The origin of the Chinese Zodiac?

The origin of the Chinese Zodiac is a myth and legend: said the Jade Emperor wanted to elect 12 animals as representatives, and then he sent the gods and goddesses down to the animals to say the matter, and set the time in the d year, d month, d day, d time to the Palace of Heaven to run for the election, the earlier the earlier the row of the more forward, the back of the row can not be. And at that time the cat and the mouse were still good friends. The cat loved to sleep but he also wanted to be elected, so he told the mouse to call him at that time. But the mouse forgot as soon as he turned his head. The mouse went to the old cow and told him that he got up early and ran fast, and asked the cow to take him then. The ox promised. In those days the dragon had no horns, and the chicken had horns. The dragon told the chicken that the chicken was already very beautiful and didn't need any horns, so he asked the chicken to lend them to him. The chicken was so happy to hear the dragon's flattery that he lent him his horns and told the dragon to remember to return them to him on time after the campaign. The dragon promised to do so. At the hour of the day of the month in the year d, all the animals rushed to the Heavenly Palace, while the cat was still sleeping . The mouse sat on the back of the ox. When they arrived at the Heavenly Palace, the mouse jumped. The Jade Emperor said that the rat was the earliest to arrive, let the rat ranked first; the old steak second; the tiger also arrived later, ranked third; the rabbit also arrived, ranked fourth; the dragon was very late, but he was big, the Jade Emperor saw him at a glance, and look at him so beautiful, let him ranked fifth, and said that his son ranked sixth, but the dragon was very disappointed, because his son did not come today. At this time the snake behind him ran and said, "He is my godfather I rank sixth! I'm sixth!" Snake so ranked sixth; horse and sheep also arrived, the two you let me I let you: horse brother you first, sheep brother you first, they pushed and pushed, the Jade Emperor to see them so courteous, let them ranked seventh and eighth; the monkey would have been ranked thirty-some, but he jumped on his own, he pulled the clouds in the sky jumped in front of the row to the ninth; and then chickens, dogs, and pigs have also been selected. The cat woke up only after the race was over, and the mouse just went home and was chased by the cat all over the world ...... After the race was over the dragon came to the sea, and saw that with his horns he was much prettier than before, and wasn't going to return the chicken. In order to avoid the chicken, he has since disappeared from the earth, and the chicken is very angry so he has since then every day early in the morning to get up and shout at the sea: quickly return me! Give it back! The hen then shouted: Give it back! Give it back! The chickens also shouted: Give it back! Give it back! Regarding the origin of the twelve Chinese zodiac signs, it is historically recorded that China has been using the "Stem and Branch Chronology", which is a combination of ten symbols of the Heavenly Stem and twelve symbols of the Earthly Branches, since the time of Emperor Shun. The method of animal chronology first originated in China's ancient western and northern ethnic minorities engaged in nomadic herding. The book of the Tang Dynasty: "Craftsmen country to twelve things chronicle, such as the year in the Yin, is said to be the year of the tiger." The famous Qing dynasty scholar Zhao Yi in the "new series of exams" in the test cloud: "benefit the northern Dixie common no matter what the beginning of the child, ugly, c, d of the twelve eons, but with the rat, cow, tiger, rabbit and so on subdivided into chronological age, to the Han Dynasty Hohanxie (mono) section of the Sai Habitat five plains, and the Qiming mixed, soak searching for the flow of China, and then along with the ear is not abrogated." The twelve signs of the Chinese zodiac were first mentioned in the world's first collection of poetry, the Book of Poetry (诗经). It is written in the Book of Poetry - Xiao Ya - The Chariot Attack, which says, "On the auspicious day of gengwu, I am sent to my horse." It is also found in the Book of Rituals - Monthly Orders - Seasonal Winter: "Out of the earth oxen, in order to send the cold air." Twelve signs of the Chinese zodiac, when did it actually arise? Some historical data: it should be formed in the Han Dynasty at the latest. Its basis is the Eastern Han Dynasty Wang Chong "on the balance - the potential of the article" cloud: "Yin, wood, its birds, the tiger. Hundred and eleventh, earth, its birds, dogs." Another cloud: "Wu, horse. Zi, the rat. You, chicken. ...... Shen, monkey also." *** Proposed eleven zodiac names. Together with the Eastern Han Zhao Ye "Wu Yue Spring and Autumn Annals" in the "Wu in the Chen, the position of the dragon." Happen to make up for the "Dragon", and complete the twelve zodiac signs. Visible in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the twelve signs of the Chinese zodiac have been formed. As for the use of the twelve signs of the zodiac, at least in the era of the North and South Dynasties has appeared. The Northern History "Yu Wen Gu Biography" recorded Yu Wen Gu's mother wrote him a letter, the content is: "In the past in the town of Wu Chuan born your brothers, the eldest is a rat, the second is a rabbit, your body is a snake." This shows that at that time the folk have been common use of twelve zodiac signs to record the birth year of people. However, in the mid-1970s, that is, during December 1975, thousands of bamboo slips were found in the unearthed artifacts of the 11th Qin Tomb in Sleeping Tiger Land, Yunmeng, Hubei. One of them, "Sunrise-The Thief," clearly recorded the text of divining the appearance and characteristics of thieves using the Chinese zodiac. The appearance of this miracle proves that the zodiac was used in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods. For the 11th Qin Tomb, it is proved that it was buried in the 30th year of Shih Huangdi, i.e. 217 BC. Some people say: our ancestors used the Chinese Zodiac to chronicle their lives long before Qin Shi Huang became emperor, and it is specifically pointed out that "it began in the Xia Dynasty, and was passed down in the Shang Dynasty and the Zhou Dynasty." But how to cite, I am afraid to wait for history and cultural relics scholars to further explore. China's ancient north and south dynasties not only use twelve zodiac chronology, and appeared Shen Jiong created the "twelve genus poem": mouse traces of dust case, cattle and sheep down in the twilight. The tiger whistles and sits in the empty valley, and the rabbit moon opens to the window. Dragon shade far verdant, snake willow near wandering. The horse's orchid is picked far away, and the sheep's negative is planted in spring. The monkey's chestnut is shy of fragrant fruits, and the chicken's anvil attracts clear thoughts. The dog's mind is outside the house, the pig's window is relaxed. This poem embeds the names of the twelve Chinese zodiac signs in the first word in order, and highlights the characteristics of each animal's nature, playing the role of a finishing touch. The poem written by Hu Yan, a great scholar of the Ming Dynasty, not only embeds the names of the twelve Chinese zodiac signs in order, but also has a canon, which is quite interesting. Poetry: chevrotains drink river river not dry, cattle female long years to see each other difficult. The ox and the daughter have a hard time meeting each other for many years. The tiger is tied up in the south mountain with his bare hands, and the rabbit is taken in the middle of the moon. The LIXIL dragon has a pearl and often does not sleep, and the drawing of the snake is a tired one. The old horse has never had horns, and the dilemma of the billy goat is just a sneeze. Don't laugh at the Chu people who are crowned with monkeys, and wish the chickens to grow old in the forest. In the city of Maiyang, the dogs were slaughtered, and in Pingjin, the rags were let loose in the eastern part of the sea. In the first line, "chevrotains" means water rats. The "cow maiden" in the second line refers to the folk legend of the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden. The "black dragon" in the fifth line is a type of dragon, which has a pearl under its chin, so it is called the black dragon. In the eighth line, "billy goat" means a ram, and "touching the fence" means that the ram's horn touches the fence. In the eleventh sentence, "Maoyang" refers to the fact that Liu Bang, Emperor Gaozu of Han Dynasty, appointed Fan Kuai, a famous general, as the Marquis of Maoyang, who used to make a living by slaughtering dogs in Pei County, Jiangsu Province. The last sentence refers to Gong Sun Hong, the prime minister of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, who used to slaughter pigs in the East China Sea. The Origin and Legend of the Twelve Chinese Zodiac Signs From the documentary records, there were twelve earthly branches in the era of the Yellow Emperor, which were related to the twelve signs of the zodiac such as the Aries, Taurus, Gemini, and Cancer, etc. The earliest twelve earthly branches and the twelve signs of the zodiac all represented the twelve different months and festivals of the year. During the Yin and Shang Dynasties, ten characters were invented to calculate and record numbers, such as A, B, C and D. Later on, people who studied numerology called it Tian Gan and combined it with the Earthly Branches, such as A Zi and B Chou, for counting the year, month, day and hour. It is rumored that replacing the twelve Earthly Branches with twelve animals to represent the twelve lunar seasons was the work of Dongfang Shuo of the Han Dynasty. There is a clear record of the names of the twelve animals mentioned in the "Chapter of Words and Poisons" in the "Lun Heng" written by Wang Chong of the Eastern Han Dynasty. The use of the twelve zodiac signs to count the year also started in the Eastern Han Dynasty. This historical fact was also pointed out in the New Yu from Kao ("陔余從考") written by Zhao Yi (赵翼), a scholar of the Qing Dynasty. As to why twelve animals were chosen as symbols, the earliest may be related to totems. In ancient times, all tribes chose an animal that they particularly feared or loved, and used its pattern as the symbol of their tribe. This is explained in the Yanggu Manquan of Hong Xun of the Song Dynasty, and the Qixiu Class Draft of Lang Ying of the Ming Dynasty. In addition, the Buddhist scripture "The Great Collection of Sutras" recorded the story of the twelve zodiac signs parade in turn, but there is a lion instead of a tiger, so some people believe that the twelve zodiac signs were imported into China from ancient India, and that replacing the lion with a tiger may have something to do with the fact that lions were not produced in the Central Plains. It is also believed that the twelve zodiac signs first appeared in the timekeeping. A day and night is twenty-four hours, ancient astronomers will be divided into twelve hours of day and night. At the same time they were watching the sky, in accordance with the habits of the twelve animals and activities of the hour, to determine the twelve signs of the Chinese zodiac. Eleven o'clock at night to one o'clock in the morning of the next day, is the son of time, it is the rats to take advantage of the dead of night, frequent activities, called "son of the rat". One o'clock in the morning to three o'clock in the morning, is the ugly time. Cattle are used to eating grass at night, farmers often get up late at night to pick a lamp to feed the cattle, so it is called "ugly cattle". From 3:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m., it is the c time. At this time, the tiger that walks by day and by night is the most ferocious, and the ancients often heard the sound of the tiger whistling at this time, so it is called "Yin Tiger". From 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m., it is the dawning of the year. At dawn, rabbits come out of their nests and like to eat grass with morning dew, so they are called "d-rabbits". Between seven and nine in the morning, it is the hour of the eons. This time is generally prone to fog, legend has it that dragons like clouds and fog, but also at the time of the rising sun, steam, so it is called "Dragon". Nine o'clock in the morning to eleven o'clock, is the sixth hour. Fog dispersed, the sun shines brightly, snakes out of their holes to feed, so the "Snake". Eleven to one at noon, is the noon. In ancient times, wild horses were not tamed by humans, when the noon, running around neighing, so called "noon horse". One to three o'clock in the afternoon, is not time. Some places tube at this time for the "sheep out of the slope", meaning a good time to let go of sheep, so it is called "not sheep". Three to five o'clock in the afternoon, belongs to the Shen time. The sun is in the west, and monkeys like to crow at this time, so it is called "Shen Monkey". Between 5 and 7 p.m., it is the time of the year "You". When the sun goes down, the chickens are circling in front of their nests, so it is called "You Ji". From 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. in the evening, it is the 11th hour. People are ready to rest after a long day's labor and bolt the door. The dog lying in front of the door to guard, a movement, barking, so "Hundred Days". At night from nine to eleven o'clock, belongs to the Ohio time. Late at night, you can hear the sound of the pig arching trough, so called "Ohio pig". In this way, the hours of the day and animal collocation is arranged down: sub-mouse, ugly cattle, c tiger, rabbit, chenlong, snakes, afternoon horse, ungoat, Shen monkey, you chicken, Hundred Days Dog, Ohio pig. Later, people used this chronology for the year, the twelve signs of the Chinese zodiac. Twelve animals with twelve hours, there is a similar argument. It is said that heaven and earth generated in the son of time, the birth of the beginning, there is no gap, the gas can not run out, the material can not be utilized, by the mouse a bite, out of the gap, only to make the gas run out, the material can be used. Rats have the power to open the heavenly body, the son of the time belongs to the rat. The rat opened the gap between heaven and earth, and the ox came out to plow the ground, so the ugly time was the ox. Legend has it that people were born in the year Yin, and the word "Yin" means "fear". In ancient times, people were most afraid of tigers, so Yin time belonged to the tiger. Dawning is already early in the morning, but the sun has not yet come out, and the only animal that lights up the earth is the moon, and the only animal in the moon palace is the Jade Rabbit, so dawning belongs to the rabbit. Legend has it that the hour of the Dragon is the time when dragons walk in the rain, so naturally this time belongs to the Dragon. Snakes are good at using grass to hide their tracks, it is said that the snake is not walking on the road at six o'clock, can not hurt people, so six o'clock belongs to the snake. At noon, Yang Qi reached the limit, Yin just want to produce, the horse can not run away from the ground, is a Yin class animals, so the afternoon is a horse. Legend has it that the sheep ate the grass before the time, and does not affect the regeneration of grass, before the time of the sheep. Shen has the meaning of "stretch", and monkeys are best at stretching and climbing, so the Shen time is a monkey. At this time, chickens begin to return to their nests, so this time is a chicken. Hundred and eleventh day gradually dark, the dog began to "work", watch the house looking at the door to protect the yard, this time belongs to the dog. In the evening, everything is silent, and heaven and earth are in chaos, and pigs and heaven and earth are in chaos, except for "eating", they know nothing, so naturally they belong to pigs in the evening. The Dharma Garden Pearl Forest" cited "The Great Collection of Sutras" said the origin of the twelve Chinese zodiac signs: "outside Yama Futi, four sides of the sea, there are twelve beasts, and is the bodhisattva guide. Humanity was born, when the bodhisattva lived in the grotto, that is, belonging to this beast to protect, benefit, so the twelve stars of the Han Dynasty according to this line." Another cloud: "The meaning of the distribution, the Yanggu Manlu is quite detailed. According to this, Zi, Yin, Chen, Wu, Shen, Hundred Days Club Yang, so take the odd number of belonging to the name of the rat, tiger, dragon, monkey, dog are five fingers, and the horse single hoof; ugly, Mao, Si, Wei, You, Ohio Yin, so take the even number of belonging to the name of the cattle, sheep, chickens, pigs are four-clawed, rabbit two claws, snakes, two tongues also." Accordingly, the twelve kinds of animals according to the toes of odd and even arranged as follows: cattle four toes, for even; tiger five toes, for odd; rabbit four toes, for even; dragon five toes, for odd; snake no toes but two tongues, for even; horse a toe (single hooves), for odd; sheep four toes, for even; monkey five toes, for odd; chicken four toes, for even; dog five toes, for odd; pig four toes, for even; twelve kinds of animals, only the rat is the most special, the forefoot for the four toes, for even; rear foot five toes, for odd. as odd.

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