Why are there chickens and no ducks in the Six Animals and the Twelve Zodiacs?

In the traditional culture of China, auspicious words such as "Six Livestock are Safe", "Six Livestock are Prosperous" and "Mules and Horses in Groups" should be pasted on the side of the barn during the Spring Festival couplets. "Six animals" refers to six kinds of animals such as horses, cows, sheep, chickens, dogs and pigs; Zodiac refers to twelve animals that match the twelve earthly branches according to the year of birth, including rats, cows, tigers, rabbits, dragons, snakes, horses, sheep, monkeys, chickens, dogs and pigs. Why are there chickens but no ducks in the Six Animals and the Chinese Zodiac?

Some people may say that because "duck" does not belong to "beast", there is no duck. This statement is groundless. Er Ya said, "A bird with two feet and feathers is a beast with four feet, and a hairy one is a beast." . "Birds" generally refer to all kinds of birds, and "beasts" refer to quadruped mammals. Birds and beasts together are called "beasts", that is, beasts, chickens and ducks can all be attributed to beasts. "Six livestock" are six common livestock raised by ordinary people. Since "six animals" can include chickens, it is obviously not feasible to explain that "duck" is not an animal.

These animals in "Six Livestock" were all wild at first. Our ancestors raised and domesticated them in ancient times according to their own needs and understanding of the animal world in the long-term production and life practice. After a long time, it gradually became a domestic animal.

Don't underestimate the significance of this matter. In the case of extremely low productivity in the early days of mankind, six livestock have their own strengths. In agricultural society, they provide basic guarantee and important help for people's lives. The three-character scripture says: "Cows can plow fields, horses can travel with heavy loads, and sheep can provide sacrificial vessels", "Chickens can break dawn, dogs can keep vigil to prevent accidents, and pigs can entertain guests", "Chickens, sheep and pigs are born for eaters." Statement. It can be seen that "six animals" have a role.

Among the six animals, horses, cows and sheep are herbivores. Horse is an important tool in ancient wars and transportation, and it belongs to strategic materials. Cattle is the main animal for animal traction; In ancient times, docile sheep symbolized good luck and was the first sacrifice of ancestors. Horse, cattle and sheep are also one of the important sources of meat food, and its importance is self-evident and has always been highly valued by people. Qin law stipulates that "whoever steals a horse will die, and whoever steals an ox will be punished by flail", which means that whoever steals a horse will be put to death and whoever steals an ox will be punished by flail.

Moreover, the "six animals" are easy to domesticate, feed and reproduce in large quantities, and can be used as friends and helpers of human beings to provide help to some extent, and are also the source of high-protein food for human beings. "Six Livestock" is an important concept in China agricultural culture with a long history. In the traditional concept of China people, "Six Livestock Flourishing" also indicates that family members are prosperous, auspicious and beautiful. Therefore, during the folk Spring Festival, people generally refer to the "Six Livestock Flourishing".

As for the lack of ducks in the "six livestock", there is no exact statement. It should be the birthplace of the Chinese nation, first of all, the area centered on the Yellow River Basin. Many places in ancient South China, such as Chu State in the Yangtze River valley, were also called "Manjing" or "Manjing". Different from the south, there are many water networks and lakes in the Yellow River basin. We know that the living environment of ducks can't be completely out of water, and the "recipes" of chickens are far more extensive than those of ducks, so it is far less popular to domesticate and breed ducks in large areas, so it is understandable that there are chickens lacking ducks in the "six livestock"!

"Six Livestock" live in peace with people from generation to generation and are good companions for human production and life. Moreover, they have their own strengths and made great contributions to the people, so they have all been selected for the zodiac, which proves from the side that there are thousands of animals in nature, and only six animals have the closest relationship with human beings. As a result, there are only chickens and no ducks in the zodiac.

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