What are the zodiac signs?

The zodiac is an intuitive representation of the twelve earthly branches, namely, Zi (mouse), Ugly (ox), Yin (tiger), Mao (rabbit), Chen (dragon), Si (snake), Wu (horse), Wei (sheep), Shen (monkey), You (chicken) and Xu (chicken).

In ancient China, it was matched with heavenly stems to indicate the order of year, month, day and time. Old-fashioned timekeeping also means order with ground support, such as child time, clown time and so on.

China's zodiac animals are made up of eleven kinds of animals from nature, namely rats, cows, tigers, rabbits, snakes, horses, sheep, monkeys, chickens, dogs, pigs and legendary dragons. Every animal is represented by the earthly branch. Mouse, Ugly Cow, Silver Tiger, Hairy Rabbit, Chen Long, Fourth Uncle, Wuma, Weiyang, Shenhou, Ji You, Dog and Porcupine. The zodiac is actually a visualization of the twelve branches of the zodiac.

Extended data

The origin of the zodiac

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 zodiac is an intuitive representation of the twelve earthly branches. With the development of history, it is gradually integrated into the folk belief concept, which is manifested in marriage, life, annual luck and so on. Each zodiac has rich legends, forming a conceptual interpretation system and becoming an image philosophy in folk culture, such as the zodiac in marriage, praying for blessings in temple fairs, and the year of the animal. In modern times, more people regard the zodiac as the mascot of the Spring Festival and become a symbol of entertainment and cultural activities.

Baidu Encyclopedia-Zodiac