Traditional Culture Encyclopedia - Traditional virtues - What is the existence of "rabbit" in Chinese culture?

What is the existence of "rabbit" in Chinese culture?

"Rabbit" is a beautiful word in Chinese. It is one of the Chinese zodiac signs, and is also closely related to human life and people's good hope. The symbolism of the rabbit is closely related to its habits and life skills. Specific deep meaning is as follows:

1, the rabbit is overwhelmingly a symbol of the moon

Since in the eyes of the ancients, the moon on the hidden spots like jumping rabbits. So the rabbit is a feminine animal, and Chinese, African, Egyptian, Greek, Celtic, and other cultures everywhere have associated the rabbit with menstruation and fertility.

2. In China, the rabbit symbolizes longevity

The Taoist religion puts the rabbit as the immortal rabbit that can make the medicine of immortality, and lets the rabbit use the mortar under the laurel tree to mash the medicine, and then the rabbit slowly evolved into a symbol of the pharmaceutical industry.

3, the rabbit is a savior faithful and self-sacrificing symbol

In the Buddhist legend, Siddhartha Gautama's previous life to practice in the forest cut off, when the life is in danger, the rabbit jumped into the fire after the cooked meat, saving the life of Buddha, in order to express the rabbit's spirit of giving up their lives, and from then on, the Buddhist vegetarian diet of fasting.

4, the rabbit at the top of the grievances

"Grievance" is the word for the good rabbits "grievances" signs. "Shuowen Jiezi" explains: "Wrong, also quoted." It means that the rabbit can't escape from the fence, but only submit to it and can't stretch out. Derived from the word "wronged", it means "to be wronged". Thus, there are a series of words such as "wronged", "unjustified", "complaining", "redressing grievances" and so on.

China has long been an agriculture-based country, so the first people's emotional attitude towards the rabbit rarely had economic factors in it. People's fondness for the lively and lovely image of the rabbit and their dislike for the timid and open-mouthed rabbit were only due to the appearance and habits of the rabbit, and the degree of conformity with the people's existing inner concepts.

So, in traditional Chinese culture, people's favorable or unfavorable attitude towards the rabbit is mainly determined by the symbolic meaning of the rabbit.

Expanded Information

The rabbit is found throughout traditional Chinese culture. As early as the Shang Dynasty, at the beginning of the feudal society in China, people created the pictogram for rabbit by observing and understanding the rabbit, which later evolved into today's character "rabbit". Many of the Chinese characters are related to the rabbit, such as "免", "娩", "冤" and "逸".

The word "rabbit" is related to the word "dodder". Cuscuta" means "dodder", a parasitic herb, also known as "dodder seed", or "female Luo", or "rabbit silk". or "rabbit silk".

The word "rabbit" corresponds to "d" in the twelve earthly branches, and in the Han Dynasty, Wang Chong's "Lun Heng" said, "The d is also the rabbit." The two make up our Chinese zodiac sign, the "Mao Rabbit".

The original character for "Mao" depicts the sprouting of grass and trees. The Shuowen Jiezi (Explaining and Analysing Characters) says: "Mao is also a sprout. In February, everything emerges from the ground." Among the twelve hours of the day, "dao" means 5-7 a.m. in the morning. Therefore, "Mao" represents spring, the dawn, and is full of infinite vitality. All these characters are directly or indirectly related to the word "rabbit". Or they are derived from "rabbit". Or they are in line with the character of "rabbit".

There are also a lot of hysterical sayings related to the rabbit, such as:

The rabbit runs all over the mountain--still returning to the nest

The rabbit refuses to eat the grass beside the nest--remaining mercifully (green), which is a metaphor for not hurting the neighbors. Generally used in a heavenly pejorative sense.

The rabbit climbs the slope - pike upwards

The rabbit's legs - run fast

The rabbit's ears - hear far

The rabbit's mouth - three pieces

Rabbits The rabbit's mouth - three pieces

The rabbit plays the flute - the mouth is not strict

The rabbit's tail - can't be long

Baidu Encyclopedia - Rabbit