When did the Chinese Zodiac in China originate?

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, 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 this way, a concept interpretation system has been formed, which has become an image philosophy in folk culture, such as the zodiac in marriage, the blessing in temple fairs, the animal year and so on. In modern times, more people regard the zodiac as the mascot of the Spring Festival and become a symbol of entertainment and cultural activities.

Extended data:

The zodiac is also called the zodiac. In China's calendar, there are twelve kinds of animals on duty in turn, so in our China year, rats, cows, tigers, rabbits, dragons, snakes, horses, sheep, monkeys, chickens, dogs and pigs are used in the calendar. The zodiac began in the sixth century BC, and was originally applied to a set of earthly numbers, and later became the year number of the year.

The book tells that a long time ago, the Jade Emperor decided to choose twelve kinds of animals as the zodiac in order to give mankind a time to belong. As a result, all animals on the earth began to compete for the "King of the Twelve Zodiacs" ... So on the day when animals met, rats ranked first, followed by cows, tigers, rabbits, dragons, snakes, horses, sheep, monkeys, chickens, dogs and pigs, which led to the animal ranking of 12 years. ?

Another chapter of the story tells how cats and mice became enemies. At that time, cats and mice were good friends. Before going to the mass meeting, they got up and made an appointment to wake up first. I'm afraid that the mouse will get up early the next day and go to the meeting quietly, ignoring the cat. By the time the cat woke up and hurried to the meeting, the Buddha had divided the cat and the mouse into the twelfth year, and since then, he has forged a deep hatred.

When the legend belongs to the legendary folklorist Guo Licheng, it is easier for people to remember the famous age of heavenly stems and earthly branches and call it the animal that represents the twelfth lunar month.

Baidu Encyclopedia-Zodiac