What bird in 12 constellation is most like a rabbit?

Isn't a chicken a bird?

The Origin and Legend of the Chinese 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. In this way, it was originally odd and even, so it ranked first among the 12 zodiac animals.

In the northwest of Lishan ancestral temple in Lintong, Shaanxi Province, there is a huge monument engraved with the images of twelve animals, such as rats, cows, tigers, rabbits, dragons, snakes, horses, sheep, monkeys, chickens, dogs and pigs, which is called "Twelve Elephant Stones". There is also an interesting legend in this "Twelve Elephant Stones": in ancient times, there was a "branch chronology method" that heavenly stems and earthly branches first cooperated with. In practice, our ancestors felt that the chronology of cadres and branches was complicated, and it was difficult to be deeply rooted in people's hearts. Therefore, it is suggested that the zodiac be used to mark the year. The Yellow Emperor agreed to this suggestion and ordered Cang Xie to do it. On the first day of the first month of this year, all the animals in the world were gathered in front of The Yellow Emperor's Palace Temple to take part in the election. When the animals heard the news, they all cheered and rushed to prepare for the meeting. Among them, the cow knew that her legs and feet were slow, so she left home on New Year's Eve and got the first place in the exam. The second is a tiger, the third is a rabbit, the fourth is a dragon, and then there are snakes, horses, sheep, monkeys, chickens, dogs, pigs and mice. Dragons are dignified, covered in scales and shining; Eyes are round, like bright lights; Silver beard and gold beard, fluttering in the wind; Tiger feet and eagle claws, riding fog clouds. The fly in the ointment is that the top of the head is bare, as if something is missing. When Kong Lung jumped out of the pool, he saw the rooster. I see that the rooster not only has beautiful feathers, but also has a pair of beautiful horns on his head. I couldn't help but get excited and borrowed the horn on his head. The rooster shook his head and said, "No, I have to go to the election meeting of the zodiac tomorrow!" " "The dragon said," the horn on your head is redundant. With your colorful clothes, you will be chosen. "The rooster loves flattery and is willing to lend his horn to the dragon, but he still can't bear it. Just then, a big centipede climbed up and said, "Brother Chicken, lend your horn to Brother Long. If you don't trust me, how about I be the guarantor? "The cock saw a centipede as a guarantee and agreed. The dragon was very happy and promised to return the horn to the rooster immediately after the election meeting of the zodiac. Besides, mice and cats are good friends. The cat is sleepy. Before going to the meeting, the cat said to the mouse, "will you call me early tomorrow morning?" "The mouse nodded and said," OK, I will definitely call you. " In this way, the cat went to sleep peacefully. When the mouse woke up, it was already late. He hurried to call the cat, and when he saw the cat sleeping soundly, he thought, why should there be another competitor? He left the cat and turned out to be the last one present.

The election meeting of the zodiac is so lively! Those who fly in the sky, those who run on the ground, those who swim in the water and those who live in trees are all gathered together. Bustling, very lively. The Yellow Emperor selected twelve kinds of animals from all kinds of birds and animals and ranked them. The Yellow Emperor thought: Although the cow is clumsy, it is tall and strong, with infinite strength, and it is the first, so the steak is decided first. Rats are humble, they should come last. As soon as the voice of the Yellow Emperor was spoken, the mouse had a brainwave and quickly jumped in front of the Yellow Emperor and said, "If you want to talk big, you have to count me in. If you don't believe it, please let the people identify it. " The Yellow Emperor was amused by the mouse's words. This little guy said, "Since we have chosen the Chinese zodiac for the people, let the people identify it." So he ordered all twelve kinds of animals to walk in the street. When the cow walked into the street, people were very friendly to it. Some touched its head and some praised it, but no one said it was big. At this time, the mouse suddenly jumped on the cow's back, which startled people. I heard someone in the crowd exclaim, "Oh dear! Where did such a big mouse jump out! " This cry made the mouse show off, and the Yellow Emperor couldn't break his word, so he had to put the mouse first in the zodiac.

At the election meeting of the zodiac, the mouse was not only selected, but also ranked first, so it was naturally proud. When I got home, I saw the cat just waking up and said, "Mao Ge, the Zodiac Festival is over, and I was elected the first." Hearing this, the cat shouted, "What? Why didn't you wake me up? You are an evil bad thing. " Then he pounced on the mouse. When the mouse saw that the cat really turned over, it was scared and hurriedly fled back to the mouse hole. Since then, cats and mice have become sworn enemies, which have continued to this day.

Besides, the rooster was behind the dragon. He was unconvinced and regretted lending his horn to the dragon. After the meeting, the rooster hurried to the dragon and begged for his horn. When the dragon saw the rooster, he knew he was wrong, but he didn't want to give it back such a beautiful horn. He jumped into the deep pool beside him and hid. The cock can't swim, so he has to go to the centipede as a guarantor. The centipede said, "You still have to ask the dragon for your horn, but he just won't give it back. What can I do? " Say that finish, centipede also hid. Since then, the rooster has no horns on his head, leaving only a red comb. Climb high every morning and shout, "Brother Long, give me back my horn!" " "I usually dig centipedes everywhere with my claws and peck at them as soon as I see them.

After the zodiac signs were selected and arranged in sequence, the Yellow Emperor ordered Cang Xie, who created the characters, to engrave the names of the zodiac signs on the stone tablet, which has been handed down to this day.