Rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, dog, chicken, and pig are ancient folk cultural phenomena. Scholars of all ages have different opinions on the origin of the twelve zodiac animals. Some people believe that the zodiac and the earthly branches have the same origin, which can be traced back to the prehistoric legendary era. It is recorded in the "Historical Records" that the Yellow Emperor "built Jiazi to ensure longevity" and "Big Nao made Jiazi" are a reflection of this kind of statement. Scholars believe that what is said here Jiazi refers to the twelve zodiac animals. Zhao Yi, a scholar of the Qing Dynasty, believed that the zodiac originated from the nomadic people in northern my country. He said in "Yu Cong Kao": "In the early days of Northern customs, there was no such thing as the twelve days of Zichou Yin, but the zodiac was divided into periods such as rat, ox, tiger, and rabbit. When he was young, Di Xun was spread in China, and he continued to follow it." (See Qing Dynasty Zhao Yi's "Yu Cong Kao"). Some scholars even hold the view that the zodiac is derived from the zodiac, believing that the twelve zodiac signs were introduced to China from ancient Babylon. The representative who holds this view is Guo Moruo, who talked about "the twelve zodiac signs" in "Research on Oracle Bone Inscriptions Shi Zhigan" There are examples of them in Babylon, Egypt, and India, but they are not very ancient, and none of them date back more than a hundred years after the Western Era. It means that the countries in the Western Regions during the Han Dynasty imitated the twelve palaces of Babylon, and then spread them to the surrounding areas. The communicator also believes that the zodiac was formulated by the residents of the Middle East in imitation of the Babylonian zodiac, and it was introduced to China when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty passed through the Western Regions. The above opinions are subject to different opinions, and the author does not dare to judge subjectively. However, a large amount of literature proves that the zodiac did originate in China and is the crystallization of animal worship, totem worship and early astronomy of the Chinese ancestors.
Regarding the records of the twelve zodiac animals, among the existing literature, the Book of Songs is the earliest. "The Book of Songs·Xiaoya·Auspicious Day" contains eight characters: "On the auspicious day of Gengwu, my horse will be sent", which means that the auspicious day of Gengwu will be at a good time, and it will be a good day for horses to go hunting. This is an example of correlating Wu with horses. It can be seen that around the Spring and Autumn Period, the corresponding relationship between the earthly branches and the twelve animals had been established and spread. In 1975, bamboo slips unearthed from Tomb No. 11 in Shuihudi, Yunmeng County, Hubei Province further proved that the twelve zodiac signs existed before and after the Spring and Autumn Period. There is a chapter in Category A of the "Rishu" unearthed from the bamboo slips titled "The Thief", which is about divination of the appearance characteristics of the thieves. It records: "The son is a rat, and the thieves are ugly, ugly, and oxen." Also, the thief has a big nose and long neck,... Yin means tiger, the thief looks like a man, with a gray beard and a black face. Mao means a rabbit, and the thief has a big face. Red... It is an insect, and the thief has long black snake eyes. Wu, it is a deer, and it has a long neck, and its body is incomplete. ... Wei, it is a horse, and the thief has long whiskers and ears. Shen, it is a ring. Those with round faces..."
The twelve zodiac animals recorded in "Rishu" are generally similar to the current popular sayings. According to research, Tomb No. 11 in Suihudi was buried in the 30th year of Qin Shihuang (217 BC). Therefore, the creation of the twelve zodiac animals can be traced back to at least the Spring and Autumn Period before Qin. Scholars believe that this is the earliest and more systematic record of the twelve zodiac animals found in my country so far.
Exactly consistent with today’s popular view of the twelve zodiac signs is the record of Wang Chong of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Wang Chong’s "Lunheng·Mao Shi" contains:
"Yin, wood, its birds, Tiger. Xu, earth, dog. ...Wu, rat, chicken. Hai, pig. Ox. ...Already, snake. Shen, monkey."
In the above text, there are eleven zodiac animals, but Chenlong is missing. The book "Yan Po Pian" says:
"Chen is a dragon, and Yi is a snake. The positions of Chen and Ji are in the southeast."
In this way, the twelve zodiac animals are all in one. And it is exactly the same as the twelve zodiac signs that are popular today. This is indeed the earliest and most complete record of the zodiac in ancient literature. .
By the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the zodiac had been widely used. In the Southern Dynasty's "Book of Nan Qi·Five Elements", there are specific records of people being called certain animals according to their birth year. Chen Jiong, a poet from the Southern Dynasties, once wrote a poem about the twelve zodiac animals, which he said:
"The traces of rats create dust cases, and the cattle and sheep come down at dusk.
The tiger feeds Sitting in the empty valley, the rabbit moon opens to the window.
The dragon is far away and green, and the snake and willow are lingering nearby.
Malan is picked far away, and sheep are planted in spring.
The monkey chestnut is shy of fragrant fruit, and the chicken anvil leads to a clear cup.
The dog has nothing in his arms, and the pig has nothing to lose. ”
This twelve zodiac poem was obviously written in the order of the animals assigned to the twelve earthly branches, indicating that the twelve zodiac signs were already very familiar to people at that time.
From the above documents Records can make it clear that the origin of zodiac culture is in China. According to the perspective of zodiac animals, the zodiac was introduced to China from the Middle East during the Han Dynasty, which was about the same time that Buddhism was introduced. From the above documents, we have proven that my country had zodiac animals as early as the Spring and Autumn Period. Records ("Rishu" and "Book of Songs") indicate that the birth of the zodiac and the matching of the zodiac and the earthly branches occurred long before the Han Dynasty. Therefore, it can be determined that the zodiac originated from an ancient culture in my country. What is the origin? Why did the ancients choose these twelve animals? This issue has always been concerned by scholars, and various explanations have been given.
Some scholars believe that the zodiac originated from animal worship in primitive times. Mr. Zhang Binglun of the University of Science and Technology of China holds this view. He believes that in primitive societies with low productivity and extremely limited ability to understand nature, they develop a sense of dependence on animals that are closely related to their own lives (such as horses, sheep, cows, and chickens). , dogs, etc.), have a sense of fear of animals that endanger their own safety (such as tigers, snakes), and have a sense of reverence for some animal organ functions that exceed humans (such as dogs' sense of smell, etc.), leading to the worship of animals. 12. These zodiac animals are animal calendars that were used to mark years and months under the influence of people's primitive beliefs in animal worship.
Primitive people's animal worship is also reflected in primitive dances such as Nuo dance. Produced around the Zhou Dynasty, the protagonists in the Nuo ceremony are Fang Xiangshi and the twelve sacred beasts. The selection of the twelve beasts in the Nuo dance is an expression of the primitive people's reverence for animals. The twelve gods) are to take care of the twelve months of the year, to seek peace every month, to drive away plague ghosts from all directions, and to take care of the twelve directions. Of course, the twelve directions involve twelve branches, so they are linked to the twelve zodiac signs. In the exorcism ceremony, the twelve zodiac signs are used to turn evil into good luck. It can be seen that the twelve divine beasts and the twelve zodiac signs are of the same origin, and their common origins are primitive animal worship.
Ethnologist Mr. Liu Yaohan believes that the twelve zodiac signs are related to the Yi people’s “Twelve Beasts” calendar and the “October Calendar”. The Yi people living in the Daliang Mountains of Sichuan have a calendar based on twelve animals. They used twelve animals to record their days. Today is the day of the rat, tomorrow is the day of the ox, and so on. Three rounds are counted as one month, which counts thirty-six days. One month is thirty-six days, and one year is ten months. It is the later "October Calendar" method. Mr. Liu Yaohan believes that the October calendar based on the twelve zodiac signs came into being in the Xia Yu era (see Liu Yaohan's "Collection of Research on the Social History of the Yi Nationality") and is related to the primitive totem worship. The two zodiac signs were influenced by the "October Calendar", and the Yi people's twelve animal calendar later developed into the twelve zodiac signs.
When talking about the origin of the zodiac, it is necessary to connect the zodiac signs with the heavenly stems and earthly branches in Anyang in modern times. The oldest extant list of stems and branches in my country unearthed at the Yin Ruins shows that the stems and branches were proficiently recorded during the Yin and Shang dynasties. Later, as time went by, the functions of the stems and branches gradually diversified. As a label serving as a time unit, on the one hand, it expanded and was used to record the year; on the other hand, it shrank and was used to record the time (the twelve hours of a day). According to historical records and research, the zodiac appeared after the establishment of the "Stem and Branch Calendar". The twelve animals correspond to the twelve earthly branches one by one, and animals are used as symbols of the earthly branches. A person born in a year has an animal assigned to the earthly branch of that year. Twelve animals are used to record the year, date and calculate the zodiac sign of each person. It can be seen from this that the twelve zodiac signs and the twelve earthly branches are inseparable. For a long time, scholars have discovered that the ancient characters for the twelve branches contain information about the zodiac. They compared the twelve branches with the ancient characters for the twelve zodiac signs and found that the ancient characters for the twelve branches have some connection with the twelve animals. Careful observation can reveal that there are indeed similarities and minor differences. Xu Shen of the Eastern Han Dynasty mentioned in "Shuowen Jiezi" that the character "Ji" is the pictogram of snake, as well as "Hai" and "豕".
Recent studies have also verified that the characters for earthly branches and zodiac characters in oracle bone inscriptions and bronze inscriptions are similar, which makes people wonder whether the twelve branches are the pictograms of the twelve zodiac animals. Since the twelve branches, ugly, Yinmao, are easy to remember, people use twelve animals instead. , using animals to borrow ordinal symbols, and matching with the earthly branches, it became a symbol system for chronology. Although the above conjecture has a certain degree of credibility, if you think about it carefully, you can make a judgment. The twelve branches cannot be the pictograms of the twelve animals, because as mentioned before, the twelve branches were skillfully used in the Yin and Shang Dynasties, and the zodiac signs were in the Spring and Autumn Period. The two have different origins. If the earthly branches were related to the zodiac when the characters were created, wouldn’t the zodiac appear at the same time as the earthly branches?
To sum up, the author believes that the zodiac came into being later than the twelve earthly branches, but with the twelve earthly branches. The earthly branches have an inseparable relationship, and the zodiac is an attachment to the twelve earthly branches. The choice of twelve animals as symbols to replace the twelve earthly branches stems from the animal worship psychology of the ancients.
2. Selection and arrangement of zodiac animals
The selection of the twelve animals in the Han zodiac is not complicated. It is close to the daily life and social life of the Han people. It can be guessed. The twelve zodiac animals can be roughly divided into three categories: one is the domesticated "six animals", namely cows, sheep, horses, pigs, dogs, and chickens, which are domesticated by humans for economic or other purposes. , accounting for half of the twelve species of animals. "Six animals" is an important concept in Chinese agricultural culture and has a long history. In the traditional Chinese concept, "six animals are prosperous" represents prosperity, good fortune and beauty in the family. During the Spring Festival, people usually mention "the six animals are prosperous", so it is inevitable that these six animals will become the zodiac signs. The second category is wild animals that are well-known to people and are closely related to people’s daily and social life. They are tigers, rabbits, monkeys, rats, and snakes. Among them, some are revered by people and intervene in human life. Such as tigers and snakes; there are also rats that are disgusted and taboo by people, but depend on humans for survival; and there are even more animals that people love, such as rabbits and monkeys. The third category is the traditional symbolic mascot of the Chinese people - the dragon. The dragon is a symbol of the Chinese nation, an "artificial object" that combines the characteristics of many animals, and a "spiritual object" in people's imagination. The dragon represents wealth and auspiciousness, and is the most symbolic auspicious animal. Therefore, the dragon is indispensable in the zodiac.
It can be seen from the above that the choice of zodiac animals is not random, but has a certain meaning. The animals chosen by people are all from different perspectives and have certain meanings.
So in what order are these twelve animals arranged? As mentioned earlier, the zodiac came into being in the atmosphere of ancient animal worship and totem worship. People only used animals to borrow ordinal symbols and symbols. The earthly branches match each other. Why were these twelve animals chosen? Which comes first and which order they should be arranged in? There is no final conclusion. Since the zodiac originated from ancient cultures, people have lost the original intention of the arrangement over time. Today, People's legends and stories are just attachments to it and can only rely on legends and imagination. There are roughly three explanations for the zodiac arrangement issue.
The first is the zodiac arrangement in folklore stories. A Han folk story says: When Emperor Xuanyuan wanted to choose twelve animals to serve as palace guards, the cat asked the mouse to sign up, but the mouse forgot. As a result, the cat was not selected, and they became enemies from then on. The elephant also came to compete, but the mouse got into its trunk and drove it away. The other animals originally pushed the cow to take the lead, but the mouse jumped on the cow's back. The pigs also followed suit, so the mouse ranked first and the pork chop last. The tiger and the dragon refused to accept it and were named the king of the mountain and the king of the sea, ranking behind the rat and the ox. The rabbit refused to accept it and raced with the dragon, but ended up in front of the dragon. The dog was dissatisfied and bit the rabbit in anger, for which he was punished in the penultimate position. Snake, horse, sheep, monkey, and chicken also arranged their positions one by one after some competition, and finally formed the order of rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, chicken, dog, and pig. . Although the legend is not a scientific explanation of the problem, it reflects people's desire to explain the choice of the twelve zodiac signs.
The second is that ancient Chinese scholars explained the relationship between the earthly branches and animals from the perspective of the twelve hours of day and night in ancient times.
Dominate everything, and the twelve zodiac signs are placed in the sky to record the twelve celestial bodies and to be unified by the seven rays. Therefore, the twelve zodiac signs are infiltrated by the concepts of yin and yang and the five elements and become part of folk religious beliefs.
Since the concept of zodiac appeared in the folk, it has been popular among the people with the popularity of fortune telling. Folk superstition believes that each element in the five elements is mutually restricted and has an impact on a person's life. have a significant impact. People can use different elements of the five elements to coordinate so that their lives and work can go smoothly. Folks classify the zodiac animals as yin and yang, corresponding to the five elements, thus generating a set of fortune-telling techniques that determine destiny based on the zodiac. At the same time, people also believe that there is a certain relationship between the zodiac signs and people's personalities. Even people with the same zodiac sign will have different personalities and fates due to different times of birth. ? A very important part of the zodiac belief is the Chinese concept of the year of birth. The birth year of the Han people is derived from the cycle of the twelve zodiac signs, and it is closely connected with the twelve zodiac signs. In which year of the lunar calendar a person was born, then each zodiac year in the future will be the person's birth year. Due to the cycle of the twelve zodiac animals, people will encounter their own birth year every 12 years, and so on. According to the introduction, the birth years of life are 12 years old, 24 years old, 36 years old, 48 years old, 60 years old... Folks believe that the year of birth is an unlucky year, and it is necessary to seek good luck, avoid bad luck, and eliminate disasters. Every time when the year of birth comes in the Han Dynasty in the north, both adults and children buy a red belt and wear it, which is called "red tie". Children also wear red vests and red pants, believing that this can help them avoid disasters and avoid disasters. This custom is still popular in various places today. During the Spring Festival, red and yellow silk ribbons with "auspicious belts" and "auspicious knots" are sold everywhere in the market. People in the year of their birth will tie them around their waists and wrists, so that they can Resolve disasters and turn evil into good fortune. Many ethnic groups in our country attach great importance to the 60th birthday of the elderly, which is called "the sixtieth birthday". The sixtieth birthday is the sixth animal year in life, and it is also a cycle of zodiac signs. It must be celebrated well to express people's wishes for longevity, health and good luck. .
Taoism is a native religion born and raised in my country. It was founded in the Eastern Han Dynasty and has a history of more than 1,800 years. Taoism takes Yin-Yang and Five Elements as its core teachings. Under the influence of the concept of Yin-Yang and Five Elements, Taoism has a natural close relationship with the heavenly stems, earthly branches, twelve zodiac animals, etc. The famous Taoist temple Baiyun Temple in Beijing includes the Yuanchen Hall, also known as the "Sixty Jiazi Hall", which is a hall where believers pray to the god of Yuanchen. The year of my birth is called Yuan Chen of my natal life. In the old days, it was customary to worship the star god of Yuan Chen of my natal life and pray for good luck, which was called "Shunxing".
Yuanchen Hall is the place where you worship the Yuanchen Star God. There are sixty Jiazi statues in the hall. They are: General Jin Bian of Jiazi Taisui, General Chen Cai of Yichou Taisui, General Geng Zhang of Bingyin Taisui, Ding Taisui. General Shen Xing, Tai Sui Wu, General Zhao Da, Tai Sui Wu, General Guo Can, Tai Sui Gengwu, General Wang Ji Tai Sui Xinwei, General Liu Wang Tai Sui Renshen, Kang Zhi Tai Sui Guiyou. Generals, Jiashu Taisui General Shi Guangda, Yihai Taisui General Ren Bao, Bingzi Taisui General Guo Jia, Ding Chou Taisui General Wang Wen, Wuyin Taisui General Lu Xian, Jimao Taisui General Long Zhong, Geng General Dong De, Tai Sui of Chen, General Zheng Dan, Tai Sui of Xin, General Lu Ming of Tai Sui of Renwu, Tai Sui of Guiwei, General Wei Ren, Tai Sui of Jiashen, General Fang Zhang, Tai Sui of Yiyou, General Jiang Chong, Tai Sui of Bingshu. General Min, Tai Sui Ding Hai, General Feng Ji, Wu Zi Tai Sui, General Zou Dang, Ji Chou Tai Sui, General Fu You, Geng Yin Tai Sui, General Wu Huan, Xin Mao Tai Sui, General Fan Ning, Renchen Tai Sui, General Peng Tai, General Xu Dan, Tai Sui of Guisi, General Zhang Ci of Jiawu Tai Sui, General Yang Xian of Tai Sui of Yi Wei, General Guan Zhong of Tai Sui of Bing Shen, General Tang Cha of Tai Sui of Ding You, General Jiang Wu of Tai Sui of Wuxu, General Xie Tai Sui of Ji Hai, Gengzi Taisui, General Lu Mi, Xin Chou Taisui, General Yang Xin, Renyin Taisui, He'e General, Guimao Taisui, Pishi General, Jiachen Taisui, Li Cheng, Yisi Taisui, Wu Sui, Bingwu Taisui. General Wenzhe, General Miao Bing who is Taisui of Dingwei, General Xu Hao who is Taisui of Wushen, General Cheng Bao who is Taisui of Jiyou, General Gengshu who is Taisui'ermi, General Ye Jian who is Taisui of Xinhai, and General Qiude who is Taisui of Renzi. , General Guichou Taisui Zhu De, Jiayin Taisui General Zhang Chao, Jimao Taisui General Wanqing, Bingchen Taisui General Xinya, Dingsi Taisui General Yang Yan, Wuwu Taisui General Li Qing, Ji General Fu Shang was not too old, General Mao Zi was too old, Gengshen was too old, General Shi Zheng was too old, Renshu was too old, General Hong Chong was too old, and Guihai was too old, General Yu Cheng. Starting with the Year of Jiazi, people born in different years within sixty years can find their own natal god.
According to Taoist teachings, one must devote oneself to one's life and get rid of selfish thoughts in order to live a long and eternal life. Worshiping the natal star has become a custom that has been passed down to this day. Every year on the seventh and eighth day of the first lunar month, Beijingers go to the Yuanchen Hall of Baiyun Temple to "sacrifice the stars", burn incense and worship to their respective natal stars, and pray for a safe year, that is, "follow the stars" ”, which means that even if you encounter an unfavorable year, you can turn it into success by receiving the protection of your natal god through prayer. The above sixty natal gods enshrined in the temple are all heavily colored clay sculptures, and they are all seated figures, incorporating the animal images of their respective zodiac signs. Some of the names of the sixty statues are real historical figures, and their images bear obvious zodiac signs, such as: Jiazi, Taisui, Jinsui, Jinsui, General, Rat, and Peach.
From Taoism’s content about natal gods and sixty years, we can see the mutual integration relationship between zodiac belief and Taoism. Taoism believes in Laozi’s “Tao” and believes that “Tao” is omnipresent and everything. In the beginning, all things in the world were transformed and dominated by it, and life was no exception. The concept of the zodiac signs matching the heavenly stems and earthly branches to form the Sixty Years is a manifestation of the fusion of the zodiac signs and Taoist beliefs. People worship the god of Yuan Chen in their natal life. In order to pray for the blessing of the gods and peace and happiness. From here we can see that the zodiac sign has become a factor that dominates people's lives and has become a part of life beliefs.
4. The twelve zodiac signs of various ethnic groups
In China, a multi-ethnic country, the zodiac signs are not exclusive to the Han people. Many ethnic minorities use the twelve zodiac signs to record their years. First, let’s take a look at the comparison table of the twelve zodiac signs of various ethnic groups.
The zodiac signs of many ethnic minorities in my country, such as the Mongolian, Zhuang, and some Yi people, are influenced by the Han people and are basically the same as the Han people. However, some ethnic groups have developed some variations while accepting the Han zodiac culture. The Yi people in Ailao Mountain use the pangolin to occupy the position of the dragon in the zodiac series; the Kirgiz people in Xinjiang use fish instead of the dragon in the zodiac series. A fox is used instead of a monkey; compatriots of the Li ethnic group in Hainan use twelve zodiac animals to mark the day, with chicken as the first sign and monkey as the tail; the Dai people living in the Xishuangbanna area use oxen instead of cattle and goats as sheep. Hai's zodiac sign is not pig but elephant. .
It can be roughly seen from the above changes that when various ethnic groups choose the zodiac animals, due to different living environments and different species, they choose the closest animals as the zodiac animals, which brings certain differences to the zodiac culture. In addition to variations in the selection of zodiac animals, ethnic minorities have also developed their own different methods of counting years and dates, and have also produced many folk customs related to the zodiac.
A long, long time ago, there was no algorithm for the twelve zodiac signs in the world, but it was later stipulated by Emperor Shitian. Once, Emperor Shakti saw that people in the mortal world had no way to calculate the year. He ordered to summon the heads of all the animals in the mortal world and said to them: "I want to use your names to calculate the year for people. Tomorrow morning As soon as the sun rises, you are going to cross a river. Whoever crosses the river first, I will make him the king of the zodiac, and the others will be ranked in order." The next night, these animals gathered together to discuss how to cross the river tomorrow. Some said that the tiger was the king of beasts, and the tiger should be allowed to cross the river first. Some said that the strongest of the animals was the old cow, and the old cow should be allowed to cross the river. Cross the river first; they fought back and forth and finally decided to let the old cow cross the river first, then the tiger, and the other animals could follow the tiger across the river freely. The mouse is the weakest among animals. Not to mention being the first to reach the shore, even crossing the river is very difficult. But the little mouse is so smart that he thought for a long time and took advantage of the old cow to sleep that night. , quietly got into the big ears of the old cow. The next day, as soon as the sun came up, the old cow led the animals across the river. The old cow was the first to swim slowly to the shore. Suddenly the mouse jumped out of his big ears and ran forward desperately, shouting loudly: "Emperor Shakti, I, the rat, came first! I, the rat, came first." Emperor Sahitian named the mouse the king of the zodiac, and the rest The animals are ranked in order of arrival at the shore. The ranking order is ox, tiger, animal, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, and the last one is pig. Because the pigs were panting from exhaustion when they reached the shore, and their tails kept swaying from side to side, other animals crossing the river thought that the pigs were signaling to them not to come over, and that the signs were enough, so many animals swam back. Legend has it that if the pigs don't wag their tails, they will have more zodiac signs and people will live longer.
The zodiac sign is also called the zodiac sign, the zodiac sign refers to the year of birth, and the zodiac sign refers to the similarity. The twelve zodiac animals are chosen from the ancient Chinese stem and branch chronology. Twelve animals are matched with the twelve earthly branches, such as the rat, the ox, the tiger, the rabbit, the dragon, the snake, the horse, the sheep, the monkey, the rooster, the dog, and the pig. The order of the twelve zodiac signs is determined based on the daily activities of the animals.
Associating the twelve animal branches with people’s birth years to form the twelve zodiac signs has been around since the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and became even more popular in the Tang Dynasty. People connect their impressions of animal habits with people's zodiac signs and personalities, and even their entire lives, forming a zodiac culture with Chinese characteristics.
You chicken, You hour, is from 5 to 7 pm. At this time, when the sun sets over the hills, the chickens begin to return to their cages and stay overnight, so the zodiac sign of the You hour is Rooster