spread in China, so it was not abandoned." See Zhao Yi, Qing Dynasty. Some scholars even hold the view that the zodiac was imported into China from Babylon. Guo Moruo, the representative of this view, said in the study of Oracle Bone characters shigan that "the zodiac is similar to Babylon, Egypt and India, but they are not very ancient, and none of them is more than a hundred years after the Western era. This idea was first formulated by the western regions in the Han Dynasty, imitating the twelve palaces of Babylon, and then spread around. " It is believed that the zodiac was made by the residents of the Middle East to imitate the twelve signs of the zodiac in Babylon. The time when it was introced into China was when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty passed through the western regions. However, a large number of documents prove that the zodiac really originated in China, which is the crystallization of animal worship, totem worship and early astronomy of Chinese ancestors
in the existing literature, the book of songs is the earliest record of the zodiac In the book of songs · Xiaoya · auspicious day, there are eight words: "auspicious day Geng Wu, that is to say, send my horse". It means that Geng Wu and auspicious day are good times, and it is a good day for jumping horses to go hunting. This is an example of the correspondence between Geng Wu and horses. It can be seen that around the spring and Autumn period, the corresponding relationship between di and twelve kinds of animals has been established and spread. In 1975, the bamboo slips unearthed from tomb 11 in Shuihudi, Yunmeng County, Hubei province further proved that the zodiac had existed around the spring and Autumn period. There is a chapter in the unearthed bamboo slips of "Lishu" a, titled "thief", which is about divination of the thief's appearance. It records: "son, rat, thief's mouth, Xi Xu,... Ugly, cow, thief's nose, long neck,... Yin, tiger, thief's shape, Xi Xu, face black Yan. Mao, rabbit, thief, big face. Chen, the robber man, green and red... Already, the insect also, the robber long and black snake eyes. In the afternoon, the deer, the robber, with a long neck and a small neck, is incomplete No horse, no thief. Shen, Huanye, and the thief's round face... "
the twelve zodiac signs recorded in Rishu are similar to the popular saying. According to research, tomb 11 of Shuihudi was buried in the 30th year of the first emperor of Qin Dynasty (217 BC), so the birth of the zodiac can be traced back to the spring and Autumn period before Qin Dynasty. Scholars believe that this is the earliest and more systematic record of the zodiac in China so far< In Wang Chong's Lun Heng Wu Shi: "Yin, Mu ye, its bird, tiger also. Xu, the earth also, its birds, dogs also In the afternoon, the horse also. Son, mouse, you, chicken. Mao, rabbit also Hai, pig. No, sheep. Ugly, cow It's a snake. Shen, monkey. "
in the above words, there are 11 kinds of animals in the zodiac, but Chenlong is missing. The book "Yan Du Pian" says:
"Chen is a dragon, already a snake. Chen and Ji are in the southeast. "
in this way, the zodiac is complete, and it is exactly the same as the popular Zodiac. This is indeed the earliest and most complete record of the zodiac in ancient literature< By the southern and Northern Dynasties, the zodiac had been widely used, and there were specific records in the annals of the five elements of the Southern Qi Dynasty that people were called animals according to their year of birth. Shen Jiong, a poet of the Southern Dynasty Chen, once wrote a poem about twelve zodiac signs, which said: "the case of the rat tracks procing st, the cattle and sheep come down at sk
the tiger feeds in the empty valley, and the rabbit moon opens to the window
Longxi is far green and snake willow is near
when Malan is picked far away, sheep begin to plant in spring
honey chestnut, minced fruit, chicken anvil and clear cup
apart from the dog's bosom, the pig's heart is at ease. "
this poem of twelve zodiac signs is obviously written according to the order of animals matched by the twelve Earthly Branches, which shows that the twelve zodiac signs were very familiar at that time
from the above literature, it can be clear that the origin of zodiac culture is in China. According to the theory that the Chinese Zodiac was introced into China from the Middle East in the Han Dynasty, which is similar to the time when Buddhism was introced. We have proved from the above documents that there were records about the Chinese Zodiac as early as the spring and Autumn Period in China (Japanese book and Book of songs), which shows that the birth of the Chinese zodiac and the match between the Chinese zodiac and the earthly branches came into being as early as before the Han Dynasty, Therefore, it is certain that the zodiac is an ancient culture originated in China. What is the origin of the zodiac? Why did the ancients choose these 12 animals? This problem has always been the concern of scholars, made a variety of explanations
some scholars believe that the zodiac originated from animal worship in primitive times, and Mr. Zhang Binglun of University of science and technology of China holds this view. He believed that in the primitive society with low proctivity and extremely limited ability to understand nature, he had a sense of dependence on animals closely related to his own life (such as horses, sheep, cattle, chickens, dogs, etc.), a sense of fear of animals endangering his own safety (such as tigers and snakes), and a sense of reverence for some animal organ functions beyond human beings (such as the smell of dogs, etc.), It leads to the worship of animals. Twelve zodiac animals are the animal calendar used to record the year and the month under the influence of the primitive belief of animal worship
primitive people's animal worship was also reflected in primitive dances such as Nuo dance. Nuo originated around the Zhou Dynasty, and the main characters in the Nuo ceremony were Fang Xiangshi and the twelve sacred animals. The selection of twelve animals in exorcising dance is the expression of primitive people's reverence for animals. The twelve Beasts (or gods) selected in the Nuo ceremony are to take care of the twelve months of the year, in order to keep the peace of the month, expel the four epidemic ghosts, and take care of the twelve directions. Of course, twelve Branches are involved in the twelve directions, so they are linked with the twelve zodiac signs, and the twelve zodiac signs in exorcising Nuo ceremony are used to turn evil into good. From this we can see that the twelve animals and the twelve zodiac animals come down in one continuous line, and their common source is primitive animal worship< Mr. Liu Yaohan, a ethnologist, believes that the zodiac is related to the Yi People's "twelve animals" calendar and "ten month calendar". The Yi people living in Daliangshan, Sichuan Province, have a calendar based on twelve animals. Today is the rat day, tomorrow is the cow day, and so on. Three rounds are a month, 36 days in a month, 36 days in a month, and 10 months in a year. This is the later "October calendar". Mr. Liu Yaohan believes that the October calendar based on the twelve zodiac dates came into being in the age of Xia Yu (see Liu Yaohan's collection of investigation and Research on the social history of the Yi nationality) and is related to the primitive totem worship. The twelve zodiac of the Han nationality is influenced by the "October calendar", and the twelve animal calendar of the Yi nationality has developed into the twelve zodiac since then
when we talk about the origin of the zodiac, we must connect the zodiac with the heavenly stems and earthly branches. The oldest table of Gan unearthed in the Yin Ruins of Anyang in modern times shows that Gan was skillful in the Shang Dynasty. Later, with the passage of time, the functions of Gan became more and more diversified. As the label of time unit, Gan was expanded for dating; On the one hand, it is reced and used to record the time (twelve hours of a day). According to historical records and research, the zodiac appeared after the founding of the "Gan chronology". Twelve kinds of animals are one-to-one correspondence of the twelve Earthly Branches, with animals as the earthly branch symbols. People born in the same year have animals that belong to the same year. Therefore, twelve kinds of animals are used to record the year, date and calculate the zodiac of each person. It can be seen that the twelve zodiac and twelve Earthly Branches are inseparable. For a long time, some scholars have found that the information of the zodiac is implied in the ancient Chinese characters of the twelve Branches. They compared the twelve Branches with the ancient Chinese characters of the twelve zodiac, and found that the ancient Chinese characters of the twelve branches have some connections with the twelve animals. Careful observation can find that there are similarities and differences. In ShuoWenJieZi written by Xu Shen in the Eastern Han Dynasty, it is said that the character "Ji" is the pictograph of snake, as well as "Hai" and "boar". Modern people have also studied the similarities between the characters of the earth branch and the Chinese zodiac in oracle bone inscriptions and bronze inscriptions. It is speculated that whether the twelve Branches are pictographs of the animals of the twelve zodiac. Because the twelve Branches are easy to remember, the folk use twelve kinds of animals instead of ordinal symbols to match the earth branch and become a symbol system of chronology. Although the above conjecture has a certain degree of credibility, we can make a judgment after thinking about it carefully. It can't be the hieroglyphic characters of twelve animals, because it has been mentioned that the twelve animals were skillfully used in the Yin and Shang Dynasties, and the zodiac was born in the spring and Autumn period. The two are of different origins. If the earthly branches were related to the zodiac at the time of writing, wouldn't the zodiac and the earthly branches come into being at the same time
to sum up, the author believes that the zodiac came into being later than the twelve Earthly Branches, but it is closely related to the twelve Earthly Branches. The zodiac is an accessory to the twelve Earthly Branches, and the choice of twelve animals as a symbol to replace the twelve Earthly Branches stems from the animal worship psychology of the ancients< 2. The choice and arrangement of the zodiac animals
the choice of the twelve animals in the Chinese zodiac is not complicated, it is close to the daily life and social life of the Han people, which can be guessed. Among the twelve animals of the zodiac, they can be roughly divided into three categories: one is the domesticated "six animals", namely cattle, sheep, horse, pig, dog and chicken, which are domesticated by human beings for economic or other purposes, accounting for half of the twelve animals“ "Six livestock" is an important concept in Chinese agricultural culture, which has a long history. In the traditional concept of Chinese people, "six livestock prosperity" represents the prosperity and good luck of the family. During the Spring Festival, people usually say "six animals prosper", so it is inevitable that these six animals will become the Chinese zodiac. The second is the well-known wild animals, which are closely related to people's daily and social life. They are tigers, rabbits, monkeys, rats and snakes. Some of them are awed by people and involved in human life, such as tigers and snakes; There are also mice that people hate and taboo, but depend on human survival; More people like, such as rabbits, monkeys. The third is the traditional symbolic mascot of the Chinese people - the dragon. The dragon is a symbol of the Chinese nation, a "artifact" integrating the characteristics of many animals, and a "spirit" in people's imagination. Dragon represents wealth and auspiciousness. It is the most symbolic auspicious animal. Therefore, the position of dragon is indispensable in the zodiac
it can be seen from the above that the choice of zodiac animals is not random, but has a certain meaning. People choose animals from different angles and have a certain meaning
what is the order of the twelve animals? As I said before, the zodiac is born in China
as an ancient folk cultural phenomenon, scholars of different dynasties have different opinions on the origin of the twelve zodiac animals. Some people think that the Chinese Zodiac has the same origin with the earthly branches, which can be traced back to the prehistoric legend era. According to the records of the historian, the Yellow Emperor "built Jiazi to live for years" and "Da Nao made Jiazi" are the reflection of this kind of saying. Scholars believe that Jiazi here refers to the twelve Chinese zodiac. Zhao Yi, a scholar in the Qing Dynasty, believes that the zodiac originated from the nomadic people in the north of China. He said in his new Yu Cong Kao: "at the beginning of Gaibei custom, there was no such thing as the twelfth hour of zichouyin. However, when the zodiac was divided into years, such as the rat, ox, tiger and rabbit, it was spread in China, so it was not abandoned." See Zhao Yi, Qing Dynasty. Some scholars even hold the view that the zodiac was imported into China from Babylon. Guo Moruo, the representative of this view, said in the study of Oracle Bone characters shigan that "the zodiac is similar to Babylon, Egypt and India, but they are not very ancient, and none of them is more than a hundred years after the Western era. This idea was first formulated by the western regions in the Han Dynasty, imitating the twelve palaces of Babylon, and then spread around. " It is believed that the zodiac was made by the residents of the Middle East to imitate the twelve signs of the zodiac in Babylon. The time when it was introced into China was when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty passed through the western regions. However, a large number of documents prove that the zodiac really originated in China, which is the crystallization of animal worship, totem worship and early astronomy of Chinese ancestors
in the existing literature, the book of songs is the earliest record of the zodiac In the book of songs · Xiaoya · auspicious day, there are eight words: "auspicious day Geng Wu, that is to say, send my horse". It means that Geng Wu and auspicious day are good times, and it is a good day for jumping horses to go hunting. This is an example of the correspondence between Geng Wu and horses. It can be seen that around the spring and Autumn period, the corresponding relationship between di and twelve kinds of animals has been established and spread. In 1975, the bamboo slips unearthed from tomb 11 in Shuihudi, Yunmeng County, Hubei province further proved that the zodiac had existed around the spring and Autumn period. There is a chapter in the unearthed bamboo slips of "Lishu" a, titled "thief", which is about divination of the thief's appearance. It records: "son, rat, thief's mouth, Xi Xu,... Ugly, cow, thief's nose, long neck,... Yin, tiger, thief's shape, Xi Xu, face black Yan. Mao, rabbit, thief, big face. Chen, the robber man, green and red... Already, the insect also, the robber long and black snake eyes. In the afternoon, the deer, the robber, with a long neck and a small neck, is incomplete No horse, no thief. Shen, Huanye, and the thief's round face... "
the twelve zodiac signs recorded in Rishu are similar to the popular saying. According to research, tomb 11 of Shuihudi was buried in the 30th year of the first emperor of Qin Dynasty (217 BC), so the birth of the zodiac can be traced back to the spring and Autumn period before Qin Dynasty. Scholars believe that this is the earliest and more systematic record of the zodiac in China so far< In Wang Chong's Lun Heng Wu Shi: "Yin, Mu ye, its bird, tiger also. Xu, the earth also, its birds, dogs also In the afternoon, the horse also. Son, mouse, you, chicken. Mao, rabbit also Hai, pig. No, sheep. Ugly, cow It's a snake. Shen, monkey. "
in the above words, there are 11 kinds of animals in the zodiac, but Chenlong is missing. The book "Yan Du Pian" says:
"Chen is a dragon, already a snake. Chen and Ji are in the southeast. "
in this way, the zodiac is complete, and it is exactly the same as the popular Zodiac. This is indeed the earliest and most complete record of the zodiac in ancient literature< By the southern and Northern Dynasties, the zodiac had been widely used, and there were specific records in the annals of the five elements of the Southern Qi Dynasty that people were called animals according to their year of birth. Shen Jiong, a poet of the Southern Dynasty Chen, once wrote a poem about twelve zodiac signs, which said: "the case of the rat tracks procing st, the cattle and sheep come down at sk
the tiger feeds in the empty valley, and the rabbit moon opens to the window
Longxi is far green and snake willow is near
when Malan is picked far away, sheep begin to plant in spring
honey chestnut, minced fruit, chicken anvil and clear cup
apart from the dog's bosom, the pig's heart is at ease. "
this poem of twelve zodiac signs is obviously written according to the order of animals matched by the twelve Earthly Branches, which shows that the twelve zodiac signs were very familiar at that time
from the above literature, it can be clear that the origin of zodiac culture is in China. According to the theory that the Chinese Zodiac was introced into China from the Middle East in the Han Dynasty, which is similar to the time when Buddhism was introced. We have proved from the above documents that there were records about the Chinese Zodiac as early as the spring and Autumn Period in China (Japanese book and Book of songs), which shows that the birth of the Chinese zodiac and the match between the Chinese zodiac and the earthly branches came into being as early as before the Han Dynasty, Therefore, it is certain that the zodiac is an ancient culture originated in China. What is the origin of the zodiac? Why did the ancients choose these 12 animals? This problem has always been the concern of scholars, made a variety of explanations
some scholars believe that the zodiac originated from animal worship in primitive times, and Mr. Zhang Binglun of University of science and technology of China holds this view. He believed that in the primitive society with low proctivity and extremely limited ability to understand nature, he had a sense of dependence on animals closely related to his own life (such as horses, sheep, cattle, chickens, dogs, etc.), a sense of fear of animals endangering his own safety (such as tigers and snakes), and a sense of reverence for some animal organ functions beyond human beings (such as the smell of dogs, etc.), It leads to the worship of animals. Twelve zodiac animals are the animal calendar used to record the year and the month under the influence of the primitive belief of animal worship
primitive people's animal worship was also reflected in primitive dances such as Nuo dance. Nuo originated around the Zhou Dynasty, and the main characters in the Nuo ceremony were Fang Xiangshi and the twelve sacred animals. The selection of twelve animals in exorcising dance is the expression of primitive people's reverence for animals. The twelve Beasts (or gods) selected in the Nuo ceremony are to take care of the twelve months of the year, in order to keep the peace of the month, expel the four epidemic ghosts, and take care of the twelve directions. Of course, twelve Branches are involved in the twelve directions, so they are linked with the twelve zodiac signs, and the twelve zodiac signs in exorcising Nuo ceremony are used to turn evil into good. From this we can see that the twelve animals and the twelve zodiac animals come down in one continuous line, and their common source is primitive animal worship< Mr. Liu Yaohan, a ethnologist, believes that the zodiac is related to the Yi People's "twelve animals" calendar and "ten month calendar". The Yi people living in Daliangshan, Sichuan Province, have a calendar based on twelve animals. Today is the rat day, tomorrow is the cow day, and so on. Three rounds are a month, 36 days in a month, 36 days in a month, and 10 months in a year. This is the later "October calendar". Mr. Liu Yaohan believes that the October calendar based on the twelve zodiac dates came into being in the age of Xia Yu (see Liu Yaohan's collection of investigation and Research on the social history of the Yi nationality) and is related to the primitive totem worship. The twelve zodiac of the Han nationality is influenced by the "October calendar", and the twelve animal calendar of the Yi nationality has developed into the twelve zodiac since then
when we talk about the origin of the zodiac, we must connect the zodiac with the heavenly stems and earthly branches. The oldest table of Gan unearthed in the Yin Ruins of Anyang in modern times shows that Gan was skillful in the Shang Dynasty. Later, with the passage of time, the functions of Gan became more and more diversified. As the label of time unit, Gan was expanded for dating; On the one hand, it is reced and used to record the time (twelve hours of a day). According to historical records and research, the zodiac appeared after the founding of the "Gan chronology". Twelve kinds of animals are one-to-one correspondence of the twelve Earthly Branches, with animals as the earthly branch symbols. People born in the same year have animals that belong to the same year. Therefore, twelve kinds of animals are used to record the year, date and calculate the zodiac of each person. It can be seen that the twelve zodiac and twelve Earthly Branches are inseparable. For a long time, some scholars have found that the information of the zodiac is implied in the ancient Chinese characters of the twelve Branches. They compared the twelve Branches with the ancient Chinese characters of the twelve zodiac, and found that the ancient Chinese characters of the twelve branches have some connections with the twelve animals. Careful observation can find that there are similarities and differences. In ShuoWenJieZi written by Xu Shen in the Eastern Han Dynasty, it is said that the character "Ji" is the pictograph of snake, as well as "Hai" and "boar". Modern people have also studied the similarities between the characters of the earth branch and the Chinese zodiac in oracle bone inscriptions and bronze inscriptions. It is speculated that whether the twelve Branches are pictographs of the animals of the twelve zodiac. Because the twelve Branches are easy to remember, the folk use twelve kinds of animals instead of ordinal symbols to match the earth branch and become a symbol system of chronology. Although the above conjecture has a certain degree of credibility, we can make a judgment after thinking about it carefully. It can't be the hieroglyphic characters of twelve animals, because it has been mentioned that the twelve animals were skillfully used in the Yin and Shang Dynasties, and the zodiac was born in the spring and Autumn period. The two are of different origins. If the earthly branches were related to the zodiac at the time of writing, wouldn't the zodiac and the earthly branches come into being at the same time
to sum up, the author believes that the zodiac came into being later than the twelve Earthly Branches, but it is closely related to the twelve Earthly Branches. The zodiac is an accessory to the twelve Earthly Branches, and the choice of twelve animals as a symbol to replace the twelve Earthly Branches stems from the animal worship psychology of the ancients< 2. The choice and arrangement of the zodiac animals
the choice of the twelve animals in the Chinese zodiac is not complicated, it is close to the daily life and social life of the Han people, which can be guessed. Among the twelve animals of the zodiac, they can be roughly divided into three categories: one is the domesticated "six animals", namely cattle, sheep, horse, pig, dog and chicken, which are domesticated by human beings for economic or other purposes, accounting for half of the twelve animals“ "Six livestock" is an important concept in Chinese agricultural culture, which has a long history. In the traditional concept of Chinese people, "six livestock prosperity" represents the prosperity and good luck of the family. During the Spring Festival, people usually say "six animals prosper", so it is inevitable that these six animals will become the Chinese zodiac. The second is the well-known wild animals, which are closely related to people's daily and social life. They are tigers, rabbits, monkeys, rats and snakes. Some of them are awed by people and involved in human life, such as tigers and snakes; There are also mice that people hate and taboo, but depend on human survival; More people like, such as rabbits, monkeys. The third is the traditional symbolic mascot of the Chinese people - the dragon. The dragon is a symbol of the Chinese nation, a "artifact" integrating the characteristics of many animals, and a "spirit" in people's imagination. Dragon represents wealth and auspiciousness. It is the most symbolic auspicious animal. Therefore, the position of dragon is indispensable in the zodiac
it can be seen from the above that the choice of zodiac animals is not random, but has a certain meaning. People choose animals from different angles and have a certain meaning
what is the order of the twelve animals? As I said before, the zodiac is born in China
2. The twelve zodiac animals, also known as the twelve zodiac signs, are twelve kinds of animals that match the twelve Earthly Branches of China with the year of human birth, including rats, cattle, tigers, rabbits, dragons, snakes, horses, sheep, monkeys, chickens, dogs and pigs
the origin of the zodiac is related to animal worship. According to the Qin Bamboo Slips Unearthed in Shuihudi, Yunmeng, Hubei Province and Fangmatan, Tianshui, Gansu Province, there was a relatively complete Zodiac system as early as the pre Qin period. The earliest document to record the same Zodiac as today is Lun Heng by Wang Chong of the Eastern Han Dynasty. The ancient people divided the stars near the ecliptic and equator into 28 constellations, namely "28 constellations". Twenty eight sleepers also represent one kind of animal respectively. In ancient China, Zhou Tian was divided into 12 parts, which were represented by 12 branches, and the 12 branches were matched with the zodiac. Some people think that there is a corresponding relationship between the zodiac and the 28 constellations. Wang Wei, a Bachelor of Ming Dynasty, thought that 28 kinds of animals were assigned to 28 stars, and "they were unified by Qi Yao", which formed a pattern of "female earth bat, virtual sun rat, dangerous moon swallow, and Zi Ye". In his song Xia Guan Fu Yan, Li Changqing of the Qing Dynasty held that the twenty-eight mating animals "are the same as those of the first twelve genera plus one time", "Kang Jinlong, Chen guanye, Jiao mujiao are attached to Yan". The sentence pattern of "Jiao, long Lei Ye" reflects 28 kinds of astrological animals based on the zodiac. However, it is inevitable that there will be a supplementary explanation, because the records of 28 constellations mating animals are later than those of 12 zodiac animals<
the theory of the year star
Jupiter moves one week every 12 years, and the annual branch order can be determined from the position of Jupiter According to Yuhan Shanfang's collection of lost books, every twelve years, "three years old, three years old, three years old, three years old, three years old, three years old, three years old, three years old, one year old, six years old, one year old, six years old, one year old, twelve years old, one year old, one year old.". There is a cycle between the rise and fall of plants and the living environment of animals, so that the living conditions of herbivores (rats, cattle, horses, sheep) and carnivores and omnivores in different years are very different. "It is believed that" if people born in different years can imitate the animals that are suitable for growth in that year, it will be beneficial to grow up. " It is inferred that the rise and fall of animals are related to the year of Jupiter, and the twelve zodiac, the twelfth hour and the twelve Earthly Branches are unified< In primitive society, the ancestors often used some animal, plant, inanimate or a natural phenomenon as the protection god and symbol of their clan, namely totem The images in Shanhaijing, such as horse body with human face, cattle body with human face, sheep body with human face, are totem gods in ancient times. It is generally believed that the totem of Xia nationality is bear or fish, that of Shang nationality is Xuanniao, and that of Zhou nationality is dragon, bird, tortoise, dog and tiger. Throughout the zodiac, in addition to the dragon is illusory, the other ten are people's daily visible. They can be divided into two categories, namely "six animals" (horse, cattle, sheep, chicken, dog and pig) and "six animals" (rat, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake and monkey). The former is domesticated for economic purposes, while the latter is closely related to human beings, harassing human life to a certain extent, and the ancestors are afraid of them. Therefore, people worship these animals as the name and mark of their clan
Liu Yaohan, an ethnologist, deces the origin of the so-called "Twelve beasts" calendar from the primitive totem relics of the Yi people in China. The twelve beasts calendar of the Yi people in Western Guangxi and the maoyi people both list human beings and twelve beasts in the calendar, "which is the legacy of the primitive ideology that human beings and beasts are not separated from each other in reality.". Up to now, the Yi people still use the twelve animal calendar to record the day and use it in the name of market (such as Tiger Street and Rabbit Street) It is recorded in historical records of the five emperors that the Yellow Emperor "taught the bear to fight against the Yan Emperor in the field of Hanquan" by teaching him to fight against the tiger. The name of the totem in the article is not really the ability to sube the dragon and sube the tiger. The twelve zodiac animals originated from totem worship in primitive society, which is not nonsense< Zhao Yi of Qing Dynasty pointed out in his new Yu Cong Kao that "at the beginning of Gaibei custom, there was no such thing as ZiChou Yinmao '
in Shi Gan Zhi, Guo Mo ruo believes that the zodiac originated from the twelve zodiac palaces in Babylon, which were imitated by the western regions in the Han Dynasty. Ancient Greece, ancient Egypt, Babylon and other ancient countries have similar zodiac, only animals are different, so the Chinese Zodiac may not be the first. However, the unearthed Qin Bamboo Slips overturned this theory, and all countries in the world have similar animal worship, but strengthened the rationality of totem theory.
the origin of the zodiac is related to animal worship. According to the Qin Bamboo Slips Unearthed in Shuihudi, Yunmeng, Hubei Province and Fangmatan, Tianshui, Gansu Province, there was a relatively complete Zodiac system as early as the pre Qin period. The earliest document to record the same Zodiac as today is Lun Heng by Wang Chong of the Eastern Han Dynasty. The ancient people divided the stars near the ecliptic and equator into 28 constellations, namely "28 constellations". Twenty eight sleepers also represent one kind of animal respectively. In ancient China, Zhou Tian was divided into 12 parts, which were represented by 12 branches, and the 12 branches were matched with the zodiac. Some people think that there is a corresponding relationship between the zodiac and the 28 constellations. Wang Wei, a Bachelor of Ming Dynasty, thought that 28 kinds of animals were assigned to 28 stars, and "they were unified by Qi Yao", which formed a pattern of "female earth bat, virtual sun rat, dangerous moon swallow, and Zi Ye". In his song Xia Guan Fu Yan, Li Changqing of the Qing Dynasty held that the twenty-eight mating animals "are the same as those of the first twelve genera plus one time", "Kang Jinlong, Chen guanye, Jiao mujiao are attached to Yan". The sentence pattern of "Jiao, long Lei Ye" reflects 28 kinds of astrological animals based on the zodiac. However, it is inevitable that there will be a supplementary explanation, because the records of 28 constellations mating animals are later than those of 12 zodiac animals<
the theory of the year star
Jupiter moves one week every 12 years, and the annual branch order can be determined from the position of Jupiter According to Yuhan Shanfang's collection of lost books, every twelve years, "three years old, three years old, three years old, three years old, three years old, three years old, three years old, three years old, one year old, six years old, one year old, six years old, one year old, twelve years old, one year old, one year old.". There is a cycle between the rise and fall of plants and the living environment of animals, so that the living conditions of herbivores (rats, cattle, horses, sheep) and carnivores and omnivores in different years are very different. "It is believed that" if people born in different years can imitate the animals that are suitable for growth in that year, it will be beneficial to grow up. " It is inferred that the rise and fall of animals are related to the year of Jupiter, and the twelve zodiac, the twelfth hour and the twelve Earthly Branches are unified< In primitive society, the ancestors often used some animal, plant, inanimate or a natural phenomenon as the protection god and symbol of their clan, namely totem The images in Shanhaijing, such as horse body with human face, cattle body with human face, sheep body with human face, are totem gods in ancient times. It is generally believed that the totem of Xia nationality is bear or fish, that of Shang nationality is Xuanniao, and that of Zhou nationality is dragon, bird, tortoise, dog and tiger. Throughout the zodiac, in addition to the dragon is illusory, the other ten are people's daily visible. They can be divided into two categories, namely "six animals" (horse, cattle, sheep, chicken, dog and pig) and "six animals" (rat, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake and monkey). The former is domesticated for economic purposes, while the latter is closely related to human beings, harassing human life to a certain extent, and the ancestors are afraid of them. Therefore, people worship these animals as the name and mark of their clan
Liu Yaohan, an ethnologist, deces the origin of the so-called "Twelve beasts" calendar from the primitive totem relics of the Yi people in China. The twelve beasts calendar of the Yi people in Western Guangxi and the maoyi people both list human beings and twelve beasts in the calendar, "which is the legacy of the primitive ideology that human beings and beasts are not separated from each other in reality.". Up to now, the Yi people still use the twelve animal calendar to record the day and use it in the name of market (such as Tiger Street and Rabbit Street) It is recorded in historical records of the five emperors that the Yellow Emperor "taught the bear to fight against the Yan Emperor in the field of Hanquan" by teaching him to fight against the tiger. The name of the totem in the article is not really the ability to sube the dragon and sube the tiger. The twelve zodiac animals originated from totem worship in primitive society, which is not nonsense< Zhao Yi of Qing Dynasty pointed out in his new Yu Cong Kao that "at the beginning of Gaibei custom, there was no such thing as ZiChou Yinmao '
in Shi Gan Zhi, Guo Mo ruo believes that the zodiac originated from the twelve zodiac palaces in Babylon, which were imitated by the western regions in the Han Dynasty. Ancient Greece, ancient Egypt, Babylon and other ancient countries have similar zodiac, only animals are different, so the Chinese Zodiac may not be the first. However, the unearthed Qin Bamboo Slips overturned this theory, and all countries in the world have similar animal worship, but strengthened the rationality of totem theory.
3. As an ancient folk culture, there are many different opinions about the origin of the twelve zodiac animals. Some people think that the Chinese Zodiac has the same origin with the earthly branches, which can be traced back to the prehistoric legend era. According to the records of the historian, the Yellow Emperor "built Jiazi to live for years" and "Da Nao made Jiazi" are the reflection of this kind of saying. Scholars believe that Jiazi here refers to the twelve Chinese zodiac. Zhao Yi, a scholar in the Qing Dynasty, believes that the zodiac originated from the nomadic people in the north of China. He said in his new Yu Cong Kao: "at the beginning of Gaibei custom, there was no such thing as the twelfth hour of zichouyin. However, when the zodiac was divided into years, such as the rat, ox, tiger and rabbit, it was spread in China, so it was not abandoned." See Zhao Yi, Qing Dynasty. Some scholars even hold the view that the zodiac was imported into China from Babylon. Guo Moruo, the representative of this view, said in the study of Oracle Bone characters shigan that "Twelve portraits are found in Babylon, Egypt and India, but they are not very ancient, and they are not from more than 100 years after the Western era. This idea was first formulated by the western regions in the Han Dynasty, imitating the twelve palaces of Babylon, and then spread around. " It is believed that the zodiac was made by the residents of the Middle East to imitate the twelve signs of the zodiac in Babylon. The time when it was introced into China was when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty passed through the western regions. However, a large number of documents prove that the zodiac really originated in China, which is the crystallization of animal worship, totem worship and early astronomy of Chinese ancestors.
4. With the 12 zodiac calendar, in China at least in the northern and Southern Dynasties began In the northern history · yuwenhufa, it is recorded that yuwenhu's mother wrote a letter to him, in which he said: "you brothers were born in Wuchuan town in the past, the big one belongs to rat, the second one belongs to rabbit, and your body belongs to snake." It shows that there were 12 usage of zodiac in the folk at that time
but what's the origin of the 12 zodiac animals? According to the ancient books of China, the "Gan chronology" was first used in the Central Plains in ancient China, that is, 10 tiangan symbols a, B, C, D, e, Ji, Geng, Xin, Ren, GUI, and 12 di symbols Haozi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, you, Xu, Hai were used to record the year. In the northwest of China, the nomadic minorities use animals to record the year In the book of Tang Dynasty, it is recorded that "the state of xiajiasi records the year of the tiger by twelve things. If the year is in Yin, it is called the year of the tiger." In addition, it is also recorded in the biography of Tubo in the history of the Song Dynasty that the Tubo leaders recorded the year with objects when they narrated. The so-called "old stories of Tao belong to the sun, the year of the rabbit and the year of the horse." Later, in the communication between the Central Plains and ethnic minorities, the two kinds of chronology contacted each other to form the present 12 zodiac. Just as Zhao Yi of Qing Dynasty pointed out in Xinyu congkao, "at the beginning of Gaibei custom, there was no such thing as ZiChou Yinmao's twelfth birthday, but when the age was divided by the age of rats, oxen, tigers and rabbits, jinxun spread to China, so they did not abandon their ears." This explanation of the origin of the 12 zodiac has been accepted by many people
in addition, the origin of the 12 zodiac animals is also said: Hong Xun's Yang Gu man Lu says that the odd number of the 12 earthly branches is matched by the odd number of the animal's fingers or hooves, such as the son is in the first place, the rat that matches it is 5 fingers, and the even number of the earthly branches is the name of the corresponding even number, such as the cow that matches the ugly is 4 claws. In Cao Mu Zi, ye Shijie explains the origin of the 12 zodiac signs as follows: the 12 zodiac signs are matched by 12 hours, and each zodiac has its own shortcomings, such as the rat has no teeth, the cow has no teeth, the tiger has no spleen, the rabbit has no lips, the Dragon has no ears, the snake has no feet, the horse has no gall, the sheep has no pupils, the monkey has no buttocks, the chicken has no kidneys, the dog has no stomach, the pig has no tendons, and the human has no shortcomings. "
there are many other versions. For example, the Yellow Emperor selected 12 kinds of animals to be on ty in the sky on time; The zodiac comes from the totem worship of some clans in primitive society; Zodiac may have been introced from Tianzhu; Or 28 constellations are distributed on the Sunday to value 12 hours. Each star is named after an animal. From the animals on ty at each hour, we can choose some common animal as a nickname for a certain year, and so on
although people can't determine the exact origin of the 12 zodiac signs, because of its popularity, convenience and interest, it has been used up to now and has become a valuable heritage of practical value left by the ancients
When did the zodiac animals begin? The authoritative Cihai adopts the view of Zhao Yi, a scholar of the Qing Dynasty, that the zodiac started in the Eastern Han Dynasty< However, the inference has been advanced.
now we think that the earliest one is the book of songs; Xiaoya & Chen 8226; "On an auspicious day, I will be sent to my horse on an auspicious day." it clearly matches the animal horse with the diwu, which is completely consistent with the current Zodiac
what is the zodiac
according to a person's birth, a fixed animal image is assigned, which is called the zodiac. It should be noted that it is not an accurate statement to define a fixed animal image according to the year of birth, because in addition to the Han nationality, there are also Zodiacs of other nationalities and even foreign countries, and some Zodiacs are not necessarily arranged according to the year. For example, there are eight Zodiacs in Myanmar, which are sorted from Monday to Sunday. People born on different days belong to tiger, tiger and tiger Lions, tusks and toothless elephants, mice, guinea pigs, dragons, and wonderful winged birds. This article is limited to the Chinese zodiac, so unless otherwise specified, the concept of Chinese zodiac in the following article is Chinese zodiac< The Chinese zodiac is closely related to the astronomical calendar. The Chinese calendar was mature in the Xia Dynasty more than 3000 years ago, so the lunar calendar is also called the summer calendar. The determination of the Chinese Zodiac should be in the same period as the determination of the Chinese calendar. Every Chinese zodiac is matched with an earthly branch. In this way, the year of a earthly branch, no matter which heavenly stem it matches, is called the year of an Chinese zodiac. For example, the year of Jiazi, Yizi, Bingzi, Dingzi is called the year of the rat. The earliest record of animals matching with chronology is the book of songs; Xiaoya & Chen 8226; "On an auspicious day, I will be sent to my horse on an auspicious day." it clearly matches the animal horse with the diwu, which is completely consistent with the current Zodiac< 1. The origin of the zodiac animals
through a large number of documents, it is proved that the zodiac animals really originated in China, which is the crystallization of animal worship, totem worship and early astronomy of Chinese ancestors
in the existing literature, the book of songs is the earliest record of the zodiac In the book of songs · Xiaoya · auspicious day, there are eight words: "auspicious day Geng Wu, that is to say, send my horse". It means that Geng Wu and auspicious day are good times, and it is a good day for jumping horses to go hunting. This is an example of the correspondence between Geng Wu and horses
the twelve zodiac signs recorded in Rishu are similar to the popular saying. According to research, tomb 11 of Shuihudi was buried in the 30th year of the first emperor of Qin Dynasty (217 BC), so the birth of the zodiac can be traced back to the spring and Autumn period before Qin Dynasty. Scholars believe that this is the earliest and more systematic record of the zodiac in China so far< In Wang Chong's Lun Heng Wu Shi, it is said that "Yin, Mu ye, its bird, tiger also. Xu, the earth also, its birds, dogs also In the afternoon, the horse also. Son, mouse, you, chicken. Mao, rabbit also Hai, pig. No, sheep. Ugly, cow It's a snake. Shen, monkey. "
in the above words, there are 11 kinds of animals in the zodiac, but Chenlong is missing. The book "Yan Du Pian" says:
"Chen is a dragon, already a snake. Chen and Ji are in the southeast. "
in this way, the zodiac is complete, and it is exactly the same as the popular Zodiac. This is indeed the earliest and most complete record of the zodiac in ancient literature
some scholars believe that the zodiac originated from the primitive animal worship, and Mr. Zhang Binglun of University of science and technology of China holds this view. He believed that in the primitive society with low proctivity and extremely limited ability to understand nature, he had a sense of dependence on animals closely related to his own life (such as horses, sheep, cattle, chickens, dogs, etc.), a sense of fear of animals endangering his own safety (such as tigers and snakes), and a sense of reverence for some animal organ functions beyond human beings (such as the smell of dogs, etc.), It leads to the worship of animals. Twelve zodiac animals are the animal calendar used to record the year and the month under the influence of the primitive belief of animal worship
primitive people's animal worship was also reflected in primitive dances such as Nuo dance. Nuo originated around the Zhou Dynasty, and the main characters in the Nuo ceremony were Fang Xiangshi and the twelve sacred animals. The selection of twelve animals in exorcising dance is the expression of primitive people's reverence for animals. The twelve Beasts (or gods) selected in the Nuo ceremony are to take care of the twelve months of the year, in order to keep the peace of the month, expel the four epidemic ghosts, and take care of the twelve directions. Of course, twelve Branches are involved in the twelve directions, so they are linked with the twelve zodiac signs, and the twelve zodiac signs in exorcising Nuo ceremony are used to turn evil into good. From this we can see that the twelve animals and the twelve zodiac animals come down in one continuous line, and their common source is primitive animal worship
to talk about the origin of the zodiac, we must connect the zodiac with the heavenly stems and earthly branches. The oldest table of Gan unearthed in the Yin Ruins of Anyang in modern times shows that Gan was skillful in the Shang Dynasty. Later, with the passage of time, the functions of Gan became more and more diversified. As the label of time unit, Gan was expanded for dating; On the one hand, it is reced and used to record the time (twelve hours of a day). According to historical records and research, the zodiac appeared after the founding of the "Gan chronology". Twelve kinds of animals are one-to-one correspondence of the twelve Earthly Branches, with animals as the earthly branch symbols. People born in the same year have animals that belong to the same year. Therefore, twelve kinds of animals are used to record the year, date and calculate the zodiac of each person. It can be seen that the twelve zodiac and twelve Earthly Branches are inseparable. For a long time, some scholars have found that the information of the zodiac is implied in the ancient Chinese characters of the twelve Branches. They compared the twelve Branches with the ancient Chinese characters of the twelve zodiac, and found that the ancient Chinese characters of the twelve branches have some connections with the twelve animals. Careful observation can find that there are similarities and differences. In ShuoWenJieZi written by Xu Shen in the Eastern Han Dynasty, it is said that the character "Ji" is the pictograph of snake, as well as "Hai" and "boar". Modern people have also studied the similarities between the characters of the earth branch and the Chinese zodiac in oracle bone inscriptions and bronze inscriptions. It is speculated that whether the twelve Branches are pictographs of the animals of the twelve zodiac. Because the twelve Branches are easy to remember, the folk use twelve kinds of animals instead of ordinal symbols to match the earth branch and become a symbol system of chronology. Although the above conjecture has a certain degree of credibility, we can make a judgment after thinking about it carefully. It can't be the hieroglyphic characters of twelve animals, because it has been mentioned that the twelve animals were skillfully used in the Yin and Shang Dynasties, and the zodiac was born in the spring and Autumn period. The two are of different origins. If the earthly branches were related to the zodiac at the time of writing, wouldn't the zodiac and the earthly branches come into being at the same time
to sum up, the author believes that the zodiac came into being later than the twelve Earthly Branches, but it has an inseparable relationship with the twelve Earthly Branches. The zodiac is an association of the twelve Earthly Branches, and the choice of twelve animals as a symbol to replace the twelve Earthly branches stems from the ancient animal worship< 2. The choice and arrangement of the zodiac animals
the choice of the twelve animals in the Chinese zodiac is not complicated, it is close to the daily life and social life of the Han people, which can be guessed. Among the twelve animals of the zodiac, they can be roughly divided into three categories: one is the domesticated "six animals", namely cattle, sheep, horse, pig, dog and chicken, which are domesticated by human beings for economic or other purposes, accounting for half of the twelve animals“ "Six livestock" is an important concept in Chinese agricultural culture, which has a long history. In the traditional concept of Chinese people, "six livestock prosperity" represents the prosperity and good luck of the family. During the Spring Festival, people usually say "six animals prosper", so it is inevitable that these six animals will become the Chinese zodiac. The second is the well-known wild animals, which are closely related to people's daily and social life. They are tigers, rabbits, monkeys, rats and snakes. Some of them are awed by people and involved in human life, such as tigers and snakes; There are also mice that people hate and taboo, but depend on human survival; More people like, such as rabbits, monkeys. The third is the traditional symbolic mascot of the Chinese people - the dragon, which is the symbol of Chinese culture
but what's the origin of the 12 zodiac animals? According to the ancient books of China, the "Gan chronology" was first used in the Central Plains in ancient China, that is, 10 tiangan symbols a, B, C, D, e, Ji, Geng, Xin, Ren, GUI, and 12 di symbols Haozi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, you, Xu, Hai were used to record the year. In the northwest of China, the nomadic minorities use animals to record the year In the book of Tang Dynasty, it is recorded that "the state of xiajiasi records the year of the tiger by twelve things. If the year is in Yin, it is called the year of the tiger." In addition, it is also recorded in the biography of Tubo in the history of the Song Dynasty that the Tubo leaders recorded the year with objects when they narrated. The so-called "old stories of Tao belong to the sun, the year of the rabbit and the year of the horse." Later, in the communication between the Central Plains and ethnic minorities, the two kinds of chronology contacted each other to form the present 12 zodiac. Just as Zhao Yi of Qing Dynasty pointed out in Xinyu congkao, "at the beginning of Gaibei custom, there was no such thing as ZiChou Yinmao's twelfth birthday, but when the age was divided by the age of rats, oxen, tigers and rabbits, jinxun spread to China, so they did not abandon their ears." This explanation of the origin of the 12 zodiac has been accepted by many people
in addition, the origin of the 12 zodiac animals is also said: Hong Xun's Yang Gu man Lu says that the odd number of the 12 earthly branches is matched by the odd number of the animal's fingers or hooves, such as the son is in the first place, the rat that matches it is 5 fingers, and the even number of the earthly branches is the name of the corresponding even number, such as the cow that matches the ugly is 4 claws. In Cao Mu Zi, ye Shijie explains the origin of the 12 zodiac signs as follows: the 12 zodiac signs are matched by 12 hours, and each zodiac has its own shortcomings, such as the rat has no teeth, the cow has no teeth, the tiger has no spleen, the rabbit has no lips, the Dragon has no ears, the snake has no feet, the horse has no gall, the sheep has no pupils, the monkey has no buttocks, the chicken has no kidneys, the dog has no stomach, the pig has no tendons, and the human has no shortcomings. "
there are many other versions. For example, the Yellow Emperor selected 12 kinds of animals to be on ty in the sky on time; The zodiac comes from the totem worship of some clans in primitive society; Zodiac may have been introced from Tianzhu; Or 28 constellations are distributed on the Sunday to value 12 hours. Each star is named after an animal. From the animals on ty at each hour, we can choose some common animal as a nickname for a certain year, and so on
although people can't determine the exact origin of the 12 zodiac signs, because of its popularity, convenience and interest, it has been used up to now and has become a valuable heritage of practical value left by the ancients
When did the zodiac animals begin? The authoritative Cihai adopts the view of Zhao Yi, a scholar of the Qing Dynasty, that the zodiac started in the Eastern Han Dynasty< However, the inference has been advanced.
now we think that the earliest one is the book of songs; Xiaoya & Chen 8226; "On an auspicious day, I will be sent to my horse on an auspicious day." it clearly matches the animal horse with the diwu, which is completely consistent with the current Zodiac
what is the zodiac
according to a person's birth, a fixed animal image is assigned, which is called the zodiac. It should be noted that it is not an accurate statement to define a fixed animal image according to the year of birth, because in addition to the Han nationality, there are also Zodiacs of other nationalities and even foreign countries, and some Zodiacs are not necessarily arranged according to the year. For example, there are eight Zodiacs in Myanmar, which are sorted from Monday to Sunday. People born on different days belong to tiger, tiger and tiger Lions, tusks and toothless elephants, mice, guinea pigs, dragons, and wonderful winged birds. This article is limited to the Chinese zodiac, so unless otherwise specified, the concept of Chinese zodiac in the following article is Chinese zodiac< The Chinese zodiac is closely related to the astronomical calendar. The Chinese calendar was mature in the Xia Dynasty more than 3000 years ago, so the lunar calendar is also called the summer calendar. The determination of the Chinese Zodiac should be in the same period as the determination of the Chinese calendar. Every Chinese zodiac is matched with an earthly branch. In this way, the year of a earthly branch, no matter which heavenly stem it matches, is called the year of an Chinese zodiac. For example, the year of Jiazi, Yizi, Bingzi, Dingzi is called the year of the rat. The earliest record of animals matching with chronology is the book of songs; Xiaoya & Chen 8226; "On an auspicious day, I will be sent to my horse on an auspicious day." it clearly matches the animal horse with the diwu, which is completely consistent with the current Zodiac< 1. The origin of the zodiac animals
through a large number of documents, it is proved that the zodiac animals really originated in China, which is the crystallization of animal worship, totem worship and early astronomy of Chinese ancestors
in the existing literature, the book of songs is the earliest record of the zodiac In the book of songs · Xiaoya · auspicious day, there are eight words: "auspicious day Geng Wu, that is to say, send my horse". It means that Geng Wu and auspicious day are good times, and it is a good day for jumping horses to go hunting. This is an example of the correspondence between Geng Wu and horses
the twelve zodiac signs recorded in Rishu are similar to the popular saying. According to research, tomb 11 of Shuihudi was buried in the 30th year of the first emperor of Qin Dynasty (217 BC), so the birth of the zodiac can be traced back to the spring and Autumn period before Qin Dynasty. Scholars believe that this is the earliest and more systematic record of the zodiac in China so far< In Wang Chong's Lun Heng Wu Shi, it is said that "Yin, Mu ye, its bird, tiger also. Xu, the earth also, its birds, dogs also In the afternoon, the horse also. Son, mouse, you, chicken. Mao, rabbit also Hai, pig. No, sheep. Ugly, cow It's a snake. Shen, monkey. "
in the above words, there are 11 kinds of animals in the zodiac, but Chenlong is missing. The book "Yan Du Pian" says:
"Chen is a dragon, already a snake. Chen and Ji are in the southeast. "
in this way, the zodiac is complete, and it is exactly the same as the popular Zodiac. This is indeed the earliest and most complete record of the zodiac in ancient literature
some scholars believe that the zodiac originated from the primitive animal worship, and Mr. Zhang Binglun of University of science and technology of China holds this view. He believed that in the primitive society with low proctivity and extremely limited ability to understand nature, he had a sense of dependence on animals closely related to his own life (such as horses, sheep, cattle, chickens, dogs, etc.), a sense of fear of animals endangering his own safety (such as tigers and snakes), and a sense of reverence for some animal organ functions beyond human beings (such as the smell of dogs, etc.), It leads to the worship of animals. Twelve zodiac animals are the animal calendar used to record the year and the month under the influence of the primitive belief of animal worship
primitive people's animal worship was also reflected in primitive dances such as Nuo dance. Nuo originated around the Zhou Dynasty, and the main characters in the Nuo ceremony were Fang Xiangshi and the twelve sacred animals. The selection of twelve animals in exorcising dance is the expression of primitive people's reverence for animals. The twelve Beasts (or gods) selected in the Nuo ceremony are to take care of the twelve months of the year, in order to keep the peace of the month, expel the four epidemic ghosts, and take care of the twelve directions. Of course, twelve Branches are involved in the twelve directions, so they are linked with the twelve zodiac signs, and the twelve zodiac signs in exorcising Nuo ceremony are used to turn evil into good. From this we can see that the twelve animals and the twelve zodiac animals come down in one continuous line, and their common source is primitive animal worship
to talk about the origin of the zodiac, we must connect the zodiac with the heavenly stems and earthly branches. The oldest table of Gan unearthed in the Yin Ruins of Anyang in modern times shows that Gan was skillful in the Shang Dynasty. Later, with the passage of time, the functions of Gan became more and more diversified. As the label of time unit, Gan was expanded for dating; On the one hand, it is reced and used to record the time (twelve hours of a day). According to historical records and research, the zodiac appeared after the founding of the "Gan chronology". Twelve kinds of animals are one-to-one correspondence of the twelve Earthly Branches, with animals as the earthly branch symbols. People born in the same year have animals that belong to the same year. Therefore, twelve kinds of animals are used to record the year, date and calculate the zodiac of each person. It can be seen that the twelve zodiac and twelve Earthly Branches are inseparable. For a long time, some scholars have found that the information of the zodiac is implied in the ancient Chinese characters of the twelve Branches. They compared the twelve Branches with the ancient Chinese characters of the twelve zodiac, and found that the ancient Chinese characters of the twelve branches have some connections with the twelve animals. Careful observation can find that there are similarities and differences. In ShuoWenJieZi written by Xu Shen in the Eastern Han Dynasty, it is said that the character "Ji" is the pictograph of snake, as well as "Hai" and "boar". Modern people have also studied the similarities between the characters of the earth branch and the Chinese zodiac in oracle bone inscriptions and bronze inscriptions. It is speculated that whether the twelve Branches are pictographs of the animals of the twelve zodiac. Because the twelve Branches are easy to remember, the folk use twelve kinds of animals instead of ordinal symbols to match the earth branch and become a symbol system of chronology. Although the above conjecture has a certain degree of credibility, we can make a judgment after thinking about it carefully. It can't be the hieroglyphic characters of twelve animals, because it has been mentioned that the twelve animals were skillfully used in the Yin and Shang Dynasties, and the zodiac was born in the spring and Autumn period. The two are of different origins. If the earthly branches were related to the zodiac at the time of writing, wouldn't the zodiac and the earthly branches come into being at the same time
to sum up, the author believes that the zodiac came into being later than the twelve Earthly Branches, but it has an inseparable relationship with the twelve Earthly Branches. The zodiac is an association of the twelve Earthly Branches, and the choice of twelve animals as a symbol to replace the twelve Earthly branches stems from the ancient animal worship< 2. The choice and arrangement of the zodiac animals
the choice of the twelve animals in the Chinese zodiac is not complicated, it is close to the daily life and social life of the Han people, which can be guessed. Among the twelve animals of the zodiac, they can be roughly divided into three categories: one is the domesticated "six animals", namely cattle, sheep, horse, pig, dog and chicken, which are domesticated by human beings for economic or other purposes, accounting for half of the twelve animals“ "Six livestock" is an important concept in Chinese agricultural culture, which has a long history. In the traditional concept of Chinese people, "six livestock prosperity" represents the prosperity and good luck of the family. During the Spring Festival, people usually say "six animals prosper", so it is inevitable that these six animals will become the Chinese zodiac. The second is the well-known wild animals, which are closely related to people's daily and social life. They are tigers, rabbits, monkeys, rats and snakes. Some of them are awed by people and involved in human life, such as tigers and snakes; There are also mice that people hate and taboo, but depend on human survival; More people like, such as rabbits, monkeys. The third is the traditional symbolic mascot of the Chinese people - the dragon, which is the symbol of Chinese culture
5. It is difficult to examine the origin of the zodiac. For a long time, many people regard Lun Heng as the earliest document to record the zodiac Lun Heng is a famous work of Wang Chong, a materialist thinker in the Eastern Han Dynasty "Yin, wood, bird, tiger" is recorded in Lun Heng Wu Shi. Xu, the earth also, its birds, dogs also In the afternoon, the horse also. Son, rat knife. You, chicken. Mao, rabbit also Hai, pig. No, sheep. Ugly, cow Now, the snake. Shen, monkey. " In the above quotation, there are only 11 kinds of Chinese zodiac, and the one missing is dragon. The book "Yan Du Pian" also said: "Chen is a dragon, has been a snake, Chen, has been in the southeast. In this way, the Zodiac will be complete, the twelve Branches and the zodiac are so complete, and the same as today
why is the Chinese Zodiac chosen as a couple of hundredths< According to Feng Xiangshi in Zhouli chunguan, the ten year old of Zhangshi is two years old, the ten year old is February, the ten year old is two Chen, the ten day old is twenty-eight star, so as to distinguish its narration and know the heaven position The division of time is divided into twelve stages: twelve years in a year, twelve months in a year and twelve hours in a day It is recorded in Guoyu · Jinyu 4: "twenty five of the sons of the Yellow Emperor have their surnames, fourteen of them are twelve." Even the emperor's wives and concubines have the saying of "Twelve daughters". In the biography of Xun Shuang in the later Han Dynasty, it is said that "therefore, if the emperor marries twelve wives, the number of the heaven is the same; There are equal differences among the princes, and things will come down. "
in recent years, the Creation Epic of the Han nationality, dark biography, has been discovered in Shennongjia area. There is a story about the origin of Gan: "at the beginning of the creation of heaven and earth, xuanhuang traveled on a chaotic beast and met Nu Wa. There were two buns beside Nu Wa. There were ten men in the big buns and twelve women in the small buns. Xuanhuang said, "this is the God of heaven and earth to govern heaven and earth." Therefore, they were named after each other, married and became Yin and Yang. Men are called tiangan, while women are called di. " This creation myth tells about Gan, xuanhuang God, Nuwa God, heaven and earth, yin and Yang, which traces Gan's "life experience" to a very long time<
in ancient times, Tianqian Dikan was dominated by Tianqian and followed by diqian. Shitiangan is also called Shimu, while the corresponding twelve di is also called shizizi. In Yueling Zhangju written by Cai Yong of Han Dynasty, it is said that "Da adopted the emotion of the five elements and was built by zhandougang, so it began to be named as" a "and" B "with the name of" Ri ", which is called" Gan "; Zuozi Chou is named Yue, which is called Zhi. If the stems and branches match, it will be sixty. " Da Du was a minister in the era of the Yellow Emperor. The match here was sixty years, that is sixty Jiazi. He took the least common multiple of ten Heavenly Stems and twelve Earthly Branches. The stem and branch are matched in order, from Jiazi to Yichu... To Guihai, which is the 60th pair. It happens that both the stem and branch use the last position, and then defecation starts from Jiazi. This cycle is called a Jiazi. Among them, six times appeared in each stem and five times appeared in each branch< The birth of the zodiac has an astronomical background. In the primitive times, the ancestors experienced the cycle of alternating cold and heat. In Song Dynasty, Hong Hao's songmo Jiwen recorded: "Nuzhen is so small that zhengshuo can't match it. Its people don't know the year. When they ask, they say," how many times have I seen the grass? "They take a green grass as a year old Meng Gong's Meng TA Bei Lu of Song Dynasty also records: "it's common that every grass is green for one year. When someone asks about its age, they say how many grass it is." In, another astronomer discovered that the moon's profit and loss cycle can be used to measure the length of the year, and found that twelve full moons are one year old. This discovery is one of the most accurate results of the early calendar. "Twelve" is regarded as the "great number of the sky" to convey the will of heaven. The heavenly stems need to be accompanied by the earthly branches. If the sun and the moon are relative, and the heaven and the earth are relative, it is not "twelve."
the offspring are ugly cattle, dogs and pigs. There are many animals in the world. Why did the ancients choose these 12 animals as their zodiac<
Liu Xian's Guangyang Zaji in Qing Dynasty quoted Li Changqing's Song Xia Guan Fu Yan: "why does Zi belong to rat? He said: the heaven is open to the son, and if it is not consumed, the Qi will not open. Rats consume insects. So the night is not yet central, is the rat to make the time, so the son is a rat. The earth is divided into ugliness, and cattle are the things that open the earth, so ugliness belongs to cattle. Life is in Yin, life is in killing. The murderer, the tiger, the Yin, the fear. It's more formidable than a tiger, so Yin belongs to tiger. When the sun rises. In vitro, it contains the essence of Taiyin jade rabbit, so it belongs to rabbit. Chen, the trigram of March, is when the dragon group is in the rain, so Chen belongs to the dragon. The hexagram of April, which has been written in the past, has its place in the grass. In addition, the snake is not on the road at that time, so it belongs to the snake. At noon, the anode and the Yin are just born. Horse, to health and not leave the ground, Yin class, so the afternoon belongs to the horse. Sheep are not sheep because they grow on grass in the past. Shenshi, the sunset and ape cry, and stretch arm also, such as the number of Qi, chaos will be crazy for horizontal, so Shen is a monkey. This, when the moon rises, the moon is the body, and the water content is the essence of the sun golden rooster, so it belongs to the chicken. In the nucleus, pigs have nothing to know except their diet, so Hai belongs to pigs. "
another way of saying is that the selection and arrangement of the zodiac animals are determined according to the daily activity time of animals. Since the Han Dynasty at the latest, twelve local branches have been used to record the twelve hours of a day. Each hour is equivalent to three hours on both sides. From eleven o'clock in the evening to one o'clock in the morning is the midnight when mice are most active. From 1:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m., the cow is ruminating. From three o'clock to five o'clock is Yinshi, when tigers roam around looking for food, the most ferocious. From five o'clock to seven o'clock, it's the time of crime. At this time, the sun has not yet risen, and the moon is still hanging in the sky. At this time, the jade rabbit is busy making medicine. From 7:00 to 9:00 in the morning is Chenshi, which is a good time for Shenlong to travel in the rain. From nine o'clock to eleven o'clock, the snake began to be active. From 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., Yang Qi is in full swing. It's noon, and it's the time when the sky is flying. From 1:00 to 3:00 in the afternoon is the last time. Sheep will grow stronger when they eat grass. From 3:00 to 5:00 in the afternoon is Shenshi, when the monkey is active. From five o'clock to seven o'clock is the unitary hour. Night falls and the chickens begin to return to their nests. From 7:00 to 9:00 in the evening, the dog began to watch the night. From 9:00 to 11:00 in the evening, it is Haishi. At this time, everything is quiet, and the pig is snoring
there are also various legends about the arrangement of the twelve zodiac animals. Such stories are either like happy jokes or fables that belittle evil and promote good, which have strong literary elements. However, the arrangement of the Zodiac's seat can not be completed in a single day or a single generation. At first, it may not be that there were 12 nominations at one time. Maybe there were only four or five. Maybe there was a situation of excess. Later, the survival of the fittest, fixed quota and positioning were carried on to this day< A long time ago, one day, people said, "we will choose twelve kinds of animals as the zodiac of human beings, one animal a year." How many animals are there in the world? How to choose? Let's fix a day. On this day, when the animals come to sign up, they will choose the first 12 kinds of animals as the zodiac
cats and mice are neighbors and good friends. They want to sign up. The cat said, "we have to get up early to sign up, but I love to sleep in. What should I do?" The mouse said: "don't worry, don't worry, you just sleep your big sleep, as soon as I wake up, I'll call you, let's go together." The cat was very happy and said, "you are really my good friend. Thank you."
on the morning of the registration day, the mouse woke up, but it just thought about its own business and forgot about its good friend cat. I went to sign up myself< As a result, mice were selected. Where's the cat? The cat got up too late because of sleeping in. By the time it arrived, twelve kinds of animals had been selected
if the cat is not selected, it is angry with the mouse. It's strange that the mouse didn't call it. Since then, when the cat saw the mouse, it would eat it, and the mouse had to flee desperately. It's still like this
the order of the twelve zodiac animals is: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, chicken, dog and pig. How to make the little mouse in the first place? Here's a story, too
on the day of registration, the mice got up early, and so did the cattle. They met on the road. The cow is big and the step is big. The mouse is small and the step is small. The mouse is out of breath and just keeps up with the cow. The mouse thought to himself: the road is still far away. I can't run any more. What can I do
as soon as he came up with an idea, he said to the cow, "brother cow, brother cow, I'll sing you a song." The cow said, "well, you can sing. Why don't you sing?" The mouse said, "I'm singing. Why don't you hear me? Oh, my voices are too thin for you to hear. Well, let me ride on your neck and sing, and you'll hear me The cow said, "OK, OK!" The mouse along the legs of the cow has been climbing up the neck of the cow, let the cow carry it, can be comfortable
it shakes its head and really sings: brother Niu, brother Niu, cross the river, climb the hillside, drive, drive, hurry up
after hearing this, Niu was happy and ran with all his legs. When he ran to the place where he signed up, no one came. He was so happy that he cried out: "I'm the first, I'm the first!" Before the cow finished speaking, the mouse jumped from the cow's neck, jumped to the ground, squeaked and jumped in front of the cow
as a result, the mouse got the first place and the ox got the second place. Therefore, in the zodiac, the little mouse was at the top of the list.
why is the Chinese Zodiac chosen as a couple of hundredths< According to Feng Xiangshi in Zhouli chunguan, the ten year old of Zhangshi is two years old, the ten year old is February, the ten year old is two Chen, the ten day old is twenty-eight star, so as to distinguish its narration and know the heaven position The division of time is divided into twelve stages: twelve years in a year, twelve months in a year and twelve hours in a day It is recorded in Guoyu · Jinyu 4: "twenty five of the sons of the Yellow Emperor have their surnames, fourteen of them are twelve." Even the emperor's wives and concubines have the saying of "Twelve daughters". In the biography of Xun Shuang in the later Han Dynasty, it is said that "therefore, if the emperor marries twelve wives, the number of the heaven is the same; There are equal differences among the princes, and things will come down. "
in recent years, the Creation Epic of the Han nationality, dark biography, has been discovered in Shennongjia area. There is a story about the origin of Gan: "at the beginning of the creation of heaven and earth, xuanhuang traveled on a chaotic beast and met Nu Wa. There were two buns beside Nu Wa. There were ten men in the big buns and twelve women in the small buns. Xuanhuang said, "this is the God of heaven and earth to govern heaven and earth." Therefore, they were named after each other, married and became Yin and Yang. Men are called tiangan, while women are called di. " This creation myth tells about Gan, xuanhuang God, Nuwa God, heaven and earth, yin and Yang, which traces Gan's "life experience" to a very long time<
in ancient times, Tianqian Dikan was dominated by Tianqian and followed by diqian. Shitiangan is also called Shimu, while the corresponding twelve di is also called shizizi. In Yueling Zhangju written by Cai Yong of Han Dynasty, it is said that "Da adopted the emotion of the five elements and was built by zhandougang, so it began to be named as" a "and" B "with the name of" Ri ", which is called" Gan "; Zuozi Chou is named Yue, which is called Zhi. If the stems and branches match, it will be sixty. " Da Du was a minister in the era of the Yellow Emperor. The match here was sixty years, that is sixty Jiazi. He took the least common multiple of ten Heavenly Stems and twelve Earthly Branches. The stem and branch are matched in order, from Jiazi to Yichu... To Guihai, which is the 60th pair. It happens that both the stem and branch use the last position, and then defecation starts from Jiazi. This cycle is called a Jiazi. Among them, six times appeared in each stem and five times appeared in each branch< The birth of the zodiac has an astronomical background. In the primitive times, the ancestors experienced the cycle of alternating cold and heat. In Song Dynasty, Hong Hao's songmo Jiwen recorded: "Nuzhen is so small that zhengshuo can't match it. Its people don't know the year. When they ask, they say," how many times have I seen the grass? "They take a green grass as a year old Meng Gong's Meng TA Bei Lu of Song Dynasty also records: "it's common that every grass is green for one year. When someone asks about its age, they say how many grass it is." In, another astronomer discovered that the moon's profit and loss cycle can be used to measure the length of the year, and found that twelve full moons are one year old. This discovery is one of the most accurate results of the early calendar. "Twelve" is regarded as the "great number of the sky" to convey the will of heaven. The heavenly stems need to be accompanied by the earthly branches. If the sun and the moon are relative, and the heaven and the earth are relative, it is not "twelve."
the offspring are ugly cattle, dogs and pigs. There are many animals in the world. Why did the ancients choose these 12 animals as their zodiac<
Liu Xian's Guangyang Zaji in Qing Dynasty quoted Li Changqing's Song Xia Guan Fu Yan: "why does Zi belong to rat? He said: the heaven is open to the son, and if it is not consumed, the Qi will not open. Rats consume insects. So the night is not yet central, is the rat to make the time, so the son is a rat. The earth is divided into ugliness, and cattle are the things that open the earth, so ugliness belongs to cattle. Life is in Yin, life is in killing. The murderer, the tiger, the Yin, the fear. It's more formidable than a tiger, so Yin belongs to tiger. When the sun rises. In vitro, it contains the essence of Taiyin jade rabbit, so it belongs to rabbit. Chen, the trigram of March, is when the dragon group is in the rain, so Chen belongs to the dragon. The hexagram of April, which has been written in the past, has its place in the grass. In addition, the snake is not on the road at that time, so it belongs to the snake. At noon, the anode and the Yin are just born. Horse, to health and not leave the ground, Yin class, so the afternoon belongs to the horse. Sheep are not sheep because they grow on grass in the past. Shenshi, the sunset and ape cry, and stretch arm also, such as the number of Qi, chaos will be crazy for horizontal, so Shen is a monkey. This, when the moon rises, the moon is the body, and the water content is the essence of the sun golden rooster, so it belongs to the chicken. In the nucleus, pigs have nothing to know except their diet, so Hai belongs to pigs. "
another way of saying is that the selection and arrangement of the zodiac animals are determined according to the daily activity time of animals. Since the Han Dynasty at the latest, twelve local branches have been used to record the twelve hours of a day. Each hour is equivalent to three hours on both sides. From eleven o'clock in the evening to one o'clock in the morning is the midnight when mice are most active. From 1:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m., the cow is ruminating. From three o'clock to five o'clock is Yinshi, when tigers roam around looking for food, the most ferocious. From five o'clock to seven o'clock, it's the time of crime. At this time, the sun has not yet risen, and the moon is still hanging in the sky. At this time, the jade rabbit is busy making medicine. From 7:00 to 9:00 in the morning is Chenshi, which is a good time for Shenlong to travel in the rain. From nine o'clock to eleven o'clock, the snake began to be active. From 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., Yang Qi is in full swing. It's noon, and it's the time when the sky is flying. From 1:00 to 3:00 in the afternoon is the last time. Sheep will grow stronger when they eat grass. From 3:00 to 5:00 in the afternoon is Shenshi, when the monkey is active. From five o'clock to seven o'clock is the unitary hour. Night falls and the chickens begin to return to their nests. From 7:00 to 9:00 in the evening, the dog began to watch the night. From 9:00 to 11:00 in the evening, it is Haishi. At this time, everything is quiet, and the pig is snoring
there are also various legends about the arrangement of the twelve zodiac animals. Such stories are either like happy jokes or fables that belittle evil and promote good, which have strong literary elements. However, the arrangement of the Zodiac's seat can not be completed in a single day or a single generation. At first, it may not be that there were 12 nominations at one time. Maybe there were only four or five. Maybe there was a situation of excess. Later, the survival of the fittest, fixed quota and positioning were carried on to this day< A long time ago, one day, people said, "we will choose twelve kinds of animals as the zodiac of human beings, one animal a year." How many animals are there in the world? How to choose? Let's fix a day. On this day, when the animals come to sign up, they will choose the first 12 kinds of animals as the zodiac
cats and mice are neighbors and good friends. They want to sign up. The cat said, "we have to get up early to sign up, but I love to sleep in. What should I do?" The mouse said: "don't worry, don't worry, you just sleep your big sleep, as soon as I wake up, I'll call you, let's go together." The cat was very happy and said, "you are really my good friend. Thank you."
on the morning of the registration day, the mouse woke up, but it just thought about its own business and forgot about its good friend cat. I went to sign up myself< As a result, mice were selected. Where's the cat? The cat got up too late because of sleeping in. By the time it arrived, twelve kinds of animals had been selected
if the cat is not selected, it is angry with the mouse. It's strange that the mouse didn't call it. Since then, when the cat saw the mouse, it would eat it, and the mouse had to flee desperately. It's still like this
the order of the twelve zodiac animals is: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, chicken, dog and pig. How to make the little mouse in the first place? Here's a story, too
on the day of registration, the mice got up early, and so did the cattle. They met on the road. The cow is big and the step is big. The mouse is small and the step is small. The mouse is out of breath and just keeps up with the cow. The mouse thought to himself: the road is still far away. I can't run any more. What can I do
as soon as he came up with an idea, he said to the cow, "brother cow, brother cow, I'll sing you a song." The cow said, "well, you can sing. Why don't you sing?" The mouse said, "I'm singing. Why don't you hear me? Oh, my voices are too thin for you to hear. Well, let me ride on your neck and sing, and you'll hear me The cow said, "OK, OK!" The mouse along the legs of the cow has been climbing up the neck of the cow, let the cow carry it, can be comfortable
it shakes its head and really sings: brother Niu, brother Niu, cross the river, climb the hillside, drive, drive, hurry up
after hearing this, Niu was happy and ran with all his legs. When he ran to the place where he signed up, no one came. He was so happy that he cried out: "I'm the first, I'm the first!" Before the cow finished speaking, the mouse jumped from the cow's neck, jumped to the ground, squeaked and jumped in front of the cow
as a result, the mouse got the first place and the ox got the second place. Therefore, in the zodiac, the little mouse was at the top of the list.
6. The twelve zodiac signs, also known as the twelve zodiac signs, are a unique method of calculating the age of Chinese people. It plays an important role in people's daily life, has a great impact on our folk customs, and even related to people's marriage, childbirth and other events. For example, in the old days, men's marriage and women's marriage paid much attention to the Chinese zodiac. There is a saying that "the chicken and dog are decapitated and the dragon and tiger are incompatible". The combination of the Chinese Zodiac often destroys people's happy marriage and causes a tragedy. For another example, the birth rate of newborns in the year of the dragon is particularly high, because many people want to get dragon children and dragon grandchildren
the twelve zodiac signs are related to the twelve Earthly Branches. In ancient China, there was a special method of chronology, that is, the combination of ten Heavenly Stems and twelve Earthly Branches. There were 60 permutations and combinations, called sixty Jiazi. It goes round and round. There is another animal corresponding to each branch of the earth, namely, rat, Chou Niu, Yin Hu, Mao rabbit, Chen long, Yi snake, Wu Ma, Wei sheep, Shen monkey, you chicken, Xu dog, Hai pig. The animal corresponding to the earthly branch in the year when everyone was born is the so-called Zodiac
the twelve Earthly Branches first appeared in the Shang Dynasty. People divided the sky near the ecliptic (that is, the orbit of the sun in the ancient imagination) into twelve equal parts (that is, the twelve palaces), and named it after ZiChou Yinmao and other twelve Chinese characters. This is the later twelve Earthly Branches. The time for the sun to pass through each house is one month, so the twelve earthly branches were originally used to record the moon.
the twelve zodiac signs are related to the twelve Earthly Branches. In ancient China, there was a special method of chronology, that is, the combination of ten Heavenly Stems and twelve Earthly Branches. There were 60 permutations and combinations, called sixty Jiazi. It goes round and round. There is another animal corresponding to each branch of the earth, namely, rat, Chou Niu, Yin Hu, Mao rabbit, Chen long, Yi snake, Wu Ma, Wei sheep, Shen monkey, you chicken, Xu dog, Hai pig. The animal corresponding to the earthly branch in the year when everyone was born is the so-called Zodiac
the twelve Earthly Branches first appeared in the Shang Dynasty. People divided the sky near the ecliptic (that is, the orbit of the sun in the ancient imagination) into twelve equal parts (that is, the twelve palaces), and named it after ZiChou Yinmao and other twelve Chinese characters. This is the later twelve Earthly Branches. The time for the sun to pass through each house is one month, so the twelve earthly branches were originally used to record the moon.
7.
The year of the twelve zodiac animals is calculated from the first day of the first month. For example, the first day of the first month in 2019 is the year of Jihai, so the year of the twelve zodiac animals is the year of the pig. For example, the first day of the first month in 2020 is the year of gengzi, and the year of the twelve zodiac animals is the year of the rat
The first day of the first lunar month and the beginning of spring are the first signs of the eight character theory of zodiac, which are easy to be confused and cause heated discussion ring the Spring Festival every yearthe Chinese zodiac, as the leading role of the Spring Festival, has been strengthened in contrast to ancient times. In addition to the traditional calendar, Spring Festival couplets, New Year pictures and paper-cut, the "smooth pig affairs" and "prosperous year of the dog" with the Chinese Zodiac have become fashionable new year greetings. All levels of spring festival galas are full of Chinese Zodiac themes, with a wide range of Chinese Zodiac cultural relics and art exhibitions. The news media are scrambling to popularize the knowledge of Chinese zodiac
extended data:
Zodiac culture presents new characteristics:
first, the change of animal use value. The animal instinct of the zodiac has not changed, but its practical value has been quite different from ancient times
Secondly, the elimination of superstition. Most of the zodiac legends are based on the imagination of undeveloped science. Some of them are fabricated, spread false information, and even cheat. Now most of them have seen through the false image Thirdly, the decline of folklore. With the change of ideology, the old social structure disintegrated, and the traditional folk customs lost their foundation and prestige. Taboos graally fade or even be forgotten8.
The origin of the zodiac is related to animal worship. According to the Qin Bamboo Slips Unearthed from Shuihudi in Yunmeng, Hubei Province and Fangmatan in Tianshui, Gansu Province, there was a relatively complete Zodiac system in the pre Qin period. The earliest record of the same Zodiac as modern literature is the Eastern Han Dynasty Wang Chong's Lun Heng
the zodiac is the image of the twelve Earthly Branches, that is, Zi (rat), Chou (cow), Yin (tiger), Mao (rabbit), Chen (Dragon), Si (snake), Wu (horse), Wei (sheep), Shen (monkey), you (chicken), Xu (dog), Hai (pig). With the development of history, the zodiac graally integrates into the folk belief concept of mutual restraint, which is manifested in marriage, life, year luck, etc, Each zodiac has a wealth of legends,
and forms an interpretation system of ideas, which becomes the image philosophy in folk culture, such as the zodiac in marriage, temple fair prayer, the year of birth, etc. In modern times, more people regard the Chinese Zodiac as the mascot of the Spring Festival and become the symbol of entertainment and cultural activities
extended data:
in ancient times, in order to make the poor people remember their birth date, the simplest animal chronology was used, which was later called "year of the Zodiac"
the origin of the zodiac is very early. Twelve animals with stems and branches have been found in the Qin Bamboo Slips of Shuihudi and Fangmatan at the end of the Warring States period, which are similar to the later zodiac in terms of animal name and arrangement of stems and branches, It can be inferred that the twelve animals with stems and branches in Shuihudi Qin Bamboo Slips and Fangmatan Qin Bamboo Slips should be the rudiment of the twelve zodiac animals of later generations, and the chronology of the twelve zodiac animals began in the Eastern Han Dynasty
according to the records of ancient Chinese books, in ancient Central China, the "Gan dating method" was first used, that is, 10 tiangan symbols were used to record the year. At the same time, there are also 12 species of animals with earthly branches to simply record the year. By the Sui Dynasty, the nomads in Northwest China had absorbed only 12 kinds of animal chronology
9. As an ancient folk culture, scholars have different opinions on the origin of the twelve zodiac animals. Some people think that the Chinese Zodiac has the same origin with the earthly branches, which can be traced back to the prehistoric legend era. According to the records of the historian, the Yellow Emperor "built Jiazi to live for years" and "Da Nao made Jiazi" are the reflection of this kind of saying. Scholars believe that Jiazi here refers to the twelve Chinese zodiac. Zhao Yi, a scholar in the Qing Dynasty, believes that the zodiac originated from the nomadic people in the north of China. He said in his new Yu Cong Kao: "at the beginning of Gaibei custom, there was no such thing as the twelfth hour of zichouyin. However, when the zodiac was divided into years, such as the rat, ox, tiger and rabbit, it was spread in China, so it was not abandoned." Some scholars even hold the view that the zodiac was imported into China from Babylon. Guo Moruo, the representative of this view, said in the study of Oracle Bone characters shigan that "the zodiac is similar to Babylon, Egypt and India, but they are not very ancient, and none of them is more than a hundred years after the Western era. This idea was first formulated by the western regions in the Han Dynasty, imitating the twelve palaces of Babylon, and then spread around. " It is believed that the zodiac was made by the residents of the Middle East to imitate the twelve signs of the zodiac in Babylon. The time when it was introced into China was when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty passed through the western regions. However, a large number of documents prove that the zodiac really originated in China, which is the crystallization of animal worship, totem worship and early astronomy of Chinese ancestors
the book of songs is the earliest record of the twelve zodiac animals in the existing literature In the book of songs · Xiaoya · auspicious day, there are eight words: "auspicious day Geng Wu, that is to say, send my horse". It means that Geng Wu and auspicious day are good times, and it is a good day for jumping horses to go hunting. This is an example of the correspondence between Geng Wu and horses. It can be seen that around the spring and Autumn period, the corresponding relationship between di and twelve kinds of animals has been established and spread. In 1975, the bamboo slips unearthed from tomb 11 in Shuihudi, Yunmeng County, Hubei province further proved that the zodiac had existed around the spring and Autumn period. There is a chapter in the unearthed bamboo slips of "Lishu" a, titled "thief", which is about divination of the thief's appearance. It records: "son, rat, thief's mouth, Xi Xu,... Ugly, cow, thief's nose, long neck,... Yin, tiger, thief's shape, Xi Xu, face black Yan. Mao, rabbit, thief, big face. Chen, the robber man, green and red... Already, the insect also, the robber long and black snake eyes. In the afternoon, the deer, the robber, with a long neck and a small neck, is incomplete No horse, no thief. Shen, Huanye, the thief's round face....
the twelve zodiac signs recorded in Rishu are similar to the popular saying. According to research, tomb 11 of Shuihudi was buried in the 30th year of the first emperor of Qin Dynasty (217 BC), so the birth of the zodiac can be traced back to the spring and Autumn period before Qin Dynasty. Scholars believe that this is the earliest and more systematic record of the zodiac in China so far
exactly consistent with the popular saying of the twelve zodiac animals today is the record of Wang Chong in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Wang Chong's Lun Heng Wu Shi records: "Yin, Mu ye, its bird, tiger also. Xu, the earth also, its birds, dogs also In the afternoon, the horse It's a snake. Shen, monkey. "
in the above words, there are 11 kinds of animals in the zodiac, but Chenlong is missing. The book "Yan chapter" says: "Chen is a dragon, already a snake. Chen and Ji are in the southeast. "
in this way, the zodiac is complete, and it is exactly the same as the popular Zodiac. This is indeed the earliest and most complete record of the zodiac in ancient literature< By the southern and Northern Dynasties, the zodiac had been widely used, and there were specific records in the annals of the five elements of the Southern Qi Dynasty that people belonged to certain animals according to the year of birth. Shen Jiong, a poet of the Southern Dynasty Chen, once wrote a poem of twelve zodiac signs, which said: "the trace of the rat gives birth to the st, and the cattle and sheep come down at sk
the tiger feeds in the empty valley, and the rabbit moon opens to the window
Longxi is far green and snake willow is near
when Malan is far away, sheep begin to plant in spring
honey chestnut, minced fruit, chicken anvil and clear cup<
a dog has a heart, but a pig has a heart
the book of songs is the earliest record of the twelve zodiac animals in the existing literature In the book of songs · Xiaoya · auspicious day, there are eight words: "auspicious day Geng Wu, that is to say, send my horse". It means that Geng Wu and auspicious day are good times, and it is a good day for jumping horses to go hunting. This is an example of the correspondence between Geng Wu and horses. It can be seen that around the spring and Autumn period, the corresponding relationship between di and twelve kinds of animals has been established and spread. In 1975, the bamboo slips unearthed from tomb 11 in Shuihudi, Yunmeng County, Hubei province further proved that the zodiac had existed around the spring and Autumn period. There is a chapter in the unearthed bamboo slips of "Lishu" a, titled "thief", which is about divination of the thief's appearance. It records: "son, rat, thief's mouth, Xi Xu,... Ugly, cow, thief's nose, long neck,... Yin, tiger, thief's shape, Xi Xu, face black Yan. Mao, rabbit, thief, big face. Chen, the robber man, green and red... Already, the insect also, the robber long and black snake eyes. In the afternoon, the deer, the robber, with a long neck and a small neck, is incomplete No horse, no thief. Shen, Huanye, the thief's round face....
the twelve zodiac signs recorded in Rishu are similar to the popular saying. According to research, tomb 11 of Shuihudi was buried in the 30th year of the first emperor of Qin Dynasty (217 BC), so the birth of the zodiac can be traced back to the spring and Autumn period before Qin Dynasty. Scholars believe that this is the earliest and more systematic record of the zodiac in China so far
exactly consistent with the popular saying of the twelve zodiac animals today is the record of Wang Chong in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Wang Chong's Lun Heng Wu Shi records: "Yin, Mu ye, its bird, tiger also. Xu, the earth also, its birds, dogs also In the afternoon, the horse It's a snake. Shen, monkey. "
in the above words, there are 11 kinds of animals in the zodiac, but Chenlong is missing. The book "Yan chapter" says: "Chen is a dragon, already a snake. Chen and Ji are in the southeast. "
in this way, the zodiac is complete, and it is exactly the same as the popular Zodiac. This is indeed the earliest and most complete record of the zodiac in ancient literature< By the southern and Northern Dynasties, the zodiac had been widely used, and there were specific records in the annals of the five elements of the Southern Qi Dynasty that people belonged to certain animals according to the year of birth. Shen Jiong, a poet of the Southern Dynasty Chen, once wrote a poem of twelve zodiac signs, which said: "the trace of the rat gives birth to the st, and the cattle and sheep come down at sk
the tiger feeds in the empty valley, and the rabbit moon opens to the window
Longxi is far green and snake willow is near
when Malan is far away, sheep begin to plant in spring
honey chestnut, minced fruit, chicken anvil and clear cup<
a dog has a heart, but a pig has a heart
10. In addition to the legend, it is believed that the earliest one in the book of songs should be Xiaoya auspicious day: "on the auspicious day of Geng Wu, I was sent to my horse", which clearly matches the animal horse with the di Wu, which is completely consistent with the current Zodiac.
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