Why does China have 12 zodiac animals?

1. The origin of the zodiac. As an ancient folk cultural phenomenon, scholars of all ages have different opinions on the origin of the twelve zodiac animals.

Some people believe that the zodiac and the earthly branches have the same origin, which can be traced back to the prehistoric legendary era. It is recorded in the "Historical Records" that the Yellow Emperor "built Jiazi to ensure longevity" and "Big Nao made Jiazi" are a reflection of this kind of statement. Scholars believe that what is said here

Jiazi refers to the twelve zodiac animals.

Zhao Yi, a scholar of the Qing Dynasty, believed that the zodiac originated from the nomadic people in northern my country. He said in "Yu Cong Kao": "In the early days of Northern customs, there was no such thing as the twelve days of Zichou Yin, but the zodiac was divided into periods such as rat, ox, tiger, and rabbit. When I was young, Di Xun spread in China, and it has been passed down forever." (See Qing Dynasty Zhao Yi's "Yu Cong Kao").

Some scholars even hold the view that the zodiac is derived from the zodiac, believing that the twelve zodiac signs were introduced to China from ancient Babylon. The representative who holds this view is Guo Moruo, who talked about "the twelve zodiac signs" in "Research on Oracle Bone Inscriptions Shi Zhigan"

There are examples of them in Babylon, Egypt, and India, but they are not very ancient, and none of them date back more than a hundred years after the Western Era. It means that the countries in the Western Regions during the Han Dynasty imitated the twelve palaces of Babylon, and then spread them to the surrounding areas.

The communicator also believes that the zodiac was formulated by the residents of the Middle East in imitation of the Babylonian zodiac, and it was introduced to China when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty passed through the Western Regions.

The above opinions are subject to different opinions, and the author does not dare to judge subjectively. However, a large amount of literature proves that the zodiac did originate in China and is the crystallization of animal worship, totem worship and early astronomy of the Chinese ancestors.

Regarding the records of the twelve zodiac signs, among the existing literature, the Book of Songs is the earliest.

"The Book of Songs·Xiaoya·Auspicious Day" contains eight characters: "On the auspicious day of Gengwu, my horse will be sent", which means that the auspicious day of Gengwu will be at a good time, and it will be a good day for horses to go hunting. This is an example of correlating Wu with horses.

It can be seen that around the Spring and Autumn Period, the corresponding relationship between the earthly branches and the twelve animals had been established and spread.

In 1975, bamboo slips unearthed from Tomb No. 11 in Shuihudi, Yunmeng County, Hubei Province further proved that the twelve zodiac signs existed before and after the Spring and Autumn Period.

There is a chapter in Category A of the "Rishu" unearthed from the bamboo slips titled "The Thief", which is about divination of the appearance characteristics of the thieves. It records: "The son is a rat, and the thieves are ugly, ugly, and oxen."

Also, the thief has a big nose and long neck,... Yin means tiger, the thief looks like a man, with a gray beard and a black face. Mao means a rabbit, and the thief has a big face.

Red... It is an insect, and the thief has long black snake eyes. Wu, it is a deer, and it has a long neck, and its body is incomplete. ... Wei, it is a horse, and the thief has long whiskers and ears. Shen, it is a ring.

Those with round faces..." The twelve zodiac animals recorded in "Rishu" are roughly similar to the current popular sayings.

According to research, Tomb No. 11 in Suihudi was buried in the 30th year of Qin Shihuang (217 BC). Therefore, the creation of the twelve zodiac animals can be traced back to at least the Spring and Autumn Period before Qin.

Scholars believe that this is the earliest and more systematic record of the twelve zodiac animals found in my country so far.

Completely consistent with today’s popular view of the twelve zodiac signs is the record of Wang Chong of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Wang Chong’s "Lunheng·Mao Shi" contains: "Yin means wood, and its birds are tigers. Xu means earth, and its birds are dogs.

...Wu, horse. Zi, You, chicken. ...Hai, sheep. ...Shen, monkey.

." In the above text, eleven zodiac animals are mentioned, but Chenlong is missing.

The book "Yan Po Pian" says: "Chen is a dragon and Yi is a snake. The positions of Chen and Ji are in the southeast." In this way, the twelve zodiac signs are complete, and they are exactly the same as the popular twelve zodiac signs today. This is indeed

It is the earliest and most complete record of the zodiac in ancient literature.

.

By the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the zodiac had been widely used. In the Southern Dynasties' "Nan Qi Shu·Five Elements Chronicles", there were specific records of people being called certain animals according to the year of their birth.

Chen Jiong, a poet from the Southern Dynasties, once composed a poem about the twelve zodiac animals, which he said: "Rat traces create dust cases, cattle and sheep come down at dusk. Tigers feed in empty valleys, and rabbit moons open to the windows. Dragons are far away in the green,

Snakes and willows are wandering nearby. Horses and orchids are picking in the distance. Monkeys and chestnuts are carrying fragrant fruits. Dogs are carrying their things outside, and pigs are hanging leisurely. "This poem of twelve zodiac animals is obviously based on ten.

The order of the animals assigned to the two earthly branches was written, which shows that the twelve zodiac signs were already very familiar to people at that time.

From the above literature records, it is clear that the origin of zodiac culture is in China.

According to the external view of the zodiac, the zodiac was introduced to China from the Middle East during the Han Dynasty, about the same time as Buddhism was introduced. From the above documents, we have proven that there were records about the zodiac in my country as early as the Spring and Autumn Period ("Rishu" and "The Book of Songs") ), indicating that the birth of the zodiac and the matching of the zodiac and the earthly branches occurred long before the Han Dynasty. Therefore, it can be affirmed that the zodiac is an ancient culture that originated in our country.

So what is the origin of the zodiac? Why did the ancients choose these twelve animals? This issue has always attracted the attention of scholars, and various explanations have been made.

Some scholars believe that the zodiac originated from animal worship in primitive times. Mr. Zhang Binglun of the University of Science and Technology of China holds this view.