The story of the zodiac, the story of the zodiac? Simplified story of

Speaking of the stories of the Chinese zodiac, we all know that people ask about the stories of the Chinese zodiac. In addition, someone wants to ask about the story of the zodiac. Do you know what this is about? In fact, about the children's stories of the zodiac, let's take a look at the stories of the zodiac first. Simplified story, hope to help everyone!

The Story of the Zodiac The Origin of the Zodiac How did the China Zodiac come from?

1. Long, long ago, the Jade Emperor decided to choose 12 animals as the animal sign in order to set a time for human beings to belong.

As a result, all animals on the earth have launched a competition for the "Zodiac King". Therefore, on the day when animals meet, rats rank first, followed by cows, tigers, rabbits, dragons, snakes, horses, sheep, monkeys, chickens, dogs and pigs, leading to the ranking of animals as long as 12 years.

2. At the end of the Warring States Period, twelve species of cladoches have been found in Qin bamboo slips of Shuihudi and Fangmatan. Their names and the arrangement of branches are generally similar to those of the later zodiac, and their usage and divination logic are also similar to those of the later zodiac. Therefore, it can be inferred that the zodiac in the Qin bamboo slips of Sleeping Tiger Land and Fangmatan is the embryonic form of the later zodiac. The zodiac calendar began in the Eastern Han Dynasty.

3. Primitive ancestors often used some animals, inanimate objects or natural phenomena as symbols of the harmony of this clan, that is, totems. The mixed image of man and beast in Shan Hai Jing is an ancient totem god. The totem of Xia nationality is bear or fish, the totem of Shang nationality is blackbird, and the totem of Zhou nationality is dragon, bird, turtle, dog and tiger.

Zodiac animals are imaginary except dragons, and the rest are daily visible. It can be divided into two categories, namely "six animals" (horses, cows, sheep, chickens, dogs and pigs) and "six animals" (rats, tigers, rabbits, dragons, snakes and monkeys). The former was domesticated by people for economic purposes, while the latter disturbed human life to a certain extent, and ancestors were afraid of it. Therefore, these animals are worshipped as symbols of this clan.

The value of the zodiac:

Zodiac culture contains rich traditional ideas;

(1) Harmony between Man and Nature: The Zodiac is the image representative of heavenly stems and earthly branches, deeply influenced by the traditional philosophy of five elements, and embodies the harmony between man and nature.

(2) Ecological consciousness: Animal worship emphasizes the role of animals in human production and life, including simple ecological concepts.

(3) Traditional morality: fables, idioms and literary works insinuate people's moral quality and convey traditional values by praising and lashing animal temperament.

(4) Group consciousness: the folk custom of the zodiac has a wide audience and is regional and sexual. Everyone celebrates and enjoys festivals, which enhances the cohesion and identity of the community and even the community.

(5) Equality and closeness to the people: The zodiac is shared by everyone, fair and open, and imperial power is hard to change. The mainstream of zodiac culture belongs to civilian culture, popularization and life.

Zodiac story: Zodiac story: Zodiac story

Is there a traditional story about the 12 zodiac? Where can I find it?

1, the origin of the zodiac

As an ancient folk cultural phenomenon, scholars have different opinions about the origin of the zodiac. Some people think that the zodiac and earthly branches are homologous and can be traced back to prehistoric times. In Historical Records, the Yellow Emperor's statements of "building Jiazi to live a long life" and "making every effort to cure Jiazi" reflect this statement. Scholars believe that Jiazi here refers to the Chinese zodiac. Zhao Yi, a scholar in Qing Dynasty, believed that the zodiac originated from nomadic people in northern China. He said in "An Examination of Jade Cong": "At the beginning of the custom of covering the north, there was no ugliness on the 12th, but in the next year, it spread to China, and it was worthy of your ears." (See Zhao Yi's Textual Research on Jade Cong in Qing Dynasty). Some scholars even hold the view that the zodiac was introduced to China from Babylon, and Guo Moruo is the representative of this view. He said in "Research and Branch Interpretation of Oracle Characters", "Twelve Xiaoxiangs are found in Babylon and Egypt, but they are not very old, and none of them originated after the Western Dynasty 100 years ago. The original intention is that this was made in the Western countries during the Han Dynasty, imitating the Babylonian zodiac and then spreading to the surrounding areas. " It is believed that the Chinese Zodiac was formulated by Middle Eastern residents imitating the Babylonian Zodiac, and was introduced to China when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty communicated with the western regions. The above viewpoints are different, so I dare not judge right or wrong subjectively. However, it is proved by a large number of documents that the Chinese zodiac really originated in China, and it is the crystallization of ancestor's animal worship, totem worship and early astronomy.

The Book of Songs is the earliest record of the zodiac in the existing literature. There are eight words in The Book of Songs Xiaoya Jiri: "Jiri Wugeng means poor horse", which means it is a good day to ride a prancing horse and go hunting. This is an example of a horse in the afternoon. It can be seen that the corresponding relationship between earthly branches and twelve kinds of animals has been established and spread around the Spring and Autumn Period. Bamboo slips unearthed from tomb 1 1 in Shuihudi, Yunmeng County, Hubei Province in, further proved that the twelve zodiac animals existed before and after the Spring and Autumn Period. There is a chapter on "Thief" in the bamboo slips unearthed in Japan, which talks about the appearance characteristics of thieves, and records: "Son, mouse, thief wants his mouth, ... ugly, cow, thief with big nose and long neck, ... yin, tiger, thief, if he wants his beard, his face is black." Hair, rabbits, thieves are big. Chen, [the original leaked] the thief is a man, green and red ... already, insects are also, thieves grow black. At noon, the deer is also a thief with a long neck and a small cut. ..... No, horse, thieves have ears. ",ring also, thief round face ..."

The zodiac recorded in Japanese books is roughly the same as the popular saying now. According to textual research, the tomb of Shuihudi 1 1 was in the 30th year of Qin Shihuang (BC), so the appearance of the zodiac can be traced back to at least the Spring and Autumn Period before Qin Dynasty. Scholars believe that this is the earliest and most systematic record of the zodiac found in China so far.

Today's popular zodiac is exactly the same as that recorded by Wang Chong in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Wang Chong's On the History of Wu Heng contains:

"Yin, wood, its bird, tiger. Soil, its birds and dogs are also. ..... At noon, the horse also arrived. Son, mouse, unitary, chicken. Hair, rabbits, too. ..... hey, tapir. No, so are sheep. Ugly, cattle also. ..... already, the snake also. Shen, Qitian also. "

In the above text, there are eleven kinds of animals in the zodiac, but the dragon is gone. The book Quotations says:

"Chen is a dragon, a snake. Chen and Ji are in the southeast. "

The children's story about the zodiac is like this. The zodiac is complete and 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 it was clearly recorded in the Southern Dynasties' Five Elements Records of South Shu Qi that the zodiac was divided according to the year of birth. Shen Jiong, a poet in the Southern Dynasties, once wrote a poem about the zodiac, which said:

"In the case of mice and dust, cattle and sheep fall at dusk.

Tigers sit in empty valleys for food, and rabbits open windows to the moon.

The dragon ridge is far green, and the snake willow lingers near.

Ma Lanfang is far away and breeds sheep in spring.

The monkey chestnut shames the fragrant fruit, and the chicken anvil leads to a clear cup.

Dogs are proud of owning, but pigs are carefree. "

This poem of the zodiac is obviously written in the order of animals assigned by the twelve branches, which shows that people at that time were already very familiar with the zodiac.

It is clear from the above documents that the origin of Zodiac culture is in China. According to the foreign zodiac, the zodiac was introduced to China from the Middle East in the Han Dynasty, which was about the same as the introduction time. We prove from the above-mentioned documents that there were records about the zodiac in China as early as the Spring and Autumn Period (The Book of Heaven and the Book of Songs), indicating that the birth of the zodiac and the matching between the zodiac and the earthly branches had already occurred as early as the Han Dynasty, so we can be sure that the zodiac is an ancient culture that originated in China. So what is the origin of the zodiac? Why did the ancients choose these twelve animals? Scholars have been paying attention to this problem and making various explanations.

Some scholars believe that the zodiac originated from animal worship in primitive times, and Mr. Zhang Binglun of China University of Science and Technology holds this view. He believes that in the case of low primitive productivity and extremely limited ability to understand nature, he has a sense of dependence on animals closely related to his life (such as horses, sheep, cows, chickens, dogs, etc.). ), fear of animals that endanger their own safety (such as tigers and snakes), and reverence for animals that are beyond human functions (such as dogs' sense of smell). ), which leads to the worship of animals. Under the primitive influence of animal worship, the zodiac is an animal calendar used by people to record the years and months.

The animal worship of primitive people is also manifested in primitive dances such as Nuo dance, which was produced around the Zhou Dynasty, and the protagonist in Nuo instrument is Fang and twelve beasts. Twelve kinds of animals are selected in Exorcism Dance, which is a manifestation of primitive people's reverence for animals. The twelve beasts (or twelve gods) selected at the ceremony are to look after twelve months of the year, to drive away four disasters and look after twelve directions for the safety of each month. Of course, the care of the twelve directions involves twelve branches, so it is linked with the zodiac, and the zodiac has been well used in the exorcism ceremony. It can be seen that the twelve animals and the zodiac are in the same strain, and their common source is primitive animal worship.

Liu Yaohan, a scientist, believes that the date of the zodiac and the "Zodiac" is related to the Yi people's "October calendar" method. Yi people living in Daliangshan area of Sichuan have a calendar with twelve kinds of animals as the date of the year. They use twelve kinds of animals as the date of the year. Today is the Year of the Rat and tomorrow is the Year of the Ox. By analogy, three rounds is a month, 36 days, a month is 36 days, and a year is ten months. This is the later "October calendar" method. Mr. Liu Yaohan believes that the October calendar marked with the zodiac dates came into being in the Xia and Yu period (see Liu Yaohan's Collection of Yi People's Historical Investigation and Research), which is related to the primitive totem worship. The zodiac was influenced by the October calendar, and the Yi zodiac later developed into the zodiac.

When we talk about the origin of the zodiac, we must associate it with heavenly stems and earthly branches. The oldest existing branch table in China unearthed from the Yin Ruins in Anyang in modern times shows that the date of branches in the Yin and Shang Dynasties has been mastered. Later, with the passage of time, the functions of the branches gradually diversified. As a label as a time unit, on the one hand, it is extended and used in chronology; On the one hand, it reduces the time (twelve hours a day). According to historical records and textual research, the zodiac appeared after the establishment of the "branch chronology" Twelve kinds of animals correspond to the twelve earthly branches one by one, and animals are the signs of earthly branches. People born in the same year all have their own animals, so twelve kinds of animals are used to date the year and calculate each person's zodiac. It can be seen that the zodiac and the twelve earthly branches are inseparable. For a long time, scholars have found that the information of the zodiac is hidden in the ancient Chinese characters of the zodiac. They compared the ancient Chinese characters of the Chinese zodiac with those of the Chinese zodiac, and found that the ancient Chinese characters of the Chinese zodiac were related to twelve kinds of animals. Careful observation shows that there are some similarities and some differences. In Xu Shen's Shuo Wen Jie Zi in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the word "Ji" was described as a pictographic character of a snake, as well as "Hai" and "tapir". People nearby have also verified that there are similarities between the characters of the earthly branches in Oracle Bone Inscriptions and the inscriptions on bronze inscriptions and the characters of the zodiac, which makes people wonder whether the zodiac is the pictographic characters of the animals of the zodiac. Because the ugly shade and ugly hair of the twelve earthly branches are easy to remember, they are replaced by twelve kinds of animals, and the animal borrowing ordinal number matches the earthly branches, which becomes the year number system. Although the above conjecture has certain credibility, if you think about it carefully, you can still judge that the zodiac can't be pictographs of the zodiac, because as mentioned earlier, the zodiac was skillfully used in the Yin and Shang Dynasties, while the zodiac was only produced in the Spring and Autumn Period and came from different sources. If the earthly branches are related to the zodiac when creating characters, wouldn't the zodiac be produced at the same time as the earthly branches?

To sum up, the author thinks that the zodiac appeared later than the twelve earthly branches, but it is closely related to the twelve earthly branches. The zodiac is an appendage of the twelve earthly branches, and the choice of twelve animals as substitutes for the twelve earthly branches stems from the animal worship psychology of the ancients.

2. Selection and arrangement of the zodiac

The choice of the zodiac is not complicated, but it is close to the daily life of the Han people and can be guessed. Zodiac animals can be roughly divided into three categories: one is the "six animals" domesticated by human beings, namely cattle, sheep, horses, pigs, dogs and chickens. Animals domesticated by human beings for economic or other purposes account for half of the Zodiac animals. "Six Livestock" is an important concept in China agricultural culture with a long history. In the traditional concept of China people, "Six Livestock Flourishing" represents the prosperity, auspiciousness and beauty of the family. During the Spring Festival, people usually talk about "the prosperity of six animals", so it is inevitable that these six animals will become the zodiac. The first is the well-known wild animals, which are closely related to people's daily life. They are tigers, rabbits, monkeys, rats and snakes, and some of them participate in human life with awe, such as tigers and snakes. There are also rodents that people hate and taboo, but they rely on human beings to survive; More people like it, such as rabbits and monkeys. The third category is the traditional symbolic mascot of China people-the dragon, which is a symbol of China, an "artifact" that combines many animal features, and a "spiritual thing" in people's imagination. Dragon represents wealth and auspiciousness, and it is the most symbolic auspicious animal, so its position in the zodiac is indispensable.

As can be seen from the above, the choice of zodiac animals is not arbitrary, but has certain meanings. People choose animals from different angles, which has certain significance.

So in what order are these twelve animals arranged? As mentioned earlier, the zodiac was born in the atmosphere of ancient animal worship and totem worship. People only use animals to borrow ordinal numbers to match earthly branches. Why did you choose these twelve animals, who came first and in what order? There is no conclusion. Because the zodiac was born in ancient culture, people have lost their original intention of arrangement because of their age. The story of today's people is only attached to it, and can only be relied on and imagined. There are three explanations about the arrangement of the zodiac.

The first is the arrangement of the zodiac in the story. The story of the Han nationality goes like this: In those days, Huangdi in Xuanyuan wanted to choose twelve beasts as court guards. The cat asked the mouse to sign up, but the mouse forgot. As a result, the cat didn't choose it, and since then, it has made enemies with the mouse. The elephant also came to the competition, and the mouse got into its nose and drove it away. The rest of the animals, originally headed by cows, were rushed to the backs of cows, and pigs also booed, so the mice came first and the pork chops came last. The tiger and the dragon refused to accept it, and were named king of the mountain and king of the sea, ranking behind the mouse and the cow. The rabbit refused to accept it again, raced with the dragon and finally reached the dragon. The dog was unfair and bit the rabbit in a rage, so he was punished from the bottom. Snakes, horses, sheep, monkeys and chickens have also gone through some contests and arranged their positions one by one. Finally, the order of rats, cows, tigers, rabbits, dragons, snakes, horses, sheep, monkeys, chickens, dogs and pigs was formed. Although this story is not a scientific explanation of the problem, it embodies people's explanation of the choice of the zodiac.

Secondly, Chinese ancient scholars explained the relationship between earthly branches and Xiao beasts from the perspective of twelve o'clock in ancient times. There is a mouse in the dark, which comes out in the middle of the night and bites out the state between heaven and earth from the gap. "The mouse bites the sky", so it belongs to the mouse. When the sky opens, the land will be reclaimed. "This land will be saved from ugliness." Cows have to plow fields, so ugliness belongs to cows. Yin Shi is the time when a person is born. If he lives, he must die. Nothing can kill people more than a tiger. Yin has awe, so Yin belongs to a tiger. Shi Mao is like the sunrise. The sun should be separated from divination, which is like fire, and the yin contained in it is the essence of the moon, so Shi Mao belongs to the rabbit. March is the rainy season. Chen Ziran belongs to the dragon. In April, at this moment, spring grass is a good day for snakes, just like fish get water. Besides, it's already morning, when the snake is returning to the hole, so it's already a snake. In the afternoon, the spirit of the sun reached its acme and was budding. A horse, an animal, gallops and flies with its hooves, but it tramples on the ground from time to time. The sky is sunny, the ground is cloudy, and the horse jumps between them, so it becomes the zodiac at noon. Sheep, grazing in the afternoon is the best time, and it is easy to gain weight. This time is not timely, so it is not a sheep. Not after dressing, but when the monkey is crying near the western hills, and the monkey likes to stretch his arms and jump at this time, so the monkey is worth dressing. When the moon appears, it belongs to water, so it should be divination. The hexagram is the hexagram, and the middle hexagram represents the sun and the essence of the sun. So, you are a chicken. When night falls, it's time. Dogs are vigil animals, and when they are with them, they become dogs. Then when the sea comes, heaven and earth are immersed in a state again, just like the fruit wrapped in stones, and everything in the world is covered at night. Pigs are chaotic creatures that only know how to eat, so pigs have become the zodiac of Hai. Zhu, a famous Neo-Confucianist in Song Dynasty, holds this view.

Thirdly, according to the belief of China people, twelve kinds of animals are divided into two categories, and the yin and yang of animals are arranged according to the odd-even difference of toes. Animals generally have the same number of toes in front, back, left and right. Only mice have four feet in front and five feet in the back, even and odd. Things are rare, of course, they rank first, followed by cattle and four toes (even number); Tiger, five toes (odd number); Rabbit, four toes (even number); Dragon, five toes (odd number); Snakes, no toes (occasionally); Horse, one toe (odd number); Sheep, four toes (even number); Monkey, five toes (odd number); Chicken, four toes (even number); Dog, five toes (odd number); Pig, four toes (even number). Hong Xun, a scholar in the Song Dynasty, and Lang Ying, a contemporary scholar, classified according to this statement, and put forward that "the ground is at the bottom" in their book "Seven Revision of the Zodiac", so don't look at the number of toes. The mouse has four claws in front, even number is yin, hind foot is five claws, and odd number is yang. The first half of the child is the yin of last night, and the second half is the yang of today, just using mice to symbolize the child. The four claws of cattle, sheep, pig's trotters and chickens, plus the four claws of rabbits lacking lips and the tongue of snakes, should all be even, belonging to Yin, accounting for six. Tigers have five claws, monkeys and dogs have five claws, and horseshoes are round and undivided. All six are odd numbers, belonging to Yang, and together with the mice belonging to Yang, they account for the other six branches. Lang Ying's classification is the flood borrowing classification, and the two are similar.

The above three explanations explain the arrangement of the zodiac from different angles, and the stories about the arrangement of animals in the zodiac are very rich. On the one hand, the spread of these stories enriches the content of the zodiac, on the other hand, it also promotes the inheritance and development of the zodiac culture. Zodiac is divided into two categories, which are incorporated into the five elements concept of China people. The purpose is to link the zodiac with the life ceremony, and to correspond the five elements with the zodiac, thus explaining other related life and cultural phenomena.

3. China people's zodiac signs.

The zodiac was originally a set of numbers used in chronology, which was a part of the ancient astronomical calendar, and later became a widely recognized zodiac calendar. China's ancient philosophy is "the unity of man and nature" and "the foundation of the five elements of the universe", which holds that the five elements determine the survival and development of all things in the world. They believe that the sun, moon, sun, sun, water, fire and earth are the foundation of all things, and when the sun, moon, gold, wood, water and fire are combined into seven obsidian, they are called obsidian. It dominates everything, and the zodiac is located in the sky, and it stays for seven nights on the twelfth day of the year, so the zodiac is influenced by the five elements and becomes a part of it.

Since the concept of zodiac appeared, with the popularity of fortune telling, it has been circulating. It is believed that each element in the five elements is mutually restrictive and will have a great influence on people's life. People can use different five elements to coordinate, so that their life and work can be satisfactory. Zodiac animals are divided into two categories, corresponding to the five elements, thus producing a set of fortune-telling skills that determine the fate of the zodiac. At the same time, it is also believed that the zodiac has a certain relationship with people's personality. Even people with the same zodiac sign have different personalities and fates because of their different birth times.

The above is the story with the zodiac? The related content of the simplified story is about the story sharing of China Zodiac. Read the story of the zodiac, I hope this will help everyone!