A brief introduction to the twelve zodiac signs

A brief introduction to the twelve zodiac signs

A brief introduction to the twelve zodiac signs. The twelve zodiac signs are one of the Chinese cultures that have been passed down from ancient times to the present. They refer to the twelve signs of the year in which people were born. The zodiac is composed of twelve animals and twelve earthly branches. Let’s take a look at a brief introduction to the twelve zodiac signs. A brief introduction to the twelve zodiac signs 1

The twelve zodiac signs, also called zodiac signs, are twelve animals in China that match the twelve earthly branches according to the year of birth, including rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, Snake, horse, sheep, monkey, chicken, dog, pig.

They match the twelve earthly branches (Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu, Hai) in turn, forming the Zi Rat, Chou Ox, Yin Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig. The Chinese often use the Lunar New Year as the zodiac sign for the new year, and the animal that symbolizes the year of their birth as the zodiac sign, and the cycle is a round.

The zodiac is based on the chronology of the stems and branches, starting from the "beginning of spring", which is February 4 or 5 of the Gregorian calendar. The beginning of spring is one of the twenty-four solar terms and belongs to Solar calendar rather than lunar calendar.

However, it is still controversial to use the beginning of spring as the transition point in the zodiac, because the earthly branches are first used to record the month, and the "stems dominate the zodiac to record the time, the day and the month" appear later than the "stem and branch chronology" and " The "Twenty-Four Solar Terms" appeared earlier, and the zodiac signs as totems for chronology were originally intended to facilitate people's memory and use, rather than achieving the scientific purpose of accurate calculation.

Most of the records of the zodiac are based on the first day of the first lunar month as the switching point. The ancient calendar was formulated and promulgated by the government and has unquestionable authority. The calendars issued by officials in the past dynasties all record the chronology of the stems and branches and the zodiac signs, and the stems, branches and zodiac signs are all changed from the first day of the first lunar month. However, according to the strict definition of numerology, it should be counted from the beginning of spring. A brief introduction to the twelve zodiac signs 2

Our country has a traditional zodiac culture, and each hour belongs to a zodiac sign. Therefore, the order of the twelve zodiac signs is likely to come from the twelve o'clock, when the rat will come out and move around. , so the mouse ranks first. Cows are used to eating grass at night, when they are officially ugly. Tigers attack animals during the Yin period. At dawn, the rabbits came out to eat grass. There is heavy fog in the morning, and legend has it that a dragon will appear.

At this time, the snake became excited due to the rising temperature and came out to look for food. The sun was shining brightly in the morning and the horses were galloping. In the future, people herded sheep to graze. At Shen time, when the sun is in the west, the monkeys will scream. From five to seven o'clock, the chickens prepare to sleep in front of the nest. At night, the dog barks whenever there is any movement, and its hearing is very sensitive. At Haishi, in the dead of night, there was only the sound of pigs grooving, so pigs were ranked last. These twelve zodiac animals are closely related to the 12 hours and are closely related to life. This is the wisdom of the ancients.

The legend of the twelve zodiac signs.

In ancient times, human beings had limited knowledge and did not even know how to calculate and distinguish years and months. Therefore, in response to human requests, the Jade Emperor came up with the idea of ??using twelve animals to name each year to make it easier for ordinary people to remember.

But it was not easy to decide which animal to choose. Finally, after much thought, the Jade Emperor decided to hold an animal crossing competition on his birthday, and the top twelve animals were chosen as the twelve zodiac animals to mark the year.

After the news spread, all the animals were full of energy and eager to try to get a place among the twelve zodiac animals. Among them, the little mouse and the kitten, who are very affectionate, also want to go to the meeting, but they are small and cannot swim. So they asked the buffalo, which usually gets up early and has a good temper, to help them give them a ride.

Early in the morning on the Jade Emperor’s birthday, the little mouse went to wake up the sleepy kitten. But the kitten couldn't wake up, so the buffalo told the mouse to ignore him and set off quickly. Just as they were about to reach the finish line, the buffalo was thinking about "getting first", but the mouse jumped in front of the cow and took first place.

The Buffaloes only finished second. Tiger came in wet and finished third. The rabbit used other animals to help him cross the river, and then quickly jumped in front of the Jade Emperor, finishing fourth. Because of his responsibilities, Julong, who came to the meeting even after it rained, missed the first place and only ranked fifth.

Then comes the horse, but actually the snake is hidden under the horse. The horse was frightened when the snake appeared. So the snake grabbed sixth place. Then the sheep, monkey and chicken sat on the raft and reached the shore. Three decisions gave away eighth place to the sheep. Then came the monkey and the chicken.

However, the dog is a good swimmer, but he played in the water for too long and only took the eleventh place. The last pig accidentally wins.

Just when the Jade Emperor solemnly announced: "The twelve zodiac signs are ranked according to the results of the competition: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, chicken...", the little boy who fell into the water The cat arrived in embarrassment: "What about me? Where about me? Where do I rank?"

The Jade Emperor told it that it was late and the game was over. At this time, the kitten was so angry that it thought the little mouse didn't call it on purpose, so it stretched out its sharp claws and grabbed the little mouse.

The little mouse who was originally a good friend, although he came first among the twelve zodiac signs, has been living in fear since then, fearing that the cat will seek revenge on him at any time. So whenever I encounter a cat, I have no choice but to run away desperately, or even hide in a hole in the wall or on the ceiling, not daring to move around freely. A brief introduction to the twelve zodiac signs 3

The twelve zodiac signs, also called the twelve zodiac signs, are twelve animals in China that match the twelve earthly branches according to the year of a person’s birth. In order, they are the rat and the ugly ox. , Yin Tiger, Mao Rabbit, Chen Dragon, Si Snake, Wu Horse, Wei Sheep, Shen Monkey, You Rooster, Xu Dog, and Hai Pig.

In other words, the twelve zodiac signs refer to the 12 animals that represent each year in order. Which animal represents the year you were born, then this animal is your zodiac sign, and you may have similar personality traits to this animal.

The order of the twelve zodiac signs

There are different opinions on the origin of the twelve zodiac signs. Here I will talk about the folklore stories and animal habits that I heard when I was a child:

1. Describe a legendary story that I heard when I was a child:

Legend has it that in order to select the twelve zodiac animals for recording the year, God decided to start a zodiac race among the animals. Start arranging the order, and take the top twelve to rank the twelve zodiac animals. On the day of the competition, the slippery mouse hid on the cow and suddenly sprinted near the finish line and won first place. The cow arrived behind the mouse and ranked second. Subsequently, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig arrived at the end in sequence, so there was a ranking of the twelve zodiac animals.

2. There is also a saying based on animal habits:

According to the twelve hours of day and night and the corresponding order of animal habits

Rat (child) Hours 23:00-01:00) Rats are most active in the middle of the night

Cows (Chou hours 01:00-03:00) Oxen ruminate and chew at this time

Tigers (Yin hours 03:00 -05:00) At this time, the tiger that is nocturnal is the most ferocious

Rabbit (Mao hour 05:00-07:00) At dawn, the rabbit comes out of its nest to eat grass

Dragon ( 07:00-09:00, Si hour) It is easy to get foggy at this time. Legend has it that dragons like to fly in the clouds and ride in the fog

Snakes (09:00-11:00, Si hour) The sun is shining brightly, and snakes come out of their holes to look for food

Horses (11:00-13:00 noon) Horses like to run around and neigh at this time

Sheep (13:00-15:00 noon) It is a good time to herd sheep, and the sheep come out to graze< /p>

Monkey (15:00-17:00 Shenshi) The sun is in the west, monkeys like to come out and move around at this time

Rooster (17:00-19:00 Youshi) The sun sets, Rooster Returning to the den

Dogs (Xu Shi 19:00-21:00) Dogs watch the house and the courtyard after dark

Pigs (Hai Shi 21:00-23:00) People can hear it in the dead of night The sound of pig trough

Why is there no cat among the twelve animals?

According to records, domestic cats were introduced to China through Buddhist exchanges from the Southern and Northern Dynasties to the early Sui Dynasty. It was not until the Tang and Song Dynasties that people began to raise domestic cats on a large scale.

According to the literature review of "Lunheng" written by Wang Chong of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the twelve zodiac signs have already been recorded. The Eastern Han Dynasty was from 25 to 220 years, and the Tang and Song Dynasties were from 618 to 907 years. Judging from the time difference, the cat had no time to catch up with the "draft".

However, the tiger among the twelve zodiac signs is on the "draft list". Tiger belongs to the cat family, so it is also on the list as a "big cat" hahaha.

Vietnam’s twelve zodiac signs include cats but not rabbits. Because when there were twelve zodiac signs, rabbits had not yet been introduced, so “rabbit” became “cat”. The twelve zodiac animals in Vietnam are rat, ox, tiger, cat, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. People whose zodiac sign is "rabbit" in China become "cat" people in Vietnam.

In the Indian zodiac, there are no tigers but lions, and there are no chickens but Garuda. The twelve zodiac animals in India are rat, ox, lion, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, Garuda, dog and pig, which are roughly the same as those in China.