How did the zodiac come from?

There are three main theories about the origin of the zodiac, namely, the theory of stars, the theory of longevity stars and the theory of animals.

1. stellar theory

The ancients divided the stars near the ecliptic and equator into "28 stars". Twenty-eight nights also represent an animal In ancient times, Sunday was divided into twelve parts, represented by twelve branches. Twelve branches belonged to the zodiac, and the zodiac had a corresponding relationship with twenty-eight stars. Wang Chang, a great scholar in the Ming Dynasty, believed that 28 species of animals belonged to 28 stars, and they were "unified by seven evils", forming a pattern of "mother bats, imaginary grandchildren, endangered moon swallows and females". In Li Changqing's Song Xia Guan Yu Yan in Qing Dynasty, he thought that the 28-lodging animals "even if the first 12 genera were doubled", "were attached to Kang Jinlong, Chen Guan and Jiao Mujiao. Jiao and Long are also ",which reflects the gathering of 28 kinds of stellar animals based on the zodiac. "But it is inevitable that there will be collateral encounters, and the records of the 28 stars animals are later than the zodiac.

2. The theory of longevity star

Jupiter runs once a week for twelve years, and the annual branching order can be determined from Jupiter's position. Yu Han, Fang Shan and Ji Shu thought that every twelve years, "three years old, three years old, three years old, three years old, three years old, three years old, three years old, three years old, three years old, three years old, three years old, three years old and three years old". There is a cycle between the rise and fall of plants and the living environment of animals. The living conditions of herbivores (rats, cows, horses and sheep) and carnivorous omnivores are very different in different years. If people born in different years can imitate the animals that flourished in that year, they will form zodiac animals, and it is inferred that the rise and fall of animals are related to the year of Jupiter, and the zodiac and the zodiac are unified. ?

3. Totem theory

White marble sculpture of the zodiac

The ancestors of primitive society often used some animals, inanimate objects or graphics of natural phenomena as protectors and symbols of their clans, that is, totems. The mixed image of man and beast in Shan Hai Jing is an ancient totem god. The totem of Xia nationality is bear or fish, the totem of Shang nationality is blackbird, and the totem of Zhou nationality is dragon, bird, turtle, dog and tiger. Zodiac animals are imaginary except dragons, and the rest are daily visible. It can be divided into two categories, namely "six animals" (horses, cows, sheep, chickens, dogs and pigs) and "six animals" (rats, tigers, rabbits, dragons, snakes and monkeys). The former was domesticated by people for economic purposes, while the latter disturbed human life to a certain extent, and ancestors were afraid of it. Therefore, these animals are worshipped as the name symbols of this clan.

Ethnologist Liu Yaohan inferred the origin of the "Zodiac Calendar" from the totem relics of the Yi people. The calendar of the 12 Zodiac of Yi people in western Guangxi and Mao put people and the 12 Zodiac in the same column, which is "the legacy of the original idea of not distinguishing between man and beast in reality". The Yi people still use the Chinese zodiac to mark the date and use it as the name of the market (such as Tiger Street and Rabbit Street). Records of the Five Emperors in Historical Records describes that the Yellow Emperor "taught Xiong Yonghu in order to fight against Emperor Yan in Sakamoto", which is the totem of all tribes, and is by no means really capable of lowering dragons and luring tigers. Zodiac originated from totem worship in primitive society and became a convincing theory.

Singularity theory

"Ugly children are ugly, but it doesn't matter at the beginning of the northern customs. They spread to China by soaking and searching in different ages, so they don't waste their ears," written by Zhao Yi in the Qing Dynasty, which confirms the exotic nature of the zodiac.

Extended data

history

Like today, the earliest complete record of the zodiac is Wang Chong's Lun Heng in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Generally speaking, the third volume, the potential of things:

Li Youjun, a zodiac animal.

"Yin wood also, its bird tiger also; It is also soil, and its birds and dogs are also; Ugliness is dirt, ugly birds and cows, no birds and sheep. Wood beats earth, so dogs, cattle and sheep are served by tigers. Hai Shui also, its bird also; Where there is fire, its birds and snakes are also; Children are water, so are their birds and mice; It is also a fire at noon, and its birds and horses are also ... horses, rats, chickens and rabbits at noon. Water is better than fire. Why don't mice chase horses? Jin Shengmu, why don't chickens peck rabbits? Hai Jian, no sheep, ugly cow. Soil is better than water, why don't cattle and sheep kill jackals? The fourth snake is also a monkey. Fire wins gold, why don't snakes eat macaques? "

With the book "poison" volume 23 has a cloud:

"Chen is a dragon, the third is a snake, in the southeast. Dragons are poisonous and snakes sting people, so snakes have good teeth and dragons have scales. Wood makes a fire, and fire is poison, so the beast of the black dragon contains Mars. "

It can be seen that at the latest, the twelve zodiac signs of the Eastern Han Dynasty have all been finalized. Liang Zhanggang also relayed the record of Lun Heng in a series of conversations about vagrancy in Qing Dynasty. ?

The Biography of the Northern History of Yuwen Hu describes the letter of Yuwen Hu's mother in the State of Qi in the later Zhou Dynasty: "Your brother was born in Wuchuan Town. The eldest is a mouse, the second is a rabbit, and you are a snake. " This is an earlier record in official history, and the zodiac is related to the year of birth.

References:

Baidu Encyclopedia-Zodiac