Anecdotes of the zodiac

Anecdote: In the history of mice, there was a festival in which mice married women. Generally, on the 25th night of the first month, every household doesn't light a lamp that night, and the whole family sits on the kang in the hall, silently eating food like "mouse claws" made of flour in the dark. The purpose of silence is to provide convenience for mice to marry women, so as not to offend mice and bring hidden dangers to the coming year.

According to the folklore of Taiwan Province Province, the third night of the first month is the day when mice get married, and the folk paper-cut saying that "mice get married" is a reflection of this folk custom. Therefore, people will sleep in the morning, do not light a lamp in the middle of the night, do not sprinkle rice and salt on the ground, and will not affect the happy event of mice.

[ox]

Yuan Zhen, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, wrote the poem "Spring Life": "Whip the cattle outside the county gate and fight for the soil to cover the spring silkworm." "Whip first" and then "fight" are two ancient folk words to send winter cold and welcome the new year. Whip spring cattle, also known as whip cattle, originated earlier. Zhou Li?' Monthly Order: "Digging cattle to send cold. "Later, it was kept, but in the spring, it flourished in the Tang and Song Dynasties. Especially after Song Renzong promulgated the "Cattle Slaughter Classic", the custom of whipping and slaughtering cattle spread more widely and even became an important part of folk culture.

China's ethnic minorities have the custom of expressing their condolences to cows, which is called "offering cows as kings". Buyi people in litchi, Luodian, Anlong and other places in Guizhou take the eighth day of the fourth lunar month as the New Year. On that day, let the cows have a rest and eat glutinous rice. The Niuwang Festival of the Gelao people is also called Niushen Festival, Niuwang Bodhisattva Festival and Niuwang Sacrifice Festival, which is held on the first day of the tenth lunar month every year. On that day, people stopped letting cows work, made two glutinous rice cakes, hung them on the horns, and then took the cows to the water to look after their shadows to celebrate their birthdays.

[Tiger]

The poem "Qian Miao Zhuzhi Ci". "Red Miao" written by Shu Wei, a scholar in the Qing Dynasty, said: "Weaving silk is not for people, but turning bronze drums to compete with mountain gods. The two feelings are speechless, and the vacancy tonight is to avoid yin. " (Note: Hongmiao only exists in Tongren area, and its clothes are silk, which is the battle of Nvhong. Beating a bronze drum is called drum tuning. On the fifth day of May every year, the couple stay up late and dare not talk, thinking that they have committed a tiger wound. ) Yin is a tiger, who dares to violate the custom of avoiding Yin? If a couple sleeps in a room in the shade in May, the tiger will hurt him.

[Rabbit]

Song Gu Tao's Biography of Qing Louis: "You are a pure rabbit." Rabbits make a living by this and belong to criminals. The ancients called rabbit meat soup guilty soup.

In the Han nationality, there is a custom of not eating rabbit meat when giving birth. Because rabbits are full of gaps, pregnant women fast rabbit meat during pregnancy to avoid gaps when their children are born. There is also the custom of sending rabbits to raise children. In the picture, six children are surrounded by a table, and a man is standing on the table, holding an auspicious rabbit picture in his hand, wishing the donated children a safe life and a step-by-step promotion in the future.

[dragon]

Many folk festivals in China are related to dragons. Wu, a poet of the Song Dynasty, described the dragon lanterns in the Southern Song Dynasty in Liang Lumeng: "On the night of the Lantern Festival ... the grass is tied into a dragon, covered with a green curtain, and there are thousands of lanterns and candles, which look like a double dragon." February 2 of the lunar calendar is the "Dragon Head-lifting Festival" of the Han nationality. According to folklore, the dragon that has been dormant for a winter looks up on this day, and there will be more rain in the future. Amin Shen Bang's "Miscellaneous Notes of Ten Thousand Parts" records that "February attracts dragons, and a hundred insects smoke": "Ten thousand people say that February is the leader. The villagers spread the cloth from the door to the kitchen with ashes and rotated it around the water tank, which is called "painting Longhuitou Scenic Spot". "Use noodles to spread pancakes, and smoke the bed to keep insects from growing." Because of the drought and lack of rain in the north of China, dragons were introduced into the home. In order to have a good weather, it also produced "February 2, dragons looked up; A big warehouse full, a small warehouse flow. On this day, people eat pancakes, dragon ear cakes and so on from Longxu Noodles and Longlin.

[snake]

Due to the mild and humid climate in southern Fujian, it is suitable for all kinds of snakes to thrive. If a snake is found at home, it can't be killed. People think that snakes are sent by ancestors to patrol the safety, and whoever enters the house indicates the safety of the home. If you find several snakes coiled together by the roadside, you should quickly tear off one of your buttons and throw it away to show your regret, and then walk away as if you didn't see it. It is said that this is snake mating, and the viewer is against the law. People in Guizhou need lightning protection every year, otherwise snakes and insects will be a disaster that year. There is a saying among the people that "when thunder thunders, insects and snakes swarm."

[horse]

China has a custom of offering sacrifices to horses since ancient times.

Sacrificing Mazu in spring, grazing in summer, riding in autumn and looking at riding in winter. Mazu is the emperor of heaven, the horse star in the sky; Grazing is first of all the god who began to teach people to release their horses; The horse club is the land god in the stable; And Ma Ping is the god of horse disaster. Han people believe in horses, and farmers offer sacrifices on June 23rd of the lunar calendar. The sacrifice was a whole sheep.

Mongolian people have traditional festivals such as Horse Milk Festival and Horse Racing Festival, which are held every year at the end of August of the lunar calendar for one day. On this day, herders put on festive costumes, rode horses and brought koumiss to the designated place to prepare festive food. The horse race starts at sunrise, and the horse is a two-year-old pony. After the game, people took their seats, singing and drinking to their heart's content, accompanied by Ma Touqin. It was not until nightfall that people dispersed with their leisure.

[sheep]

Both "Sheep" and "Xiang" have holidays. Dong Zhongshu, a great scholar in the Western Han Dynasty, said: "Sheep are auspicious, so it is auspicious to use them." Hanshu? South Vietnam records: "At the time of Wei Tuo, there were five-colored sheep, which were considered auspicious." Guangzhou, known as Yangcheng, originated from a wonderful legend: in Zhou Yiwang, five immortals rode five sheep and six strings of ears of grain to Chuting (the ancient name of Guangzhou) and dedicated them to people, hoping that there would never be a famine here. The fairy's words disappeared and the sheep turned to stone. "Guangzhou Ji" records: "In the Warring States period, Gao Gu was the Chu phase, and the five sheep held ears of grain in the Chu court, so the halls and beams in Guangzhou painted statues of the five sheep to make food bags."

[Monkey]

"Searching for God" contains: "The king of Chu visited the park, and the white ape was in the clouds. Wang Lingshan shot it, counted the arrows, and the ape laughed at it. It' s a bad life, the bow touches the base, and the ape will hold the wood and call. " This white ape can knock off the arrows one by one and laugh. The archer picked up the bow, and the white ape knew it was not good, so he hugged the tree and called. Here apes are personified, just as evolution tells people that humans are transformed from apes.

Han people generally think that monkeys are mascots. Because the monkey is homophonic with Hou, in many pictures, the image of the monkey means to seal Hou. For example, a monkey climbed a maple tree and hung a seal, which means "seal the weather and hang a seal"; A monkey is riding on horseback, which means "seal the Hou immediately"; Two monkeys sit on a pine tree, or one monkey rides on the back of another monkey, which means "generation is blocked"

[Chicken]

The ancient timer has not been invented yet. The rooster crows in the morning to announce the beginning of a new day. It is not only the clock of farmers' families, but also the clock of public life. During the Warring States Period, the famous Hangu Pass was opened and closed on the basis of cock crow. Meng Changjun fled, facing the closed gate, worried that the pursuer would come behind him. Among the diners, there are ventriloquists who know the journal, calling all the chickens at once and cheating on opening and closing the door. This story was written into Historical Records by Sima Qian and passed down as a classic.

The ancient Han nationality had the custom of "killing chickens", which was popular in Jinhua and Wuyi areas of Zhejiang Province. On the seventh day of July every year, the local people will kill the rooster, because the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl will meet at the Magpie Bridge that night. If there is no rooster to announce the dawn, they will never be apart.

[dog]

In the Song Dynasty, The Old Story of Quhu, edited by Zhu, recorded a story that the slaughter of dogs was forbidden because the emperor was a dog: "In the early days of Chongning, Fan said,' The God of the Zodiac, the dog is in your majesty's life. There are still people slaughtering dogs in Beijing, so it is advisable to ban them. "Because of the command, it is forbidden to raise dogs all over the world, offering a reward of twenty thousand. When Thai students heard about it for the first time, there was a declaration for the public that: when they moved to North Korea, all of them gave birth to children, but at that time, it was unheard of to ban livestock and cats. In the meantime, an argumentative person whispered in the dark:' Dogs are in the five elements, and their interest in class has its place. Now, they use taboo devices to make them valuable. If so, as Hong Fan said, they will worry about those who can't speak. "

In the past, Han people had the holiday custom of "letting dogs go". A "hairy dog" is a fox demon. According to legend, the devil swarmed out of Yue Bai on the fifteenth day of the first month, disturbing all beings. That night, people set up a dog shed and set it on fire. At the same time, they beat gongs and drums, set off firecrackers and drove away evil spirits.

[pig]

You Zhu is called "Wu Jin", "Black-faced Lang" and "Black Grandpa". According to reports from the ruling and opposition parties, people in Hongzhou in the Tang Dynasty raised pigs and became rich, which was called Wujin. Yun Xian Miscellaneous Notes in the Tang Dynasty quoted Cheng Ping's Old Edition: "A black-faced lang, also known as a pig." On the land of China, as early as the matriarchal clan commune period, domestic animals such as pigs and dogs have been raised. The pottery pigs unearthed from Hemudu Neolithic cultural site in Yuyao, Zhejiang Province are very similar to the current domestic pigs, indicating that pigs had been domesticated at that time.