What is the origin of the zodiac in China?

Legend has it that the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan was the ancestor of all ethnic groups in the Central Plains of China. After the Yellow Emperor ruled the Central Plains, many things happened. In order to facilitate management, he ordered the historian Cangjie to create characters, and ordered the warlock in charge of astronomy and geography to make a branch chronology, that is, heavenly stems and earthly branches should coordinate and weigh "Jia Zi" every 60 years. The chronology of heavenly stems and earthly branches is complicated, which is not popular among the people. Therefore, it was suggested to name twelve kinds of animals, which was approved by the Yellow Emperor and Cang Xie was ordered to do. Cang Xie ordered all animals to take part in the election in front of the palace on the first day of the first month.

Knowing that his legs and feet are slow, Niu started early on New Year's Eve. As a result, cows arrived first, followed by tigers, rabbits, dragons, snakes, horses, sheep, monkeys, chickens, dogs, pigs, and cats were the twelfth. The mouse came late, far behind the twelve, and was hopelessly selected, so he slipped into the warehouse of the Yellow Emperor and stole the big red candle in the warehouse. The big red candle is a gift from the Yellow Emperor to his opponent Chiyou. The middle is empty and filled with gunpowder. As long as the candle is lit, it will explode. The next day, when the Yellow Emperor held a naming ceremony for the zodiac and lit the candle, the guards found gunpowder in the candle from the place where the mouse had bitten. The mouse inadvertently saved the life of the Yellow Emperor. The Yellow Emperor thought that the mouse was meritorious and chose it as the zodiac, which tied for the first place. The other animals retreated in turn, and the cat was eliminated. So up to now, cats still hate mice and are their sworn enemies.

Another way of saying it: Emperor Xuanyuan wanted to choose twelve kinds of animals as court guards. The cat asked the mouse to sign him up, but the mouse forgot. As a result, the cat didn't choose it, and from then on, it became an enemy with the mouse, biting when it saw it;

Others say that the selection and arrangement of the zodiac is determined according to the daily activity time of animals.

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