There is a myth about the origin of the zodiac: the Jade Emperor wanted to choose 12 animals as representatives, and then he sent a fairy to tell the animals about it, and set a time to come to the Tiangong to run for office in the year of Taizu. The earlier he comes, the higher the line will be, and the last one will not. At that time, cats and mice were still good friends. The cat loves to sleep, but he also wants to be chosen, so he asks the mouse to call him. But the mouse forgot as soon as it turned its head. The mouse went to the old cow and said that he got up early and ran fast, so the cow could take him. The old cow agreed at that time. The dragon has no horns and the chicken has horns. The dragon told the chicken that the chicken was already very beautiful and didn't need horns, so he let the chicken lend it to him. The chicken was very happy when he heard the flattery of the dragon, so he lent his horn to the dragon and told him to pay back the money on time after the election. Long readily agreed. In the year of Mao Mao, Uzuki, when the cat was still sleeping, many animals rushed to the Heavenly Palace. The mouse sits on the cow's back. After reaching heaven, the mouse jumped up. The Jade Emperor said that the mice arrived first, which made them the first. Old steak is second; The tiger also arrived late, ranking third; The rabbit also arrived, ranking fourth; The dragon came late, but he was very big. The Jade Emperor saw him at a glance. Seeing that he was so beautiful, he ranked fifth. He also said that his son ranked sixth, but Long was disappointed because his son didn't come today. At this time, the snake behind came running and said, "He is my michel platini, and I rank sixth!" " I'm sixth! "Snakes rank sixth; Horses and sheep have arrived, too. They asked me to ask you: Brother Ma first, Brother Yang first, and they pushed them around. Seeing that they were so polite, the Jade Emperor let them rank seventh and eighth. The monkey was in his thirties, but he jumped ahead with the clouds in the sky because he could jump, ranking ninth; Then chickens, dogs and pigs were also selected. The cat didn't wake up until the end of the game, and the mouse was chased all over the world as soon as he got home ... After the game, the dragon came to the seaside and saw that he had much more beautiful horns, so he didn't want to return the chicken. In order to avoid the chicken, he disappeared from the world. The chicken was very angry, so he got up early every morning and shouted at the sea: Give it back quickly! Give it back! The hen shouted, give him back quickly! Give him back to me! The chicken also crows: Come back! And! With regard to the origin of the zodiac, historical records show that China began to use the "chronology of branches and leaves" which combines the ten heavenly stems with the twelve earthly branches from the Shun Di era. The method of animal chronology originated from nomadic minorities in the west and north of ancient China. " The Book of the Tang Dynasty records: "The Year of the Tiger is bounded by twelve events. If a year is a cloudy year, it is called the Year of the Tiger. Zhao Yi, a famous textual research scientist in the Qing Dynasty, made a textual research in Yu Yu Congkao: "In the early days, the custom of benefiting the north was childless, ugly, cloudy and hairy, but when rats, cows, tigers and rabbits were divided into years, by the time of the Han Dynasty, it was said that (Khan) money lived in Wuyuan, mixed with Qi people, and spread in China, so it was not abandoned. The zodiac was first seen in The Book of Songs, the world's first collection of poems. "The Book of Songs Xiaoya Chegong Chapter" says: "At noon on an auspicious day, my horse is insufficient." See also Book of Rites, Monthly Order and Winter Order: "Digging cows for air conditioning." When did the zodiac theory come into being? There is a historical cloud: it should be formed in the Han Dynasty at the latest. Its basis is the cloud in Wang Chong's On the Balance of Things in the Eastern Han Dynasty: "Yin, wood, its birds, tigers. Hey, Tuye, its birds and dogs are also. " Another cloud said, "Good afternoon, Ma Ye. Son, mouse also. Unitary, chicken also. ..... Shen, Qitian also. " * * * Put forward the names of the zodiac. In addition, in Zhao Ye's "Wu Yue Chun Qiu" in the Eastern Han Dynasty, "Wu Zaichen is a dragon." Just added "Chen Long" to complete the zodiac. It can be seen that the twelve zodiac signs were formed in the Eastern Han Dynasty. As for the use of the Chinese zodiac, it appeared at least in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. The Biography of Northern History Yuwen Hu records a letter written to him by Yuwen Hu's mother, which reads: "Your brother was born in Wuchuan Town, the eldest is a mouse, the second is a rabbit, and you are a snake." It can be seen that the Chinese zodiac was widely used by the people at that time to record the date of birth. However, in the mid-1970s, from 1975 to 12, thousands of bamboo slips were found in the cultural relics unearthed from Qin TombNo. 1 1 in Yunmeng, Hubei Province. Among them, The Sunrise Thief clearly recorded the characters who used the zodiac to predict the appearance characteristics of thieves. The appearance of this miracle proves that the Chinese zodiac has been used in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Because Qin Tomb No.11 was built in the thirty years of the first emperor, that is, 2 17 BC. Some people say that long before Qin Shihuang proclaimed himself emperor, our ancestors used the zodiac to record the year, and especially pointed out that "it began in summer and spread in Shang and Zhou Dynasties." However, how to quote it remains to be further explored by historians and cultural relics scholars. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties in ancient China, not only the zodiac chronology was used, but also twelve zodiac poems written by Shen Jiong appeared: The Case of Rat Dust and The Twilight of Cattle and Sheep. Tigers roared in the empty valley, and rabbits opened their windows. The dragon shadow is far green, and the snake willow lingers near. Ma Lanfang is far away and breeds sheep in spring. The monkey chestnut shames the fragrant fruit, and the chicken anvil attracts the clear bosom. The dog is outside, and the pig's window is leisurely. This poem embeds the names of the animals of the 12 Zodiac in the first letter in order, highlighting the natural characteristics of each animal and playing the role of finishing touch. The zodiac poems written by Hu Yan, a great scholar in the Ming Dynasty, are not only embedded in the names of the zodiac in turn, but also have a code name for each name, which is quite interesting. There is a poem that says, a mouse doesn't drink the river, and a cow and a girl can't see each other for many years. The rabbit grows longer in the middle of the month. Dragons with beads often don't sleep, and drawing snakes is very tiring. Has the old horse ever had horns, and the sheep angered the princes? Don't laugh at the Chu people's crown bathing monkeys, but wish the chickens were empty nests. Wuyang slaughtered dogs in Langzhong, and Ping Jin let Gou Haidong's head go. The first sentence "Zokor" is the water rat. The "cowgirl" in the second sentence is the legend of the folk cowherd and weaver girl. The five "jackals" are a kind of dragons, and there is a treasure under the chin, so they are called jackals. In the eight sentences, "lick the sheep" is a ram, and "touch the fan" is a corner touching the fence. "Wuyang" eleven sentences, refers to the emperor gaozu Liu Bang named Fan Kuai Wuyang Hou. He used to kill dogs for a living in Pei County, Jiangsu Province. The last sentence refers to the Prime Minister Gong of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, who once spared pigs in the East China Sea. The origin and legend of the zodiac According to the literature, there were twelve earthly branches in the era of the Yellow Emperor, which were related to the twelve constellations such as Aries, Taurus, Gemini and Cancer. The earliest twelve earthly branches and twelve constellations represented twelve different months and festivals every year. Ten characters, such as A, B, C and D, were invented in the Shang Dynasty. Later, people who studied numerology called it heavenly stem, which was used in combination with earthly branches, such as Jia Zi and E Yuan, to calculate the year, month, day and time. According to legend, it is a masterpiece of Dong Fangshuo in Han Dynasty that twelve kinds of animals are used instead of twelve earthly branches to represent the twelve-month season. In Lun Heng written by Wang Chong in the Eastern Han Dynasty, there is a clear record in Yan Dou. He mentioned the names of twelve animals. According to the zodiac, the year also began in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Zhao Yi's Textual Research on Yu Yu in Qing Dynasty also pointed out this historical fact. As for why twelve animals are chosen as symbols, it may be related to totems at the earliest. In ancient times, all tribes would choose an animal that they were particularly afraid of or loved, and take its pattern as the symbol of their tribe. Yang Gu Man Quan written by Hong Xun in the Song Dynasty and Seven Manuscripts written by Lang Ying in the Ming Dynasty all explained this. In addition, the Buddhist scripture "Dajijing" records the story of the 12 zodiac animals marching in turn, but there are lions without tigers. Therefore, some people think that the Chinese zodiac was introduced to China from ancient India, and the replacement of lions by tigers may be related to the fact that lions are not produced in the Central Plains. Some people think that the zodiac first appeared in writing. A day and night is twenty-four hours. Ancient astronomers divided a day and night into twelve hours. At the same time, when they watch the celestial phenomena, they determine the zodiac according to the living habits and activities of twelve animals. From 11: 00 pm to 1: 00 am the next day, it is the time for mice to move in the dead of night, and they are called "mice". From/kloc-0 to 3 am, it's ugly. Cattle are used to eating grass at night, and farmers often get up late at night to feed them, so they are called "ugly cows". From three to five in the morning, it belongs to Yin Shi. At this time, tigers lying during the day and walking at night are the fiercest. The ancients often heard tigers roaring at this time, so they were called "silver tigers". From five to seven in the morning, it's Shi Mao. At dawn, rabbits leave their nests and like to eat grass with morning dew, so they are called "hairy rabbits". Seven to nine in the morning is the time of day. It's usually foggy at this time. It is said that Longxi is flying in the clouds, which is worth the rising sun, so it is called "Chen Long". It's the fourth time from 9 am to 1 1. The fog cleared, the sun was shining, and the snake came out of the hole to feed and pretended to be a "snake". From eleven o'clock to one o'clock at noon, it is noon. In ancient times, wild horses were not tamed by humans. At noon, they run around screaming, so they are called "afternoon horses". 1: 00 to 3: 00 in the afternoon is inappropriate. Some places call it "sheep out of the slope", which means it is a good time to herd sheep, so it is called "Weiyang". From 3 pm to 5 pm, it is the application time. When the sun goes down in the west, the monkey likes to crow, so it is called "Shen Monkey". From five o'clock to seven o'clock in the afternoon, it is unitary time. When the sun goes down, the chicken spins in front of the nest, so it is called "unitary chicken". From 7 pm to 9 pm, it is a time of sadness. After a hard day's work, I bolted the door and got ready to have a rest. The dog crouched in front of the door to guard. As soon as there is movement, it barks and screams, so it is called "dog". From 9: 00 pm to 1 1, it is Shihai. You can hear the sound of the pig arch in the dead of night, so it is called "sea pig". In this way, the time of day is arranged by animals: mice, ugly cows, silver tigers, rabbits, Chen Long, uncles, afternoon horses, sheep, monkeys, chickens, dogs and porcupines. Later, people used this method to determine the year, and the zodiac appeared. There is a similar saying that twelve animals deserve twelve hours. It is said that heaven and earth were formed at the beginning of life without gaps, so gas can't escape and matter can't be used. When bitten by a mouse, the gas escapes and the substance can be used. Rats have the power to open celestial bodies, and they belong to rats when they are young. The mouse opens the gap between heaven and earth, the cow comes out to farm, and the clown belongs to the cow. Legend has it that people are born in Yin, and the word "Yin" means awe. In ancient times, people were most afraid of tigers, so Yin was a tiger. Shi Mao has entered the early morning, but the sun has not yet come out. It is the moon that illuminates the earth, and the only animal in the moon palace is the "Jade Rabbit", so Shi Mao is a rabbit. Legend has it that when the dragon rains, this time naturally belongs to the dragon. Snakes are good at hiding their whereabouts with grass. It is said that when they were young, they didn't swim on the road where people walked, so they didn't hurt people, so they belonged to snakes. At noon, the yang reaches the limit, and the yin is just about to produce, so the horse can't run without land. It belongs to the yin beast, so it belongs to the horse at noon. Legend has it that sheep eat untimely grass, which does not affect the regeneration of grass. If it is untimely, it will be returned to sheep. Shen means "stretch". Monkeys are best at stretching, bending and crawling, so Shen is a monkey. At this time, the chicken began to return to the nest, and it was a chicken at this time. When it is getting dark, the dog begins to "work" and look after the home. At this point, it belongs to the dog. At night, everything is silent and the world is chaotic, and pigs, like the chaos of heaven and earth, know nothing but "eat", so Shihai naturally belongs to pigs. Fayuan Zhu Lin quoted the origin of the 12 zodiac animals in Dajijing as saying: "Outside Jambu-Di^pa, there are 12 animals in Fanghai, which are bodhisattvas. When human nature was born, when the Bodhisattva lived in the cave, it belonged to this beast to protect the interests, so Han went with him on the 12 th. " Another cloud said, "The reason for its distribution is quite detailed in" Random Records of Grain Ears ". According to it, zi, yin, Chen, noon, Shen and Xu are all yang, so rats, tigers, dragons, monkeys and dogs are all five fingers, while horses have only one hoof; Ugly, stubble, taboo, ambiguous, unitary, and the sea belong to yin, so cows, sheep, chickens, and pigs that belong to even numbers have four claws, rabbits have two claws, and snakes have two tongues. " According to this, twelve animals are arranged in odd-even order according to their toes: cattle have four toes, which are even; Strangely, the tiger has five toes; Rabbit has four toes, even number; Dragon five toe, very strange; Snakes have no toes, only two tongues, which is an even number; Strangely, a horse has only one toe (a hoof); Sheep have four toes, even number; It is strange that monkeys have five toes; Chicken has four toes, even; Strangely, dogs have five toes; Pigs have four toes, even number; Among the twelve animals, only the mouse is the most special. Its front foot has four toes, which is even. Surprisingly, there are five toes on the back foot. [Edit this paragraph] The selection and arrangement of the zodiac is not complicated. It is close to the daily life and social life of the Han people, which can be guessed. Zodiac animals can be roughly divided into three categories: one is the "six animals" domesticated by human beings, namely cattle, sheep, horses, pigs, dogs and chickens, which are domesticated by human beings for economic or other purposes, accounting for half of the Zodiac animals. "Six Livestock" is an important concept in China agricultural culture with a long history. In the traditional concept of China people, "Six Livestock Flourishing" represents the prosperity, auspiciousness and beauty of the family. During the Spring Festival, people usually talk about "the prosperity of six animals", so it is inevitable that these six animals will become the zodiac. The second category is well-known wild animals, which are closely related to people's daily and social life. They are tigers, rabbits, monkeys, rats and snakes, and some of them participate in human life with awe, such as tigers and snakes. There are also rodents that people hate and taboo, but they rely on human beings to survive; More people like it, such as rabbits and monkeys. The third category is the traditional symbolic mascot of China people-the dragon, which is a symbol of the Chinese nation, an "artifact" with many animal features, and a "spiritual thing" in people's imagination. Dragon represents wealth and good luck, and it is the most symbolic auspicious animal, so the position of dragon in the zodiac is indispensable.
Why are there no cats in the zodiac?
Chen Shuaifo believes that since ancient times, people have different opinions about why there are no cats in the zodiac, including the above story and the story of "Cats Catch Mice", but they all disagree.
Why can't cats make the list? In fact, the real reason is that there were no cats in ancient China. Cats are native to Egypt, but it is unknown when cats were introduced to China. Folklore was brought back from India by Tang Sanzang, but it will never be so late for cats to be introduced to China. Ancient literati called cats "raccoons", such as Li Shangyin sleeping on raccoon tiles. So cats should have been introduced into China earlier. Now when it comes to why there are no cats in the zodiac, it is explained by folk stories. In fact, before cats were introduced to China, there were twelve zodiac signs in China. So it is not surprising that there are no cats in the zodiac. According to the classification of zoology, tigers belong to mammals, carnivores and cats. Tigers and cats are actually relatives of the family. With the tiger as the representative, cats are willing to masturbate without the trouble of "right to speak" in the "agreement" of the zodiac.
As can be seen from the above, the choice of zodiac animals is not arbitrary, but has certain meanings. People choose animals from different angles, which has certain significance.
So in what order are these twelve animals arranged? As mentioned earlier, the zodiac was born in the atmosphere of ancient animal worship and totem worship. People just use animals to borrow ordinal symbols to match the earthly branches. Why did you choose these twelve animals, who came first and in what order? There is no conclusion. Because the zodiac was born in ancient culture, people have lost the original intention of the arrangement because of its age. Today's legends and stories are only attached to it, and they can only rely on legends and imagination. There are three explanations about the arrangement of the zodiac.
The first is the arrangement of the zodiac in folklore stories.
Han folktale says: In those days, Huangdi in Xuanyuan wanted to choose twelve kinds of animals as court guards, and the cat asked the mouse to sign up, but the mouse forgot. As a result, the cat didn't choose it, and since then, it has made enemies with the mouse. The elephant also came to the competition, and the mouse got into its nose and drove it away. The rest of the animals, originally headed by cows, were rushed to the backs of cows, and pigs also booed, so the mice came first and the pork chops came last. The tiger and the dragon refused to accept it, and were named king of the mountain and king of the sea, ranking behind the mouse and the cow. The rabbit refused to accept it again, raced with the dragon and finally reached the dragon. The dog was unfair and bit the rabbit in a rage, so he was punished from the bottom. Snakes, horses, sheep, monkeys and chickens have also gone through some contests and arranged their positions one by one. Finally, the order of rats, cows, tigers, rabbits, dragons, snakes, horses, sheep, monkeys, chickens, dogs and pigs was formed. Although the legendary story is not a scientific explanation of the problem, it embodies people's explanation of the choice of the zodiac.
Secondly, Chinese ancient scholars explained the relationship between earthly branches and Xiao beasts from the perspective of twelve o'clock in ancient times.
There is chaos in the darkness. Rats come out in the middle of the night and bite the chaotic state between heaven and earth out of the gap. "Rats bite the sky", so they belong to rats. When the sky opens, the land will be reclaimed. "This land will be saved from ugliness." Cows have to plow fields, so ugliness belongs to cows. Yin Shi is the time when a person is born. If he lives, he must die. Nothing can kill people more than a tiger. Yin has awe, so Yin belongs to a tiger. Shi Mao is the image of sunrise. The sun should be separated from divination, which is like fire. The yin contained in it is the moon's fine jade rabbit, so Shi Mao is a rabbit. March is the rainy season. Chen Ziran belongs to the dragon. The divinatory symbols in April, at this moment, spring grass is flourishing, which is a good day for snakes, like a duck to water. Besides, it's morning, and the snake is returning to the cave, so it belongs to the snake. At noon and afternoon, the sun's spirit reaches its peak, and the yin is budding. A horse, an animal, gallops and flies with its hooves, but it tramples on the ground from time to time. The sky is yang, the earth is yin, and the horse jumps between yin and yang, so it becomes the zodiac at noon. Sheep, grazing in the afternoon is the best time, and it is easy to gain weight. This time is not timely, so it is not a sheep. Not after dressing, but when the monkey is crying near the western hills, and the monkey likes to stretch his arms and jump at this time, so the monkey is worth dressing. When the moon appears, it belongs to water, so it should be divination. The hexagrams are the upper and lower yin, and the middle yang represents the sun and the essence of the sun. That's why you are a chicken. When night falls, it's time. Dogs are vigil animals, and when they are with them, they become dogs. Then when the sea comes, heaven and earth are immersed in a state of chaos, just like a fruit wrapped in stones, and everything in the world is covered at night. Pigs are chaotic creatures that only know how to eat, so pigs have become the zodiac of Hai. Zhu, a famous Neo-Confucianist in Song Dynasty, holds this view.
Thirdly, according to China people's belief in Yin and Yang, twelve kinds of animals are divided into Yin and Yang, and the Yin and Yang of animals are arranged according to the odd-even difference of toes.
Animals generally have the same number of toes in front, back, left and right. Only mice have four feet in front and five feet in the back, even and odd. Things are rare, of course, they rank first, followed by cattle and four toes (even number); Tiger, five toes (odd number); Rabbit, four toes (even number); Dragon, five toes (odd number); Snakes, no toes (occasionally); Horse, one toe (odd number); Sheep, four toes (even number); Monkey, five toes (odd number); Chicken, four toes (even number); Dog, five toes (odd number); Pig, four toes (even number). This view was held by Hong Xun, a scholar in the Song Dynasty, and Lang Ying, an Amin scholar, classified it on this basis, and put forward "below the earthly branch" in his manuscript of the Seventh Revision of the Zodiac, so the number of toes should be treated differently. The mouse has four claws in front, even number is yin, hind foot is five claws, and odd number is yang. The first half of the child is the yin of last night, and the second half is the yang of today, just using mice to symbolize the child. The four claws of cattle, sheep, pig's trotters and chickens, plus the four claws of rabbits lacking lips and the tongue of snakes, should all be even, belonging to Yin, accounting for six. Tigers have five claws, monkeys and dogs have five claws, and horseshoes are round and undivided. All six are odd numbers, belonging to Yang, and together with the mice belonging to Yang, they account for the other six branches. Lang Ying's classification is the flood borrowing classification, and the two are similar.
The above three explanations explain the arrangement of the zodiac from different angles, and the folklore about the arrangement of animals in the zodiac is very rich. On the one hand, the spread of these legends enriches the content of the zodiac, on the other hand, it also promotes the inheritance and development of the zodiac culture. The zodiac is divided into two categories, Yin and Yang, which are incorporated into the concept of China people's belief in five elements. The purpose is to link the zodiac with life rituals, and to correspond the Yin-Yang and Five Elements with the zodiac, thus explaining other related life and cultural phenomena.