The meanings of mouse, ugly cow, yinhu, maotu, dragon, snake, afternoon horse, sheep, monkey, chicken, dog and pig.

1. In the ancient calendar of China, Zi, Ugly, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu and Hai were called "Twelve Earthly Branches". At least since the Han Dynasty, China has divided a day and night into twelve hours according to the time when the sun rises, and recorded these twelve hours (big hours) by the method of twelve earthly branches, each hour is equivalent to two hours, so a day and night is now called twenty-four hours.

2. Rats, cows, tigers, rabbits, dragons, snakes, horses, sheep, monkeys, chickens, dogs and pigs are called "Zodiac" and are used to record years.

3. They cooperate with each other in a fixed order to form a mouse, ugly cow, yinhu, maotu, Chen Long, sishe, wuma, weiyang, shenhou, youyou chicken, youyou dog and haizhu, which are used for timing.

Midnight: Midnight, also known as midnight, midnight, the first hour of twelve o'clock. (23: 00 to 0 1 hour Beijing time).

Ugly time: Cockcrow, also called pheasant crow, is the second hour of twelve o'clock. (0 1: 00 to 03: 00 Beijing time).

Yin Shi: Pindan, also known as dawn, morning and sunset, is the alternation of day and night. (03: 00 to 05: 00 Beijing time).

Shi Mao: Sunrise, also known as sunrise, dawn and rising sun, refers to the time when the sun just appeared and Ran Ran first rose. (05: 00 to 07: 00 Beijing time).

Chen Shi: When eating, it is also called breakfast. When the ancients ate in the morning, it was also breakfast time. (07: 00 to 09: 00 Beijing time).

Shi Si: The street corner, also called Yu Ri, is called the street corner near noon. (09: 00 to 1 1: 00 Beijing time).

Noon: Japan and China, also known as Sun Zheng, noon, etc. (From Beijing time 1 1 to Beijing time 13).

Not yet: sundial, also known as sunset, sun center, etc. The sun sets in the west. (From Beijing time 13 to Beijing time 15).

Food application: feeding time, also known as day shop, evening food, etc. (From Beijing time 15 to Beijing time 17).

Youshi: Sunrise is also called sunset, sunset and dusk, which means when the sun goes down. (From Beijing time 17 to Beijing time 19).

Time: dusk, also known as sunset, sunset, dusk, etc. At this time, the sun has set and the sky will be dark. The world is dark and everything is hazy, so it is called dusk. (From Beijing time 19 to Beijing time 2 1).

Shi Hai: People have made up their minds, which is also called fixed coma. It's late at night and people have stopped taking a rest. Calm means quiet. (Beijing time 2 1 hour to 23: 00).

Extended data:

1. The meaning of "Twelve Earthly Branches":

"Zi" means "Zi", which means that everything sprouts under the sun; "Ugliness" is new, and the spirit of the sun has not fallen; "Yin" means transfer and introduction, which means that everything begins to produce Yin. "Mao" is Mao, everything is Mao; "Chen" means earthquake, and everything grows because of vibration; "Si" is the beginning, which refers to the exuberance of Yang; "noon" means that everything is grand and dense; "Taste" is a kind of taste, and everything has a taste; "Body" means body, which means that the body of all things has been achieved; "Unitary" means old, and everything is old; "Xu" means destruction, and everything is destroyed; "Sea" means nuclear, and everything is collected.

2. The selection and arrangement of the zodiac is determined according to the daily activity time of animals:

1) At night 1 1 o'clock to early morning 1 o'clock is midnight, when rats are most active, so they are called "offspring rats".

2) It is an ugly time from 1 am to 3: 00 am, when the cow is ruminating, and it is also the time when the cow begins to plow, so it is called "ugly cow".

3) It is Yin Shi from 3: 00 to 5: 00 in the morning. At this time, tigers are foraging everywhere, which is the fiercest, so they are called "Yinhu".

4) It is Shi Mao from 5: 00 to 7: 00 in the morning. At this time, the sun has not yet risen and the moon is still hanging in the sky. At this time, Yutu was busy making medicine. Rabbits on the earth also began to come out for food, so they were called "hairy rabbits".

5) It is Chen Shi from 7: 00 to 9: 00 in the morning, which is a good time for the dragon to rain, so it is called "Chen Long".

6) From 9: 00 am to 1 1 for the fourth time, the snake began to be active, so it was called "the fourth snake".

7) From 1 1: 00 in the morning to 1: 00 in the afternoon, the sun is in full swing, and it is noon, which is the time when the sky is unconstrained, so it is called "afternoon horse".

8) From/kloc-0 to 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the time is not right. When sheep eat grass at this time, they will become stronger, so they are "not sheep".

9) 3 pm to 5 pm is the application time. At this time, the monkey is active, so it is called "application monkey".

10) 5 pm to 7 pm is unitary time. When night falls, chickens begin to return to their nests, so they are called "unitary chickens".

1 1) From 7: 00 to 9: 00 p.m., this dog started to keep vigil, so it was called "Cuo Dog".

12) From 9: 00 pm to 1 1 pm, this is Shihai. At this time, all is silent, and the pig is snoring and sleeping, so it is called "Hai Pig".

3. The Zodiac, also known as the Zodiac, is twelve animals used by some ethnic groups in China and East Asia to indicate the year and the year of birth. The cycle of the zodiac is 12 years. Everyone has an animal as the year of his birth. The twelve zodiac signs, namely, rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, chicken, dog and pig, are distributed in the twelve earthly branches in turn. This is a folk method of calculating age in China, and it is also an ancient chronology, also known as the twelve zodiac signs.

References:

China Classic Literature Network: heavenly stems and earthly branches Zodiac

Baidu Encyclopedia-Zodiac and Zodiac