What does the zodiac mean? Is it a lunar calendar or a solar calendar?

Guide: What does the zodiac mean? Do you have the same question? Every time you hear people talk about the zodiac, you may be able to say one or two things, such as pigs, dogs and cows, but you can't say all the attributes. Besides, you must also want to know whether the zodiac is a lunar calendar or a solar calendar, because many people are always confused about their zodiac at the end of the year, so go and have a look with me.

What does the zodiac mean?

The Zodiac, also known as the Zodiac, is twelve kinds of animals in China that match the twelve earthly branches according to the year of birth, including rats, cows, tigers, rabbits, dragons, snakes, horses, sheep, monkeys, chickens, dogs and pigs.

The origin of the zodiac is related to animal worship. According to the Qin bamboo slips unearthed in Yunmeng Shuihudi, Hubei Province and Fangmatan, Tianshui, Gansu Province, there was a relatively complete zodiac system in the pre-Qin period. The earliest handed down document that recorded the same Chinese zodiac as the modern one was Lun Heng written by Wang Chong in the Eastern Han Dynasty.

The zodiac is an intuitive representation of the twelve earthly branches, namely, Zi (mouse), Ugly (ox), Yin (tiger), Mao (rabbit), Chen (dragon), Si (snake), Wu (horse), Wei (sheep), Shen (monkey), You (chicken) and Xu (chicken). In modern times, more people regard the zodiac as the mascot of the Spring Festival and become a symbol of entertainment and cultural activities.

As a long-standing symbol of folk culture, the zodiac has left a lot of poems, Spring Festival couplets, paintings, calligraphy and paintings and folk arts and crafts that depict the image and symbolic meaning of the zodiac. Apart from China, many countries in the world issue stamps of the zodiac during the Spring Festival to express their wishes for the New Year in China.

Is the zodiac a lunar or solar calendar?

12 according to the lunar calendar, the zodiac began in the beginning of spring, not the first day of the first lunar month.

Purple Mountain Observatory of China Academy of Sciences is a modern calendar editing unit. It supports the first day of the first month as the beginning of the year, that is, the lunar calendar. Many folk customs all over the country take the first day of the first month as the starting point of the zodiac year. For example, the custom of wearing red rope and "red underwear" has been handed down since midnight on New Year's Eve.

According to the China calendar, this genus is divided into beginning of spring. The division of the two zodiac signs is not based on the Gregorian calendar's 65438+ 10/,nor on the first day of the first lunar month, but on the beginning of spring solar terms in the twenty-four solar terms. For example, beginning of spring in 20 12 was on February 4th, so the Spring Festival in 20 12 was still the Year of the Rabbit, and it was not until February 4th that it was the the Year of the Loong of the lunar calendar.

China's zodiac is determined by beginning of spring. The lunar calendar is used in the Han Dynasty, and the New Year is bounded by beginning of spring. beginning of spring is the first of 24 solar terms, and the zodiac is based on beginning of spring.

Professor Ye Chunsheng, vice chairman of Chinese Folklore Society, professor of Chinese Department of Sun Yat-sen University and a famous folklorist, thinks that the zodiac should be based on beginning of spring. He reminded the public that the zodiac began in the beginning of spring, not the first day of the first month, that is, the beginning of the Lunar New Year. People's zodiac should be based on the beginning of spring of the lunar calendar.

Differences between Chinese and foreign zodiac signs

Ethnic minorities

Because of the different living environment and familiar animals, the selection and arrangement order of zodiac signs of ethnic minorities are different from those of Han nationality.

Yi people in Ailaoshan: tiger, rabbit, pangolin, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, chicken, dog, pig, mouse and cow.

Yi people in western Guangxi: dragon, phoenix, horse, ant, human, chicken, dog, pig, sparrow, cow, tiger and snake.

Dai: Rats, cows, tigers, rabbits, snakes, snakes, horses, sheep, monkeys, chickens, dogs and elephants.

Li nationality: chicken, dog, pig, mouse, cow, insect, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep and monkey.

Mongolians: tigers, rabbits, dragons, snakes, horses, sheep, monkeys, chickens, dogs, pigs, rats and cows.

Uighurs: rats, cows, tigers, rabbits, fish, snakes, horses, sheep, monkeys, chickens, dogs and pigs.

Kirgiz: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, fish, snake, horse, sheep, fox, chicken, dog and pig.

Tibetans: The combination of Yin and Yang, five elements and Xiao beast, such as the Year of the Rabbit in the Year of the Sheep, the Year of the Monkey in the Year of the Loong and Jin Yang.

foreign country

Other countries also have zodiac signs. Vietnam changed rabbits into cats, India has lions but no tigers, and the rest are the same. Korean and Japanese zodiac signs are the same as those in China. Cambodia, like Thailand and China, is headed by cattle and snakes respectively. Myanmar is one of the eight constellations. People born from Monday to Sunday (Wednesday afternoon) belong to tigers, lions, toothless elephants, toothless elephants, rats, guinea pigs, dragons and birds with strange wings.

The western zodiac can be traced back to Babylon: cats, dogs, snakes, dung beetles, donkeys, lions, rams, bulls, falcons, monkeys, crocodiles and flamingos. Egypt and Greece are similar to them: bulls, goats, lions, donkeys, crabs, snakes, dogs, cats (Greek mice), crocodiles, flamingos, apes and eagles.

In addition, the zodiac is also considered as the zodiac in Europe.