We are all familiar with the Chinese zodiac. It was a scholar in ancient times. In order to make people all over the world remember the year of their birth, we adopted the animal chronology, which was later called “the year of the Chinese Zodiac”. Have you ever wondered why the Chinese zodiac is arranged in this order? Today’s China story net editor will bring you a detailed introduction. Let’s move on~
The folk story says that the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan wanted to choose 12 kinds of 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 made enemies with the mouse. Elephants also came to the competition. Rats got into their noses and drove them away. The rest of the animals were originally led by cows, but rats jumped onto the backs of cows, and pigs followed suit, so rats ranked first and pork chops last. The tiger and the Dragon refused to accept it, and were called the king of the mountains and the king of the sea, but they were behind the rats and cows. The rabbit refused again and ran a race with the dragon. The result was ahead of the dragon. The dog was angry and bit the rabbit. For this reason, he was punished in the penultimate place. Snakes, horses, sheep, monkeys, and chickens also took part in a contest and arranged their positions one by one. Finally, the order of rats, cows, tigers, rabbits, dragons, snakes, horses, sheep, monkeys, chickens, dogs, and pigs was formed.
Ancient Chinese scholars explained the relationship between the earthly branches and the animals of Xiao from the perspective of the ancient twelve hours of day and night. The sky is dark and the earth is full of chaos. Rats come out at midnight and bite the chaos between heaven and earth out of the gap. “Rats bite the sky and open”, so they belong to rats. After the opening of the sky, the land will be created. “The land is created by ugliness”. Cattle farming should be the object of creating the land, so ugliness belongs to cattle. Yin is the time when people are born. There must be death when there is life. There is nothing like a tiger to put people to death. Yin also has the meaning of awe, so Yin belongs to a tiger. Mao is the image of the sunrise. The sun should have left the divination, and left the divination like fire. The Yin contained in it is the jade rabbit, the essence of the sun and the moon. In this way, Mao is a rabbit. Chen, the divinatory symbol of March, is in the season when dragons are raining. Chen naturally belongs to the dragon. Already, the divinatory symbols of April. At this time, the spring grass is luxuriant. It is a good day for snakes, just like fish getting water. In addition, it was already the morning when the snake was returning to its cave. Therefore, it was already a snake. In the afternoon, Yang Qi reaches the extreme and Yin Qi is sprouting. Horses, such animals, gallop and run with their four hooves in the air, but they step on the ground from time to time.
Flying is Yang, stepping on the ground is Yin, and the horse leaps between yin and Yang, so it becomes the sign of noon. Sheep, the best time to eat grass in the afternoon, are easy to gain weight. This is the untimely time, so it is not a sheep. It is the time when the apes cry in the Western Hills, and the monkeys like to stretch their arms and jump at this time, so the monkeys deserve to apply. You means that when the moon appears, the moon belongs to water and should be divined according to kangua. In the kangua, the upper and lower Yin ridges represent the essence of the sun, gold and black. Therefore, you belong to chicken. When night falls, it is for Xushi. A dog is a domestic animal that keeps watch, so it becomes a dog. Then when the time of Hai came, the world was immersed in a chaotic state, just like the fruit wrapped around the core. At the time of Hai, everything in the world was covered at night. Pigs are chaotic animals that only know how to eat. Therefore, pigs have become the sign of Hai. Zhu Xi, a famous Neo Confucianism scholar in the Song Dynasty, held this view.
Twelve kinds of animals are divided into two categories: Yin and Yang. The Yin and Yang of animals are arranged according to the odd and even difference of animal toes. The number of the left and right toes of the animals is generally the same, while the rat is the first four feet and the second five feet. The odd and even are the same, and the rarity is the most expensive. Of course, it ranks first, followed by the cow and the four toes (even); Tiger, five toes (odd); Rabbit, four toed (even); Dragon, five toes (odd); Snake, without toes (homozygous); Horse, one toe (odd); Sheep, four toed (even); Monkey, five toed (odd); Chicken, four toed (even); Dog, five toed (odd); Pig, four toed (even). Disclaimer: the above content originates from the Internet, and the copyright belongs to the original author. Please inform us if your original copyright is infringed, and we will delete the relevant content as soon as possible.