Why does the mouse rank first in the zodiac?

In the ranking of the zodiac, why do mice rank first with their younger generation? First of all, this question puzzles the sages of mankind and the wise men of today: in terms of size, the mouse is so small that people can hold it in the palm of their hands and play with it. It is the smallest of the 12 zodiac signs. ; On brute force, it can hardly be compared with the strength of cattle, the fierceness of tigers, the divine power of dragons and the prancing of horses. In terms of quality, the steadfastness of cattle, the kindness of rabbits, the diligence of horses, the meekness of sheep and the reality of pigs are all many times better than those of mice. On wisdom again, the cleverness of monkeys and the cleverness of dogs are above that of mice. To say the least, even if snakes are the most vicious, I'm afraid they have to be in front of mice. But the fact is that the little mouse is the first in the zodiac!

This problem is still an unsolved case. Some people say that the legal newspaper probably has only one explanation: the guy who ranks the zodiac is a corrupt official, taking bribes and bending the law. He accepted the huge interests of the mouse, made a power and money transaction, and put the first gold crown on the head of a little mouse without virtue and talent. This is of course just a far-fetched joke. But it is true that human beings have never found a convincing explanation for this. However, human beings are, after all, the smartest advanced animals among animals. Many years after the zodiac was confirmed, people finally made up a folk story that may be self-deceiving and self-explanatory, so as to explain why rats rank first in the zodiac. This story, called "The Rat is the Biggest", is spread in Hunan and Hubei in the Central Plains:

After the mouse, cow, horse and sheep were elected as the zodiac, the mouse said, "I should be in the first place." Cattle, horses and sheep were unconvinced and said, "Why do you rank first?" The mouse said, "I am old, so I want to be the first." Niu Ma and others couldn't help laughing: "Are you as old as us?" The mouse said, "We don't count when we argue, so let others speak." Cattle, horses, sheep, etc. Everyone agrees to let people comment. So they discussed ways: led by cows, horses, sheep and mice, they walked through the streets one by one to see what people said.

In the street, a cow came and people said, "This cow is very strong." When the horse came, people said, "This horse is really tall." When the sheep came, people said, "This sheep is very fat." Finally, the mouse swaggered towards me. When people saw a big mouse suddenly coming out of the street, they all chased it and shouted, "What a big mouse! What a big mouse! " In this way, cows, horses and sheep have nothing to say, and mice rank first.

In addition, there is a similar story about the ranking of the twelve genera among the people.

There is an interesting story about how the zodiac is arranged:

At the beginning of chaos, just after heavenly stems and earthly branches timed it, the Jade Emperor ordered the gathering of all the animals in the world, and selected the twelve zodiac signs according to the twelve branches: Zi, Ugly, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu and Hai.

After the news came out, it alarmed two good friends, Flower Cat and Mouse. The flower cat said to the mouse, "I will be elected in heaven at five tomorrow." I have a problem with sleepiness. Please call me then! " The mouse repeatedly said, "OK, OK!" " But the next morning, the dishonest mouse got up secretly and left without saying goodbye. On this day, Yunnan, the beast in Lingxiao Hall, began to be selected. According to the difference between heaven and earth, the Jade Emperor selected twelve kinds of land and water animals, including dragon, tiger, ox, horse, sheep, monkey, chicken, dog, pig, rabbit, snake and mouse, as the zodiac. The rooster had two beautiful horns at that time and was also included in the beast.

The Jade Emperor was about to give up his seat for them when he saw the black raccoon pig coming out. Although it is stupid, it likes to make trouble. It said, "Since the Jade Emperor has chosen a leader, I am willing to share your worries, be a just person and arrange my brothers in turn." The Jade Emperor was overjoyed. He told the pig to be selfless and cut off contacts, so he retired from the DPRK.

As soon as the Jade Emperor left, the zodiac became a pot of porridge. At the beginning, everyone unanimously elected a gentle and generous workhorse to sit in the first place. Even the mighty tiger and black dragon respected it and agreed. However, the mouse curled up in the corner appeared and protested. It says, "I have a large number. If you don't believe me, let's race on the earth and listen to the opinions of the people. " So, the cow and the mouse came to the street in the city center.

When the cow passed through the crowd, people didn't respond. At this time, the mouse "whistled" and climbed onto the cow's back to make a standing pile. People in the street shouted, "What a big mouse!" By the time people took out sticks to hit them, the mouse had run away.

When the mouse came back to brag, all the animals were keen on cows. Only the black pig is secretly happy. It feels that only in this way, no matter how big or small, it is difficult to distinguish between good and bad, so it may be an impostor and it also benefits from it. So, with a stroke of a pen, it picked the mouse first and put the old cow behind. There are also sayings: rats, ugly cows, silver tigers, rabbits, dragons, snakes, afternoon horses, sheep, monkeys, pheasants, dogs and porcupines.

Allusions:

Why is the mouse the first animal in the zodiac, not the dragon walking on clouds, nor the tiger of the king of beasts? Why not take a fancy to a strong and gentle cow? Why not choose an unusually clever monkey? There are different opinions, such as "Taoist Jade Emperor", "Buddha as Tathagata", "ancestor of Yellow Emperor", "celestial stars" and "primitive tribal totem". In my opinion, the order of the zodiac was arranged by the ancients according to the living habits and activity characteristics of twelve animals.

Astronomers divide day and night into twelve hours, namely: Zi, Ugly, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Noon, Wei, Shen, You, Xu and Hai. Why use these words to set the time? By analyzing the prototype and original meaning of these twelve words, we can see clearly.

Son: Like an infant. The original meaning of zi is: young, egg. Ancient refers to children. From 23: 00 to 1: 00, it is midnight in the dead of night, which is the threshold of today and tomorrow. It can also be said that the "baby" of "tomorrow" is about to be born, or is already in its infancy. When you are a child, it is the moment when you are pregnant with something to hatch.

Ugly: for the word "twist", twist it like a finger holding an object. Twist and make a rotation. After childhood, it's ugly from one to three. The night is deep, but the "second day" has begun. Invisible, it seems that there is a big hand turning the celestial body-the night is about to be turned away and the day is about to be distorted.

Yin: It is said that you are facing an enemy, and it is said that you are holding an arrow with both hands, that is, the ancient word "lead". Introduction can be interpreted as pulling, leading, making and leaving. From 3: 00 to 5: 00 before dawn, it is the moment when the night is about to leave and the first light is drawn.

Mao: It's reckless, like the shape of a door, but also has a shape. It's like a broken thing, which is Liu's original words. It's Shi Mao from five to seven in the morning. It's dawn, the sun is out, and it's time to open the door for others. Shi Mao, blacks and whites are no longer confused, but separated.

Chen: It is said that it looks like a shell. I thought it meant to convey clouds. One day above the clouds, it is "morning"; When there is no sun, the clouds are full of air. Summer morning, 7: 00 to 9: 00, foggy.

Third, it is said that the head is as prominent as the fetus and the body is curled; Also known as pictograms of snakes. From 9 am to 1 1, the fog disappears, which is the warm time for the snake to climb out of the cave.

Noon: there is a word "pestle", which looks like a wooden pestle. It is also said that reaching it is a contradiction. Stand a wooden pestle in the sun, and the wooden pestle has no shadow, because the sun shines from above. The ancients created words by form, took meaning by form, and ordered things by form and meaning. So the time between Japan and China, that is, from eleven to thirteen, is noon.

W: Like the overlapping branches and leaves of a tree, things only taste when they grow up. The original word of "taste" At the end of 13:00 ~ 15:00 in the afternoon, it indicates that trees will flourish and fruits will mature only after strong sunlight. Ripe fruit will be very tasty.

Shen: Some say it's like lightning, while others say it's "God". From 15 to 17, it was stormy and thunderous. The ancients didn't know what lightning was and thought it was made by heaven.

You: Like an altar of wine, the original word "wine" is from 17: 00 to 19: 00. At night, when the day's work is over, it's time to eat. Let's just call it "drinking time".

Hey: People know Ge, that is, people are guarded by Ge (weapons). 19:00-2 1:00, after a full meal, it is time for the whole family to fall asleep. However, we should not be careless, and we should also prevent foreign enemies or wild animals from invading us, so we should carry weapons to guard us.

Hai: It is said that it looks like a pig, and the word "tapir" is a variant. Grass roots. -Say it. From 2 1 o'clock to 23: 00, the owner was awakened by the sound of the pig's arch groove-if the pig wants to be fat, it has to get up in the middle of the night to add rice to it. In addition, grass roots are related to the tubers of plants, which are the feed for pigs.

The twelve words at twelve o'clock actually describe and depict a picture of the life schedule of ancient farmers in summer! Even the natural landscape is vivid and concise.

Judging from the unearthed cultural relics, as early as the Shang Dynasty, there was a method to calculate the age with heavenly stems and earthly branches. Branches and branches were first used to record days, and later developed into calendar months and years.

So, how do twelve o'clock and the zodiac combine?

The best time to watch the celestial phenomena should be in the dead of night and when the stars are all over the sky. At midnight (23:00 ~ 1:00), people (astronomers or Taoists) looked up at the sky for a long time and suddenly heard a small noise around them. They looked down and saw that the mouse was moving. Over time, the ancients found that the time for rats to haunt was midnight. As a result, when I was a child, I was associated with mice and became a "daughter mouse", ranking first by the beginning of the day.

"Horses are not fat without night grass", and so are cows. It is a major event for farmers to plow the fields with cattle and feed them well. When it's ugly (1 until 3 o'clock), the farmer will get up and feed the cows. When cows are associated with ugliness, they become "ugly cows".

Tigers are fiercest at night from three to five in the morning, and farmers often hear tigers not far away at this time. As a result, the tiger was associated with Yin Shi, so there was a "Yin tiger".

From five o'clock to seven o'clock, at dawn, the rabbit ran out of the nest to eat dew grass. Therefore, rabbits are associated with Shi Mao, and hence the "hairy rabbits".

From 7: 00 to 9: 00, it is smog time. It is said that dragons can fly in the clouds, and only in the fog will they "see the tail but not the head". However, the dragon is a legendary animal, or an "artificial animal" pieced together by people with "parts" of several animals. Not in reality. Only in fog can people have the illusion of dragons. In this way, the dragon will appear in the morning fog. When dragons are associated with time, there is a "dragon".

From 9: 00 to 1 1, the fog cleared and the sun was shining. The snake with unstable body temperature crawled out of the hole to bask in the sun. Snakes, whether poisonous or not, are terrible, and the most active moment of snakes is "Shi Si". Draw the "four" in the shape of a snake when making words. The "fourth snake" is naturally linked.

From eleven o'clock to thirteen o'clock, the sun is shining. This "fierce" reminds people of the horse, one of the "right-hand men" of human beings. A fierce horse with a red mane is a good colt, but its temper is as fierce as the midday sun. When horses are associated with noon, there is a "noon horse".

13:00- 15:00, the sun has dried the dew on the grass, don't forget this is a good time to feed the sheep. As a result, "Weiyang" came into being.

15:00- 17:00, when the sun goes down, or after the rain, the weather looks refreshing. At this time, monkeys like to play and crow in the Woods. People heard it, kept it in mind, and linked this moment with monkeys, so there was a "monkey application".

17:00- 19:00, the sun is about to set, and the domestic chickens are going home; If you don't go back to your nest, you will find it when it gets dark. The farmer's wife was in a hurry, calling everywhere and knocking the chicken into the nest. This time of eating and drinking is also connected with the domestic chickens entering the nest, so there is a "unitary chicken".

19: 00-2100, people should patrol before going to bed; Followed by another "assistant" of human beings-dogs. It is just right to be a "dog" when you are involved with dogs during patrol.

2/kloc-0: 00 to 23: 00, the owner was very happy to hear the sound of the fat pig arch ditch in the middle of the night. However, if you want pigs to gain weight, you have to get up and feed them. During the sea, nature was associated with pigs, so there was a "sea pig".

When the twelve characters representing twelve o'clock are combined with the Chinese zodiac, they are: Rat, Ugly Bull, Silver Tiger, Hairy Rabbit, Chen Long, Sishe, Wuma, Weiyang, Shenhou, Ji You, Dog and Haizhu.