The choice of the zodiac is not complicated, but it is close to the daily life and social life of the Han people, which can be guessed. Zodiac animals can be roughly divided into three categories: one is the "six animals" domesticated by human beings, namely cattle, sheep, horses, pigs, dogs and chickens. Animals domesticated by human beings for economic or other purposes account for half of the Zodiac animals. "Six Livestock" is an important concept in China agricultural culture with a long history. In the traditional concept of China people, "Six Livestock Flourishing" represents the prosperity, auspiciousness and beauty of the family. During the Spring Festival, people usually talk about "the prosperity of six animals", so it is inevitable that these six animals will become the zodiac. The second category is well-known wild animals, which are closely related to people's daily and social life. They are tigers, rabbits, monkeys, rats and snakes, and some of them participate in human life with awe, such as tigers and snakes. There are also rodents that people hate and taboo, but they rely on human beings to survive; More people like it, such as rabbits and monkeys. The third category is the traditional symbolic mascot of China people-the dragon, which is a symbol of the Chinese nation, an "artifact" with many animal features, and a "spiritual thing" in people's imagination. Dragon represents wealth and auspiciousness, and it is the most symbolic auspicious animal, so its position in the zodiac is indispensable.
In China, a multi-ethnic country, the zodiac is not a patent of the Han nationality, and many ethnic minorities use the zodiac calendar. First of all, let's take a look at the comparison table of zodiac signs of various ethnic groups.
Cross-reference table of Chinese zodiac of all ethnic groups
Yi nationality in western Guangxi
Zodiac: dragon, phoenix, horse, ant, human, chicken, dog, pig, sparrow, cow, tiger and snake.
Ailaoshan Yi nationality
Twelve kinds of animals: tiger, rabbit, pangolin, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, chicken, dog, pig, mouse and cow.
Yi people in Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou
Twelve kinds of animals: rats, cows, tigers, rabbits, dragons, snakes, horses, sheep, monkeys, chickens, dogs and pigs.
Hainan Li nationality
Twelve kinds of animals: chickens, dogs, pigs, rats, cows, insects, rabbits, dragons, snakes, horses, sheep and monkeys.
Yunnan Dai nationality
Twelve kinds of animals: rats, cows, tigers, rabbits, snakes, snakes, horses, goats, monkeys, chickens, dogs and elephants.
Guangxi Zhuang nationality
Twelve kinds of animals: rats, cows, tigers, rabbits, dragons, snakes, horses, sheep, monkeys, chickens, dogs and pigs.
the Mongol nationality
Twelve kinds of animals: tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, chicken, dog, pig, mouse and cow.
Xinjiang Uygur nationality
Twelve kinds of animals: rats, cows, tigers, rabbits, fish, snakes, horses, sheep, monkeys, chickens, dogs and pigs.
Kyrgyz
Twelve kinds of animals: rats, cows, tigers, rabbits, fish, snakes, horses, sheep, foxes, chickens, dogs and pigs.
Characteristics and Disadvantages of China Zodiac
Rat: attraction, social skills, influence, intelligence, frugality, charm, tension, power desire, wordiness, cunning, greed, intervention.
Cattle: integrity, innovation, purposefulness, diligence, stability, good words, stubbornness, indifference, prejudice, dullness and revenge.
Tiger: Enthusiasm, good luck, courage, charity, charm, authority, impulsiveness, boasting, irritability, indulgence, disobedience and drifting with the flow.
Rabbit: wit, caution, skill, longevity, virtue, ambition, secret, amateur, too formal, melancholy, dazzling and complicated.
Dragon: strength, enthusiasm, success, courage, health, passion, rigidity, confusion, distrust, boasting and dissatisfaction.
Snakes: intuition, wisdom, attraction, vigilance, caution, sympathy, cover-up, greed, luxury, arrogance, laziness and narcissism.
Ma: Persuasiveness, fashion, autonomy, sensitivity, popularity, achievement, selfishness, haste, arrogance, impatience, resistance and conceit.
Sheep: invention, whimsy, sensitivity, courtesy, perseverance, taste, attachment, pessimism, lack of foresight, unreality, dullness and anxiety.
Monkeys: improvisation, leadership, wit, intelligence, stability, loyalty, cunning, self-confidence, trickery, stupidity, rap and speculation.
Chicken: flexible, conservative, enthusiastic, beautiful, frank, humorous, arrogant, boastful, idolatrous and dissolute.
Dogs: persistent, responsible, brave, intelligent, respectable, moral, uneasy, sarcastic, critical, bad, social, self-righteous and smooth.
Pig: Cautious, cheerful, brave, educated, sincere, honest, credulous, materialistic, angry, hesitant and stupid.
Two-part allegorical sayings of the zodiac
Mouse: The mouse chews Jaco-eats the old mouse's tail to cook soup-there is not much oil and water for the mouse to drill the bellows-both ends suffer indignities.
Cow: The old cow broke the cart-the yellow cow ate grass too fast-hesitated for the cow's hoof-two petals.
Tiger: The tiger wears rosary beads-crocodile tears pull the cart-no one dares to drive the tiger and add wings-so awesome.
Rabbit: Rabbit tail-if you can't grow rabbits, don't eat grass by the nest-keep a green rabbit and sleep with a shotgun-bold.
Dragon: The dragon boat is full of shit-the infamous dragon king jumps into the sea-the two of them go back to their hometown to dance dragons-and finish what they started.
Snake: The snake swallowed Monopterus albus-the bamboo tube it drilled was longer than the snake-straight until it caught the snake seven inches-all tender.
Ma: Bati Tofu with a ponytail-I can't lift it, but a donkey's head sticks out of the manger-I have a big mouth and a gun in the warehouse-and the world is at peace.
Sheep: sheep entering the tiger's mouth-no sheep looking at the vegetable garden-is not reliable; Unreliable sheep eat grass, cats eat mice-personal and personal blessings
Monkey: Monkeys climb trees-good at catching the moon-busy reading-fake sven.
Chicken: An old hen lays eggs-a chicken with a red face and a thick neck urinates-I have never seen a chicken run with a horse-asking for it.
Dog: The dog ate the tortoise-no dog barked at the moon-Wang Wanggou's hoof touched the horse's paw-it didn't match.
Pig: Pig eight quit to powder-self-righteous pig eight quit to rake-beat pig eight quit to sweep the residual seats-gorge; Sweep light; Pigs with onions in their noses-pretend to be like (elephants)