The zodiac is a visual 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) and You (chicken).
In ancient China, it was matched with heavenly stems to indicate the order of year, month, day and time. Old-fashioned timekeeping method also indicates the order with land branches, such as child time, ugly time and so on.
The Chinese zodiac is made up of eleven natural animals, namely rats, cows, tigers, rabbits, snakes, horses, sheep, monkeys, chickens, dogs, pigs and legendary dragons, and each animal is represented by a branch. The order of mice, ugly cows, yinhu, maotu, chenlong, sishu, wuma, weiyang, shenhou, youji, dogs and porcupines. The zodiac is actually the visualization of the twelve earthly branches.
extended information
the origin of the zodiac
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, a relatively complete zodiac system existed in the pre-Qin period. The earliest handed down document that records the same Chinese zodiac as modern times is Lun Heng written by Wang Chong in the Eastern Han Dynasty.
The zodiac is a visual representation of the twelve earthly branches. With the development of history, it has gradually merged into the folk belief concept, which is manifested in marriage, life, year of luck, etc. Each zodiac has rich legends, which form a concept interpretation system and become an image philosophy in folk culture, such as the zodiac sign in marriage, the prayer in temple fairs, the year of birth, etc. In modern times, more people regard the zodiac as the mascot of the Spring Festival and become a symbol of entertainment and cultural activities.
Baidu Encyclopedia-Zodiac