What zodiac is Nian Gengyao?

In addition to calculating calendars and observing astronomical phenomena, China's official astronomical institutions were also responsible for the selection. For example, in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the duties of Tianguan included: "When the country offered sacrifices, funerals and weddings, it was responsible for timely playing auspicious days and holiday taboos." Later, in the official astronomical institutions, a department appeared to be responsible for such things. In the early Qing Dynasty, the responsibility of this department was: "Look at the palace buildings inside and outside, look at the mountains and rivers, look at Feng Shui, promote marriage, choose auspicious days, and pave the way." From the end of Yuan Dynasty to the end of Qing Dynasty, the government set up a wide range of Yin and Yang studies in prefectures and counties, which were as famous as Confucianism and medicine. [7]

After the Tang Dynasty, with the maturity of block printing technology, the government began to print calendar days (that is, yellow calendars). On the basis of these engraved almanac, the content about business taboos began to appear in large numbers! [7]

China's metaphysics is closely related to the 24 solar terms, so "beginning of spring" has always been regarded as the beginning of a new year in the fields of art and mathematics. As for the first day of the first lunar month, it is only the first day of 12 lunar months. Although every household is celebrating, the calculation of geomantic figures in the new year is still based on "beginning of spring". [8]

China's traditional divination and fortune-telling started in beginning of spring in one year. [3]

Folk custom foundation

Zheng Ziduan, a folklore researcher in Fuzhou, dug up the lunar calendar of the Republic of China, and it still takes beginning of spring as the starting point of the zodiac. According to research, the Spring Festival became an official name after the Revolution of 1911. Before that, people and officials regarded beginning of spring as the first year. [9]

Liu, honorary president of the Chinese Folklore Society, believes that "according to the inherent traditional concept, beginning of spring is the boundary of the wheel". "Since the establishment of the zodiac, we have started to use beginning of spring as the calculation start time of the rotation of the zodiac." [ 10]

Beginning of spring is used as the calculation basis of the zodiac in China calendar and folklore. Ye Chunsheng, a professor at Sun Yat-sen University and vice chairman of the Chinese Folklore Society, believes that the word "Zodiac" existed as early as the Spring and Autumn Period, when the corresponding relationship between the twelve earthly branches in the Ganzhi Calendar and the zodiac was established and circulated [1 1].

Many folk customs all over the country regard beginning of spring as the beginning of the zodiac. For the animal year, the custom of "wearing red rope and underwear" began at midnight on New Year's Eve, which is only a custom in a few areas. In the Year of the Animal, officials offer sacrifices to Spring God, Spring Cattle, Mang God and Tai Sui at the beginning of the annual spring ceremony.

abstract

To sum up, from the official to the folk, and then to the academic circles, most of them support the saying that the zodiac began in the beginning of spring. Tracing back to the source, it is more orthodox to take beginning of spring as the beginning of the Year of the Zodiac. [9]