How is the zodiac determined?

The ancients divided the stars near the ecliptic and equator into "28 stars". Twenty-eight nights also represent an animal In ancient times, Sunday was divided into twelve parts, represented by twelve branches. Twelve branches belonged to the zodiac, and the zodiac had a corresponding relationship with twenty-eight stars.

Wang Chang, a great scholar in the Ming Dynasty, believed that 28 species of animals belonged to 28 stars and were unified by 7 aliens, forming a pattern of "mother bat, imaginary sun mouse, dangerous moon swallow and child".

In Li Changqing's Song Xia Guan Yu Yan in Qing Dynasty, he thought that the 28-lodging animals "even if the first 12 genera were doubled", "were attached to Kang Jinlong, Chen Guan and Jiao Mujiao. Jiao and Long are also ",which reflects the gathering of 28 kinds of stellar animals based on the zodiac. "But it is inevitable that there will be collateral encounters, and the records of the 28 stars animals are later than the zodiac.

2, the star of the year said:

Jupiter runs once a week for twelve years, and the annual branching order can be determined from Jupiter's position. Yu Han, Fang Shan and Ji Shu thought that every twelve years, "three years old, three years old, three years old, three years old, three years old, three years old, three years old, three years old, three years old, three years old, three years old, three years old and three years old".

There is a cycle between the rise and fall of plants and the living environment of animals. The living conditions of herbivores (rats, cows, horses and sheep) and carnivorous omnivores are very different in different years. If people born in different years can imitate the animals that flourished in that year, they will form zodiac animals, and it is inferred that the rise and fall of animals are related to the year of Jupiter, and the zodiac and the zodiac are unified.

3, totem said:

The ancestors of primitive society often used some animals, inanimate objects or graphics of natural phenomena as protectors and symbols of their clans, that is, totems. The mixed image of man and beast in Shan Hai Jing is an ancient totem god. The totem of Xia nationality is bear or fish, the totem of Shang nationality is blackbird, and the totem of Zhou nationality is dragon, bird, turtle, dog and tiger.

Zodiac animals are imaginary except dragons, and the rest are daily visible. It can be divided into two categories, namely "six animals" (horses, cows, sheep, chickens, dogs and pigs) and "six animals" (rats, tigers, rabbits, dragons, snakes and monkeys). The former was domesticated by people for economic purposes, while the latter disturbed human life to a certain extent, and ancestors were afraid of it. Therefore, these animals are worshipped as the name symbols of this clan.

4. External name:

"Ugly children are ugly, but it doesn't matter at the beginning of the northern customs. They spread to China by soaking and searching in different ages, so they don't waste their ears," written by Zhao Yi in the Qing Dynasty, which confirms the exotic nature of the zodiac.

In Shi Ganzhi, Guo Moruo believes that the zodiac originated from the Babylonian zodiac, and the western countries formulated the zodiac in the Han Dynasty after imitating the zodiac. Ancient Greece, ancient Egypt, Babylon and other countries have similar zodiac signs, but the animals are different, so the zodiac may not have originated in China. However, the excavation of Qin bamboo slips overturns this theory, and all countries in the world have similar animal worship, which strengthens the rationality of totem theory.

Extended data:

Folklore says:

Xuanyuan Huangdi wanted to choose twelve kinds of animals as court guards, and the cat asked the mouse to sign up. As a result, the mouse forgot, and since then, the cat has been seeking revenge when it sees the mouse. Originally, the cow pushed first, and the mouse sneaked up the cow's back and took the lead. Not convinced, the tiger and dragon were named as mountain gods and sea gods, ranking behind cattle. The rabbit refused to accept it and wanted to race the dragon. The rabbit ran in front of the dragon. The dog was so angry that he didn't want to bite the rabbit that he was finally punished.

Snakes, horses, sheep, monkeys and chickens also went through some contests, and finally pigs came to occupy the last position. This legend also explains why there are no cats in the zodiac. In fact, there were no cats in ancient China, and the zodiac was formed when domestic cats were introduced to China. This legend, which is similar to children's stories, is far from a scientific explanation of the problem.