The zodiac is an intuitive representation of the twelve earthly branches. With the development of history, it is gradually integrated into the folk belief concept, which is manifested in marriage, life, annual luck and so on. Each zodiac is rich in myths and legends, which forms a conceptual interpretation system and becomes an image philosophy in folk culture, such as the zodiac in marriage, the blessing in temple fairs, the year of birth and so on.
In modern times, more people regard the zodiac as the mascot of the Spring Festival and become a symbol of entertainment and cultural activities.
In Taoism, zodiac animals are called "Twelve Chen Yuan" and "December General", that is, the God of Chen Yuan who is in charge of December. They are arranged in order with the twelve earthly branches, and they are the guardians of the core monuments of life when the descendants of the Chinese nation are born. They are responsible for changing their posts in turn during the Spring Festival every year to protect the world and drive away the monsters of that year.
Extended data:
Totem origin theory:
The ancestors of primitive society often used some animals, inanimate objects or graphics of natural phenomena as protectors and symbols of their clans, that is, totems. The mixed image of man and beast in Shan Hai Jing is an ancient totem god. The totem of Xia nationality is bear or fish, the totem of Shang nationality is blackbird, and the totem of Zhou nationality is dragon, bird, turtle, dog and tiger. ?
Zodiac animals are imaginary except dragons, and the rest are daily visible. It can be divided into two categories, namely "six animals" (horses, cows, sheep, chickens, dogs and pigs) and "six animals" (rats, tigers, rabbits, dragons, snakes and monkeys). The former was domesticated by people for economic purposes, while the latter disturbed human life to a certain extent, and ancestors were afraid of it.
Ethnologist Liu Yaohan inferred the origin of the "Zodiac Calendar" from the totem relics of the Yi people. The calendar of the 12 Zodiac of Yi people in western Guangxi and Mao put people and the 12 Zodiac in the same column, which is "the legacy of the original idea of not distinguishing between man and beast in reality".
The Yi people still use the Chinese zodiac to mark the date and use it as the name of the market (such as Tiger Street and Rabbit Street). ? Records of the Five Emperors in Historical Records describes that the Yellow Emperor "taught Xiong Yonghu in order to fight against Emperor Yan in Sakamoto", which is the totem of all tribes, and it is by no means a real way to lure tigers. Zodiac originated from totem worship in primitive society and became a convincing theory.