12 how did the zodiac come from?

It is difficult to study the origin of the zodiac. For a long time, many people regard Lun Heng as the earliest document that records the zodiac. Lun Heng is the representative work of Wang Chong, a materialist thinker in the Eastern Han Dynasty. "On the Balance of Things" contains: "Yin, wood, birds and tigers. Soil, its birds and dogs are also. ..... At noon, the horse also arrived. Son, mouse knife. Unitary, chicken also. Hair, rabbits, too. ..... hey, tapir. No, so are sheep. Ugly, cattle also. ..... Third, snakes are also. Shen, Qitian also. " There are only eleven zodiac signs in the above quotation, but the dragon is missing. The book "Poisonous Words" also said: "Chen Weilong, Si is a snake, and Chen and Si are in the southeast. In this way, the zodiac is complete, and the subordinate relationship between the twelve earthly branches and the zodiac is also so complete, just like today.

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First of all, let's talk about the meaning of the zodiac.

The first group is rats and cows. Rats represent wisdom and cows represent diligence. Wisdom and diligence must be closely combined. Wisdom becomes smart if it is not diligent. And just being diligent without thinking becomes stupid. The two must be combined. This is the expectation and requirement of our ancestors for our first group, and it is also the most important group.

The second group are tigers and rabbits. Tigers represent courage, rabbits represent caution. Courage and caution must be closely combined to achieve boldness and caution. If courage leaves prudence, it becomes recklessness, but without courage, it becomes timidity. This group is also very important, so it ranks second. I think these nobles should add: When we show caution, don't think that China people are not brave.

Looking at everyone lost in thought, I went on to say: the third group is dragon and snake, the dragon represents fierceness, and the snake represents flexibility. The so-called rigid is easy to break, and too rigid is easy to break. However, if there is only a soft side, it is easy to lose your mind. Therefore, combining rigidity with softness is our ancestral motto.

Next are horses and sheep. Horses represent courage and sheep represent harmony. If a person only cares about his own goals and doesn't consider the surrounding environment, he will inevitably bump into the surrounding environment, and he may not be able to achieve his goals in the end. But if a person patronizes harmony, he may even have no direction. So his courage must be closely combined with harmony, which is the fourth set of expectations of our ancestors.

Then there are monkeys and chickens. Monkeys represent flexibility, and chickens crow regularly, which represents constancy. Flexibility and constancy must be closely combined. If you are flexible and inconsistent, no matter how good the policy is, you will not get anything. On the one hand, it will be stable and maintain the overall harmony and order, on the other hand, it can move forward in flexibility. This is the most fundamental gist.

Finally, there are dogs and pigs. Dogs represent loyalty and pigs represent easygoing. If a person is too loyal and doesn't know how to be easy-going, he will exclude others. On the contrary, if a person is too easy-going and has no loyalty, he will lose his principles. No matter his loyalty to a nation or his own ideal, he must be closely combined with easygoing, so as to easily maintain a deep balance.

Why do the zodiac need twelve?

"Zhou Li Chun Guan von Shi Xiang" contains: "Ten palms are two years old, ten palms are February, ten palms are two days old, ten palms are two days old, ten palms are two days old, and ten palms are twenty-eight stars. Their narrative is distinguished to meet the heaven." The division of time is progressive, with twelve years, twelve months a year and twelve o'clock a day. "Mandarin Yu Jin Si" contains: "The Yellow Emperor has twenty-five sons, and fourteen sons have surnames, which are twelve surnames." Even the sons of heaven's wives and concubines have the saying of "twelve women", "The Book of the Later Han Dynasty Xun Shuang Biography": "Therefore, the sons of heaven marry twelve women, and the number of days is also; There is an equal difference below the princes, and things have fallen. "

In recent years, the creation epic Dark Biography of the Han nationality has been discovered in Shennongjia area. There is a story about the origin of Ganzhi: "At the beginning of the world, Huang Xuan rode chaos beast and met Nuwa. There are two meat buns beside Nu Wa. There are ten men in the big one and twelve women in the small one. Huang Xuan said: "This is a heavenly revolution to support God to govern Gankun." So, they were named respectively, and the husband and wife were matched, which became yin and yang. Men are collectively called heavenly stems and women are earthly branches. "This creation myth story tells the story of Ganzhi, the mysterious god, the god of Nuwa, and the story of Ganzhi Yin and Yang Kun, dating back to the" life experience "of Ganzhi a long time ago.

In ancient times, the publication of heaven and earth was always based on heaven and earth. Ten heavenly stems are also called ten mothers, and the corresponding twelve branches are called twelve sons. Cai Yong's "Moon Order" in Han Dynasty: "The love of the five elements is great, occupying the program of fighting, so A and B became famous at the beginning, which is called dry; Making a child ugly in the name of the moon is a branch. Branches match branches to make sixty years old. " Da Rao was a minister in the era of the Yellow Emperor, and the match here is sixty years, that is, sixty jiazi, taking the least common multiple of ten days' work and twelve earthly branches. The trunk and branches are matched in order, from Jiazi to Ugly ... until Guihai is the 60th pair, which happens to be the last pair of trunk and branches, and then defecation starts from Jiazi. This cycle is called Jiazi. Among them, each aerial stem appeared 6 times and each aerial branch appeared 5 times.

The birth of the zodiac has an astronomical background. In primitive times, our ancestors experienced a cycle of alternating cold and summer. Hong Hao's Biography at the End of Song Dynasty in Song Dynasty said: "Jurchen is very small, just after the new moon, and the person doesn't know the date. When asked, they will say, "How many times have I seen grass?" "It is also recorded in Meng Gong's Record of Monks and Tartars in the Song Dynasty:" When a grass is one year old, someone asks its age and says how many grasses it is. "In 2000, another sky observer found that the moon's profit and loss cycle can be used to measure the length of a year, and twelve full moons are one year old. This discovery is one of the most accurate achievements of the early calendar, and "Twelve" is regarded as "days" to convey God's will. Heavenly stems and earthly branches, the sun and the moon are opposite, and heaven and earth are opposite. This is the "Twelve".

Rat, ugly cow, black snake, black horsetail, Yang Shen Houyou chicken, Gou Haizhu

There are many animals in the world. Why did the ancients choose these twelve animals as their zodiac signs?

Liu Xian's Yang Guang Miscellaneous Notes in Qing Dynasty quoted Li Changqing's superficial remarks about Matsushita Pavilion: "Why is A Zi a mouse?" Yue: Born in the child, it will not open until it dies. Rats eat insects. Therefore, in night is still young, positive mice have to wait, so children belong to mice. The ground is ugly, and the cow opens the ground, so ugliness belongs to the cow. If born in yin, if born, kill. Murderer, tiger, Yin people, fear. If you are awesome, you are a tiger, then Yin is a tiger. Offender, sunrise. In vitro, it contains the essence of Taiyin Jade Rabbit, so it is a rabbit. The morning of divination in March is when the dragon rains, so the morning belongs to the dragon. The last person, divination in April, was lush and the snake was in its place. Also, when a snake is not on the road, it is a snake. At noon, the sun is born, and the sun is born. Horses are healthy, never leave the ground, and belong to the shade, so they belong to horses in the afternoon. Sheep are not sheep, because they grow by biting untimely grass. When applying, the ape crowed in the sunset, and his arms were stretched out. By analogy, chaos runs rampant, so the application belongs to monkeys. This person, when the moon comes out, is the body of the moon, and water is the essence of the sun golden rooster, so it belongs to the chicken. In the nucleus, pigs know nothing but food, so the sea is a pig. "

There are various legends about the arrangement of the zodiac. Such stories, like jokes, or fables, have strong literary elements. However, the seating arrangement of the zodiac is by no means a one-off event, nor can it be completed in one generation. At the beginning, it is not necessary to nominate twelve kinds at a time, but there may be only four or five kinds, and there may be a surplus. Later, the survival of the fittest, quota positioning, has been passed down to this day.

In other words, the selection and arrangement of the zodiac is determined according to the daily activity time of animals. At the latest from the Han Dynasty, China began to adopt the geochronology, with twelve hours a day, which is equivalent to three hours on both sides. It is midnight from eleven o'clock in the evening to one o'clock in the morning, and mice are the most active. From 0: 00 to 3: 00 in the morning/kloc-,it's ugly, and the cow is ruminating. It is Yin Shi from 3: 00 to 5: 00. At this time, tigers are foraging everywhere, which is the fiercest. 5: 00 to 7: 00 is the crime time. At this time, the sun has not yet risen and the moon is still hanging in the sky. At this time, Yutu is busy taking medicine. 7: 00 am to 9: 00 am is the morning, which is a good time for the dragon to rain. From 9: 00 to 1 1, the snake became active. From eleven o'clock in the morning to one o'clock in the afternoon, the sun is shining, and at noon, it is the time to be unconstrained. In the afternoon 1 until 3 o'clock, it is late. At this time, sheep will grow stronger if they eat grass. From 3 pm to 5 pm, it is the Olympic Games. At this time, the monkey became active. It's one yuan from five to seven. When night falls, chickens begin to return to their nests. From 7: 00 pm to 9: 00 pm, the dog began to watch the night. From 9 pm to 1 1, it is Shihai. At this time, all was silent and the pig was snoring.

The zodiac is also called the zodiac. In China's calendar, there are twelve kinds of animals on duty in turn, so in our China year, rats, cows, tigers, rabbits, dragons, snakes, horses, sheep, monkeys, chickens, dogs and pigs are used in the calendar.

The zodiac began in the sixth century BC, and was originally applied to a set of earthly numbers, and later became the year number of the year. However, in the Zodiac, why does the mouse that everyone shouts and beats take the lead? There is a folklore here: the Jade Emperor called all the animals of the Zodiac to hold a ranking meeting, and the eight immortals, such as pigs, rats, cows, horses and sheep, crossed the ocean and showed their magical powers. Everyone hurried to the meeting together. Niu Ge is simple and honest, and the result of leaving early takes the lead. Originally, the champion belonged to him, but at the critical moment, the clever mouse quietly jumped on the cow's back and stood on the cow's head. As a result, Niu Ge had to give way to Brother Mouse, ranking second. Of course, this is just a legend. In recent years, another more reasonable and credible statement has become popular. As we all know, animals have odd and even toes. Whether biped or quadruped, the number of toes is consistent, or the left and right are consistent, but rats are the exception. It has four toes on its front foot and five toes on its back foot. Therefore, when arranging the zodiac, they are arranged according to odd and even toes. Because mouse feet are odd and even, they cannot be arranged. Next, cows with four toes are even, five-toed tiger feet, odd, four-toed free feet, even, five-toed dragon feet, odd, and snakes. Because there are no toes, they are actually even, one-toed horse feet, odd, four-toed sheep feet, even, five-toed monkey feet, odd, four-toed chicken feet, even and dog feet. This idea of dividing by the odd-even number of toes finally got justice for Brother Mouse, washed away the injustice of "occupying a seat" for many years, and made the mouse hold its head high and show its elegant demeanor again in the new year.

Another chapter of this story tells why cats and mice become enemies. At that time, cats and mice were good friends. Before going to the mass meeting, they slept together and agreed that whoever woke up first would wake up. I'm afraid that the mouse will get up early the next day and go to the meeting quietly, ignoring the cat. By the time the cat woke up and rushed to Congress, the Buddha had allocated the number for twelve years. Since then, the cat and the mouse have formed a deep hatred.

Of course, legend belongs to legend, and the view of folklore scholar Guo Licheng is proved by historical books. People call heavenly stems and earthly branches an animal representing his twelfth birthday to commemorate his famous age.

Zodiac totem:

Yan Fu, a scholar in Qing Dynasty, introduced the word "totem" into China. He translated the word "totem" into "totem" for the first time when he translated the book "General Interpretation of Society" by the British scholar Jenks, which became a commonly used translation name in China academic circles.

Yan Fu pointed out in his comments that totem is a symbol of groups, aiming at distinguishing groups. It is believed that there were totem phenomena similar to those of Australians and Indians in ancient China. Using totem to explain myths, classics and folk customs can often get the same result. So, what is a totem? Totem is a primitive superstition that animals or natural things are related to the clan, so it is used as the emblem or symbol of the clan.

The Yi people who live in Daliangshan, Sichuan at the junction of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan provinces still retain rich and long-standing astronomical knowledge. Today is the Year of the Rat, tomorrow is the Year of the Ox, the Year of the Tiger and the Year of the Pig. In some places, temples of the zodiac are built and annual ceremonies are held to dance the zodiac in a solemn atmosphere.

The proverb "When a mouse crosses the street, everyone shouts" shows that people generally hate mice. However, many clans and tribes in ancient times believed that their ancestors were mice and were proud of being descendants of mice. They draw and carve the image of mice and make long-term sacrifices in ceremonies or programs to pray for the protection of their ancestors.

The white tiger clan thinks that their ancestors are male white tigers, and tigers will not hurt them. When you want to travel far, you must choose the day when you belong to the tiger (cloudy day), thinking that only in this way can you do good luck. Some people come back from far away, but also have to calculate the exact date. Only the tiger day will enter the threshold.

It is said that their ancestors hatched from the eggs of Golden Flower Chicken, believing that the rooster knows the good and the bad and will bless them. When migrating, put things in a basket with a rooster on it. After arriving in the new area, the rooster will settle down where it crows. In their view, the place where the rooster crows is the most auspicious.

China's dragon has the basic characteristics of totem and is a totem god worshipped by all ethnic groups. It is explained in Shuo Wen Jie Zi: "The dragon, the scale worm's length, can be quiet and bright, big and small, long and short, the vernal equinox reaches the sky, and the autumn equinox goes deep." Legend has it that the birth and appearance of Yan Di, Huangdi, Yao, Shun and Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang are all related to dragons, all of which are dragon species and dragon sons. Ancient Vietnamese also thought they were dragons, so they kept tattooing like a dragon. Today, we often say "descendants of the dragon" or "descendants of the dragon" are all remnants of the concept of totem ancestors. As for the concept of dragon totem god, it is more common, and most ethnic groups once regarded dragon as a protector.

Wild boar god is the object of worship of hunters in the north, and is listed as a great god among Manchu people, saying that it is higher than mountains and hairy as forests. All the valleys in the mountains are harmed by its fangs. It is the patron saint of the tribe.

Some Naxi people regard cows as ancient creation beasts. In the Genesis of Dongba Sutra of Naxi nationality, this magical cow hatched from a giant egg in the sea was described, which broke through the ground with its horns and hooves, causing the earth to shake. It was killed by Seven Sisters, the ancestor of Naxi nationality and the seventh brother of Kaidi, who sacrificed ox heads to heaven, cowhide, meat, earth, bone, stone, tendon, mountain, blood, sun, liver and moon. In this way, there will be a clear and bright sky, the sun and the moon, and a quiet world where everything grows. Since then, cows have been regarded as sacred objects, used to sacrifice and worship the mountains and rivers in the world. Naxi people worship the cow god very much.

The worship of horses is mostly spread among nomadic people and hunters in the north. There is a myth of snow-white among the security guards. Manchu people have the custom of offering sacrifices to horse gods, and there are many records of offering sacrifices to horse gods and building horse temples in Qing literature. Daur people call God Horse "Wen Gu". This kind of god horse is not allowed for women to ride, you can eat it, you can walk around, and no one is allowed to catch it. You can even eat seedlings in the fields at will. Most horses are all white, and the whole tail is mane. They have never been trimmed, and colored silk is often tied to the mane as a symbol.

Sheep totem also occupies an important position in many ethnic groups. The ancient classic Shan Hai Jing describes an ancient immortal sheep with no mouth and no food. Kazakhs worship the goat god, which is called "Xie Ke Xie Ke Atta". They think that all the goats in the world belong to it, and it is sacrificed for the reproduction of goats. The worship of the sheep god is called "Shaopan Atta", which is in charge of all the sheep in the world. During the sacrifice, the god was asked to bless the sheep to be productive. Kirgiz people worship goats and call the goat god "Qilipan Ata", which is the first god to domesticate wild sheep into domestic animals.

The Han nationality was one of the earliest nations who trained dogs in ancient times. As early as Shan Hai Jing, there was a record that dogs could resist fierce attacks. In The Biography of Nan Man in the Later Han Dynasty, the myth of Yao ancestor in ancient times was recorded, that is, Pan Hu, the divine dog, helped a family to kill General Wu, and the daughter of the family married Pan Hu and gave birth to Yao descendants. As the ancestor myth of the clan, Pan Hu, the god dog who saved the nation from extinction, has always been regarded as the ancestor of the clan by Mianzhi, a Yao nationality in Hunan, Guangxi, Guangdong and so on, and is honored as "Wang Pan" and "Pan", which is not only sung orally, but also recorded in the genealogy. Manchu worshiped dogs from the beginning of hunting and regarded dogs as animals owed to Manchu. Later, they reunited. Legend has it that a righteous dog saved Nurhachi. So far, they haven't eaten dog meat, beaten dogs, or worn dog skin hats.

The snake is one of the important totems of the ancient Yue people, and later evolved into a god. Wu Zhenfang's Miscellaneous Notes on Lingnan in Qing Dynasty said: "There is a snake god in Chaozhou, which looks like Guannan and is called Tiandi. There are snakes in the niche. If you want to see it, you must leave the temple before going out, circling around the tripod, hanging on the rafters, or carrying it on a bamboo pole, winding and knotting it, not afraid that people will not become scary, three feet long, green and lovely. ..... Anyone who worships God, snakes often visit their homes. " People in Yixing, Jiangsu Province divide snakes into domestic snakes and wild snakes, which are called "Li Man" and "Waiman" respectively. The so-called domestic snake refers to a snake that lives in a house. It is a harmless snake, which often wraps around beams, eaves, cracks in walls, ripples and attics. It is about three feet long. People think that domestic snakes will protect people. With domestic snakes, the rice in the rice shop will be full and not empty.

Huang, the surname of Yao nationality in Nandan County, Guangxi, is said to be a female monkey, whose offspring are all strong. Later, there were ten suns and ten moons in the sky. It was too hot during the day and too bright at night, so people asked Huang's descendants to photograph the sun and the moon in the sky. Later, nine suns and nine moons were shot down. To this end, people are very grateful to the Huang brothers. Because the Huang brothers were born to the monkey mother, people also thank the monkey mother. Later, in order to commemorate the monkey mother, Yao people in Dayaozhai banned not only beating monkeys and eating monkey meat, but also other surnames.

Anecdotes of the zodiac

[mouse]

Anecdote: In the history of mice, there was a festival in which mice married women. Generally, on the 25th night of the first month, every household doesn't light a lamp that night, and the whole family sits on the kang in the hall, silently eating food like "mouse claws" made of flour in the dark. The purpose of silence is to provide convenience for mice to marry women, so as not to offend mice and bring hidden dangers to the coming year.

According to the folklore of Taiwan Province Province, the third night of the first month is the day when mice get married, and the folk paper-cut saying that "mice get married" is a reflection of this folk custom. Therefore, people will sleep in the morning, do not light a lamp in the middle of the night, do not sprinkle rice and salt on the ground, and will not affect the happy event of mice.

[ox]

Yuan Zhen, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, wrote the poem "Spring Life": "Whip the cattle outside the county gate and fight for the soil to cover the spring silkworm." "Whip first" and then "fight" are two ancient folk words to send winter cold and welcome the new year. Whip spring cattle, also known as whip cattle, originated earlier. "Zhou Li? 6? 1 month order: "Dig cows to send cold. "Later, it was kept, but in the spring, it flourished in the Tang and Song Dynasties. Especially after Song Renzong promulgated the "Cattle Slaughter Classic", the custom of whipping and slaughtering cattle spread more widely and even became an important part of folk culture.

China's ethnic minorities have the custom of expressing their condolences to cows, which is called "offering cows as kings". Buyi people in litchi, Luodian, Anlong and other places in Guizhou take the eighth day of the fourth lunar month as the New Year. On that day, let the cows have a rest and eat glutinous rice. The Niuwang Festival of the Gelao people is also called Niushen Festival, Niuwang Bodhisattva Festival and Niuwang Sacrifice Festival, which is held on the first day of the tenth lunar month every year. On that day, people stopped letting cows work, made two glutinous rice cakes, hung them on the horns, and then took the cows to the water to look after their shadows to celebrate their birthdays.

[Tiger]

The poem "Qian Miao Zhuzhi Ci". "Red Miao" written by Shu Wei, a scholar in the Qing Dynasty, said: "Weaving silk is not for people, but turning bronze drums to compete with mountain gods. The two feelings are speechless, and the vacancy tonight is to avoid yin. " (Note: Hongmiao only exists in Tongren area, and its clothes are silk, which is the battle of Nvhong. Beating a bronze drum is called drum tuning. On the fifth day of May every year, the couple stay up late and dare not talk, thinking that they have committed a tiger wound. ) Yin is a tiger, who dares to violate the custom of avoiding Yin? If a couple sleeps in a room in the shade in May, the tiger will hurt him.

[Rabbit]

Song Gu Tao's Biography of Qing Louis: "You are a pure rabbit." Rabbits make a living by this and belong to criminals. The ancients called rabbit meat soup guilty soup.

In the Han nationality, there is a custom of not eating rabbit meat when giving birth. Because rabbits are full of gaps, pregnant women fast rabbit meat during pregnancy to avoid gaps when their children are born. There is also the custom of sending rabbits to raise children. In the picture, six children are surrounded by a table, and a man is standing on the table, holding an auspicious rabbit picture in his hand, wishing the donated children a safe life and a step-by-step promotion in the future.

[dragon]

Many folk festivals in China are related to dragons. Wu, a poet of the Song Dynasty, described the dragon lanterns in the Southern Song Dynasty in Liang Lumeng: "On the night of the Lantern Festival ... the grass is tied into a dragon, covered with a green curtain, and there are thousands of lanterns and candles, which look like a double dragon." February 2 of the lunar calendar is the "Dragon Head-lifting Festival" of the Han nationality. According to folklore, the dragon that has been dormant for a winter looks up on this day, and there will be more rain in the future. Amin Shen Bang's "Miscellaneous Notes of Ten Thousand Parts" records that "February attracts dragons, and a hundred insects smoke": "Ten thousand people say that February is the leader. The villagers spread the cloth from the door to the kitchen with ashes and rotated it around the water tank, which is called "painting Longhuitou Scenic Spot". "Use noodles to spread pancakes, and smoke the bed to keep insects from growing." Because of the drought and lack of rain in the north of China, dragons were introduced into the home. In order to have a good weather, it also produced "February 2, dragons looked up; A big warehouse full, a small warehouse flow. On this day, people eat pancakes, dragon ear cakes and so on from Longxu Noodles and Longlin.

[snake]

Due to the mild and humid climate in southern Fujian, it is suitable for all kinds of snakes to thrive. If a snake is found at home, it can't be killed. People think that snakes are sent by ancestors to patrol the safety, and whoever enters the house indicates the safety of the home. If you find several snakes coiled together by the roadside, you should quickly tear off one of your buttons to show your regret, and then walk away like you didn't see it. It is said that this is snake mating, and the viewer is against the law. People in Guizhou need lightning protection every year, otherwise snakes and insects will be a disaster that year. There is a saying among the people that "when thunder thunders, insects and snakes swarm."

[horse]

China has a custom of offering sacrifices to horses since ancient times.

Sacrificing Mazu in spring, grazing in summer, riding in autumn and looking at riding in winter. Mazu is the emperor of heaven, the horse star in the sky; Grazing is the first god who began to teach people to release their horses; The horse club is the land god in the stable; And Ma Ping is the god of horse disaster. Han people believe in horses, and farmers offer sacrifices on June 23rd of the lunar calendar. The sacrifice was a whole sheep.

Mongolian people have traditional festivals such as Horse Milk Festival and Horse Racing Festival, which are held every year at the end of August of the lunar calendar for one day. On this day, herders put on festive costumes, rode horses and brought koumiss to the designated place to prepare festive food. The horse race starts at sunrise, and the horse is a two-year-old pony. After the game, people took their seats, singing and drinking to their heart's content, accompanied by Ma Touqin. It was not until nightfall that people dispersed with their leisure.

[sheep]

Both "Sheep" and "Xiang" have holidays. Dong Zhongshu, a great scholar in the Western Han Dynasty, said: "Sheep are auspicious, so it is auspicious to use them." Hanshu? 6? 1 Chronicle of South Vietnam: "At the time of Wei Tuo, there were five-colored sheep, which were considered auspicious." Guangzhou, known as Yangcheng, originated from a wonderful legend: in Zhou Yiwang, five immortals rode five sheep and six strings of ears of grain to Chuting (the ancient name of Guangzhou) and dedicated them to people, hoping that there would never be a famine here. The fairy's words disappeared and the sheep turned to stone. "Guangzhou Ji" records: "In the Warring States period, Gao Gu was the Chu phase, and the five sheep held ears of grain in the Chu court, so the halls and beams in Guangzhou painted statues of the five sheep to make food bags."

[Monkey]

"Searching for God" contains: "The king of Chu visited the park, and the white ape was in the clouds. Wang Lingshan shot it, counted the arrows, and the ape laughed at it. It' s a bad life, the bow touches the base, and the ape will hold the wood and call. " This white ape can knock off the arrows one by one and laugh. The archer picked up the bow, and the white ape knew it was not good, so he hugged the tree and called. Apes are personified here, just as evolution tells people that human beings are transformed from apes.

Han people generally think that monkeys are mascots. Because the monkey is homophonic with Hou, in many pictures, the image of the monkey means to seal Hou. For example, a monkey climbed a maple tree and hung a seal, which means "seal the weather and hang a seal"; A monkey is riding on horseback, which means "seal the Hou immediately"; Two monkeys sit on a pine tree, or one monkey rides on the back of another monkey, which means "generation is blocked"

[Chicken]

The ancient timer has not been invented yet. The rooster crows in the morning to announce the beginning of a new day. It is not only the clock of farmers' families, but also the clock of public life. During the Warring States Period, the famous Hangu Pass was opened and closed on the basis of cock crow. Meng Changjun fled, facing the closed gate, worried that the pursuer would come behind him. Among the diners, there are ventriloquists who know the journal, calling all the chickens at once and cheating on opening and closing the door. This story was written into Historical Records by Sima Qian and passed down as a classic.

The ancient Han nationality had the custom of "killing chickens", which was popular in Jinhua and Wuyi areas of Zhejiang Province. On the seventh day of July every year, the local people will kill the rooster, because the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl will meet at the Magpie Bridge that night. If there is no rooster to announce the dawn, they will never be apart.

[dog]

In the Song Dynasty, The Old Story of Quhu, edited by Zhu, recorded a story that the slaughter of dogs was forbidden because the emperor was a dog: "In the early days of Chongning, Fan said,' The God of the Zodiac, the dog is in your majesty's life. There are still people slaughtering dogs in Beijing, so it is advisable to ban them. "Because of the command, it is forbidden to raise dogs all over the world, offering a reward of twenty thousand. When Thai students heard about it for the first time, there was a declaration for the public that: when they moved to North Korea, all of them gave birth to children, but at that time, it was unheard of to ban livestock and cats. In the meantime, an argumentative person whispered in the dark:' Dogs are among the five elements, and their interest in class has its own place. Now, they use taboo devices to make them valuable. If so, as Hong Fan said, they will worry about those who can't speak. "

In the past, Han people had the holiday custom of "letting dogs go". A "hairy dog" is a fox demon. According to legend, the devil swarmed out of Yue Bai on the fifteenth day of the first month, disturbing all beings. That night, people set up a dog shed and set it on fire. At the same time, they beat gongs and drums, set off firecrackers and drove away evil spirits.

[pig]

You Zhu is called "Wu Jin", "Black-faced Lang" and "Black Grandpa". According to reports from the ruling and opposition parties, people in Hongzhou in the Tang Dynasty raised pigs and became rich, which was called Wujin. Yun Xian Miscellaneous Notes in the Tang Dynasty quoted Cheng Ping's Old Edition: "A black-faced lang, also known as a pig." On the land of China, as early as the matriarchal clan commune period, domestic animals such as pigs and dogs have been raised. The pottery pigs unearthed from Hemudu Neolithic cultural site in Yuyao, Zhejiang Province are very similar to the current domestic pigs, indicating that pigs had been domesticated at that time.