153598

The Choice of the Zodiac

It is recorded in ancient Chinese books that in the ancient Central Plains of China, the “Dry and Branch Year Method” was initially used, that is, 10 heavenly stem symbols A, B, C, D, Wu, Ji, Geng, Xin, Ren, Gui and 12 earthly branches were used. The symbols Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu, and Hai are used together to mark the year.

A few nomadic peoples in northwest my country use animals to record their years. It is recorded in the Book of Tang: “The country of Xiagasi uses twelve objects to record the year. If the year is in Yin, it is called the Year of the Tiger.” In addition, it is also recorded in the “Song History: Tubo Biography” that the Tubo leaders used the narration in the narration.

In the chronology of things, the so-called “Tao old things count the twelve days of the sun, the year of the rabbit is like this, and the year of the horse is like this.” Later, in the exchanges between the Central Plains and ethnic minorities, the two chronological methods were combined to form the current 12 zodiac signs.

Just as Zhao Yi of the Qing Dynasty pointed out in “Yuyu Cong Kao”, “At the beginning of Gai Beisu, there was no such thing as twelfth census, ugly, yin, yin and 12, but in terms of age, such as mice, cattle, tigers and rabbits, immersion and search spread in China. Then follow each other and don’t waste your ears.” This interpretation of the origin of the 12 zodiac signs has been recognized by many people.

The selection of the twelve animals in the Han Chinese zodiac is not complicated, and it can be guessed that it is close to the daily life and social life of the Han people. Among the twelve zodiac animals, they can be roughly divided into three categories.

The first category is the domesticated “six animals”, namely cattle, sheep, horses, pigs, dogs and chickens, which are domesticated by humans for economic or other purposes, accounting for half of the twelve animals. “Six animals” is an important concept in China’s agricultural culture with a long history.

In the traditional concept of the Chinese people, “the prosperity of six animals” represents the prosperity and good luck of the family. During the Spring Festival, people generally mention “the six animals are prosperous”, so it is inevitable for these six animals to become zodiac signs.

The second category is the well-known wild animals that are closely related to people’s daily and social life. They are tigers, rabbits, monkeys, rats, and snakes. Among them, there are those feared by people who intervene in human life. Such as tigers and snakes; there are also rodents that are hated and taboo by people, but depend on human beings for survival; more people love, such as rabbits and monkeys.

The third category is the Chinese traditional symbolic mascot, the dragon. The dragon is the symbol of the Chinese nation, an “artificial object” that integrates the characteristics of many animals, and a “spiritual object” in people’s imagination. The dragon represents wealth and auspiciousness, and is the most symbolic and auspicious animal, so the position of the dragon is indispensable in the Chinese zodiac.

It can be seen from the above that the choice of zodiac animals is not arbitrary, but has certain meanings. The animals that people choose are from different angles and have certain meanings.

The zodiac takes the number twelve, which coincides with the ancients’ inductive understanding of natural phenomena.

Chinese ancestors felt the cycle of alternating cold and summer, and plants withered and prospered, and regarded it as “one year old”. The moon’s cycle of gain and loss is also related to “years” – twelve full moons are exactly one year old. Using Jupiter as the cycle of the year, the “Sui Xing” revolves around exactly twelve years. “Zhou Li·Chunguan·Feng Xiangshi” says: “The palm of the hand is twelve years old, ten has two months, ten has two minutes”, in addition to the year and the month, the twelve is also used to measure the hour.

Twelve is often used in other ways too. According to “Zuo Zhuan·Aigong Seven Years”, “The king of Zhou was also the king of the Zhou Dynasty, but he made only twelve objects. He thought that the number of heaven was the greatest number.” “Guoyu·Jinyu Four” records, “The twenty-five cases of the sons of the Yellow Emperor, Fourteen people have surnames, and they are twelve surnames.” “The Biography of Gou Shuang in the Later Han Dynasty” says: “Therefore, the emperor marries twelve wives, the number of the heavens.

“Twelve celestial phenomena” is also the collective term for the weather in ancient times, namely darkness, yin, rain, snow, ice, fog, dew, frost, wind, sand, thunder, and electricity; Cognition; ancient music has “twelve laws”; diet has “twelve foods”; clothing has “twelve clothes”..