What zodiac sign is Wuwu Day
The earliest record of the zodiac
In the past, it was believed that the earliest records of the twelve zodiac signs were recorded by Wang Chong of the Eastern Han Dynasty. It is recorded in the book "Lunheng": "Yin means wood, and its bird is tiger. Xu means earth, and its bird is dog. ...Wu means horse. Zi means rat. You means chicken. Mao is the rabbit. ...Hai is the pig. Wei is the sheep. ...Si is the snake. Shen is the snake. Southeast", although the order is not quite the same as what we know today, at least the twelve zodiac signs are complete.
However, after the Qin bamboo slips "Rishu" (an ancient reference book for choosing good and bad times) were unearthed one after another in Yunmengsuihudi, Hubei, Fangmatan, Tianshui, Gansu, and Kongjiapo, Suizhou, Hubei, The date of the appearance of the twelve zodiac signs is pushed forward by about three hundred years. The order of the zodiac recorded in the "Rishu" unearthed in these three places is basically the same as today, but there are still some differences.
For example, the twelve zodiac signs in Shuihudi's "Rishu? Thief" are: Rat, Chou Ox, Yin Tiger, Mao Rabbit, Chen (the original zodiac omitted from the bamboo slip), Si Chong, and Wu Deer. , Wei Ma, Shen Huan (pronounced as 猨, that is, ape), Youshui (pronounced as pheasant with the close pronunciation, pheasant is), Xu Laoyang, and Haizhi. Among them, in ancient times, snakes were called "long worms", so they were called "Si Chong"; noon refers to horses today, but sleeping in the tiger land is called "deer"; Wei today refers to sheep, but sleeping in the tiger land refers to horses; Xu now refers to dogs, sleeping in the tiger land The tiger land is called "Old Sheep".
The twelve zodiac signs in Fangmatan's "Rishu? Thief" are almost identical to today's, namely: Rat, Chou Ox, Yin Tiger, Mao Rabbit, Chen Chong, Si Rooster, and Wu Horse. , Wei Sheep, Shen Monkey, You Rooster, Xu Dog, Hai Bo. Among them, "Si Ji" and "You Chicken" are repeated, which may be a fallacy when recording "Si Snake".
The burial time of these three tombs is from the late Warring States to the Western Han Dynasty. It can be seen that there were twelve zodiac animals in the late Warring States, and they matched with the twelve earthly branches.
"Rishu" is also the earliest unearthed document recording the twelve zodiac animals so far.
Where does the zodiac originate?
As for where did the zodiac originate? At present, there are four theories in academic circles: "Shuo", "Western Regions theory", "Shuo" and "Zhongtu theory".
Chavan, a historian and French sinologist, believes that the twelve zodiac signs were created by humans. The twelve zodiac signs also appeared on the stele inscriptions. Documents mainly found on stele tablets. However, the earliest zodiac records were in AD 571, which is not only later than the Eastern Han Dynasty's "Lunheng", but also later than the Qin Dynasty's "Rishu". Unless it is unearthed in the future, The archaeological evidence is earlier than "Rishu" and "Lunheng", otherwise it would be difficult to establish the "said".
As for the "Western Regions Theory", the late Chinese historian Guo Moruo said in "Shi Zhi Qian Yu Lun": "This system of animal figures is not limited to the East. It can be found in Babylon, Greece, and Egypt. However, the system is not very ancient and does not originate from more than a hundred years after the Western Era. It is thought that the countries in the Western Regions imitated the Babylonian Twelve Palaces and then spread them to the surrounding areas." It is said that this theory was self-defeating after the "Rishu" was unearthed in the late Warring States Period.
"Said" was also proposed by Guo Moruo. He listed the twelve zodiac signs in Greece and Egypt in "Shi Zhi Qian Yu Lun", and under the heading, he indicated the source as "Mu Fen Zhong Jing Mu Pin" in Volume 24 of "Jing". However, according to the general research results of scholars, the "Sutra" appeared in the 2nd to 3rd centuries AD and was assembled around the 5th century. The twelve zodiac signs mentioned in the book, starting with the snake, are grouped in groups of three, from south to north, east to west. The order and orientation are consistent with what Chinese numerologists say. There is currently no record of using the twelve zodiac signs.
Some experts also believe that the twelve zodiac animals in the Sutra come directly from the Western Regions and indirectly from the Central Plains, rather than originating from China. Since "Rishu" is the earliest unearthed document on the twelve zodiac signs in the world, it can be concluded that the "twelve zodiac signs" should have originated in China.
In addition to the Han Dynasty, do other Chinese zodiac animals also use it?
The Yi people living in Ailao Mountain in Yunnan also have their own twelve zodiac animals, but their names and order are: tiger, rabbit, pangolin (dragon), snake, horse, sheep, monkey, chicken, Dog, pig, rat, cow. The Dai people in Xishuangbanna changed "pig" to "elephant"; "dragon" to "dragon" or "big snake"; and "sheep" to "ant". The tribes located in southwest China have integrated the concept of five elements to represent the heavenly stems (A is Yang wood, B is Yin wood, B is Yang fire, D is Yin fire, Wu is Yang earth, Ji is Yin earth, and Geng is Yang metal. , Xin is yin metal, Ren is yin, Gui is yin), and the zodiac is used to represent the earthly branches. Taking the Year of Wuxu as an example, it is called the "Year of the Dog with Yang Earth" in the calendar, and the upcoming Year of Jihai is the "Year of the Pig with Yin Earth".
However, there are dogs in the Chinese zodiac, so why are there not cats, the “cats” that are loved by modern people? "The Book of Songs? Daya? Han Yi" records: "There are bears and bears, cats and tigers." Although cats appear in the poem, bears, bears, and tigers are all wild beasts, and cats are juxtaposed with bears, tigers, etc. , maybe cats were not domesticated in China during the Western Zhou Dynasty, and the cats here should be wild cats. In the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, "Book of Rites? Jiao Special Sacrifice" recorded: "A gentleman in ancient times would repay his favor by welcoming cats and eating voles for them." This means that gentlemen in ancient times had to repay the contribution of everything they used, such as worshiping the cat god because it would eliminate the field mice that eat crops.
If the twelve zodiac signs had been finalized from the Warring States Period to the Qin and Han Dynasties, then cats that were domesticated and raised later would naturally not be able to enter the ranks of the Han zodiac signs.
What are the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches?
Speaking of the relationship between the zodiac and the stems and branches, where do the stems and branches come from? Some researchers say that the Earthly Branches were originally graphics used to record objects or time. As the writing system gradually formed and matured, the original meanings of the Earthly Branches were eliminated and replaced the original graphics, leaving only abstract symbols. Mathematicians then used the glyphs based on the glyphs. As an imagination of the twelve zodiac signs, the animals chosen are basically common totems, and the pronunciation or glyphs are similar to the animals themselves.
The stems and branches may be two different ethnic groups, and they have developed two different dating systems. Zhang Zhijie speculates that the ethnic groups that developed and integrated the stem and branch system may be the Xia and Shang. Because the lunar calendar is a solar calendar with only 10 months per year (10 months per year, 36 days per month). The Shang tribe adopted the combined calendar, using the sun to mark the year and the lunar month to mark the month (12 new moons each year). After the Shang Dynasty destroyed the Xia Dynasty, the two number systems were used together, and the year, month, day, hour, and "sixty years" were formed based on the stems and branches. The ancient chronology methods such as "Wuxu" and "Jihai" later gave rise to numerology concepts such as "birthday and eight characters". If someone is born at 12 noon on February 5, 2022, his horoscope will be: Jihai (year), Bingyin (month), Guiyou (day), Wuwu (hour), etc. It is composed of several stems and branches, so it is called "Eight Characters".
With the gradual integration of concepts such as the heavenly stems, earthly branches, zodiac, and five elements, it not only affects the formation of Chinese philosophy and worldview, but is also deeply imprinted in the collective consciousness of the Chinese people, becoming quite special customs and customs. part of life.
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