Why are the 12 zodiac animals of these 12 animals?

As an ancient folk cultural phenomenon, scholars have different opinions about the origin of the zodiac. Some people think that the zodiac and earthly branches are homologous and can be traced back to prehistoric legend times. In Historical Records, the Yellow Emperor's statements of "building Jiazi for life" and "making every effort to cure Jiazi" are the embodiment of this statement, and scholars believe that Jiazi here refers to the zodiac. Zhao Yi, a scholar in Qing Dynasty, believed that the zodiac originated from nomadic people in northern China. He said in "An Examination of Jade Congkao": "At first, there was no such thing as ugliness on the 12th day, but in the next year, it spread to China, and it was worthy of your ears." (See Zhao Yi's Textual Research on Jade Cong in Qing Dynasty). Some scholars even hold the view that the zodiac was introduced to China from Babylon, and Guo Moruo is the representative of this view. He said in "Study on Oracle Characters and Branch Interpretation", "Twelve elephants are found in Babylon, Egypt and India, but they are not very old, and none of them came from the Western Dynasty 100 years ago. The original intention is that this was made in the Western countries during the Han Dynasty, imitating the Babylonian zodiac and then spreading to the surrounding areas. " It is believed that the Chinese Zodiac was formulated by Middle Eastern residents imitating the Babylonian Zodiac, and was introduced to China when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty communicated with the western regions. The above viewpoints are different, so I dare not judge right or wrong subjectively. However, it is proved by a large number of documents that the Chinese zodiac really originated in China, and it is the crystallization of animal worship, totem worship and early astronomy of China ancestors. The Book of Songs is the earliest record of the zodiac in the existing literature. There are eight words in The Book of Songs Xiaoya Jiri: "Jiri Wugeng means poor horse", which means it is a good day to ride a prancing horse and go hunting. This is an example of a horse in the afternoon. It can be seen that the corresponding relationship between earthly branches and twelve kinds of animals has been established and spread around the Spring and Autumn Period. The bamboo slips 1975 unearthed from tomb1in Shuihudi, Yunmeng County, Hubei Province, further proved that the zodiac had existed before and after the Spring and Autumn Period. There is a chapter on "Thief" in the bamboo slips unearthed in Japan, which talks about the appearance characteristics of thieves, and records: "Son, mouse, thief wants his mouth, ... ugly, cow, thief with big nose and long neck, ... yin, tiger, thief, if he wants his beard, his face is black." Hair, rabbits, thieves are big. Chen, [the original leaked] the thief is a man, green and red ... already, insects are also, thieves grow black. At noon, the deer is also a thief with a long neck and a small cut. ..... No, horse, thieves have ears. ",ring also, thief round face ..."

The zodiac recorded in Japanese books is roughly the same as the popular saying now. According to textual research, the tomb of Shuihudi 1 1 was in the 30th year of Qin Shihuang (2 17 BC), so the appearance of the zodiac can be traced back to at least the Spring and Autumn Period before Qin Dynasty. Scholars believe that this is the earliest and most systematic record of the zodiac found in China so far.

Origin:

At the beginning of chaos, just after heavenly stems and earthly branches timed it, the Jade Emperor ordered the gathering of all the animals in the world, and selected the twelve zodiac animals according to the geographical branches of Zi, Ugly, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu and Hai.

The news came and alarmed two good friends, Flower Cat and Mouse. The flower cat said to the mouse, "I will be elected in heaven at five tomorrow." I have a problem with sleepiness. You should call me then! " The mouse repeatedly said, "Well said, well said! "

But the next morning, the disloyal mouse got up secretly and left without saying goodbye.

On this day, the animals gathered in Lingxiao Treasure Hall and began to choose. According to the difference between heaven and earth, the Jade Emperor selected twelve kinds of land and water animals, such as dragon, tiger, cow, horse, sheep, monkey, chicken, dog, pig, rabbit, snake and mouse, as the zodiac. The rooster had two beautiful horns at that time and was also included in the beast.

The Jade Emperor was about to give them his seat when the black pig flashed out of the classroom. The old black man, despite his clumsy mouth and cheeks, likes to make trouble. It says, "Since Mingjun has chosen twelve leaders, I am willing to share the rewards for you, be a righteous man and arrange my brothers in turn." When the jade emperor heard the news, he was overjoyed. He told the black pig to break off diplomatic relations with confidence, so he retired from the DPRK.

The jade emperor is sure that the zodiac will be chaotic.

At the beginning, everyone unanimously elected a gentle and generous workhorse to sit in the first place. Even the mighty tiger and black dragon respected it and agreed. However, the mouse curled up in the corner appeared and protested. It says, "I have a large number. If you don't believe me, let's race on the earth and listen to the opinions of the people. " So, the cow and the mouse came to the street in the city center.

When the bull passed through the crowd, people didn't respond. At this time, the mouse whizzed up to the cow's back and stood up. People in the street shouted, "What a big mouse!" By the time people took out sticks to hit them, the mouse had run away.

When the mouse came back, he praised a lot, and the leaders were all keen on scalpers. Only the black pig is secretly happy. It feels that only in this way, regardless of size, can it be difficult to distinguish between good and bad, so as to confuse the true and false and profit from it. With a stroke of his pen, he put the mouse in the front and the old steak in the back.

The tiger and the black dragon on the side were annoyed. They shouted loudly and shook the sky. The leaders were busy worshipping dragons and tigers, and unanimously elected tigers as mountain kings and black dragons as sea kings to rule the world. The monkey wrote a gold plaque with the word "Wang" for the tiger and hung it on the tiger's forehead. The rooster gave two horns to the black dragon. Since then, the black dragon has been crowned. Tigers and black dragons have power in the world, so they are only behind rats and bulls. At this time. Another rabbit in trouble jumped out. It sneered and said, "Hey, hey! In appearance, I am similar to a mouse, but bigger than a mouse. I am the guardian of the mountain king and should be in front of the sea king. "

Hearing this, the black dragon was furious and said, "Don't force it. Not convinced, you also participate. " Hearing this, Black Pig had no choice but to say, "It's a deal. Let's race and let the hounds be your judges. "

Hunting dogs and roosters have always been at odds. When he saw the cock please the black dragon, he wanted to play a trick on them. He chose a thorny runway and secretly said to the hare, "Your tail is too long, which will hinder the race.". You should be reluctant to give up what you love. " It cut off a big tail for the hare, leaving only a little tail root.

The game began, and the black dragon was flying in the clouds and soon flew to the front. However, when I ran to the middle corner of the bush, I was entangled in branches and wild vines, and I couldn't pick them off. The rabbit jumped eighteen times and ran to the finish line in one breath.

Despite the opposition of the leaders, the black pig put the hare in front of the black dragon and behind the tiger.

The hound went to congratulate the hare and sold it to the hare, saying, "If you don't choose this runway and cut your tail, how can you win today!" " The hare held on to its thick tail and regretted it. He listened to the hound's words, curled his lips and said, "Hum! I won by skill. Without you, I can't lose this beautiful tail! " Hearing this, the hound's eyes were red with anger. It said, "since you have the ability, let us have a chance!" " The rabbit said proudly, "What's so hard about it? I'll run first. If you can catch up with me, I'll treat you to a bone. " With that, he ran away proudly. The hounds ground their paws, bent their backs and chased them like arrows. After a while, the hare was driven out. He bit the rabbit's neck with his mouth and said while eating, "well, it's my turn to chew the bone." "

For this matter, the hound was also punished and was ranked last.

After losing the game, the black dragon often complained behind his back that the chicken horn made him tired. After listening to this, the rooster regretted and was sad. He came to the seaside and said to the black dragon, "Brother Long, since these two horns are of no benefit to you, please give them back to me." The black dragon said cunningly, "Although these horns hurt me, they can decorate my instrument. It's not hard to pay you back. You have to wait until the sun rises in the western hills and the moon sets in the East China Sea. " Say that finish, a jump into the bottom of the sea. The naive rooster believes it. It gets up before dawn every day, hoping that the sun will come out of the western hills. It also craned its neck from time to time and shouted at the sea, "Brother Long-Brother Long-! Angle-also-I-".

Since then, the rooster has lost two horns and has been ranked behind.

Only the leaders of monkeys, snakes, horses, sheep and pigs have not been announced. Black pig incited with ulterior motives: "Brother Monkey is the king of juggling on land, and Brother Snake is an expert in swimming in the water. Which one of you is allowed first? " After some discussion, they decided to go to the earth for another vote and perform acrobatics. The green snake invited the red horse, and the monkey invited the goat to help them make costume props.

At that time, there were twelve legs under the snake's stomach, which were benzene and walked slowly. Red Horse is a doer who helps others. Quietly, it made a long and simple dragon suit for the thin-skinned snake. The dragon suit was woven with a checkered pattern of horse hair, which was really beautiful. The red horse scraped a layer of grease from under the abdomen and coated it on the dragon clothes, making the dragon clothes very greasy. The green snake wears a dragon suit to cover its stupid legs, and it is sensitive and beautiful to slide instead of walking.

Goats usually hate monkeys, because they jump up and down all day and step on the grass, so they are not so enthusiastic about helping monkeys. The monkey wanted to make up for the defect of smooth fur and asked the goat for help: "Brother Yang, please cut some fluff for me so that I can mend my fur." The goat said unhappily, "It's going to be cold. You know I am wearing this precious coat! " "The monkey has no choice but to stay naked.

On the day of the competition, the green snake was dressed in dragon clothes, rolling on the tree skills like vines for a while, and sliding on the water like a shuttle for a while. It held its head and neck high, landed only with its tail pointed, and performed various acrobatics, and people cheered again and again. It was the monkey's turn to perform, only to see it climb the bar and swing, which also won a lot of applause. When performing "hanging bamboo curtain upside down", the monkey rolled the tip of its tail on the branch and lowered its head to make various thrilling moves. Suddenly I heard someone shout, "Look! The monkey's ass is on fire! " People all laughed loudly. Monkeys always defend their mistakes. He blushed, panicked and covered his ass with his tail. He only heard a "plop" and fell headfirst.

In this way, the green snake and the red horse came first, and the goats and monkeys came last.

After arranging the seat for the leader, Black Pig wrote himself at the front and said to himself: This time it's time for me to get promoted and get rich, fame and fortune!

He came to Lingxiao Hall and met the Jade Emperor. The Jade Emperor took the seating chart, glanced at it, and without saying anything, ticked the name of the black pig in front and filled it in at the end. So the Jade Emperor asked Da Zijin Star to write down the zodiac signs of Purple Rat, Ugly Cow, Silver Tiger, Hairy Rabbit, Chen You, Snake, Wuma, Weiyang, Monkey, You Chicken, Gou Gou and Hai Pig. Send a message and let the meritorious service on duty be released to the world.

After the arrangement, the jade emperor was still angry and gave the black pig a few words:

Useless fool, reverse black and white

Punishment for eating shit, one year for killing.

Black pig was demoted and got pregnant. It lies in the thatched nest all day, and it's too lazy to mind its own business any more. However, sometimes I still feel itchy, so I can't help it. I arch this arch with my mouth and stir up trouble.

When the mouse came home, he danced three and a half beards happily and woke up the sleeping cat. The flower cat asked, "Not yet?" The mouse said, "It's too early. We won the first prize!" " "He brilliantly bragged about his cleverness to the flower cat. The flower cat said regretfully, "I told you again and again, why didn't you call me?" The mouse grabbed the white cat and said, "Don't you have ears? I told you to go, but you took my place! " The flower cat was so angry that her beard stood up and her almond eyes were round. It opened its sharp claws, jumped on it and ate the mouse.

Since then, cats and mice have become enemies for generations.