Origin of Zodiac Pig

What are the stories of pigs and dogs? Legend of the origin of the zodiac pig.

Pig is one of the six animals, and the relationship between China people and pigs is extraordinary. Most people get their meat from pigs. The whole body of a pig is a treasure for people to adopt. As a big agricultural country, pigs have an indissoluble bond with hundreds of millions of farmers. People recommend twenty kinds of animals as the zodiac, and naturally they will adopt the animals closest to their lives as their representatives. It is of course natural for pigs to become zodiac animals.

There is also a folklore about pigs becoming zodiac animals.

In ancient times, there was a rich man. The fertile land is vast and childless. Who knows that when I was near the flower, I got a son. Happy family, congratulations from friends and relatives. This is a grand banquet to celebrate the successor. On holidays, a Xiangtu came to the child. When he saw the child's broad forehead, big face, wide ears, full heaven and white fat, he asserted that the child must be a very happy and rich person. That fat boy was born in happiness and grew up in happiness. He stretched out his hand to wear clothes since he was a child, making a living, not practicing martial arts or farming. He just idles around, thinking that his fate is fixed and he is extremely rich, so he doesn't have to work hard. I didn't know that when children grew up, their parents died, their wealth declined, their land was sold, and their servants were scattered. The fat boy still lived a luxurious life until he finally starved to death in his room. The fat man lingered after his death, complaining to the underworld that he was born rich and could not die so miserable. Yan took the ghost to the jade emperor in heaven and asked him to judge. The Jade Emperor summoned the kitchen god on earth and asked how this seemingly rich man could starve to death in his room. Kitchen God told the fat boy that he didn't study, didn't farm, lived in an open space and wasted money. The Jade Emperor was furious. He told the police officer to obey orders and told the fat boy to obey his orders. The Jade Emperor said, "Although you are lucky, you are lazy. Now you are punished as a pig and eat coarse chaff. " This time coincided with the selection of the zodiac in the Tiangong, and the poor officials in this Tiangong all listened to "eating coarse bran" as "being a zodiac". Bring this fat man to reality at once. From then on, the fat man became a pig, eating coarse chaff, and became the zodiac.

The Origin of the Pig Zodiac The pig is the last of the zodiac, and it belongs to the "Hai" in the zodiac. Therefore, the "Hai" at twelve o'clock a day-from nine to eleven o'clock in the evening is called "pig", and Yi Gua is called "pig for material".

Pig is one of the six animals, and the relationship between China people and pigs is extraordinary. Most people get their meat from pigs. The whole body of a pig is a treasure for people to adopt. As a big agricultural country, pigs have an indissoluble bond with hundreds of millions of farmers. People recommend twelve kinds of animals as the zodiac, and naturally they will use the animals closest to their lives as representatives. Of course, it is natural for pigs to become zodiac animals.

There is also a folklore about pigs becoming zodiac animals.

In ancient times, there was a gentleman who was rich and prolific and had no children under his knees. Who knows that when I was near the flower, I got a son. The family is happy, relatives and friends * * *, and there is a big banquet outside to celebrate the successors.

On the occasion of the holidays, a fortune teller came to see the child. When he saw the child's forehead was wide, his face was big, his ears were wide, his wheels were round, his heaven was full, and he was fat in vain. He asserted that the child must be a rich man.

The fat child was endowed with life and happiness. From an early age, he only knew how to reach for clothes and eat with his mouth open. He never practiced martial arts or did farm work. He just idles around, thinking that his fate is set and he is extremely rich, so he doesn't have to work hard. I didn't know that when children grew up, their parents died, their wealth declined, their land was sold, and their servants were scattered. The fat boy still lived a luxurious life and finally starved to death in his room.

The fat man lingered after his death and went to the underworld to complain that he was born rich and could not die so sadly. Yan took the ghost to the jade emperor in heaven and asked him to judge. The Jade Emperor summoned the Kitchen God and asked the rich-looking man how he starved to death in his room. Kitchen God told the fat boy that he didn't study, didn't farm, and sat in the open space wasting money. The Jade Emperor was furious. He told the police officer to obey orders and told the fat boy to obey his orders. The Jade Emperor said, "Although you are lucky, you are lazy. Now you are punished as a pig and eat coarse chaff. " This period of time coincides with the selection of the zodiac in the Heavenly Palace. The poor officials in this Heavenly Palace heard that "eating coarse chaff" is "being a zodiac". Bring this fat man to reality at once. From then on, the fat man became a pig, eating coarse chaff, and became the zodiac.

Another said that pigs became the zodiac by their own efforts. On the day when the zodiac was arranged in the Heavenly Palace, the Jade Emperor stipulated that it was necessary to arrive at the Heavenly Palace at a certain time, and the first zodiac was regarded as the zodiac. Knowing that he was stupid and walked slowly, the pig got up in the middle of the night and hurried to queue up to do the zodiac. Because of the long distance and many obstacles, the pig climbed to the worse gate very hard, but the time for arranging the zodiac animals has passed, but the pig begged and begged, and so did the other six animals. Finally, he moved his mind and put the pig into the worse gate, becoming the last zodiac sign. In this way, horses, cows, sheep, chickens, dogs and pigs have all become human zodiac signs.

At 9- 1 1 in the evening, it is called "Hai". At this time, pigs sleep the most soundly, snore the most, shake their muscles the most, and gain meat the fastest, so the sea is a pig.

What is the origin of the pig in the zodiac? Pigs are very familiar domestic animals, and people call them the first of the six livestock. The pig is a veritable cushion in the zodiac, ranking last in the zodiac. The history of raising pigs in China has been seven or eight thousand years. In many ancient tombs, as far away as Neolithic human sites, there are many pig remains, because they often measure their status and wealth by the number of livestock, so it is very important to bury pigs or sacrifice them. During the family sacrifice, Chen Gou stayed in his room to sacrifice to his family, so "home" is the word "structure" under Bao Gai, which is the origin of the word "home" we use today. It has also been explained that a pig is kept under the living room in farming society.

In ancient Chinese, there were different expressions about pigs. Dialect says: "Pig ... Kanto is called pig, or pig, Nanchu is called L, and his son is called dolphin, or pig." Wu Yang called it a pig. " In Chinese characters, ""means boar, while ""means sow. In the folk, pigs have many nicknames, such as Gang Cone, Dredger Stone, Black-faced Wolf, General Wu, General Long Mouth, General Wu, General Wu, etc ... So Du Fu said in his poem: "My family has Wujin, and I am dumbfounded. Interestingly, a pig raised in the southwest mountainous area of China is called Wujin. In the area of Wumeng Mountain and Jinsha River, the region, image and folk custom are organically integrated into pigs, which shows the rich cultural connotation of pigs in China's farming civilization. In our country, people often compare pigs to lazy images. Pig and Eight Rings is a well-known trinity of man, pig and god. Although it is a myth, human nature and pig love are vivid and lovely, which also reflects the folk customs in the middle and late Ming Dynasty. In the west, the symbolic meaning of the pig is similar, but it is different from the East in some places. In ancient Germany, there was a pig who carved and played bagpipes, representing * * *. People thought that dreaming of pigs was related to sex. Scotland has a folk custom of letting pigs pull carts. There are also countries that use pigs to find pine cones, bomb mines and even check drugs. In English, there are rich expressions for different pigs. Pigs are called pigs or pigs, boars are called boars, sows are called sows, piglets are called piglets, and pigs are called megaphones.

The history of human eating meat is much longer than that of raising pigs. Pigs are mainly raised to eat meat. According to the book Pig Production edited by Yang Commune, pork accounts for the highest proportion of all kinds of meat consumption in the world, accounting for about 40%, and it is higher in China, accounting for about 67%. China is also the country with the largest meat consumption in the world. After all, is it populous? Therefore, the pig is called the king of meat and livestock for urban and rural residents in China. The number of live pigs in China ranks first in the world, with 1998 and 429 1999 reaching 485.6 million. According to the statistics of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the World (FAO), in 20001year, the global pig slaughter reached1172.34 million, but there are obvious regional characteristics in global pig raising, and the pork production ranks first in Asia, accounting for more than 55.38% (80% of which is in China). Europe accounts for 27.46%; North America and Central America accounted for12.72%; South America accounts for 3.2%; Africa accounts for 0.64%; Oceania accounts for 0.52%. Among the developed countries in the world, China ranks first and the United States ranks second. In addition, the Netherlands, Germany, Canada, Denmark and France are the countries that export the most pigs in the world.

How did the pigs in the zodiac come from? It is said that heaven and earth were formed at the beginning of life. At the beginning of life, there was no gap, gas could not escape and materials could not be used. Bitten by a mouse, the gas escapes and the material can be used. Rats have the power to open celestial bodies, and they belong to rats when they are young. The mouse opens the gap between heaven and earth, the cow comes out to farm, and the clown belongs to the cow. Legend has it that people are born in Yin, and the word "Yin" means awe. In ancient times, people were most afraid of tigers, so Yin was a tiger. Shi Mao has entered the early morning, but the sun has not yet come out. It is the moon that illuminates the earth, and the only animal in the moon palace is the "Jade Rabbit", so Shi Mao is a rabbit. Legend has it that when the dragon rains, this time naturally belongs to the dragon. Snakes are good at hiding their whereabouts with grass. It is said that when they were young, they didn't swim on the road where people walked, so they didn't hurt people, so they belonged to snakes. At noon, the yang reaches the limit, and the yin is just about to produce, so the horse can't run without land. It belongs to the yin beast, so it belongs to the horse at noon. Legend has it that sheep eat untimely grass, which does not affect the regeneration of grass. If it is untimely, it will be returned to sheep. Shen means "stretch". Monkeys are best at stretching, bending and crawling, so Shen is a monkey. At this time, the chicken began to return to the nest, and it was a chicken at this time. When it is getting dark, the dog begins to "work" and look after the home. At this point, it belongs to the dog. At night, everything is silent and the world is chaotic, and pigs, like the chaos of heaven and earth, know nothing but "eat", so Shihai naturally belongs to pigs.

There is a myth about the origin of the zodiac:

It is said that the Jade Emperor wanted to select 12 kinds of animals as representatives, and then sent immortals to tell the animals about it, and set a time to come to the Tiangong in Maoli during the reign of Taizu. The sooner he came, the more he swallowed it, but the later one could not. At that time, cats and mice were still good friends. The cat loves to sleep, but he also wants to be chosen, so he asks the mouse to call him. But the mouse forgot as soon as it turned its head. The mouse went to the old cow and said that he got up early and ran fast, so the cow could take him. The old cow agreed

At that time, dragons had no horns and chickens had horns. The dragon told the chicken that the chicken was already very beautiful and didn't need horns, so he let the chicken lend it to him. The chicken was very happy when he heard the flattery of the dragon, so he lent his horn to the dragon and told him to pay back the money on time after the election. Long readily agreed.

In the year of Mao Mao, Uzuki, when the cat was still sleeping, many animals rushed to the Heavenly Palace.

The mouse sits on the cow's back. After reaching heaven, the mouse jumped up. The Jade Emperor said that the mice arrived first, which made them the first. Old steak is second; The tiger also arrived late, ranking third; The rabbit also arrived, ranking fourth; The dragon came late, but he was very big. The Jade Emperor saw him at a glance. Seeing that he was so beautiful, he ranked fifth. He also said that his son ranked sixth, but Long was disappointed because his son didn't come today. At this time, the snake at the back ran over and said, "He * * * Dad, I'm in the sixth place! I am ranked sixth! " Snakes rank sixth; Horses and sheep have arrived, too. They asked me to ask you: Brother Ma first, Brother Yang first, and they pushed them around. Seeing that they were so polite, the Jade Emperor let them rank seventh and eighth. The monkey was in his thirties, but he jumped ahead with the clouds in the sky because he could jump, ranking ninth; Then chickens, dogs and pigs were also selected.

The cat didn't wake up until the end of the game, and the mouse was chased all over the world as soon as he got home. ...

After the game, the dragon came to the seaside and saw that he had horns much more beautiful than before, so he didn't plan to return the chicken. In order to avoid the chicken, he disappeared from the world. The chicken was very angry, so he got up early every morning and shouted at the sea: Give it back quickly! Give it back! The hen shouted, give him back quickly! Give him back to me! The chicken also crows: Come back! And!

With regard to the origin of the zodiac, historical records show that China began to use the "chronology of branches and leaves" which combines the ten heavenly stems with the twelve earthly branches from the Shun Di era. The method of zoological chronology originated from nomadic people in the west and north of ancient China. The Book of the Tang Dynasty records: "The Year of the Tiger is bounded by twelve events. If the year is cloudy, it is called the year of the tiger. " Zhao Yi, a famous textual research scholar in the Qing Dynasty, made a textual research in Yu Yu Congkao: "In the early days, the custom of benefiting the north was childless, ugly, yin and hairy, but when rats, cows, tigers and rabbits were divided into years, by the end of the Han Dynasty, it was said that (Khan) money lived in Wuyuan, mixed with Qi people, and spread in China, so it was not abandoned.

The zodiac was first seen in The Book of Songs, the world's first collection of poems. The Book of Songs? Xiaoya? "Car Attack" said: "Today is the auspicious day of the ecliptic, and it is noon. I am short of horses. "See also the Book of Rites? Monthly order? Ji Dong: "Digging cows to send cold. "When did the zodiac theory come into being? There is a historical cloud: it should be formed in the Han Dynasty at the latest. Is it based on Wang Chong's Lun Heng? The article "Things Potential" says: "Yin, wood, birds and tigers. Hey, Tuye, its birds and dogs are also. " Another cloud said, "Good afternoon, Ma Ye. Son, mouse also. Unitary, chicken also. ..... Shen, Qitian also. "* * * put forward eleven zodiac names. In addition, in the Spring and Autumn Annals of Wu Yue written by Zhao Ye in the Eastern Han Dynasty, "Wu Zaichen is a dragon. "Just added' Chen Long', and completed the zodiac. It can be seen that the twelve zodiac signs were formed in the Eastern Han Dynasty. As for the use of the zodiac, it appeared at least in the Northern and Southern Dynasties. The Biography of Northern History Yuwen Hu records a letter written to him by Yuwen Hu's mother, which reads: "Your brother was born in Wuchuan Town, the eldest is a mouse, the second is a rabbit, and you are a snake. "It can be seen that the Chinese zodiac was widely used by the people at that time to record the date of birth.

However, in the mid-1970s, from 1975 to 12, thousands of bamboo slips were found in the cultural relics unearthed from Qin TombNo. 1 1 in Yunmeng, Hubei Province. Among them, sunrise? The thief clearly recorded the words used to predict the thief's appearance characteristics in the zodiac. The appearance of this miracle proves that the Chinese zodiac has been used in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Because Qin Tomb No.11 was built in the thirty years of the first emperor, that is, 2 17 BC. Some people say that long before Qin Shihuang proclaimed himself emperor, our ancestors used the zodiac to record the year, and especially pointed out that "it began in summer and spread in Shang and Zhou Dynasties." But how to quote it remains to be understood by historians and cultural relics scholars ... >>

The origin of the zodiac in the Year of the Pig The pig is the last of the zodiac, and it belongs to the "hai" in the zodiac. Therefore, the "Hai" at twelve o'clock a day-from nine to eleven o'clock in the evening is called "pig", and Yi Gua is called "pig for material". There is also a folklore. In ancient times, there was a gentleman who was rich and prolific and had no children under his knees. Who knows that when I was near the flower, I got a son. The family is happy, relatives and friends * * *, and there is a big banquet outside to celebrate the successors. On the occasion of the holidays, a fortune teller came to see the child. When he saw the child's forehead was wide, his face was big, his ears were wide, his wheels were round, his heaven was full, and he was fat in vain. He asserted that the child must be a rich man. The fat child was endowed with life and happiness. From an early age, he only knew how to reach for clothes and eat with his mouth open. He never practiced martial arts or did farm work. He just idles around, thinking that his fate is set and he is extremely rich, so he doesn't have to work hard. I didn't know that when children grew up, their parents died, their wealth declined, their land was sold, and their servants were scattered. The fat boy still lived a luxurious life and finally starved to death in his room. The fat man lingered after his death and went to the underworld to complain that he was born rich and could not die so sadly. Yan took the ghost to the jade emperor in heaven and asked him to judge. The Jade Emperor summoned the Kitchen God and asked the rich-looking man how he starved to death in his room. Kitchen God told the fat boy that he didn't study, didn't farm, and sat in the open space wasting money. The Jade Emperor was furious. He told the police officer to obey orders and told the fat boy to obey his orders. The Jade Emperor said, "Although you are lucky, you are lazy. Now you are punished as a pig and eat coarse chaff. " This period of time coincides with the selection of the zodiac in the Heavenly Palace. The poor officials in this Heavenly Palace heard that "eating coarse chaff" is "being a zodiac". Bring this fat man to reality at once. From then on, the fat man became a pig, eating coarse chaff, and became the zodiac.

The legend of the zodiac comes from the fact that mice and cows, horses and sheep were selected into the zodiac. The mouse said, I should be the first. Cattle, horses and sheep said unconvinced, why do you rank first? The mouse said: I am old, so I want to be the first. Niu Ma and others couldn't help laughing: Are you as old as us? The mouse said, we don't count when we argue. Let others speak. Cattle, horses, sheep, etc. Everyone agrees to let people comment. So they discussed ways: led by cows, horses, sheep and mice, they walked through the streets one by one to see what people said.

In the street, a cow came and people said that this cow is very strong. The horse is coming, people say, this horse is really tall. Here comes the sheep. People say that this sheep is very fat. Finally, the mouse swaggered over. People saw a big mouse suddenly appearing in the street, and everyone chased it and shouted, What a big mouse! What a big mouse! In this way, cows, horses and sheep have nothing to say, and mice rank first.

In addition, there is a similar story about the ranking of the twelve genera among the people.

There is an interesting story about how the zodiac is arranged:

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 signs according to the twelve branches: Zi, Ugly, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu and Hai.

After the news came out, it alarmed two good friends, Flower Cat and Mouse. The cat said to the mouse, I'm going to heaven at five o'clock tomorrow. I have a problem with sleepiness. You should call me! The mouse repeatedly said, OK, OK!

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

On this day, Yunnan, the beast in Lingxiao Hall, began to be selected. According to the difference between heaven and earth, the Jade Emperor selected twelve kinds of land and water animals, including dragon, tiger, ox, 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 arrange their seats when the black raccoon pig flashed out. Although it is stupid, it only likes to make trouble. It says: Now that the Jade Emperor has chosen a leader, I am willing to share your worries, be a fair person and arrange my brothers in turn. The Jade Emperor was overjoyed. He told the pig to be selfless and cut off contacts, so he retired from the DPRK.

As soon as the Jade Emperor left, the zodiac became a pot of porridge.

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 in the corner appeared and proposed * * *. It said: in terms of numbers, I am big. If you don't believe me, let's have a game on earth and listen to people's comments. So, the cow and the mouse came to the street in the city center.

When the cow passed through the crowd, people didn't respond. At this time, the mouse suddenly climbed onto the cow's back and set up a pile. 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 to brag, all the animals were keen on cows. Only the black pig is secretly happy. It feels that only in this way, no matter how big or small, it is difficult to distinguish between good and bad, so it may be an impostor and it also benefits from it. So, with a stroke of a pen, it picked the mouse first and put the old cow behind.

This annoyed the tiger and the black dragon. They shouted loudly and made all the animals tremble. All the animals are busy worshipping dragons and tigers, unanimously electing tigers as mountain kings and black dragons as fish kings to rule the world. The monkey wrote a gold plaque for the tiger and hung it on the tiger's forehead. The rooster gave the black dragon two horns. 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 moment, another disruptive hare jumped out, sneering and saying, Hey, hey! I am almost like a mouse in appearance, but I am bigger than a mouse in height. I am the guardian of the mountain king, and I should be in front of the sea king.

Hearing this, the black dragon was furious. He said, don't force it. If you don't believe me, let's have a try. The black pig listened to his heart's wish and quickly said, It's a deal. Let's race and let the hounds be your judges ... >>

Why are there pigs in the zodiac? Legend has it that one year, the Jade Emperor celebrated his birthday, ordered all animals to come to celebrate their birthdays on the ninth day of the first month, and decided to choose 12 kinds of animals to celebrate their birthdays in the order of reporting, as the guards in heaven, and took turns to be on duty every year. According to legend, mice and cats were neighbors at that time, but big cats often bullied weak mice, and mice often just got angry with cats and dared not speak. This cat has a problem with sleepiness. After receiving the jade emperor's order, the mouse secretly rejoiced that the opportunity to retaliate against the cat had finally come. Sure enough, the cat knocked on the door of the mouse's house and asked the mouse to wake him up for the jade emperor's birthday. The mouse readily agreed. In order to get back at the cat, the mouse set off quietly in the early morning of the ninth day of the first month. Although the mouse got up early and ran fast, it was worried when it reached the wide river facing Taotao River, so it had to sit by the river and wait for other animals to cross the river, jump on their backs and cross the river with their help. After waiting for a long time, the earliest Niu Yi walked silently to the river. At the moment the cow swam into the water, the mouse jumped into the cow's ear. Cows are usually known for their simplicity and helpfulness, so they don't care about mice's guesses. After crossing the river, the mouse felt comfortable and labor-saving lying in the cow's ear, and didn't mean to jump down. Near noon, the cow carried the mouse outside the Jade Emperor's mansion. When Niu Gang was about to enter the door, the mouse jumped out of the cow's ear and jumped to the jade emperor first. In this way, the mouse finally won the first place. And the cow that carried it all the way won the second place. Later, tigers, rabbits, dragons, snakes, horses, sheep, monkeys, chickens and dogs also came one after another. Although the pig is stupid, it still arrived on time, ranking twelfth. The Jade Emperor gave them annual rotation students according to the order in which they reported for duty, thus determining the order of the zodiac. On the tenth day of the first month, before dawn, the cat that had slept for several days finally woke up and set off while it was dark. Just as it was proud of the silence along the way, thinking that other animals had not set off, it came to the jade emperor's door. It knocked on the door and called the cat to report for duty. The man who answered the door smiled and said to the cat, "You are such a stupid cat. You're already a day late. You'd better go back and wash your face and clear your head! " Don't always look sleepy and forget the jade emperor's instructions. At this point, the cat has been extremely angry. Since then, it has forged an indissoluble enemy with the mouse. When it saw the mouse and vowed to kill it, it had great fearless spirit, courage and determination not to stop until it ate all the mice in the world! Selection and ranking of the zodiac: 1. Choice of Zodiac: According to textual research, there were legends as early as the Eastern Han Dynasty, but there were different opinions on the choice of animals. For example, there are deer but no dogs in the twelve zodiac animals widely circulated in the Qin Dynasty, and the arrangement order is slightly different. Today's popular saying that the zodiac prolongs life comes from the legend of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Then, there are many animals in the world. Why did you choose these twelve animals as Xiao beasts? How to determine their arrangement order? 1. According to scholars' research, it is mainly because these twelve kinds of animals are closely related to people's daily life. For example, the dragon in the zodiac does not exist in real life, but it is the totem of our ancient ancestor Huaxia. At that time, because of low productivity and underdeveloped science, people could not explain many phenomena in nature, so they imagined an animal with comprehensive divine power-dragon, which people regarded as the object of worship and prayed that the dragon would bring good luck and harvest to people. In this way, the dragon has become a member of the zodiac, and why is the cat that people love so much today not recorded in the zodiac? That's because before the Han Dynasty, no one kept wild cats at home. Cats have little to do with people's lives. According to research, China had a domestic cat after Emperor Han Ming. Second, there are two main opinions about the arrangement order of the zodiac: 1, which is arranged according to the odd-even crossing of animal toes: even numbers are at the front, odd numbers are at the end, and even numbers and odd numbers are arranged at intervals. The mouse's toes are strange. They are four toes on the front foot and five toes on the back foot. Because the toes of mice are even and odd, they can't be arranged according to the above principles, so mice rank first. Behind the mouse are: cow (four toes), tiger (five toes), rabbit (four toes), dragon (five toes), snake (even without feet), horse (one toe), sheep (four toes), monkey (five toes), chicken (four toes) ... > >

Regarding the origin of the zodiac, I will tell you a long joke about the zodiac, which is also a myth and legend. I will tell you its origin after I finish.

It is said that the Jade Emperor chose 12 animals as representatives, and then sent immortals to tell the animals about it. He also set a time to take part in the Maori election in Uzuki in the year of Mao. The earlier the queue comes, the worse the front and back will be. At that time, cats and mice were still good friends. The cat loves to sleep, but also wants to be chosen, so he asked the mouse to call him. But as soon as the mouse turned around, he forgot to ask the mouse to call him old cow, saying that he got up early and ran fast.

At that time, dragons had no horns and chickens had horns. Just tell the chicken that the chicken is already beautiful. You don't need horns to summon chickens to lend them to him. After listening to the flattery of the dragon, you are glad to lend them. Tell him to pay back the money on time after the election. The dragon is full of hope.

In the year of Mao Mao, Uzuki, when the cat was still sleeping, many animals rushed to the Heavenly Palace.

The mouse sat on the cow's back until it reached heaven. The jade emperor said that he was the first to arrive, and he was ranked first in steak, then the second tiger came third, and the rabbit came fourth. The dragon came very late, but I saw him at a glance and asked him to come and have a look. He is so beautiful that he ranks fifth. He also said that his son was ranked sixth. But Long was disappointed because his son didn't come today. Then the snake behind came over and said, he is my father. I am the sixth! Snakes rank sixth, and horses and sheep come towards them. You asked me to let you: Marco, you first ~ ~ Brother Yang, you first ~ ~ The Jade Emperor who pushed them around saw that they were so polite, and ranked seventh and eighth. The monkey was originally in his thirties, but because he could jump, he jumped in front with the clouds in the sky, and then the chicken, dog and pig were selected one after another.

The cat didn't wake up until after the game. As soon as the mouse came home, it was chased all over the world by the cat. . .

After the game, the dragon came to the seaside and saw that he was much more beautiful than before, so he didn't plan to return the chicken. In order to avoid the chicken, he disappeared into the world, and the chicken was angry, so he got up early every morning and shouted at the sea: Give it back quickly! Give it back! The hen shouted, give him back quickly! Give him back to me! The chicken also crows: Come back! And!

Well, I'll tell you your question when the story is over.

Since Shun Di's time, China began to use the "heavenly stems and earthly branches Chronology", which combined ten heavenly stems and twelve earthly branches. The method of zoological chronology originated from nomadic people in the west and north of ancient China. The Book of the Tang Dynasty records: "The Year of the Tiger is bounded by twelve events. If the year is cloudy, it is called the year of the tiger. " Zhao Yi, a famous textual research scholar in the Qing Dynasty, made a textual research in Yu Yu Congkao: "In the early days, the custom of benefiting the north was childless, ugly, yin and hairy, but when rats, cows, tigers and rabbits were divided into years, by the end of the Han Dynasty, it was said that (Khan) money lived in Wuyuan, mixed with Qi people, and spread in China, so it was not abandoned.

The zodiac was first seen in The Book of Songs, the world's first collection of poems. The Book of Songs? Xiaoya? "Car Attack" said: "Today is the auspicious day of the ecliptic, and it is noon. I am short of horses. "See also the Book of Rites? Monthly order? Ji Dong: "Digging cows to send cold. "When did the zodiac theory come into being? There is a historical cloud: it should be formed in the Han Dynasty at the latest. Is it based on Wang Chong's Lun Heng? The article "Things Potential" says: "Yin, wood, birds and tigers. Hey, Tuye, its birds and dogs are also. " Another cloud said, "Good afternoon, Ma Ye. Son, mouse also. Unitary, chicken also. ..... Shen, Qitian also. "* * * put forward eleven zodiac names. In addition, in the Spring and Autumn Annals of Wu Yue written by Zhao Ye in the Eastern Han Dynasty, "Wu Zaichen is a dragon. "Just added' Chen Long', and completed the zodiac. It can be seen that the twelve zodiac signs were formed in the Eastern Han Dynasty. As for the use of the zodiac, it appeared at least in the Northern and Southern Dynasties. The Biography of Northern History Yuwen Hu records a letter written to him by Yuwen Hu's mother, which reads: "Your brother was born in Wuchuan Town, the eldest is a mouse, the second is a rabbit, and you are a snake. "It can be seen that the Chinese zodiac was widely used by the people at that time to record the date of birth.

However, in the mid-1970s, from 1975 to 12, thousands of bamboo slips were found in the cultural relics unearthed from Qin TombNo. 1 1 in Yunmeng, Hubei Province. Among them, sunrise? The thief clearly recorded the words used to predict the thief's appearance characteristics in the zodiac. The appearance of this miracle proves that the Chinese zodiac has been used in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Because the Qin 1 1 tomb was on the 30th anniversary of Qin Shihuang, that is, 2 17 BC. Some people say that long before Qin Shihuang proclaimed himself emperor, our ancestors used the zodiac to record the year, and especially pointed out that "it began in summer and spread in Shang and Zhou Dynasties." However, how to quote it remains to be further explored by historians and cultural relics scholars.

During the Southern and Northern Dynasties in ancient China, not only the zodiac chronology was used, but also the twelve zodiac poems written by Shen Jiong appeared:

Examples of mice and dust, cows and sheep >>