Why did you choose those twelve animals as the representatives of twelve years?

With the coming of the Spring Festival, it will enter the Year of the Horse. Zodiac, a strange phenomenon in human society, can be said to be one of the life symbols that accompany people all their lives. Not only in China, but also in many foreign countries, but in different ways. Zodiac culture is widely involved in various fields of China culture, and it is also an important part of China folk customs. The cultural significance of the zodiac is also found in folk customs. This paper talks about the origin of Chinese zodiac culture and other cultures.

Zodiac and Totem

The Yi people in Daliangshan, Sichuan still have a long history of astronomical knowledge. They commemorated this day with twelve kinds of animals. Today is rat day, and tomorrow is ox day. Tiger day drives tiger street (market), pig day drives pig street. In some places, temples of the zodiac have been built, and sacrificial ceremonies are held to dance the zodiac every year.

Many clans and tribes in ancient times believed that their ancestors were rats. The white tiger clan thinks that their ancestors are male white tigers, and tigers will not hurt them. If you want to travel far, you must choose the day when you belong to the tiger (cloudy day). Some people have to calculate the date when they come back from far away, and only enter the door on the day of the Year of the Tiger. It is said that their ancestors hatched from the eggs of Golden Flower Chicken, believing that the rooster knows the good and the bad and will bless them. When migrating, put things in a basket with a rooster on it. In a new place, as soon as the rooster crows, it will settle down. In their view, the place where the rooster crows is the most auspicious.

China's dragon has the basic characteristics of totem and is a totem god worshipped by all ethnic groups. The snake is one of the important totems of the ancient Yue people.

In Manchu, the wild boar god is listed as a great god. Some people regard cows as ancient creation beasts, such as Naxi people. The worship of horses is widely spread among nomadic and hunting peoples in the north. Sheep are the totems of many nationalities.

The Han nationality is one of the earliest nations that domesticated dogs in ancient times. It is recorded in Shan Hai Jing that dogs can resist fierce attacks. A Yao myth is recorded in The Biography of Nan Man in the Later Han Dynasty: the family helped by Pan Hu, the god dog, killed General Wu, and the daughter of the family married Pan Hu and gave birth to Yao descendants. As the ancestor myth of the clan or the god of salvation, Pan Hu, the divine dog, was honored as the ancestor of the clan by Mianzhi of Yao nationality, and was honored as "King of Pan Hu" and "King of Pan Hu". Manchu worshiped dogs from the beginning of hunting and regarded dogs as animals owed to Manchu. Later, there was a legend that a righteous dog saved Nurhachi, so they respected dogs more.

Zodiac and Art

Zodiac culture is one of the important themes of China folk art with a long history.

Many folk paper-cuts of the zodiac are handed down from generation to generation, with little change. In the form of composition, there are "family portrait", single picture and zodiac picture. The most common one is the "snake rabbit". The snake head is opposite to the rabbit head, and the snake body surrounds the rabbit. Because there is a saying among the people that "a snake dish rabbit will be rich". In addition, the composition of the Chinese zodiac is the same as that of the characters, mostly animal faces, arranged one by one.

In New Year pictures, the zodiac is also a traditional theme. New Year pictures are mostly monochrome or color block printing. The Qing Dynasty New Year picture "Lotus-born Guizi Picture" in Wuqiang, Hebei Province is overprinted in four colors: red, yellow, green and purple. Two big circles occupy most of the picture, and the bodies of two children form a circle to form four children. In another circle, the heads of three children and the bodies of five children form six children, and the children in the circle are pitching and lying down. Above this double circle is the zodiac pattern, with dragons, tigers and rabbits in the middle, rats, sheep, cows and horses on the right, and snakes, chickens, dogs, monkeys and pigs on the left. There are both "having children" and the zodiac, praying for more children and more women. Lively mice marrying women is also one of the most common themes in New Year pictures.

Zodiac and Crafts

In ancient times, there was a twelve o'clock plate, surrounded by the designs of the zodiac. Gu Tao's Records of the Qing Dynasty in Song Dynasty recorded: "There is a plate in Tangku, which is yellow in color and three feet round, surrounded by objects. Yuan Hezhong, use it occasionally, and feel things change with time. For example, flowers and plants are playing with dragons in the morning and become snakes and horses in the afternoon, because it is called' twelve o'clock'. " The zodiac pattern of this dish changes with time, with snake pattern in the afternoon and horse pattern in the afternoon.

197 1 year, a set of pottery figurines of the 12 zodiac animals was unearthed in the tombs of the Tang Dynasty in Xiangyin, Hunan Province. They are all the heads of animals, wearing long-sleeved robes, with their hands arched to their chests and a long hole in the middle for inserting objects. The twelve zodiac statues were placed in small niches around the tomb wall to indicate the direction.

There are many pictures of the zodiac in the tang dynasty bronze mirror. At that time, the bronze mirror caster was magical, and the sound of buckle was endless. Facing the sun, the text pattern on the back was obvious in the shadow. The production of bronze mirrors is roughly divided into north and south, and the decorative patterns in different regions are different. The bronze mirrors in the north are quaint with each other, and the bronze mirrors in the south are exquisite and slender, with complicated and gorgeous patterns.

Male prostitute, a folk handicraft in Beijing, is recorded in the Chronicle of Yanjing at the Age of Years in Qing Dynasty: "Every Mid-Autumn Festival, capable people in the city make a toad and rabbit statue out of loess for sale, which is called male prostitute. Dressed, hooded, riding, sitting still. The big one is three feet, and the small one is more than one foot. " It's hard to ride a tiger, prostitute. People say that a hairy rabbit controls a yin tiger. The idiom "spend money to buy food" describes the dilemma of living beyond one's means, while riding a tiger is difficult. A prostitute lets a hairy rabbit ride a yin tiger, which means spending money to buy food and living a rich life. The clay sculpture of Niejiazhuang in Gaomi, Shandong Province has been made since the beginning of Wanli period in Ming Dynasty, with dolls, birds, animals, insects, fish and other themes. Until the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty, the clay sculpture of Niejiazhuang developed from static to dynamic, with dogs barking and fighting, tigers, chickens and monkeys. When making, the head and tail are divided into two parts, which are connected by leather or kraft paper, and a steel wire spring and whistle are built in, which will make a creaking sound when shaken by hand. As for the modeling of mud and tiger, folk artists think: "This thing is for children to play with, as long as it is gaudy and can scream, it can't be too real, which will give children a sense of terror." So the tiger's head, especially the tiger's mouth, is greatly exaggerated to show the king's demeanor as the king of beasts. The tiger's tail is designed to be very small, showing only a short protrusion on the tiger's fur, and its limbs are short and thick. In the center of the head disk, there is a gap to insert the whistle, so that the tiger can make a childish sound as long as it presses its head and tail.

Zodiac and coins

"Dictionary of Ancient Money" quoted the compilation of historical books as saying: "There are zodiac characters on the front of life money. Zhang Duanmu said:' This money used to be called life money, and it has the shape of twelve characters of the earth and the zodiac.' The theory of the zodiac began in Huainanzi, so money doesn't necessarily come from modern times. Today, this money has one word, two words, four words and twelve gifts, with different sizes and various types. Therefore, Zodiac coins, also known as Twelve Money and Life Money, are also an interesting variety in Zodiac modeling.

Zodiac coins were minted in the Song and Yuan Dynasties. One is to cast a character on the perforation and cast the corresponding zodiac under the hole, such as the word "Zi" for the mouse and the word "Hai" for the pig. The mode is relatively simple. There is another kind, the front is cast with the words "ugly", "cloudy" and "hairy", and the back is cast with four zodiac signs: rat, ox, tiger and rabbit. There is also a form, in which the "warrior sage" is cast on the front and the patterns of people and horses are cast on the back; On the front, you sheng is cast, and on the other side, a chicken pattern is cast, highlighting the relationship between man and the zodiac.

There is a kind of zodiac money, the front is double circle, the inner circle is cast with twelve characters, and the outer circle is cast with the zodiac at the place corresponding to the twelve characters; The word "trouble" is on the left and the word "order" is on the right. There is a god Tota above and a beast below.

There is also a kind of zodiac money, the pattern is in the form of beads. The zodiac signs on the front of the money are embedded in twelve small circles, with the perforation as the center. Six small circles surround to form a circle, and the outer circle is surrounded by six small circles, separated by moire. The zodiac signs are beaded. Lotus, reed, double geese and other patterns are cast on the back. In addition, some China zodiac coins are cast with Kyrgyz characters such as "Long life" and "Peace in the world"; The gossip cast on the back is called "gossip money"; On the back, there is a star official named Shouxin Monument, which is called "Shouxin Monument Money". There are Zhang Tianshi to exorcise evil spirits, turtle crane to live longer, promotion and knighthood, and crouching tiger.

Rats are preferred.

In the Chinese zodiac, why can the mouse that everyone shouts is the best?

According to folklore, the Jade Emperor summoned the twelve zodiac animals to hold a ranking meeting, and eight immortals, including pigs, rats, cows and horses, crossed the sea to show their magical powers and rushed to the meeting place together. Niu Ge was simple and honest, and set out early to win the first place, but the clever mouse quietly jumped on the cow's back and stood on the cow's head at the crucial moment. As a result, Niu Ge had to give way to Brother Mouse, ranking second.

Another legend says that animals have odd and even toes. No matter biped or quadruped, the number of toes is consistent, or the left and right are consistent. Except for mouse, it has four toes in its front foot and five toes in its back foot. Therefore, when arranging the zodiac, the feet of mice are odd and even, so they are among the best because of their differences.

The origin of the zodiac

The zodiac is also called the zodiac, or the zodiac for short, or the genus. According to the interpretation of Chinese characters, "Sheng" means "Sheng" and "Xiao" means similarity and similarity.

When we talk about the Chinese Zodiac in China, we should start with the year of dry and dry in the China lunar calendar. The lunar calendar is sometimes called the "summer calendar", and the chronology method of the summer calendar is based on the method of cadres and branches, in the order of heavenly stems and earthly branches's coordination. There are ten days and twelve branches. Heavenly stems and earthly branches matches, such as Jiazi and Ebony. And so on, arranged into sixty groups, commonly known as "sixty flowers". These 60 groups of matching years are circulated once every 60 years; Match the month, and cycle once in June (5 years); Match with the day, once every 60 days; Coordination time, 120 hours (two hours is one hour in ancient times). In this cycle, year, month, day and time have their own calendars. The ancients paid attention to the unity of man and nature, so they took 12 animals to match the twelve earthly branches. When calculating the year, all the years with "Chen", such as,, are called the Year of the Loong, and people born in the Year of the Loong are dragons, and so on. Later, people thought that a certain year in life was just like something. For example, Laban Xiao was born in the Year of the Loong, or the China Zodiac for short.

Why do the zodiac need twelve?

"Zhou Li" contains: "The palm of your hand is two years old, the palm of your hand is in February, the palm of your hand is two stars, and the palm of your hand is twenty-eight stars. Its narrative can distinguish the position of heaven." The division of time is twelve years, twelve years a year, twelve o'clock a day in December. In ancient times, the sky has always been the master and the earth has always been the subordinate. Ten heavenly stems are also called ten mothers, and the corresponding twelve branches are called twelve sons.

The birth of the zodiac has an astronomical background. In primitive times, our ancestors experienced a cycle of alternating cold and summer. Hong Hao's Biography at the End of Song Dynasty in Song Dynasty said: "Jurchen is very small, just after the new moon, and the person doesn't know the date. When asked, they will say, "How many times have I seen grass?" "The Song Dynasty's" Meng Da Bei Lu "also recorded:" Every grass is one year old. When someone asks its age, they say how many grasses it is. "Another sky observer found that the moon's profit and loss cycle can be used to measure the length of a year, and twelve full moons are one year old. This discovery is one of the most accurate achievements of the early calendar, and "Twelve" is regarded as "days" to convey God's will. Heavenly stems and earthly branches, the sun and the moon are opposite, and heaven and earth are opposite, which is "twelve"

There are many animals in the world. Why did the ancients choose these twelve animals as their zodiac signs? Liu Xian's Yang Guang Miscellaneous Notes in Qing Dynasty quoted Li Changqing's superficial remarks about Matsushita Pavilion: "Why is A Zi a mouse?" Yue: Born in the child, it will not open until it dies. Rats eat insects. Therefore, in night is still young, positive mice have to wait, so children belong to mice. The ground is ugly, and the cow opens the ground, so ugliness belongs to the cow. If born in yin, if born, kill. Murderer, tiger, Yin people, fear. If you are awesome, you are a tiger, then Yin is a tiger. At the end of the day, the sun rises. In vitro, it contains the essence of Taiyin Jade Rabbit, so it is a rabbit. The morning of divination in March is when the dragon rains, so the morning belongs to the dragon. The last person, divination in April, was lush and the snake was in its place. Also, when a snake is not on the road, it is a snake. At noon, the sun is born, and the sun is born. Horses are healthy, never leave the ground, and belong to the shade, so they belong to horses in the afternoon. Sheep are not sheep, because they grow by biting untimely grass. When applying, the ape crowed in the sunset, and his arms were stretched out. By analogy, chaos runs rampant, so the application belongs to monkeys. You, the moon is out.

At that time, the moon was a ridge and contained the essence of a golden rooster, so it was a chicken. At that time, the dog was in charge, so it was a dog. Hai Shi, the pig is eating, so Hai is a pig. "

Another way of saying it is that the selection and arrangement of the zodiac is determined according to the daily activity time.

There are various legends about the arrangement of the zodiac. Such stories are like jokes to relieve boredom or fables to suppress evil and promote good, with strong literary elements.

In China, everyone has their own zodiac sign, you are a tiger, he is a rabbit, I am a dragon and so on. To know a person's age geometry, just ask his zodiac sign. It is said that when former Japanese Prime Minister tanaka kakuei visited China for the first time, he gave Zhou Enlai, then Prime Minister of the State Council, a riddle: There are only twelve China, but everyone has one, which is rare in foreign countries. What is the answer? Premier Zhou couldn't help laughing after listening, and blurted out: Zodiac. This anecdote became a beautiful talk to show Premier Zhou's agile thinking and was widely circulated.

Whenever the Spring Festival comes, people like to say that this year is the Year of the Loong because of the traditional habits of the Chinese nation. Next year is year of the snake, and the year after next is the Year of the Horse. Tracing back to its historical origin and cultural background, naturally leads to the following topics.

Ancient Records of the Zodiac

Since Shun Di's time, China has started to use the "chronology of branches and branches" which combines the ten phenomena of heavenly stems and twelve phenomena of earthly branches. The method of zoological chronology originated from nomadic people 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 the year is cloudy, it is called the year of the tiger. " Zhao Yi, a famous textual research scholar 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, yin and hairy, but when rats, cows, tigers and rabbits were divided into years, by the end 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, Sunrise Thief clearly records the characters used to predict the appearance characteristics of thieves in the zodiac. 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.

In the case of mice and dust, cattle and sheep came down at dusk.

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. Poetry cloud:

Cows and girls have hardly seen each other for 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 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 is shining, and the snake comes out of the hole for food and pretends 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. Five toes of the hind foot

, surprising. 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 so happy that he 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.

Selection and arrangement of the zodiac

The choice of the zodiac is not complicated, but 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. Animals domesticated by human beings for economic or other purposes account 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 auspiciousness, and it is the most symbolic auspicious animal, so its position in the zodiac is indispensable. 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 rats ranked first and pork chops ranked 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, then