How did the 12 signs of the Chinese zodiac come about?

When the 12 zodiac signs originated, it is difficult to examine in detail today. For a long time, many people regarded "Lun Heng" as the earliest document recording the 12 zodiac signs. The Lun Heng (论衡) is a famous work by Wang Chong, a materialist thinker of the Eastern Han Dynasty. On the balance of things" contained: "Yin, wood, its birds, the tiger. Hundred and eleventh, the earth, the bird, the dog. ...... afternoon, the horse also. Zi, rat knife. You, chicken. D, rabbit. ...... Oh, the boar. Un, sheep also. Ugly, oxen. ...... Si, snake. Shen, the monkey." The above quote, there are only eleven zodiac signs, the missing one is the dragon. The book "speech poison chapter" and said: "the dragon for the eternity, the snake for the snake, the eternity, the position in the southeast. In this way, the twelve signs of the Chinese zodiac will be complete, the twelve earthly branches and twelve signs of the Chinese zodiac with so complete, and with the same today.

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First of all, the significance of the Chinese zodiac

The first group is the rat and the ox. The rat represents wisdom and the ox represents diligence. Wisdom and diligence must be tightly combined. If you are wise but not hardworking, you will become smart; and if you are hardworking but not thinking, you will become stupid. The two must be combined. This is what our ancestors expected and demanded of us in the first group, which is also the most important group.

The second group is the tiger and the rabbit. The tiger represents courage and the rabbit represents caution. Courage and caution must be tightly combined in order to be bold and careful. If bravery leaves caution, it becomes recklessness, and without bravery, it becomes timidity. This group is also very important, so defense is in the second position. I look at these nobles and add: when we show caution, do not think that the Chinese do not have a brave side.

Looking at the group in deep thought, I continued: the third group is the dragon and the snake, the dragon represents fierceness and the snake represents flexibility. The so-called rigid is easy to break, too rigid is easy to break, but, if only the soft side is easy to lose the main point, so, the strong and soft is our ancestral teachings.

Next is the Horse and the Sheep, the Horse stands for courage and the Sheep stands for obedience. If a person only focuses on himself and goes straight to the goal without considering his surroundings, he will bump into his surroundings and may not be able to reach his goal in the end. However, if a person only cares about harmony, he may not even have a direction. Therefore, the courage to go forward must be combined with harmony, which is the fourth set of expectations from our ancestors.

The next group is the monkey and the chicken. The monkey represents flexibility, and the chicken beats on a regular basis to represent constancy. Flexibility and constancy must go hand in hand. If you have flexibility without constancy, even the best policies won't pay off. On the one hand, there is stability, to maintain overall harmony and order, on the other hand, there is the ability to move forward in the adaptability, which is the most fundamental purpose.

Lastly, the dog and the pig. The dog represents loyalty and the pig represents ease. If a person is too loyal and doesn't know how to be easy-going, he will reject others. On the other hand, if a person is too easy-going and has no loyalty, that person loses his principles. Whether it is loyalty to a nation or loyalty to one's own ideals, it must be tightly combined with easy-goingness, so that it is easy to maintain the deepest balance in one's heart.

Why does the Chinese zodiac take the number two?

"Zhou Li - Chun Guan - Feng Xiangshi" contains: "Palm ten two years, ten two months, ten two hours, ten days, the position of the twenty-eight stars, to identify their narratives, in order to meet the celestial position." The division of time in twelve progressive, a period of twelve years, a year of twelve months, a day of twelve hours. The Guoyu-Jinshi (国语-晋语四) reads, "There were twenty-five clans of the sons of the Yellow Emperor, and fourteen of them were given the twelve surnames." Even the son of the concubines have "twelve women" said, "after the Han Book - Xun Shuang biography": "so the son of heaven to marry twelve women, the number of days also; the vassals below the difference between each, the matter of the descent also."

In recent years, in the Shennongjia area, the Han creation epic "Dark Passage" was discovered. One of them tells the story of the origin of the stem and branch: "At the beginning of the opening of heaven and earth, Xuanhuang rode the Chaos Beast to travel and met Nuwa. Nuwa was surrounded by two meat bags; the larger one contained ten men and the smaller one twelve women. Xuan Huang said, 'These are the gods of the Heavenly Stems and Revolutionary Earthly Branches, here to govern the Qiankun.' So, names were given to each of them, and they were matched with couples to become yin and yang. The men were collectively called the Heavenly Stems and the women the Earthly Branches." This creation myth story, about the stem and branch, about the Xuanhuang God, Nuwa God, about the yin and yang of Qiankun, the stem and branch of the "life" back to a very long time.

Tianqian DiJian, the ancient tradition of the sky as the main, from the ground. Ten heavenly stem is also called ten mother, corresponding to the twelve earthly branches are called twelve children. Cai Yong, Han Dynasty, "the moon chapter and sentence": "the big radius of the five elements of the situation, accounting for the building of the outline of the Doo, and then the beginning of the A and B to the name of the day, known as the dry; for the son of the ugly to the name of the month, known as the branch. Stem and branch matching, in order to become six ten years." Da Radius was a minister in the era of the Yellow Emperor, and here the matching into sixty days, that is, sixty jiazi, took the smallest common multiple of the ten celestial stems and twelve earthly branches. Stem and branch according to the order of matching, by the a son of b ugly ...... has been ranked to Dec. Ohio for the sixtieth pair, it happens that the stem, branch are used in the last one, and then row will be heavy from the beginning of the a son, this cycle is known as a a son of armor. Among them, each heavenly stem appears six times, each earthly branch appears five times.

The generation of the twelve signs of the Chinese zodiac has an astronomical background. In primitive times, the ancestors experienced the cycle of alternating heat and cold. Song dynasty Hong Hao "pine desert chronicle" contains: "the female true old absolute small, is not as good as, its people do not know chronology, ask is said 'I see grass a few degrees carry on', cover the grass a green for a year also." Song dynasty Meng Gong "Meng Tartar record" also recorded: "the custom of each grass green for a year, someone asked its age, then said a few grass carry." The year and a sky watcher found that the moon cycle can be used to measure the length of the year, found that twelve times the full moon for a year, this discovery, is one of the most accurate results of the early calendar, "twelve" will be regarded as conveying the will of heaven, "the sky's big number. The heavenly stems need the earthly branches as companions, the sun and the moon are relative to each other, the heaven and the earth are relative to each other, so it is not the "twelve" that belongs to it.

Zi Mouse ugly cow Yin Hu Mao Rabbit Chen Long Si Snake Wu Ma Wei Sheep Shen Monkey You Chicken Hundred Dogs Oh Pig

The world's many animals, why did the ancients chose the twelve animals for the phases of the genus?

Liu Xian of the Qing Dynasty cited Li Changqing's "Songxia Hall superfluous words" in his "Guangyang Miscellany": "Why is the son of a rat? He said, "The sky is open to the son, and if it is not consumed, its gas is not open. Rat, consuming insects. So the night is not yet central, is the rat to get the order of the wait, so the son of the rat. The ground is opened in the ugly, and the cow is the thing that opens the ground, so ugly is the cow. People born in the c, there are born to kill. Those who kill are tigers, and those who are c are also afraid. There is nothing more frightening than a tiger, so c is a tiger. The offender is the sunrise. Japan is away from the body, and contains the essence of the Jade Rabbit in Taiyin, so the offender is a rabbit. Tatsuka, the trigrams of March, is a group of dragons in the rain, so Tatsuka belongs to the dragon. Si, April's hexagrams, when the grass is lush, and snakes get their place. Also, the snake is not on the road at six o'clock, so it is a snake. Noon, Yang pole and a Yin just born. Horse, to healthy and not away from the ground, Yin class, so the afternoon of the horse. Sheep eroding the grass and thrive, so it is not sheep. Shen time, sunset and ape cries, and stretching arms, for example, the number of gas, will be chaotic, then the wildly made rampant, so Shen is a monkey. This one, the moon out of the time, the moon this Kan body, and in the amount of water contained in the essence of the sun golden chicken, so this is chicken. In the nucleus, the pig is not known outside the diet, so Oh belongs to the pig."

On the arrangement of the twelve signs of the zodiac, there are a variety of legends, such stories, or like a happy relief of boredom, or like to depreciate the evil of the fable, the literary component is thick. However, the ranking of the Chinese zodiac, not overnight, nor a generation can be accomplished. Initially may not be a nomination of twelve, perhaps only four or five, there may have been a situation of excess, and then the survival of the fittest, the quota and positioning, has been passed on to today.

Another theory, the selection and arrangement of the twelve signs of the zodiac, is based on the animal's daily activity time to determine. Our country from the Han Dynasty at the latest, will use twelve branches of the earth to record the twelve hours of the day, each hour is equivalent to two sides of the three knife hours, night eleven o'clock to one in the morning is the son of time, when the mouse is most active. One a.m. to three o'clock in the morning, is the ugly time, the cattle are ruminating. From three o'clock to five o'clock, it is the Yin time, when tigers are roaming around looking for food and are the most ferocious. From 5:00 to 7:00 a.m., it is foul time, when the sun has not yet risen and the moon is still hanging in the sky, and the Jade Rabbit is busy pounding medicine. From seven to nine o'clock in the morning, it is the eon hour, which is a good time for the divine dragon to perform rain. Nine o'clock to eleven o'clock, for the sixth hour, the snake began to be active. Eleven o'clock in the morning to one o'clock in the afternoon, yang energy is in full bloom, for the noon, it is the time of the heavenly horse. One p.m. to three p.m., is the time of the not yet, sheep in this time to eat grass, will grow stronger. From 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., it is the time of Shen, when monkeys are active. From five o'clock to seven o'clock in the afternoon, it is You time, when night falls and the chickens begin to return to their nests. From seven to nine o'clock in the evening, it is the eleventh hour, when the dogs begin to keep watch. From nine to eleven o'clock in the evening, it is the Hoh hour, when all is quiet and the pigs are snoring.

The twelve signs of the Chinese Zodiac are also known as the twelve beasts of the year. In the Chinese calendar there are twelve annual beasts in turn, so we have the Chinese New Year with the Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig applied to the calendar.

The twelve signs of the Chinese zodiac began in the sixth century B.C.E., and were initially used in conjunction with the numbers of the Earth's branches, and then later became the year of the Chinese calendar. However, in the twelve signs of the Chinese zodiac, why the rat can be the only one, the leader of the pack? Here is a folk legend: the Jade Emperor convened the Chinese Zodiac to open the ranking of the General Assembly, pigs, rats, cows, horses and sheep, such as the Eight Immortals across the sea to show their skills, we all rushed to the meeting, the cow big brother naive, early departure The results of the first horse occupied the first place, the original champion is not it, but the clever mouse at the critical moment, see the right time, quietly jumped on the back of the cow, standing on the cow's head, and the results of the rankings of the cow big brother will only be given up in the rat old man, and the second. Second. Of course, this is just a legend, in recent years, the popularity of another more reasonable and credible argument, we know that the animal's toes have single and double that is, odd and even points, regardless of whether it is a two-footed or four-footed, the number of its toes before and after or around are the same, but only the rat is an exception, it is the front foot four toes and five toes of the rear foot, so in the arrangement of the twelve Chinese zodiac signs, according to the toes of the parity of the parity of the arrangement, the rat's foot because of the odd and even with the same body, can not be arranged, so due to the different blessings in the top of the rankings. So because of the different blessings in the first place. Next is the cow, foot has four toes, is even, tiger foot has five toes, is odd, free foot has four toes, even, dragon foot has five toes, odd, snake it, because no foot no toes, the real with the even, horse foot has a toe, odd, sheep foot has four toes, even, monkey foot has five toes, odd, chicken foot has four toes, even, dog foot has five toes, odd, pig foot has four toes, even. This according to the toes of odd and even number of points of view, finally for the rat old brother justice, wash away the suffering for many years of the "occupation" of the injustice, so that the rat can raise eyebrows, the next year to show the style.

The other chapter of this story is about why the cat and the mouse became enemies. At that time, the cat and the mouse were good friends, before going to the mass meeting, they slept together and made an agreement that whoever woke up first would wake up who. However, the mouse woke up early the next day and quietly went to the meeting alone, ignoring the cat. When the cat woke up and went to the meeting, the Buddha had already assigned the twelve years. The cat and the mouse then had a deep enmity from then on.

Of course, legend is legend, but folklorist Guo Licheng's view is better supported by historical records.

People were trying to memorize the names of the celestial stems and earthly branches of the year, and the animals representing the twelve eons of the year were referred to as

Zodiac totem:

The word "totem" was introduced into China by Yan Fu, a scholar of the Qing Dynasty, who first used the word "totem" when translating British scholar Jenks's "The General Interpretation of Society" in 1903, and then put it into Chinese as "totem" in 1903, when translating his "The General Interpretation of Society". In 1903, when translating the book "Social General Explanations" by the British scholar Zhenkes, Yan Fu translated the word "totem" for the first time, and it became a common translation in the Chinese academic world.

In his note, Yan Fu pointed out that totem is the symbol of a group, which aims to distinguish the group. He also argued that ancient China had a totem phenomenon similar to that of the Australians and Indians. The use of totems to explain the myths, classical records and folklore and folk customs, can often be obtained by using one against the other. So, what is the meaning of totem? Totem is a primitive superstitious belief that a certain animal or natural object with the clan has a blood relationship, and therefore used to do the clan's emblem or logo.

The Yi people living in the Daliangshan region of Sichuan at the junction of the three provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan, still retains a rich and far-reaching knowledge of astronomy, they are twelve beasts of the day, today is the day of the rat, tomorrow that is, the day of the cow, the day of the tiger to catch the tiger street (bazaar), the day of the pig to catch the pig street. Some places to build twelve beast god temple, held annually ritual activities, in a solemn and solemn atmosphere jump twelve beast god dance.

"Rats across the street, everyone shouting," this insurance proverb shows that people generally hate rats. However, in ancient times, many clans and tribes believed that their ancestors were rats, and proud that they are the descendants of rats, they depicted, carved the image of rats in the rituals or programs during the rituals or sacrifices, praying for the protection of rat ancestors.

The Tiger Clan of the White Clan believes that their ancestor is a male white tiger, and the tiger will not harm them. When you want to go out of town, you must choose the day of the tiger (c day), that only in this way, things will be auspicious. Some people come back from far away, must also count the date, only the tiger day before entering the door kan.

The White Chicken Clan is legendary that their ancestors were hatched from the eggs of the Golden Flower Chicken, that the rooster knows the good and bad luck, will bless them. When migrating, they put things in a bucket and put a rooster on top. After arriving at the new relocation area, the rooster crows in whatever place it calls, and settles down in whatever place it calls. In their opinion, the place where the rooster crows is the most auspicious.

The Chinese dragon, with the basic characteristics of the totem, it is the various ethnic groups *** with the worship of the totem god. In the "Shuowen Jiezi" in the solution: "Dragon, scale insects of the long, can be hidden can be bright, can be big can be small, can be long can be short, the spring equinox and ascend to the sky, the fall equinox and into the abyss." Legend has it that the births of Emperor Yan Di, Emperor Huang Di, Yao, Shun, and Han Gaozu Liu Bang and their appearances are all related to dragons, being dragon seeds and dragon sons. The ancient Yue people also thought they were the dragon's seed, so they broke their hair and tattooed to resemble the dragon's son. Until today, we still often say "the descendants of the dragon" or "descendants of the dragon", these are the remnants of the concept of totemic ancestry. As for the dragon totem god concept, more common, most of the ethnic groups have seen the dragon as a protective god.

The wild boar god is the object of worship of the northern hunting people, in the Manchu as a big god, said it is taller than the mountain, sideburns, such as forests, mountain valleys are its fangs are harmed is the tribal guardian god.

The cattle as the ancient creation of the beasts of the Naxi people. In the Naxi "Dongba scripture - Genesis" described the sea in the giant egg hatched out of the sacred cow, the top of the corner of the sky, hooves broke the ground, resulting in the sky shaking the ground, by the Naxi ancestor of the seven brothers and seven sisters to open the sky and open the ground will be killed, with the cow's head to sacrifice to the sky, the cowhide to sacrifice to the ground, meat sacrifices to the earth, bone sacrifices to the stone, the ribs sacrificed to the mountains, blood sacrifices to the river, the lungs sacrificed to the sun, liver sacrifices to the moon, the intestines sacrificed to the road, the end of the sacrifices to the trees, hair sacrifices to the flowers and grasses. Thus, there is a clear and bright sky, sun and moon, and a quiet world where everything grows. From then on, the cow is used as a sacred object to do the sacrifice of sacred objects, used to do sacrifices to heaven and earth, mountains and rivers of sacrificial offerings. Naxi people are very revered cow God.

The worship of the horse is spread in the northern nomads and hunters. The Baoan people have circulated the myth of the snow-white god horse. The Manchus have the custom of enshrining the god of the horse, the Qing dynasty literature has more sacrifices to the god of the horse ceremony and the construction of the temple of the god of the horse account. Daur people call the god horse for "wen gu", this god horse is not allowed to women ride, can eat anywhere, go, not allowed to drive, and can even eat seedlings in the field at will. Horses are mostly white, full tail, full mane, never pruned, and often in the mane tethered to the end of the colorful silk as a sign.

Sheep totem in many ethnic groups also occupy an important position. Ancient canon "Classic of Mountains and Seas" described the ancient a kind of no mouth, no food, but the immortality of the divine goat. The Kazakhs worship the goat god, called "Sheik Sheik Ata", believing that all the goats in the world are under its control and sacrificing to it for the sake of goat reproduction. Worship of the sheep god called "Shaopan Ata", in charge of the world's sheep, sacrifices for the god to bless the sheep to produce more. Kirghiz worship goats, goat god called "seven Pan Ata", this god is the first domesticated wild sheep into livestock God.

The Han Chinese were one of the first peoples to train domestic dogs in ancient times, and as early as in the Classic of Mountains and Seas, there were records of dogs that could protect against evil. The ancient Yao ancestor myth is described in the Hou Han Shu - Southern Barbarians biography> that is, the god of the dog gourd to help Emperor ?à Gaoxin's kill the Wu generals to get the world, the emperor Gaoxin's daughter married to the dish gourd, the reproduction of Yao children and grandchildren story. As a myth of clan ancestor or salvation, the divine dog Panzou has been honored as the ancestor of the clan by the "Mian" branch of the Yao tribe in Hunan, Guangxi and Guangdong, and is respectfully called "Panwang" and "Panguo Wang", and is not only orally extolled, but is also known as "Panwang" and "Panwang". Not only in the oral tradition, but also written in the genealogy of the clan, for the temple year after year to sacrifice, year after year to return the wish. Manchu since the hunting period on the worship of the dog, it is seen as a beneficiary of the Manchu animals, and then with the righteous dog save Nurhachu legend composite, so far do not eat dog meat, do not hit the dog, do not wear a dog skin hat.

Snake is one of the important totems of the ancient Yue people, and later evolved into a god. Qing Wu Zhenfang "Lingnan Miscellany" said: "Chaozhou has a snake God, its image of the crown south, honored said the tour of the sky Emperor, all the snakes in the niche. Want to see, the temple must be addressed and then out, hovering between the tripod, or upside down on the beam rafters, or with a bamboo pole to bear the, sinuous and delicate, not scary people change not sting people, three feet long, pale and green lovely. ...... where sacrifices to the gods, snakes often swim in their homes" Yixing people in Jiangsu Province will be divided into snakes and wild snakes, respectively, called "in the barbarians" and "outside the barbarians". The so-called house snake, refers to a snake living in the house, often coiled in the beams, eaves, wall cracks, corrugated, attic of a non-venomous snake, **** about three feet. People believe that the family snake will protect people, home with the family snake, rice hoard in the rice will be full of their own out and take not empty.

Nandan County, Guangxi, Yao Huang legend of their ancestors mother for the mother monkey, the mother monkey gave birth to the offspring of the force are very large. Later, there are ten suns and ten moons in the sky, the day is too hot, the night is too bright, people will ask the children and grandchildren of the yellow family to the sky to play the sun and the moon, and then played nine suns and nine moons, people for this is very thankful to the brothers of the yellow family, due to the yellow family brothers were born by the monkey mother, people are very thankful to the monkey mother. Later, in order to honor the monkey mother, the Yao people in Dayaozhai so far not only the Huang family is forbidden to beat monkeys and eat monkey meat, but also other family names are equally forbidden.

Zodiac anecdotes

[Rat]

Anecdote: Rat history has a rat marriage festival. Generally on the night of the twenty-fifth of the first month, the night of the family did not light, the whole family sitting in the hall of the kangtou, do not say a word, eating in the dark with the noodle to do the "rat paw paw" and other food. No sound is in order to give the mouse to marry the daughter to provide convenience, so as not to offend the mouse, to the next year to bring hidden danger.

Taiwanese folklore is the night of the third day of the first month of the rat wedding day, folk paper cuttings in the "rat marrying" is a reflection of this folklore, so late at night without lighting the lamps, on the ground to spread rice, salt, people have to go to bed in the morning, do not interfere with the rat's happy event.

[Cow]

The Tang Dynasty poet Yuan Zhen "born in the spring" poem: "Whip the cow outside the county gate, scrambling for soil to cover the spring silkworms." First "whip" and then "fight", is a two-part ancient winter cold to welcome the new spring customary language. Whip spring cattle, also known as whip soil cattle, the origin is earlier. Zhouli 6.1 month order: "out of the earth cow to send the cold." Later has been retained, but changed in the spring, prevalent in the Tang and Song dynasties, especially after the Song Renzong promulgated the "earth cow scripture" to make the custom of whipping the earth cow spread more widely, so that it has become an important element of folk culture.

China's ethnic minorities have the custom of condolences to the plowing oxen, known as the "King of the Cattle". The Buyi people in Guizhou's Lizhi, Luodian and Anlong regions celebrate the eighth day of the fourth month of the lunar calendar as the year of the cow. On this day, the cows are given a day of rest and are fed glutinous rice. Gelao's Ox King Festival, also known as "Ox God Festival", "Ox King Festival", "Ox King Festival", etc., is held on the first day of the tenth month of the lunar calendar every year. On that day, people no longer let the cow labor, and use the best glutinous rice to make two patties, hanging on the cow's horn, and then the cow to the water's edge to look at the shadow, in this way for the cow to wish for life.

[Tiger]

Shu Bit, a literati of the Qing Dynasty, wrote in his poem "Red Miao": "Red Miao". Hongmiao" poem: "Weaving ban silk not to give away, the tune to the copper drums to race the mountain gods, two love pulse all speechless, tonight the empty room is to avoid the Yin." (Note: Red Miao only Tongren Province, clothing all with Ban silk, women red as a matter of business. Beat the copper drum to inspire, the name is tuning the drum. May c every year, couples do not sleep, do not dare to speak to each other, thought to be guilty of tiger injury.) Yin is a tiger, who dares to violate the custom of avoiding Yin, May Yin day, if the couple sleeps in the same room, the tiger will hurt him.

[Rabbit]

Song Dynasty Tao Gu "Qing Yi Lu. Delicacies": "Offense soup, pure rabbit." Rabbit is raw and belongs to the offender, and the ancients called rabbit meat soup as offender soup.

In the Han people have birth taboo rabbit custom, because the rabbit open-mouthed, so pregnant women are forbidden to eat rabbit during pregnancy, so as to avoid the child born open-mouthed. In addition, there is also the child-rearing custom of giving rabbit paintings. In the painting, there are six children around a table, standing on the table holding a rabbit auspicious picture of the person, wishing the recipient of the child's future life peace, step by step.

[Dragon]

Many of China's folk festivals are associated with dragons. Song Wu Zimu in the "Dream Liang Record" about the Southern Song dragon lantern account: "the night of the Lantern Festival ...... grass bound into a dragon, with a green curtain to cover the grass on the dense set of lamps and candles 10,000, looking at the winding as the shape of a double dragon." February 2 of the lunar calendar for the Han Chinese "dragon head-raising festival". Folklore believes that hibernating winter dragon in this day is raising their head activity, and later the rain will be more. Ming Shen Beng's "Wan Department Miscellany" has a record of "February draws the dragon, smoked hundreds of insects": "Wan people call February 2 for the dragon to raise the head. Villagers use ash from outside the door of the house and kitchen, circling around the water tank, called 'attracting the dragon back'. Pancakes are spread on the surface, and the bed is smoked to keep insects at bay." Since northern China is characterized by drought and little rain, the introduction of dragons into the home is a sign of good weather conditions, thus giving rise to the folk proverb "February 2, the dragon carries the head; the big barn is full, the small barn flows". On this day, people eat dragon beard noodles, dragon scale pancakes, dragon ear cakes and so on.

[Snake]

South Fujian Min area due to the mild and humid climate, suitable for all kinds of snakes to flourish. If you find snakes at home, you can't beat them to death. It is believed that snakes are sent by ancestors to patrol for peace and security, and that whoever enters their home will be safe. If you find a few snakes coiled together on the roadside, you have to hurry to pull off the body of a button thrown to show repentance, and then walk away, as not seen. It is said that this is a snake mating, the viewer for treason. Every year, the hibernation, Guizhou area folk taboo thunder, otherwise the year will be plagued by snakes and insects. Proverbs: "hibernation thunder, insects and snakes more swarms."

[Horse]

Chinese folk custom since ancient times to sacrifice horses.

Spring sacrifices were made to the Horse Ancestor, summer sacrifices to the First Shepherd, fall sacrifices to the Horse Society, and winter sacrifices to the Horse Steps. Horse ancestor is the team of heaven, the horse's star in the sky; the first pastor is the deity who began to teach people to herd horses; the horse society is the god of the land in the stables; and the horse step is the deity of horse disasters. Han Chinese folk believe in the Horse King, which is sacrificed by peasant families on the 23rd day of the sixth month of the lunar calendar, and the offering is a whole sheep.

The Mongols have a traditional festival of horse milk and horse racing, which is held at the end of the eighth month of the lunar calendar every year for one day. On this day, the herdsmen put on their festival costumes, ride their horses and bring horse milk wine, and rush to the designated place, and then prepare the festival food. When the sun rises, the horse race begins, and the participating horses are two-year-old ponies. After the end of the race, people were seated, in the accompaniment of the horse-head qin, singing, drinking, until the night falls, people carry the afterglow have dispersed.

[Sheep]

"Sheep" and "Xiang" are used interchangeably. Dong Zhongshu, a great Confucian scholar of the Western Han Dynasty, said, "Sheep, Xiang is also used in auspicious ceremonies." Han Shu?6.1 South Vietnam Zhi records: "Yutuo time, there are five-colored goats, thought Rui." Guangzhou is known as the Sheep City, from the beautiful legend: when King Yi of Zhou, five immortals rode on five sheep with six ears of grain in their mouths to descend on Chuting (the ancient name of Guangzhou), and gave the ears of grain to the people, wishing that there would be no famine here forever. The immortals disappeared after their words and the sheep were turned into stones. The Guangzhou Records recorded: "During the Warring States period, Gao Gu was the prime minister of Chu, and the five goats carried the ears of grain to the court of Chu; therefore, the five goats were painted on the halls and beams of Guangzhou, and they were also made into five grain sacs."

[Monkey]

Sou Shen Ji: "Chu king traveled in the garden, the white ape in Yan, the king made good shooter shot, vector several hair, the ape wrestled with the vector and laughed. Was ordered by the base, by the base of the bow, the ape is holding the wood and the number." This white ape was able to beat away each of the arrows that were shot at it and was laughing. When the divine archer picks up his bow, the white ape knows it is bad and hugs the tree and trumpets. Here the ape is personified, just as evolution teaches that humans were transformed from apes.

The Han Chinese generally consider the monkey as a good-luck charm. Since monkey and Hou resonate, in many drawings, the image of a monkey indicates the meaning of being crowned as a Hou. Such as a monkey climbing in the maple tree hanging seal, to take the "Marquis hanging seal" meaning; a monkey riding on the back of a horse, to take the "Marquis on the horse" meaning; two monkeys sitting in a pine tree, or a monkey riding on the back of another monkey, to take the "generations of marquis". The two monkeys sit on a pine tree, or one monkey rides on the back of the other monkey, which means "to be a marquis for many generations".

[Chicken]

Ancient timepieces have not yet been invented, the morning rooster crows to report to people the beginning of a new day, which is not only the clock of the Zhuang family, but also the clock of the life of the public ****. During the Warring States period, the famous Hangu Pass, the switching time is based on the cock's crow. Meng Changjun, who fled in despair, faced with the closed gate, worried about the back of the pursuers to the diners will be ventriloquist, learn the chicken, a crow and all the chickens crowing, cheating the switch door. This story was written by Sima Qian in the "Records of the Grand Historian" and has been passed down as a familiar tale.

Ancient Han Chinese have "kill chicken" annual custom, popular in Zhejiang Jinhua, Wuyi and other places. Every year on the seventh day of the seventh month, the local folk must kill the rooster, because the night of the Cowherd, the Weaving Maiden magpie bridge will meet, if there is no rooster at dawn, will never be separated.

[Dogs]

Song Dynasty Zhu Bent "Qu Lake Old News" recorded a story because the emperor belongs to the dog and the ban on the slaughter of dogs: "Chongning early, Fan Zhi virtual on the said: 'Twelve Palace God, the dog in the 11th position, for His Majesty can be ordered. Now the capital city has to slaughter dogs as a business, it is appropriate to prohibit.' Because of the descent command, prohibit the world to raise dogs, reward money to twenty thousand. The students heard the first, there is a declaration in the crowd said: 'Chao Chuan things about Xi, Feng, Emperor Shenzong born 11th son, and that year did not hear of the ban on animal cats.' Between the good argument, the secret language said: 'dog in the five elements, its take the class interest in, today to jin ware flattering words, so that the precious as such, the trial as "Hongfan" cloud, then the worry is unspeakable.'"

Old Han folk "drive hairy dog" holiday custom. "Hairy dog" that fox demon, according to legend, the demon on the 15th day of the first month of the group out to worship the moon, disturbing the living souls. People in the evening on this day to build hairy dog shed, and set fire to burn, while sounding gongs and drums firecrackers to send the plague to drive away evil spirits.

[Pig]

The pig is also known as "Wujin", "Black-faced Lang" and "Black Master". According to the "Chao Ye Kyun Jie", the people of Hongzhou in the Tang Dynasty got rich by raising pigs, which they called "Wujin". In the Tang Dynasty, the Yunxian Miscellany quoted from the Chengping Old Codification: "Black-faced Lang is also known as a pig." In the land of China, as early as the matrilineal clan commune period, has begun to raise pigs, dogs and other livestock. Zhejiang Yuyao Hemudu Neolithic culture site unearthed ceramic pig, its graphics and the present domestic pig shape is very similar, indicating that the domestication of the pig at that time has taken shape.