What is the difference between the zodiac attribute and the five elements attribute?

The China Zodiac, also known as the Zodiac, is a dozen animals matched with the twelve earthly branches in China according to the year of birth, including rats, cows, tigers, rabbits, dragons, snakes, horses, sheep, monkeys, chickens, dogs and pigs.

The five elements are things that the ancients divided into five attributes: wood, fire, earth, gold and water, and they are called "five elements".

Difference 2: Different origins.

The origin of the zodiac is related to animal worship. According to the Qin bamboo slips unearthed in Yunmeng Shuihudi, Hubei Province and Fangmatan, Tianshui, Gansu Province, there was a relatively complete zodiac system in the pre-Qin period. The earliest handed down document that recorded the same Chinese zodiac as the modern one was Lun Heng written by Wang Chong in the Eastern Han Dynasty.

The theory of five elements originated from China's simple materialism in ancient times, and it is an analogy theory in ancient China. Instead of the five elements, everything is divided into water, fire, wood, gold and earth according to the nature of moistening, inflammation, straightness, culture and repair. It is different from the theory of four elements in ancient western countries, and integrates philosophy, divination, fortune telling, calendar, traditional Chinese medicine and wind.

Difference 3: The two are interrelated, but the five elements correspond to different zodiac signs.

Five elements-the zodiac?

Golden monkey, chicken?

Wooden tiger, rabbit?

Water rat, pig?

Fire snake, horse?

Earth-cattle, dragons, sheep and dogs