Editor's note:
"All things greet the spring and send off the wax, and the end of the year is tonight."
The traditional Chinese Spring Festival of the Year of the Rabbit is approaching, and people who have been tested by the epidemic have hope.
Starting from January 18, 2023, China News Agency's "East and West Questions" column has launched a series of articles "Decoding the Year of the Rabbit" to explore the meaning and influence of Spring Festival culture and "Shuanglichun".
China News Agency, Beijing, January 19th: There are so many "sacred beasts", how do the Chinese choose the "zodiac signs"?
Author Gao Wei President of Beijing Folklore Society
The golden tiger is about to bring the year away, and the jade rabbit welcomes the spring to send auspiciousness.
At the end of the year, the topic of folk customs of the zodiac has received attention again.
As a traditional folk culture of the Chinese nation, the twelve zodiac signs are closely related to the unique and ancient calendar of stems and branches, and are well known to the Chinese.
Everyone has a zodiac sign from the day of birth.
Among the many "divine beasts", why did the Chinese choose rats, tigers, rabbits, dragons, etc. as the "zodiac signs"?
Why are the twelve zodiac signs widely circulated in many parts of the world, especially in Asia?
Behind these problems is the traditional culture that people "use everyday without realizing it".
In February 2021, in Shanxi Taiyuan Food Street, lanterns in the shape of the twelve zodiac signs attracted tourists to stop and admire.
Photo by Wu Junjie
The zodiac is a worldwide folk phenomenon
The twelve zodiac signs record the zodiac signs of people's birth year, also known as the twelve zodiac signs, which are used to record the year, month, day or time.
The use of animals to record the year is a unique feature of the calendar. Apart from China, the animal calendar is also popular in many countries and regions. It can be said to be a worldwide folk phenomenon.
The animal calendar is very different from the way people in many western countries mark the year by observing the constellations.
The written records of the Chinese zodiac have already appeared in the "Book of Songs".
As a collection of poems, "The Book of Songs" reflects all aspects of social life from the early Western Zhou Dynasty to the Spring and Autumn Period, and records various objects closely related to the production and life of the ancestors. The zodiac is one of them, reflecting the thinking characteristics of the ancestors .
For example, "Xiaoya·Auspicious Day" in "The Book of Songs" says "the auspicious day Gengwu sent me a horse".
Among them, "Gengwu" corresponds to "horse", which is consistent with the twelve zodiac signs "Wu Ma" handed down to this day.
The "Xiaoya Auspicious Day" in "The Book of Songs" says "the auspicious day Gengwu sent me a horse".
Among them, "Gengwu" corresponds to "horse", which is consistent with the twelve zodiac signs "Wu Ma" handed down to this day.
Photo by Su Kaize
Twelve zodiac signs with Zi rat, Chou ox, Yin tiger, Mao rabbit, Chen dragon, Si snake, Wu horse, Wei sheep, Shen monkey, unit rooster, Xu dog and Hai pig, and the ancient and unique Ganzhi calendar are closely related.
Studies have shown that as early as the Yin and Shang Dynasties, people had combined the zodiac and the earthly branches, reflecting the characteristics of life-oriented experience summed up from surrounding practices.
During the Spring and Autumn Period, the twelve zodiac signs began to take shape.
The most complete record of the twelve zodiac signs was first seen in Wang Chong's "Lunheng·Wushi" of the Eastern Han Dynasty, "Yin, wood, its birds and tigers; Wei poultry and sheep... Hai, water, and its poultry and hogs; Si, fire, and its poultry and snakes; Zi, also water, and its poultry and rats; Wu, also of fire, and its poultry and horses...you , the chicken is also; Mao, the rabbit is also... Shen, the monkey is also ".
"Lunheng Yandu" writes, "Chen is a dragon, and he is a snake." General research believes that the twelve zodiac signs have been finalized by the Eastern Han Dynasty at the latest.
During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the zodiac was not only closely integrated with the earthly branches, but also evolved into a normal life.
The rheological characteristics of the twelve zodiac signs in China are remarkable.
The zodiac is closely combined with the production and life of the ancient ancestors. It is a dating method bred by Chinese culture and continues to develop along with the culture; the zodiac is a timekeeping method that is mainly produced and applied to the folk. Gao, use familiar animals and earthly branches to calculate age and birth year, and cycle every twelve years, reflecting folk wisdom.
The terracotta figurines of the twelve zodiac signs (the fourth year of Tianbao in the Tang Dynasty) exhibited in the National Museum of China.
Photo by Tian Yuhao
Why do Chinese use animals instead of plants to mark the year?
Many people are curious why the Chinese don't use plants to record the year, but choose animals?
Studies generally believe that the Chinese zodiac culture originated in the Yellow River and Yangtze River Basin, and animals including horses, cows, sheep, chickens, pigs, dogs, etc., had a close relationship with the daily life of ancient ancestors. There's a reason they're important zodiac signs.
The twelve zodiac signs are related to the animal worship psychology of ancient ancestors.
Some animals are included in the zodiac, reflecting the worship of power. For example, the tiger is the brave and powerful king of the mountain.
In the context of Chinese culture, tigers entrust people’s desire to be sheltered and avoid disasters and infringements, while jackals, which are also beasts, lack such a cultural context; For example, rats have strong fertility and vigorous activity. With the worship of their vitality, human beings hope that their families will be more prosperous; dragons, as the legendary "divine beasts", are included in the twelve zodiac signs, and they gather people together. comprehensive emotional appeal.
According to the simple idea, the ancestors created the image of "Shenlong" who commanded many animals, was noble and powerful, especially able to make rain in time, and at the same time satisfied the worship of power and the expectation of a smoother life.
"Bronze Mirror of Twelve Zodiac Hours" collected by Sichuan Museum.
Photo by An Yuan
Over the long course of history, the twelve zodiac signs have gradually developed into a zodiac culture with rich meanings, which not only contains the Chinese people's worship and love for animals, but also reflects the ancient Chinese people's efforts to find the meeting point of the relationship between man and nature.
The Chinese have always had a tradition of "harmony between man and nature" and advocated that human activities should maintain a harmonious relationship with the surrounding environment. This is the embodiment of "harmony culture" in Chinese civilization.
The Chinese do not solve problems from the perspective of harming and destroying others, but live in harmony and coexist harmoniously. The twelve zodiac signs are the dominant embodiment of this concept.
On January 14, the staff of the Beijing Museum of Natural History explained the knowledge of the twelve zodiac signs to the children.
Photo by Tian Yuhao
The Year of the Rabbit says the Rabbit, the Rabbit Master is the most prosperous folk product in Beijing
2023 is the Year of the Rabbit. Among the twelve zodiac animals, the rabbit has three distinct characteristics: it is not very aggressive, flexible, smart and docile, and has a close relationship with humans; besides being a domestic animal, it also has the characteristics of a pet; it is the same as a mouse. Strong fertility, in line with the Chinese people's expectations for the prosperity of the family business.
In ancient times, people believed that rabbits belonged to yin and were a symbol of fertility. There are many sayings in ancient books that rabbits "look at the moon to be born" and "look at the moon to conceive".
There has always been rabbit worship in Chinese folk, and the "moon rabbit" symbolizes peace and health.
"Blue and White Boy and White Rabbit Cover Jar" in Sichuan Museum.
Photo by An Yuan
Although the ways of offering sacrifices to the moon are different in different regions, clay sculptures of rabbit gods used for offering sacrifices to the moon have appeared in many places.
In Beijing, Tianjin, Jinan and other places, there are folk worships about Rabbit Master, Rabbit Master, Rabbit King, etc., and some clay sculpture techniques have been included in the local intangible cultural heritage.
Although Chinese rabbit worship has some characteristics of god worship, it is still very secular in general.
Take Beijing as an example. Beijingers worship Rabbit Master, but children also regard Rabbit Master as a toy and companion.
Appearing in clay sculptures, woodcut prints and other works of art, Rabbit Master has always been an "Internet celebrity" at the Spring Festival temple fair, and has become one of the most prosperous folk products in Beijing.
These characteristics of Rabbit Lord reflect the folk custom phenomenon formed by the combination of Chinese traditional culture and Beijing regional culture.
The "Rabbit Master" at the Spring Festival temple fair of Dongyue Temple in Beijing.
Photo by Ma Sichen
Why are the zodiac signs different in different countries?
The twelve zodiac signs appear in many countries, especially in Asia. Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Mongolia, Laos, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, Kazakhstan and other countries also have twelve zodiac signs. The twelve zodiac signs in many countries are the same as those in China. .
Regarding the origin of the zodiac in the world, there is currently no consensus in the academic circles, but it is generally believed that many Asian countries in the "Oriental Cultural Circle" have traditional customs of the zodiac, reflecting the spread and influence of Chinese culture.
On December 29, 2022, Japanese people welcome the rabbit of the Chinese zodiac next year on the street.
This rabbit symbolizes success in family and career.
Photo by Hisao Aoki
When the zodiac culture spreads in different countries and regions, it "recombines" with the local natural resources and people's emotional appeals, which makes the zodiac signs in various countries and regions not only have commonality, but also present localized characteristics, and constantly form their own characteristics .
For example, in Cambodia, the ox is the first and the rat is the last. The twelve signs of the Vietnamese zodiac are roughly the same as those of China, but the "rabbit" has become the "cat". Myanmar has eight zodiac signs.
From ancient times to the present, the twelve zodiac signs have always been closely connected with people's daily life and basic necessities of life. They entrust people's respect for nature and good expectations for life, and have become a culture that people "use everyday without realizing it".
(Finish)
Expert profile:
Gao Wei, president of Beijing Folklore Society, consultant of Beijing Folklore Artists Association, member of Beijing Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Expert Committee, has been engaged in folklore research for a long time.
He is the author of "China's Intangible Cultural Heritage", "Beijing Folk Culture History", "Siheyuan" (this book won the "Shanhua Award" for Chinese Folk Literature and Art in 2004), "Thirteen Files of Flags and Drums Moving Together", etc.