153646

The Myth and Folklore of the Rabbit Zodiac

The Myth and Folklore of the Rabbit Zodiac

Rabbit is the fourth in the Chinese zodiac. It belongs to “卯” with the twelve lands, so the “卯” time of the twelve o’clock in the day – from 5:00 to 7:00 in the morning, is also called “rabbit time”.

At 5-7 o’clock in the morning (that is, “Mao Shi”), the sun has not yet shown its face, and the brilliance of the moon has not yet completely receded. The jade rabbit is the name of the moon and the only animal in the moon palace mythology.

Speaking of the rabbit as the zodiac sign, there is an interesting legend of “Rabbit and Bull Race”. According to legend, the rabbit and the ox are neighbors. They get along well and call each other brothers. The cattle live by industriousness and hard work, and the rabbits live by their ingenuity and ability.

One day, the rabbit who was good at long-distance running showed off to the scalper: “I am the long-distance running champion in the animal world, and no one can outrun me!” You can’t learn it by relying on your innate qualities. Besides, you can run very lightly in long-distance running, and with your sturdy body, I’m afraid you will never be able to run fast.”

The scalper’s heart was half cold to the rabbit, but he was not convinced. From then on, the scalper began to practice long-distance running, and with an indomitable bull’s strength, the scalper finally became a pair of “iron feet”. The tail is cocked, the hoofs are like the wind, and it will not tire for days and nights.

When it comes to the day when the Jade Emperor arranges the zodiac signs, according to the rules, whoever arrives first will be assigned the zodiac sign. The ox and the rabbit made an agreement that the rooster would get up when it croaks and go straight to the Heavenly Palace to compete for the zodiac sign.

The chicken croaked over and over, and when the ox got up, the rabbit had already run away alone. The rabbit ran away for a while, then turned around and held it, but there was no sign of any animal. Rabbit thought, I wake up early today, run the fastest, and fall asleep. The first name of this zodiac is also me. So it fell asleep on the grass. Although the ox was behind, its tenacious stamina and iron feet, which were usually trained in peacetime, worked hard, and when the rabbit was still soundly asleep, it ran to the Tiangong first.

A rush of footsteps woke the rabbit, opened his eyes and saw that it was a tiger running over like a gust of wind. Now the rabbit was in a hurry, and hurried to catch up. Unfortunately, it took a step slower and still fell behind the tiger. Because there was an opportunistic little mouse squatting between the horns of the cow, the rabbit only ranked fourth, the top three were the mouse, the cow, the tiger,

Although the rabbit became the zodiac sign, he felt that his face was dull and lost to the old cow he satirized. After he came back, he moved his home to the earth hole. Now the hares still live in the earth hole. However, the rabbit Lessons will not be learned. If you don’t believe me, if you have another “bull and hare race” or “tortoise and hare race” today, the winner will definitely be the rabbit.

In the Song Dynasty, Chen Yuanliang’s “Guang Ji of the Year”, in the old days, on the first day of the first lunar month, there was a custom of “hanging a rabbit’s head” on the forehead. In addition, there is also a rabbit painting, in which six children are surrounded by a table, and a person holding a rabbit auspicious picture is standing on the table, wishing the recipient children a peaceful life in the future.

Rabbit is associated with the Mid-Autumn Festival. The Ming Dynasty Ji Kun’s “Remaining Draft of Huawang Pavilion” contains: “The Mid-Autumn Festival in Beijing is mostly in the shape of a rabbit, with clothes and crowns sitting like people, and children and children worshiping it.” , holding a medicine rod in hand, most of which are moulded, painted, and gorgeously dressed.

During the Double Ninth Festival, people in North China eat frost-raising rabbits, and mostly use wild rabbits for cooking. “Ji Fu Tong Forgetting” says: “There is a banquet before and after the Chongyang Festival, which is called Yingshuang. No food during the banquet is called Yingshuang-free.”

Before getting married, daughters in a certain place in Shanxi eat rabbit-shaped buns that symbolize men and fish-shaped buns that symbolize women. Before a fisherman in Shandong went to sea at Qingming Festival, his wife put a rabbit into her husband’s arms for safety.