1. The origin of the zodiac
As an ancient folk cultural phenomenon, 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 "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 signs. 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 zodiac signs of Zichou Yin, but they were divided into periods such as rat, ox, tiger, and rabbit. When he was young, Dixun was spread in China, and it has been passed down forever. 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 in 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.
Among the existing documents, the Book of Songs is the earliest record of the twelve zodiac signs. "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." Ye, the thief has a big nose and long neck,... Yin, tiger, thief, with a gray beard, and a black face. Mao, rabbit, 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 a small body. ...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.
Completely 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. ...Snake. Monkey. "In the above text, there are eleven zodiac animals, but Chenlong is missing. The book "Yan Du Pian" says: "Chen is a dragon and Ji is a snake. The positions of Chen and Ji are in the southeast."
In this way, the twelve zodiac signs are complete, and they are in line with the twelve popular ones today. The zodiac signs are assigned exactly the same, and this is indeed the earliest and most complete record of the zodiac signs in ancient literature.
By the Southern and Northern Dynasties, zodiac signs had been widely used. In the Southern Dynasties' "Nan Qi Shu·Five Elements Chronicles", there were specific records of naming certain animals according to the year of birth of a person. 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.
Tiger feeds Sitting in the empty valley, the rabbit moon opens to the window.
The dragon is far away and the willows are wandering nearby. >Monkeys and chestnuts are shy of fragrant fruits, and chicken anvils lead to clear cups.
Dogs are carrying things, and pigs are leisurely. "
This poem is obviously based on the twelve zodiac signs. The order of the animals assigned to the earthly branches was written, which shows that the twelve zodiac signs were already very familiar to people at that time.
From the above literature records, it can be clear that the origin of zodiac culture is in China. According to the external view of the zodiac, the zodiac was introduced to China from the Middle East during the Han Dynasty, about the same time as Buddhism was introduced. From the above documents, we have proven that there were records about the zodiac in my country as early as the Spring and Autumn Period ("Rishu" and "The Book of Songs") ), indicating 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 affirmed that the zodiac is an ancient culture that originated in our country. So what is the origin of the zodiac? Why did the ancients choose these twelve animals? This issue has always attracted the attention of scholars, and various explanations have been made.
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, chickens, dogs, etc.), and develop a sense of dependence on animals that endanger their own safety. A sense of fear (such as tigers and snakes), and a sense of reverence for some animal organ functions that exceed humans (such as a dog's sense of smell, etc.), leading to the worship of animals. The twelve zodiac animals are the animal calendars produced by people under the influence of the original belief in animal worship to mark the years and months.
The animal worship of primitive people is also reflected in primitive dances such as Nuo dance. Nuo originated around the Zhou Dynasty. The protagonists in the Nuo ceremony are Fang Xiangshi and the twelve sacred beasts. The selection of twelve animals in the exorcism dance is an expression of primitive people's reverence for animals. The twelve beasts (or twelve gods) selected in the Nuo ceremony 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. The twelve zodiac signs in the exorcism ceremony are used to turn bad luck into good luck. It can be seen from this that the twelve divine beasts and the twelve zodiac signs are of the same origin, and their common source is 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 who live in the Daliang Mountain area of ??Sichuan have a calendar based on twelve animals. They mark the days with twelve animals. Today is the day of the rat, tomorrow is the day of the ox, and so on. Three rounds make up a month, which counts thirty. Six days, thirty-six days in a month, and ten months in a year. This was the later "October Calendar". Mr. Liu Yaohan believes that the ten-month calendar based on the twelve zodiac animals 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 primitive totem worship. The twelve zodiac signs of the Han people are influenced by the "October Calendar" Due to the influence of the Yi people, the twelve animals later developed into the twelve zodiac animals. The origin of the zodiac must inevitably link the zodiac with the heavenly stems and earthly branches. The oldest existing list of stems and branches in my country unearthed at the Yin Ruins in Anyang in modern times shows that the stem and branch calendar was already well practiced in the Yin and Shang era. 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 will be assigned an animal according 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 of the twelve branches contain information about the zodiac. They compared the twelve branches with the ancient characters of the twelve zodiac signs and found that the ancient characters of the twelve branches have some connections 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 Chinese 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 it is inseparable from the twelve earthly branches. 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. The 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 also some 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 the 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.
From the above, we can see 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 represent 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 the two 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 ancient hours of day and night. The sky is dark and the earth is full of chaos. The rat comes out in the middle of the night and bites out the gaps in the chaos between heaven and earth. "The rat bites the sky and opens it up", so the child is a rat. After the sky opens, the next step is to create the land, and "the earth was created by ugliness." Oxen plowing the fields should be the things that created the land, so ugliness belongs to the ox. Yin time is when a person is born. Life must lead to death. Nothing can kill people more than a fierce tiger. Yin also has the meaning of reverence, so Yin belongs to the tiger. Mao is the symbol of sunrise. The sun should be Li Gua, Li Gua is like fire, and the Yin Yao contained in it is the essence of the sun or the moon. In this way, Mao is a rabbit. Chen, the hexagram of March, is the season when dragons are making rain. Chen is naturally a dragon. Already, the hexagram of April means that at this time, the spring grass is lush, which is a good day for snakes, like fish in water. In addition, it is already morning, and the snake is returning to its cave at this time, so it belongs to the snake. At noon, in the afternoon, Yang Qi reaches its extreme and Yin Qi is emerging. Horses are animals that gallop and run with their hooves in the air, but from time to time they touch the ground. Flying in the air is yang, treading on the ground is yin, and the horse leaps between yin and yang, so it becomes the zodiac sign of noon. For sheep, the best time to eat grass is in the afternoon, as it is easy to gain weight. This is the wrong time, so it is not a sheep. Shenshi is the time when the sun approaches the Western Mountain and monkeys crow, and monkeys like to stretch their arms and jump at this time, so monkeys are matched with Shen. You is when the moon appears. The moon belongs to water and corresponds to Kan Gua. Kan hexagram has yin lines above and below, and the yang line in the middle represents the essence of the sun and the golden crow. Therefore, Unity belongs to the chicken. When night falls, it is the time of Xu. Dogs are the domestic animals that keep watch at night, so they become xugou. Then Haishi arrives, and the heaven and earth are immersed in a state of chaos, just like a fruit wrapped in a core. Everything in the world is covered at night during Haishi. Pigs are chaotic creatures that only know how to eat, so pigs became the zodiac sign of Hai. Zhu Xi, a famous Neo-Confucian scholar in the Song Dynasty, held this view.
Third, according to the Chinese belief in yin and yang, twelve species of animals are divided into two categories: yin and yang. The yin and yang of animals are arranged according to the odd and even oddities of the animals' toes. The number of toes on the front, back, left and right of an animal is generally the same, but the rat only has four on the front and five on the back. It is an odd and even body. Things are rare and valuable, so of course it ranks first, followed by cattle with four (even) toes; tigers with four toes (even); , five toes (odd); rabbit, four toes (even); dragon, five toes (odd); snake, no toes (even); horse, one toe (odd); sheep, four toes (even); monkey, Five toes (odd); Chicken, four toes (even); Dog, five toes (odd); Pig, four toes (even). The person who held this view was Hong Xun of the Song Dynasty. Lang Ying, a scholar of the Ming Dynasty, made a classification on the basis of it. In his "Seven Revised Class Drafts: Twelve Zodiac Signs", he proposed that "the earthly branches are at the bottom", so the difference between yin and yang should be based on the foot. Number of toes. There are four claws on the front of the rat, even numbers are yin, and five claws on the rear feet, and odd numbers are yang. The first half of the Zi hour is the yin of last night, and the second half is the yang of today. The rat is used to symbolize Zi. The trotters of cattle, sheep and pigs are divided, the chicken has four claws, plus the rabbit has a missing lip and four claws, and the snake tongue is divided. The six should all be an even number, belonging to Yin, and occupy the six earthly branches. Tigers have five claws, monkeys and dogs also have five claws, and horseshoes are round and undivided. The six are all odd numbers and belong to Yang. Together with the rat, which belongs to Yang, they occupy the other six earthly branches. Lang Ying's classification method is borrowed from Hong Xun's classification method, and the two are very similar.
The above three explanations explain the arrangement of the zodiac animals from different angles. There are many folk legends about the arrangement of the zodiac animals. The spread of these legends and stories on the one hand enriches the content of the zodiac and on the other hand promotes The inheritance and development of zodiac culture. The twelve zodiac animals are divided into two categories: yin and yang, and are incorporated into the Chinese concept of the five elements belief. The purpose is to correlate the zodiac animals with life rituals, and to correspond the yin and yang, the five elements and the zodiac, so as to explain other related aspects of life. cultural phenomenon.
3. Chinese Zodiac Beliefs
The zodiac was originally a set of symbols used to mark the year. It was part of the ancient astronomical calendar and later became the zodiac calendar that is generally recognized by people. Ancient Chinese philosophical views are "the unity of man and nature" and "the five elements of yin and yang are the foundation of the universe". They believe that the yin and yang and the five elements determine the survival and development of all things in the world. They believe that the sun and moon are the source of yin and yang, and that metal, wood, water and fire are the source of yin and yang. The five elements of earth and earth are the roots of all things, and they are collectively called Qi Yao〖ZW(〗The sun, moon, and stars are called Yao, and the five stars of sun, moon, metal, wood, water, fire, and earth are collectively called Qi Yao. In the old days, they were used to refer to a week separately. Seven days, the sunday is Sunday, the lunar day is Monday, and so on. The twelve zodiac signs are placed in the sky to mark the twelve celestial bodies, and are unified by the seven lunar days. Therefore, the twelve zodiac signs are influenced by the concepts of yin and yang and the five elements. It has become a 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 restrictive. It will have a significant impact on a person's life. 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. Generate a set of fortune-telling techniques for zodiac signs to determine destiny. At the same time, people also believe that there is a certain relationship between 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 concept of the Chinese zodiac year. The zodiac year of the Han people is derived from the cycle of the twelve zodiac signs, and it is closely related to the year of the lunar calendar when a person is born. , then each zodiac year in the future will be the person's natal year. Due to the cycle of the twelve zodiac signs, people will encounter their own natal year every 12 years. In this way, the natal year of life is 12 years old and 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 and avoid disasters, and to avoid disasters. Every time when the year of birth comes, the Han people in the north must buy a red belt and wear it, which is called a red belt. "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, markets are popular. Red and yellow silk ribbons called "auspicious belts" or "auspicious knots" are sold everywhere. People in their year of birth tie them around their waists and wrists, so as to avoid disasters and turn misfortune into good fortune. Many ethnic groups in our country attach great importance to the elderly. The 60th birthday is called the "Sixty Years". The Sixtieth Year is the sixth animal year in life and is also a cycle of zodiac signs. It must be celebrated to express people's wishes for longevity, health and good fortune.
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 is based on the five elements of yin and yang. Under the influence of the concepts of yin and yang and the five elements, Taoism is closely related to the heavenly stems, earthly branches, and twelve zodiac signs. and so on, resulting in a natural close relationship. There is the Yuanchen Hall in the famous Taoist temple Baiyun Temple in Beijing. The Yuanchen Hall is also known as the "Sixty Jiazi Hall". It is a hall where believers pray to the god of Yuanchen. The year of my birth is called the Benmingyuan. Chen, in the old days, it was a custom to worship the star god of Yuan Chen and pray for good luck, which was called "Shun Xing". 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 Xinyou was too old, Shi Zheng was too old, Renshu was too old, General Hong Chong was too old, and Guihai was too old, General Yu Cheng was. 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, "shun the stars" ", which means that even if you encounter an unfavorable year, you can turn it into a good year by praying for the protection of your natal god. The above sixty natal gods enshrined in the temple are all heavily colored clay sculptures, and they are all seated images, 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 is 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. Comparison table of the twelve zodiac animals of various ethnic groups: Yi Nationality in Western Guangxi
Twelve animals: dragon, phoenix, horse, ant, human, chicken, dog, pig, bird, cow, tiger, snake Ailaoshan Yi Nationality
p>Twelve beasts: tiger, rabbit, pangolin, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, chicken, dog, pig, rat, cow
Twelve beasts: rat, cow, Tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, chicken, dog, pig Hainan Li nationality
Twelve animals: chicken, dog, pig, rat, cow, insect, rabbit, dragon, snake, Horse, sheep, monkey Yunnan Dai
Twelve beasts: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, big snake, snake, horse, goat, monkey, chicken, dog, elephant Guangxi Zhuang
Twelve beasts: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, chicken, dog, pig Mongolian
Twelve beasts: tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, Sheep, monkey, chicken, dog, pig, rat, cow Xinjiang Uyghur
Twelve beasts: rat, cow, tiger, rabbit, fish, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, chicken, dog, pig The Kirgiz ethnic group
Twelve animals: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, fish, snake, horse, sheep, fox, chicken, dog, pig
As can be seen from the above table, our country The zodiac signs of many ethnic minorities, 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 produced 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, and 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 the chicken starting at the beginning and the monkey at the end; the Dai people living in Xishuangbanna use oxen instead of cattle and goats instead of 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.
(1) The Twelve Zodiac Signs of the Liangshan Yi People
The Yi people use the Twelve Animal Calendar, also called the Twelve Zodiac Calendar. There is a legend about the origin of the twelve zodiac signs (animal calendar) of the Yi people. 〖ZW (〗See Wang Changfu's "Etiquette and Customs of the Yi People in Liangshan"〖ZW)〗The Yi people living in Liangshan area of ??Sichuan use rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, Dog and Pig. Each animal's name is divided into one year, and one cycle lasts for twelve years. There is a convenient formula for calculating years and ages: "One round is thirteen, two rounds are twenty-five, three rounds are thirty-seven, and four rounds are four." Nineteen, five rounds of sixty-one, six rounds of seventy-three..." and so on. The Yi people in Liangshan also use twelve zodiac signs to mark the year, including rat month, ox month, tiger month, rabbit month, dragon month, snake month, horse month, sheep month, monkey month, rooster month, dog month and pig month. Twelve months. The big month of each month has thirty days, and the small month has twenty-nine days. The big month and the small month are determined according to whether the moon of the previous month is fifteen or sixteen. The fifteen-round moon is a small moon and twenty-nine days, and the sixteen-round moon is a big moon. Thirty days. However, the first month used in different places is different. Some places use the Horse month as the first month, some places use the Sheep month as the first month, and some places use the Monkey month as the first month. The method of recording dates also uses twelve beasts. Twelve days form a cycle, which is not limited by years and months (including leap months). It can be pushed back indefinitely and never ends. The calendar of the twelve zodiac signs of the Yi people is also used in folk witchcraft for fortune-telling. The Yi people in Liangshan believe that people are closely related to the five elements of wood, fire, earth, iron and water, and people can only live in harmony with them. , is the destiny of talent.
Human beings' destinies are among the ten destinies formed by the combination of five elements and "male" and "female", namely "wood male", "wood female", "fire male", "fire female" and "earth male". The harmony of "Tou Mu", "Tiegong", "Iron Mu", "Shui Gong" and "Jellyfish" is called "Tebu Temo", "Te" means harmony, "Bu" means Yang, " Don't be "yin" and think that the above ten kinds of fate are harmonious combinations of yin and yang. In addition, the ten kinds of destiny are matched with the twelve zodiac signs to form a "chronological periodic table", which is used to calculate people's destiny with a sixty-year periodic table.
The twelve zodiac signs of the Yi people are also used in marriage. The Yi people attach great importance to ethnicity, class and other conditions when choosing a mate and getting engaged. In addition, it is also important whether the birth dates of the man and woman are consistent. The folk formula is: " Rabbits, pigs and sheep go together, cows, snakes and chickens go together, dogs, horses and tigers go together, monkeys, dragons and rats are compatible. "Those who match the above formula are compatible. If they don't match, it's not very strict. The most taboo is for people born in the zodiac of tiger to be matched with those born in the year of chicken or sheep." "Tiger comes to eat chickens and sheep."
(2) The Twelve Zodiac Signs of the Dai Nationality According to Mr. Zhang Gongjin’s point of view, around the Han Dynasty, the Han people’s method of keeping track of the stems and branches was gradually introduced into the Dai area, and this method of keeping track of the stems and branches has been in use to this day (see Zhang Gongjin’s " Dai Culture", published by Jilin Education Press in 1986) is still an important part of the Dai calendar. The method is the same as that of the lunar calendar, which is to match the ten heavenly stems and the twelve earthly branches to form sixty years. These sixty numbers are used to record the years and days, and at the same time, the twelve earthly branches are used to record the months. Probably not long after the Ganzhi were introduced into the Dai area, the twelve zodiac signs of the Han people were also introduced. The twelve zodiac animals of the Dai people are slightly different in different places. In Dehong area, they are exactly the same as those of the Han people. In Xishuangbanna, "pig" was changed to "elephant". , the dragon is "big snake" or "dragon", which is slightly different. The twelve zodiac animals used by the Dai people are rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, serpent, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and elephant.
In Xishuangbanna and other places, the twelve zodiac signs match the earthly branches and are used not only to mark the year, but also to mark the month and day, such as the year of the rat bone〖ZW(〗"bone" in the Dai calendar is the year , "blood" is the moon, "skin" is the sun, ox bone in the Chou year, tiger bone in the Yin year; rabbit blood in April, snake blood in June, horse blood in July; monkey skin, You. Japanese chicken skin and so on…. It can be seen that after the twelve zodiac signs in the Han lunar calendar were absorbed into the Dai calendar, their use range is wider than that of the lunar calendar.
(3) Tibetan Zodiac Traditionally, the Tibetan zodiac system was introduced by Princess Wencheng of the Tang Dynasty when she married Songtsen Gampo in the seventh century AD. According to the Tibetan zodiac, sixty years is a period of one year, which is called "Huiteng" in Tibetan, which means wood rat. The Tibetan sixty years start from the year of the wood rat, which is equivalent to the year of the year of the Han people. The Tibetan zodiac calendar has the characteristics of integrating yin and yang, the five elements, and animals. Therefore, it is called "Yin Fire Rabbit Year", "Yang Earth Dragon Year", and "Yang Gold Monkey Year".
The specific coordination of the Tibetan zodiac chronology, yin and yang, and the five elements corresponds to the ten heavenly stems, with A and B as wood, Bing and Ding as fire, Wu and Ji as earth, Geng and Xin as gold, and Ren and Gui as water. Of the above five pairs, the former in each pair is Yang and the latter is Yin. Although the Tibetan calendar does not clearly indicate the heavenly stems and earthly branches, it implies the order of the stems and branches. In addition, in the Tibetan calendar, male and female are used instead of yin and yang. For example, the yin year of the golden ox is also called the female year of the golden ox, and the yang water tiger year is also called the male water tiger year.
(4) The twelve zodiac signs of the Naxi people The Naxi people are an ethnic minority living in Yunnan Province and are a branch of the ancient Qiang people. The Naxi people also use the zodiac to mark their days, with a unique method and directions. They divided the twelve months of the year into big and small months, with 30 days in each month. The first day of a single month is the monkey day. According to monkey, rooster, dog, pig, rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, In the order of Horse and Sheep, the 29th day of a single month is the Rat day; when entering a double month, the first day of the double month is separated by the Ox day and is designated as the Tiger day, and then in the order of Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep... ...In order, the last day of the double month should be the Sheep day; and then into the single month, the first day of the single month should be the Monkey day, and the day after the Sheep day should be the Monkey day. There is no need to skip the zodiac sign. ? The Naxi people are very particular about choosing mates and naming their children, especially their nomenclature has the meaning of the zodiac. They combine the zodiac signs with "Baghtu" to name them. "Bagh", also called "Bagh chart", is a diagram similar to the Eight Diagrams (pictured below) with directions, years, yin and yang and other contents.
"Baghtu" is a strict schema of the Naxi people that combines the spatial orientation with the five elements, twelve zodiac signs and other contents. They assigned the eight directions of the twelve zodiac animals and the five elements among them, basically forming a divination pattern with Naxi characteristics that combines time and space. The Naxi ancestors carefully calculated every important event they had, such as a person's birth, old age, illness, and death; a family's house building and relocation; tribal sacrifices, etc., to predict the bad luck. The Naxi ancestors referred to "Baghtu" when naming their children. They first invited Dongba to calculate where the child would be born, and from the age of the child's mother, they calculated the place where the mother's soul resided when she gave birth to the child. The original Dongba religion of the Naxi people believes that the human soul is not fixed, but constantly circulates according to certain rules. The first soul residence of a woman after birth is in the north, and her soul moves counterclockwise in Bagh. The eight directions rotate in rotation, that is, north at the age of one, northwest at the age of two, west at the age of three... Complete a circle to the north at the age of nine, and this cycle ends at the end of life. When naming a child, one must first deduce the location of the mother's soul. For example, if a mother gives birth to a child at the age of eighteen, then the mother's soul residence at that time is the northwest, which means that the child was born from the northwest.