What is the symbolic meaning of the 12 zodiac signs?

Belong to the phase rat, symbolizing the alertness and adaptability, belong to the bull, means diligent and simple, sincere and loyal, brave and stubborn, belong to the tiger, he is the king of the forest, the king is full of spirit, belongs to the rabbit, it is gentle and quiet, pure and elegant symbol, because the rabbit is alert and sensitive, the dragon has the meaning of punishing evil and suppressing evil, the country and the people, and the snake symbolizes the beauty and colorful, infatuation and righteousness. Horses, in ancient times, had a very high status, they were loyal and honest, and they were uninhibited.

The symbolic meaning is actually the Ganzhi chronology, which represents the traditional Chinese culture and also symbolizes how old we are.

Eastern han dynasty. The origin of the zodiac is related to animal worship. According to the Qin Jane unearthed in Yunmeng Sleeping Tiger Land in Hubei Province and Fangmatan in Tianshui in Gansu Province, it can be seen that there was a relatively complete zodiac system in the pre-Qin period.

The earliest hand-me-down document that records the same 12 zodiac signs as in modern times is Wang Chong's "On Balance" in the Eastern Han Dynasty.

The zodiac is a visual representation of the twelve earthly branches, namely Zi (Rat), Chou (Ox), Yin (Tiger), Mao (Rabbit), Chen (Dragon), Si (Snake), Wu (Horse), Wei (Sheep), Shen (Monkey), You (Rooster), 戌 (Dog), Hai (Pig), with the development of history gradually integrated into the concept of folk beliefs, manifested in marriage, life, New Year, etc., each zodiac has a rich legend, and in order to form a concept interpretation system, become the image philosophy of folk culture, such as the marriage of the genus, Temple fairs, prayers, natal years, etc. In modern times, more people regard the zodiac as the mascot of the Spring Festival and become a symbol of entertainment and cultural activities.

First, in the Eastern Han Dynasty Wang Chong's book "On Balance", there is a relatively systematic and clear record of the 12 zodiac signs. From his records in the "Materiality Chapter", "Words and Poison Chapter", and "Mocking the Sun Chapter", it can be seen that the concepts of Zi Rat, Ugly Cow, Yin Tiger, Mao Rabbit, Chenlong, Si Snake, Wu Ma, Wei Yang, Shen Monkey, Youji, Hu Dog, and Hai Pig have been quite clear in the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Second: In the "Book of Zhou" volume 11 "Jin Dang Gong Hu Biography", there is a detailed description of the zodiac signs. Such as:"In the past, he was born as a brother in Wuchuan Town, the eldest one was a rat, the second was a rabbit, and your body was a snake. "

Third: According to the archaeological excavation data "Book of Days", it can be known that the Qin Dynasty has roughly associated the twelve earthly branches with the twelve beasts. (Although the Twelve Beasts of the time were different from the Twelve Beasts of the later time).

Fourth: In the ancient books of the pre-Qin period, such as the Book of Songs. Lesser. Auspicious Day", "Book of Rites" Volume 17 "Moon Order", "Wu Yue Chunqiu" Volume 4 "Inner Biography of Helu", there are also some records, but whether it is the year of the 12 zodiac signs is still controversial.

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And Chen Yating is also a young man.

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The opening credits are finally in the past:

1, the beginning of the film is finally in the past, using a plane to greet relatives, and now it is also a white-collar worker with an annual salary of 200,000 yuan.

2. It's some small awards, and spoilers are shameful! I don't spoiler it! No problem! The second-in-command pondered for a moment.

3. What kind of place are we here, and who is this insider.

The Imperial Entertainment Tour is yellow.

Sheep. For a long time, many people regarded the "Treatise on Balance" as the earliest document to record the 12 zodiac signs. "On Balance" is a famous work by Wang Chong (27-97), a materialist thinker of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

"On Balance and Potential" contains: "Yin, wood also, its birds, tigers." 戌, soil also, its fowl, dogs also.

Noon, Ma also. Child, rat also. Unitary, chicken too.

Mao, rabbit also. ......Hai, pig also. No, sheep too.

Ugly, cow too. ......Si, snakes too. Shen, monkey also.

In the above quotation, there are only eleven zodiac signs, and the missing one is the dragon. The book "Words and Poisons" also said: "Chen is a dragon, Si is a snake, and the position of Chen and Si is in the southeast."

In this way, the twelve zodiac signs are complete, and the twelve earthly branches and the twelve zodiac signs are so complete and the same as today, which is indeed the earliest and most complete record of the zodiac in ancient literature.

In the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the zodiac has been widely used, and there is a specific record of a certain animal according to the year of birth in the Southern Qi Book and the Five Elements Chronicles. Another example is the "Book of Zhou: The Third Biography of Lie", which records a letter written to him by Yuwenhu's mother, in which he said: "In the past, you gave birth to your brothers in Wuchuan Town, the eldest one was a rat, the second was a rabbit, and your body was a snake.

This proves it.

Shen Jiong, a poet of the Southern Dynasty, once wrote a poem of twelve genera, which said:

The rat track is dusty, and the cattle and sheep are twilight.

The tiger feeds and sits in the empty valley, and the rabbit moon opens to the window.

The dragon is far away and the base is dusty, and the snake willow is wandering near.

Ma Lan Fang is far away, and the sheep is planted in spring.

Monkey chestnut shy fruit, chicken anvil to clear the cup.

Outside the dog's arms, the pig is leisurely. ”

This poem was obviously written in the order of the animals of the twelve earthly branches, indicating that the twelve zodiac signs were already very familiar to people at that time.

In ancient China, a small number of nomadic peoples in northwest China had animal dates. It is recorded in the Book of Tang: "The country of Huangjia is chronicled by twelve things, and if the year is in Yin, it is called the Year of the Tiger."

In addition, it is also recorded in the "History of the Song Dynasty and the Biography of Tubo" that when the Tubo leaders narrated, they recorded the year with things, and the so-called "old things of the Tao are counted as twelve days, the Year of the Rabbit is like this, and the Year of the Horse is like this." Later, in the exchanges between the Central Plains people and ethnic minorities, the two chronological methods touched each other to form the 12 zodiac signs. Just as Zhao Yi of the Qing Dynasty pointed out in the "Examination of the Yu Cong", "At the beginning of the Gaibei customs, it didn't matter the twelve days of the ugly Yin Mao, but at the age of the mouse, cow, tiger and rabbit, the immersion of the nucleus He Xun spread in China, so it was not wasted."

This explanation of the origin of the 12 zodiac signs has been recognized by many people. Another theory is that the earliest use of the 12 genera is the Altai people, which was introduced to Qi in the era of the Huhan Evil Shan in the era of the Gaifeng faction. [2]

The zodiac sign is also known as the Twelve Year Beast.

In the Chinese calendar, there are twelve annual beasts in turn, so our Chinese year is applied to the calendar with rats, oxen, tigers, rabbits, dragons, snakes, horses, sheep, monkeys, chickens, dogs and pigs.

China's 12 zodiac signs ** are 12 earthly branches, and the combination of 12 earthly branches and 10 heavenly stems is 60 Jiazi, a reincarnation in 60 years of the ancient calendar.

Heavenly stem: A, B, C, D, pente, hexaxin, non sunflower.

Earth Branch: Zi Chou Yin Mao Chen Si Wu did not apply for Youxu Hai.

The 12 zodiac signs are the figurative representations of the 12 earthly branches, namely Zi (Rat), Chou (Ox), Yin (Tiger), Mao (Rabbit), Chen (Dragon), Si (Snake), Wu (Horse), Wei (Sheep), Shen (Monkey), You (Rooster), 戌 (Dog), Hai (Pig).

As a long-standing symbol of folk culture, the zodiac has left a large number of poems, spring couplets, paintings, calligraphy and paintings and folk crafts depicting the image and symbolism of the zodiac in the past dynasties. In addition to China, many countries around the world issue Chinese zodiac stamps during the Spring Festival as a way to express their wishes for the Chinese New Year.

The 12 zodiac signs are the figurative representations of the 12 earthly branches, respectively.

Sub – Rat.

Ugly – Cow.

Yin – Tiger.

卯 – Rabbit.

Tatsumi – Dragon.

巳 – Snake.

Noon – Horse.

Not – Sheep.

Shen – Monkey.

Unitary – Chicken.

戌 – Dog.

Hai – Pigs.

In traditional Chinese folklore, the year of birth is composed of the 12 zodiac signs and the 12 earthly branches, and gradually developed into a complete folk culture system.

Natal year: Natal year refers to the year in which the lunar phase occurs once in 12 years, commonly known as the phase year.

Why do you wear red in the natal year?

The natal year is regarded as an inauspicious year, so it is also a "year of Kan'er". There is a tradition of hanging red in the natal year to ward off evil spirits in various places.

This tradition originates from the worship of red in the traditional culture of the Han Chinese people. The Han people regard red as a symbol of joy, success, loyalty and justice, and especially believe that red has the effect of warding off evil spirits and protecting oneself.

Therefore, in the inauspicious year of "committing Tai Sui", it is necessary to wear red to avoid evil.

In ancient China, the Ganzhi year was generally believed to have started in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and some people believed that it had been used since the beginning of the Han Dynasty, but it was only in the second year of the Eastern Han Dynasty (85 AD) that it was promulgated and implemented nationwide. The "stem branch" is the heavenly and terrestrial branch. The number of heavenly stems is ten, in order of A, B, C, D, E, G, G, XIN, NON, and DEC; There are 12 earthly branches, which are Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu, and Hai.

In the original meaning of ancient times, the heavenly stem was the trunk of a tree, and the earthly branch was a branch; It is to take the heavens as the lord and the earth as the slaves. The heavenly stem is also called the "ten stems", and the earthly branch is also called the "twelve branches". It is arranged in the order of the ten heavenly stems and the twelve earthly branches of the heavenly stems on the top and the earthly branches on the bottom, a total of 60 different combinations of the heavenly stems start from "A", and the earthly branches start from "Zi", forming Jiazi, Yichou, and Bingyin.

A total of 60 different combinations, commonly known as "sixty Jiazi", that is, there is a reincarnation every sixty years, and the turn of "Jiazi" is called "Jiazi year", and the turn of "Yichou" is called "Yichou year"...Jiazi year", "Bingzi year", "Wuzi"...The year of the "son" is the "Year of the Rat", as long as the year with the word "ugly" is the "Year of the Ox", and the year with the word "Yin" is the "Year of the Tiger"...

That is to say, the twelve earthly branches correspond to the twelve zodiac signs.

A comparison table of the 12 zodiac signs of the year.

rat-sub (rat,

ox - ugly (ox,

Tiger (tiger,

rabbit-卯 (rabbit ,

Dragon-Chen

snake (snake,

Horse-午 (horse,

Sheep - not (goat,

monkey-shen (monkey,

Rooster

dog-戌 (dog,

Pig-hai (pig

Each zodiac sign corresponds to a few years, such as the dog, which is 1970 or 1994 or 2018.