The Origin and Interpretation of China Zodiac
The origin of the zodiac is related to animal worship. According to the Qin bamboo slips unearthed in Yunmeng Shuihudi, Hubei Province and Fangmatan, Tianshui, Gansu Province, there was a relatively complete zodiac system in the pre-Qin period. The earliest handed down document is Wang Chong's Lun Heng in the Eastern Han Dynasty, which records the same Chinese zodiac as the modern one.
The zodiac is an intuitive representation of the twelve earthly branches, namely, mouse, ugly cow, silver tiger, hairy rabbit, dragon, snake, afternoon horse, sheep, monkey, chicken, dog and pig. With the development of history, it gradually merged into the image philosophy in folk culture. In modern times, more people regard the zodiac as the mascot of the Spring Festival and become a symbol of entertainment and cultural activities.
As a long-standing symbol of folk culture, the zodiac has left a lot of poems, Spring Festival couplets, paintings, calligraphy and paintings and folk arts and crafts that depict the image and symbolic meaning of the zodiac. Apart from China, many countries in the world issue stamps of the zodiac during the Spring Festival to express their wishes for the New Year in China.