Knowledge expansion
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).
Reflected in marriage, life, annual luck and so on. Each zodiac has rich legends, forming a conceptual interpretation system and becoming 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.
As a long-standing symbol of folk culture, the zodiac has left a lot of poems, Spring Festival couplets, paintings, calligraphy and paintings and folk arts and crafts that depict the image and symbolic meaning of the zodiac. Apart from China, many countries in the world issue stamps of the zodiac during the Spring Festival to express their wishes for the New Year in China. The skater in the shape of the zodiac also appeared at the closing ceremony of the 24th Winter Olympic Games in Beijing in 2022.
The zodiac is not only integrated into people's life in China as an ordinary creature, but its natural habits are endowed with many cultural meanings, from animals to divinity, and it is respected and worshipped. Only the combination of natural creatures and cultural gods can form a complete impression of China Zodiac animals.
Folk story theory
Xuanyuan Huangdi wanted to choose twelve kinds of animals as court guards, and the cat asked the mouse to sign up. As a result, the mouse forgot, and since then, the cat has been seeking revenge when it sees the mouse. Originally, the cow pushed first, and the mouse sneaked up the cow's back and took the lead.
Not convinced, the tiger and dragon were named as mountain gods and sea gods, ranking behind cattle. The rabbit refused to accept it and wanted to race the dragon. The rabbit ran in front of the dragon. The dog was so angry that he didn't want to bite the rabbit that he was finally punished. Snakes, horses, sheep, monkeys and chickens also went through some contests, and finally pigs came to occupy the last position.
This legend also explains why there are no cats in the zodiac. In fact, there were no cats in ancient China, and the zodiac was formed when domestic cats were introduced to China. This legend, which is similar to children's stories, is far from a scientific explanation of the problem.