Who invented the zodiac?

There are different opinions about the origin of the zodiac in China. Some experts believe that the zodiac originated from the philosopher Wang Chong in the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Scholars have done a lot of argumentation and speculation on the origin of the zodiac, and there is no conclusion so far. Some people hold the "foreign theory", while others hold the "native theory". With the appearance of a number of bamboo slips such as Sleeping Tiger Bamboo Slips, the "nativism" seems to be more convincing. About the origin of the zodiac, some people say it is related to the twelve stars in the sky, others say it is related to the animal worship of the ancients, and there are different opinions.

Wang Chong, a thinker in the Eastern Han Dynasty, mentioned eleven kinds of Chinese zodiac except dragons in Volume III of Lun Heng. This article mainly talks about the twelve zodiac signs corresponding to twelve branches, and the five elements corresponding to twelve branches. As we all know, the five elements are born together, so there are also mutual influences between the twelve zodiac animals, which is a superstition that is quite particular in later generations. Especially in marriage, first of all, it depends on whether the other zodiac is suitable.

However, Wang Chong disagreed and refuted this popular statement. For example, Zi corresponds to the water in the five elements, the mouse in the zodiac, the midday fire in the five elements and the horse in the zodiac. "Water is better than fire, why don't rats chase horses?" This shows that this statement is rootless. Wang Heng mentioned "Chen belongs to the dragon" in Volume 23 of Lun Heng, which constitutes the zodiac.

Extended data:

Wang Chong's Lun Heng is not the first to mention the zodiac, but it shows that the current zodiac can be traced back at least two thousand years ago. Scholars discovered other versions of the zodiac before Lun Heng, but these versions came out nearly two thousand years later than Lun Heng.

In the last century, a large number of Chu bamboo slips, Qin bamboo slips and Han bamboo slips reappeared in the world, and some of them mentioned the zodiac. Here's an example. During the period of 1975, archaeologists excavated a number of precious bamboo slips in the Qin tomb of Sleeping Tiger Land in Yunmeng, Hubei Province, which are the famous Qin bamboo slips of Sleeping Tiger Land, among which there are a number of "Japanese books", the so-called "Japanese books" refer to ordinary people engaged in weddings, funerals and weddings;

Select reference books on breaking ground and farming dates. The ancients believed that it was auspicious to do something at a certain time on a certain day, but it was dangerous to do it at other times. In this batch of Japanese books, the twelve zodiac animals that are inconsistent with Lun Heng are completely mentioned.

People's Daily Online-When did the Zodiac originate?