How did the word animal year come from? What are the allusions?

The so-called "animal year" is the year when 12 meets the lunar calendar, commonly known as the year of the zodiac. For example, people born in the Year of the Monkey, 2004 is their birth year. In traditional customs, the Year of the Animal is usually considered as an unlucky year. Those folk song collectors who say that "the year of birth is too old, and it is too old to take the lead. If there is no blessing, there will be disaster" is the best portrayal of the unlucky year of birth. Therefore, people usually refer to the "year of birth" as the "year of threshold", that is, spending the year of birth is like stepping into a threshold. Every animal year, in all parts of the northern Han nationality, no matter adults or children, they should wear red belts, commonly known as "tying red", and children should wear red vests and red shorts, thinking that this is the only way to avoid disasters. This custom is still popular all over the country. During the Spring Festival, red and yellow ribbons of "auspicious belt" and "auspicious knot" are sold everywhere in the market. People in this animal year tie them around their waists and wrists, which can eliminate disasters and turn evil into good.

According to textual research, the word "Zodiac" existed as early as the Western Han Dynasty, which originated from China's Zodiac and his "red worship" mentality. In ancient China, people used the combination of heavenly stems and earthly branches, such as A, B, C, D, Zi Chou and Yin Mao, to remember the year of birth. In order to facilitate memory and calculation, people use twelve kinds of animals, such as rats and cows, to correspond to the twelve earthly branches, and one of them is used as a year's zodiac every year. The birth year of the Han nationality is put forward according to the cycle of the zodiac, which is closely related to the zodiac. When a person is born in the lunar calendar, then every year of this zodiac will be the year of his birth. Because of the cycle of the zodiac, every two years, people will meet their own birth years and introduce them in turn. The birth years of life are 2 years old, 24 years old, 36 years old, 48 years old and 60 years old. Many ethnic groups in our country have the custom of attaching importance to the 60th birthday of the elderly, commonly known as "flower armor". Hua Jia is the sixth animal year in a person's life, and it is also the reincarnation of the year of dry support. We should celebrate it well to express people's desire for longevity, health and auspiciousness.

The taboo of "Monument to the Core of Life" has a wide influence among the people. In the folk customs of the north and the south, there is a tradition of hanging red in the animal year to avoid evil spirits and disasters. So people especially love red in every animal year. The emphasis on red in the animal year should come from the worship of red in the traditional culture of Han nationality in China. The concept of red to ward off evil spirits and red auspiciousness has existed since primitive society. Red is the color of the sun, blood and fire. With the changes of the times, this thought of respecting red has not changed. Red couplets, red wedding dresses, red hijabs, red candles, new family red lists for old weddings of Han people, and so on. Whenever and wherever, people should use red to add joy. Han people regard red as a symbol of happiness, success, loyalty and justice, especially red has the function of exorcising evil spirits and protecting the body. Therefore, on New Year's Eve, people put on red underwear early, or wear red belts and some accessories tied with red silk to welcome their birth year. It is believed that only in this way can we avoid disasters. These red things that ward off evil spirits in this animal year are what people often say, "this life is red."

People also have the custom of offering sacrifices to the "god of life" in the year of the zodiac in order to prolong life. The god's view of the core monument of life comes from Taoism. Taoism has absorbed the popular saying of "the stone tablet of life" and put forward the theories of "the stone tablet of life", "the year of birth" and "the year of birth". Anyone born at the age of 60 is called the core monument of life. Chen Yuan, also known as the animal year. As a local religion in China, Taoism has a natural kinship with heavenly stems and earthly branches and the Chinese Zodiac. As for the core monuments of the God of Life, some places are called "Ming Shou Xing Jun" and some places are called "Chen Yuan", which are collectively referred to as the God of Sixty Children. People born in different years within 60 years, headed by Jiazi Year, can find their own core monument. For example, Yue Fei, a national hero, was born in A.D. 1 103, and the core monument of his life was named "General Wei Rener, not yet mature". Taoism believes that if Chen Yuan is enshrined in the core monument of life, and Chen Yuan is enshrined in the core monument of life in the animal year or the normal year, it will eliminate disasters and gain happiness, which has become a custom that has been passed down to this day.

The saying about "Year of the Animal" is not unique to the Han nationality, in fact, there are similar sayings among some ethnic minorities in China. As the old Tibetan saying goes, everyone has a bad day and a good day, which is calculated by birth. People think that every earthly branch of the Tibetan calendar ends, and the second earthly branch begins with a "flower" (meaning a hurdle, that is, a bad year), so everyone's 13 years old, 25 years old and 37 years old (and so on) are forbidden to go out and contact with the same students. Read more scriptures, Dobusch, to avoid disaster. For the Khitan minority in China, the custom of "Year of the Animal" was originally the custom of the Khitan people to celebrate their birth. In the Liao Dynasty, celebrating the "year of the animal" was also called the rebirth ceremony or the birthday ceremony again, because in the Liao Dynasty, in the year of 12, the zodiac was reincarnated every 12. When everyone belongs to the birth zodiac, a ceremony will be held to commemorate his birth and repay his mother's kindness.

Generally speaking, this animal year is a blessing or a curse, or what most people think: this animal year is smooth and unstoppable; At present, there is no conclusion, saying that there are barriers and doorsteps everywhere, and it is bad luck to get home. But what is certain is that there is no scientific basis for saying that the animal year is a bad year. However, in this animal year, people often encounter many things they don't like, or do some absurd things, which makes people feel very strange. This phenomenon of "core remains of life" is still a blank in folklore research. Therefore, people who often pass the birth year are very worried about their fortune this year. How to cross this threshold is the biggest thing for most people in their birth year. More ironically, as the New Year approaches, merchants will make full use of people's psychological characteristics of seeking good fortune and avoiding evil, and vigorously promote "animal year" products, such as red underwear and red underwear. Seize business opportunities and make big money. Today's animal year, like other traditional customs in China, has lost its inherent meaning and become a pretext for commercial propaganda. However, most of us follow this trend with the attitude of "believing what is there but not believing what is there", or when it is a new fashion, wearing red clothes and wearing a red belt in the "animal year" is not only to "ward off evil spirits", it has become a popular fashion.