Are the zodiac signs in China based on the lunar calendar or the solar calendar?

It is controversial among folk and folklore experts whether the Chinese zodiac starts from beginning of spring or the first day of the first month. The official history regards the first day of the first month of the Spring King as the starting day of the New Year. In modern times, officials also regard the first day of the first month as the beginning of the year of the zodiac. In China, beginning of spring is the beginning of the Year of the Zodiac.

Zodiac is twelve kinds of animals that match the twelve branches in China, including rats, cows, tigers, rabbits, dragons, snakes, horses, sheep, monkeys, chickens, dogs and pigs. The origin of the zodiac is related to animal worship. Each zodiac has rich legends, which form a conceptual interpretation system and become an image philosophy in folk culture, such as the animal sign and the birth year in marriage.

Folk customs with the theme of Zodiac animals are rich and colorful, focusing on the four seasons of the year, life etiquette, entertainment activities, clothing and diet. , with long-term historical evolution and development, local conditions, rooted in traditional nationality and demand-oriented utilitarianism.

Zodiac belief is an imaginative belief system formed by the combination of China's traditional religious philosophy and mathematical culture, supplemented by the association of Zodiac animal temperament, which further affects people's ideas and behaviors. The core is that the zodiac plays a decisive role in the people and things it marks. Zodiac stamps, coins and precious metals have become the new favorites of the collection, famous artists have created new products of the zodiac art, and folk handicrafts of the zodiac have also been introduced. The Chinese zodiac culture has been continuously developed and innovated in modern times, creating higher economic value while inheriting and carrying forward the tradition from generation to generation.