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The Myth and Folklore of the Horse Zodiac
A horse is the seventh zodiac sign of the Chinese zodiac, and it dominates the “noon” with the twelve places, so the “noon time” in the twelve mornings of a day – from 11:00 noon to 1:00 noon is also called “horse time”. Yi Gua is “dry as a horse”.
From 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. (that is, “noon time”), according to Taoist priests, at noon, when the sun reaches its peak, the yin qi gradually increases. Get used to standing, even when you sleep, and never lie down. In this way, noon is a horse.
Legend has it that in ancient times, the horse had two wings and was called Tianma. It could run on the ground, swim in the water, and fly in the sky. It was an extremely powerful animal. Later, it became a royal horse in front of the Jade Emperor Hall. Because of the favor of the Jade Emperor, Tianma gradually became arrogant and often acted indiscriminately.
One day, Tianma went out of the Heavenly Palace and went straight to the East China Sea to break into the Dragon Palace. The tortoises and shrimp soldiers and crabs guarding the gate of the palace blocked them together. Tianma was so embarrassed that he kicked Shengui to death with his flying legs. The matter was reported to the Tiangong, and the Jade Emperor ordered Tianma’s wings to be cut off. And pressed under the Kunlun Mountains, not allowed to turn over for 300 years.
More than 200 years later, when the first sister of human beings, Renzu, was going to pass through Kunlun Mountain, the immortal of Tiangong Yuma Garden gave Tianma a letter and told Tianma how to get out of the mountains. When Renzu passed by, Tianma shouted: “Good Ren Zu, come and save me, I would like to go with you to the world to serve you for the rest of my life.” Ren Zu heard this, and felt sympathetic, so he cut down the peach tree on the top of the mountain as Tianma said, and only Hearing a loud bang, Tianma jumped out from the bottom of Kunlun Mountain.
In order to thank Renzu for saving his life, Tianma came to the world with Renzu and served Renzu all his life. In peacetime, he ploughs the land, pulls carts, packs things, and works as he wishes. In wartime, he wears armor and saddles, conquers the battlefield, and lives and dies with his master.
Since then, Ma and Ren have become inseparable good friends. When the Jade Emperor was about to choose twelve animal zodiac signs, the horse became one of the most popular animals for human beings. The Jade Emperor also allowed the horse to become a zodiac sign because of his meritorious deeds to atone for his sins and to help people.
Folk legends are fictitious, but in fact the relationship between horses and humans is incomparable to any domestic animal. Since human beings bid farewell to the fishing and hunting era and entered the farming society, horses have become one of the first animals to be raised by human beings.
With its smart, brave, loyal and hard-working characteristics, horses have become reliable friends and effective assistants of human beings, whether in farming, hunting, transportation, transportation, etc., or in the battlefields of ancient and modern China and foreign countries. , Horses have made great contributions to mankind. No wonder the ancients regarded the horse as the “head of the six animals”.
Today, although the role of horses as assistants to human beings has been weakened due to the development of science and technology and the improvement of the degree of mechanization, the moving pictures of horses walking in the air, old Ji Fuzheng, Qianjin buying bones, and Yima Savior over millions of years The picture, the love of horses inherited from ancestors will never disappear. Horse, with its loyalty, diligence, and spirituality, has won the recognition of human beings, and it is well-deserved to become the zodiac sign of human beings.
The custom of sacrificing horses has existed since ancient times. In spring, they offer sacrifices to Mazu (horse constellation), summer sacrifices to Xianmu (the god who teaches people to herd horses), autumn sacrifices to Masha (the land god of the stables), and winter sacrifices to Mabu (the god of horse disasters). The folks of the Han people believe in Lord Ma, and the farm family will make sacrifices on the 23rd of the sixth month of the lunar calendar, and the sacrifice is a whole sheep.
Mongolian people have a one-day mare milk festival and horse racing festival at the end of August. The herdsmen brought mare milk and started the horse race in the morning. After the race, people sang with the horse head qin and drank happily. Hong Kong people are fond of horse racing, and describe their way of life after the handover as “running according to the horse, dancing according to the dance”.
The third day of the Lunar New Year is the New Year’s horse racing day, and people choose horses to bet on the lucky draw. If you encounter the Year of the Horse, the scene is even grander.
The Wa people feed their horses with glutinous rice during the Spring Festival, and observe the horse’s posture in the stable, which is a lucky year. Guizhou Miao men and women fell in love with each other. After three marriage proposals, the man carried a saber and went to formally propose marriage.
