The Chinese zodiac is one of the most vibrant cultural symbols in the system of symbols of Chinese civilization. Specifically, it is a stable system composed of twelve earthly branches and twelve animals: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. Its core characteristic lies in using animals to symbolize abstract temporal and spatial order, primarily used for recording years and times, and also in folklore to depict the life journey of an individual. It is not only found in classical texts but also in everyday conversation. However, the origin of this well-known cultural symbol remains a subject of much debate.
Tracing the Origins of the Twelve Zodiacs
During the Song Dynasty, Zhu Xi asked his disciple Cai Jitong, "When did the twelve zodiac animals begin? In which book did you first see them?" Cai Jitong gave a vague answer and was unable to reply. Subsequently, Song Dynasty scholar Wang Yinglin's *Kunxue Jiwen*, Ming Dynasty scholar Xu Yingqiu's *Yuzhitang Tanhui*, and Qing Dynasty scholar Zhao Yi's *Gaiyu Congkao* all explored this issue. It is evident that scholars throughout history have been quite perplexed by the origin of the twelve zodiac animals.
In the *Classic of Poetry*, the poem "Jiri" in the *Xiaoya* section records, "On the auspicious day of Gengwu, I have already chosen my horses," establishing a correspondence between "Wu" and "horse." The *Book of Rites* mentions the custom of "bringing out an earthen ox to dispel the cold in the last month of winter," suggesting that animal imagery was gradually becoming associated with the order of time.
Traditional views consider Wang Chong's *Lunheng* from the Eastern Han Dynasty as the earliest systematic record of the twelve zodiac animals. Its "Wushi Pian" states: "Yin is wood, its animal is the tiger. Xu is earth, its animal is the dog… Zi is water, its animal is the rat. Wu is fire, its animal is the horse…", recording the correspondence between eleven zodiac animals and the earthly branches. The "Yandu Pian" states "Chen is the dragon," completing the sequence with "Chen dragon."
Recent discoveries of bamboo and silk manuscripts have significantly pushed back the formation date of the twelve zodiac animals. In 1995, a large number of Qin bamboo slips were unearthed at Shuihudi in Yunmeng, Hubei. Among them, the "Rishu·Daozhe" chapter records the twelve earthly branches for predicting theft: Zi (rat), Chou (ox), Yin (tiger), Mao (rabbit), Si (insect), Wu (deer), Wei (horse), Shen (ring), You (water), Xu (sheep), Hai (pig). Here, "insect" refers to the snake, and "ring" should be read as "yuan," a type of ape. This shows that seven of the twelve earthly branch combinations are consistent with the legend. The absence of the Earthly Branch Chen (辰) may be due to its association with the Dragon, which represents the emperor and was omitted for taboo. The presence of Wu (午) as a deer and Wei (未) as a horse inevitably evokes the story of Zhao Gao's "pointing at a deer and calling it a horse" at the end of the Qin Dynasty. In 1986, the Qin bamboo slips *Rishu* (日书) unearthed at Fangmatan, Tianshui, Gansu, corresponded to birds in the twelve earthly branches. Except for Si (巳) being associated with the rooster and Shen (申) with the stone, and Chen (辰) being missing, the rest were consistent with traditional accounts. However, the bird associated with the "You" (酉) day in the same Fangmatan slip is also a "rooster," indicating that Si's association with the rooster is a miscopying. In 2000, bamboo slips *Rishu* were also unearthed at Kongjiapo, Suizhou, Hubei. The twelve earthly branches corresponded to birds almost identically to those at Shuihudi, but different from those at Fangmatan.
The twelve earthly branches in the *Rishu* have the following characteristics: First, the twelve earthly branches are used to record days, not years. Secondly, based on current materials, the fixed pairing of the twelve earthly branches with the twelve zodiac animals likely originated in the Eastern Han Dynasty; however, considering the different pairings in the *Day Book* from the Warring States and Qin-Han periods, the pairing of the twelve earthly branches with the zodiac animals likely dates back even earlier, possibly to the time of the *Classic of Poetry*. Thirdly, the most complete materials discovered so far regarding the pairing of the twelve earthly branches with the zodiac animals all come from numerological texts, suggesting it was likely an invention of numerologists.
The *Taiping Jing*, Volume 111, *The Secret of Destiny for Virtuous People*, records: "In the years of Yin and Shen, the person is like a tiger. The sun and moon are in direct opposition, making them incomparable. The reason is that Yin represents literature, and is in the land of wood. Wild beasts of the mountains and forests cannot withstand it. One should be clean and pure. Heaven sends them to hunt, but they should not see them frequently. Those who are afraid of them are called tigers."⁵ It also says that people born in the year of Shen are like monkeys, timid and cautious, especially afraid of the dark and crowds, but also agile and decisive, "able to climb trees." This is one of the earliest records in literature of the connection between the year of birth (earthly branches) and individual fortune, consistent with the tradition of using the twelve zodiac animals to predict personal destiny.
Based on historical records of the animals paired with the twelve zodiac animals and the principles of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements, it is undeniable that the twelve zodiac animals originated in China, and by the Han Dynasty, they had essentially formed the twelve zodiac animal culture as we know it today. Using the twelve Earthly Branches for timekeeping as a framework, the twelve animals as basic symbols, and individual destiny as the core meaning, it formed a complex system, becoming one of the typical symbols of Chinese civilization, and its influence has spread far and wide, remaining relevant to this day.
The Construction of the "Heaven, Earth, and Man" Connotation in the Twelve Zodiac Animals
Originating in the field of numerology, the twelve zodiac animals' life journey did not stop at simply being symbols for timekeeping or divination. Through long-term interaction with the core Chinese cosmology, social customs, and individual life experiences, they were endowed with deeper cultural connotations, ultimately constructing a symbolic system centered on the three powers of "Heaven, Earth, and Man."
The ancients "looked up to observe the celestial phenomena," and their understanding and simulation of the order of celestial movements formed the foundation of their cosmology. In its development, the twelve zodiac animals became profoundly connected with this concept of "the Way of Heaven," becoming important symbols representing the cosmic timeline.
Early numerology, especially divination by divination methods, incorporated the twelve earthly branches and their associated animals into a framework simulating cosmic operations. For example, the Liuren divination chart popular in the Han Dynasty used twelve earthly branches, corresponding to the twelve zodiac animals. Diviners observed the relationship between the celestial and terrestrial plates, combining the twelve earthly branches, the twenty-eight constellations, and the five elements' generating and restraining relationships to make predictions. The core of this approach was to explain and predict human affairs through a symbolic cosmological model. The twelve zodiac animals played a crucial role in marking the cosmic state at specific times, carrying rhythmic information about the "Way of Heaven."
The development of bronze mirror decorations during the Han and Tang dynasties provided direct visual evidence for the "astronomical" symbolic meaning of the twelve zodiac animals. The back of the "Four Gods and Twelve Zodiac Mirror" often featured TLV patterns or images of the four gods (Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise) to mark the four directions of the universe, while the outer ring was often surrounded by inscriptions of the twelve earthly branches or images of the twelve zodiac animals. A common Tang Dynasty celestial mirror features patterns arranged from the inside out: the Four Symbols, the Twelve Zodiac Animals, the Eight Trigrams, and the Twenty-Eight Mansions, presenting a cosmological diagram unfolding layer by layer from the mirror's knob. Here, the twelve zodiac animals are not merely symbols for timekeeping, but also indispensable components of the cosmic structure, working alongside constellations and directions to reveal the order of the heavens.
In traditional Chinese culture, "Earth" is the carrier of all things and the place where life flourishes. The connection between the twelve zodiac animals and "Earth" is prominently reflected in their social function as guardian deities, ensuring peace and protecting the well-being of life.
The Han Dynasty's Great Nuo ritual was a ceremonial activity aimed at expelling plague demons, eliminating misfortune, and stabilizing the region. The *Continued Book of Han, Treatise on Rites* records that during the Great Nuo ritual, a Fangxiangshi led "twelve beasts" in a plague-expelling performance. The images of these "twelve beasts" largely overlap with the later twelve zodiac animals. Their core function was "to secure the home and ward off plagues," meaning to stabilize the household and the state. This can be seen as an important source of the twelve zodiac animals' early entry into the ritual realm and the attribution of protective and warding-off-evil functions. From the Northern and Southern Dynasties period onwards, twelve zodiac figurines gradually became common funerary objects in tombs, reaching their peak in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Archaeological discoveries show that zodiac figurines, arranged in a specific orientation and order within the tomb chamber, are usually clockwise around the coffin. Their primary function had shifted from simply recording time to the more important functions of tomb protection, warding off evil, and protecting the deceased's soul. Furthermore, the twelve zodiac animals were also an important tool in choosing auspicious dates for funerals. Many Ming and Qing Dynasty county records state that people used the "Six Wheels Sutra" to identify the deceased's zodiac animal and determine the time of burial, taking into account the living's zodiac animal to avoid unfavorable dates.
This deification of the twelve zodiac animals for "settling the earth" and "pacifying the soul," and the use of the twelve zodiac animals to ward off evil, profoundly reflects the cultural construction of them as the guardian force of the "earth deities." The twelve zodiac animals have a direct and profound connection with a person's life cycle and individual destiny, most notably in the formation and popularization of the "Benming" (birth year) belief, and the rich folk customs derived from it.
The Taoist classic *Taiping Jing* is one of the earliest known documents to systematically link the twelve zodiac animals with an individual's life cycle. Its *Youde Ren Luming Jue* (The Secret of the Descendants of Virtuous People) already contains discussions of corresponding a person's birth year with a specific zodiac animal, and inferring their temperament, lifespan, and fortune based on this.
The so-called "Benming" refers to the Heavenly Stem and Earthly Branch of an individual's birth year and their zodiac animal. Around the "Benming year"—the year when an individual's zodiac animal is the same as the Tai Sui (Grand Duke Jupiter) of that year—a complex set of beliefs, customs, and taboos gradually formed. It is widely believed that one's Benming year is "Tai Sui's year," making one prone to various misfortunes and calamities, thus requiring measures such as wearing red clothing and accessories, or holding specific prayer and exorcism rituals to mitigate these effects. A letter from Lady Yan, mother of Yuwen Hu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, mentions, "When you and your brothers were born in Wuchuan Town, the eldest was born in the Year of the Rat, the second in the Year of the Rabbit, and you were born in the Year of the Snake." This indicates that using the zodiac animal to represent the year of birth was quite common during the Northern and Southern Dynasties. It is evident that the zodiac animal had been integrated into the understanding of individual life rhythms.
Furthermore, the twelve zodiac animals were widely used in traditional social customs related to marriage, such as zodiac compatibility; personality analysis, such as the belief that those born in the Year of the Tiger are brave and those born in the Year of the Rabbit are gentle; and fortune prediction, combining the clash and harmony between the annual Tai Sui and the individual's zodiac animal to guide social interactions and life choices. In the rich and diverse folk literature, opera, New Year paintings, paper-cutting, and other art forms, the images of the twelve zodiac animals are even more varied. It can be said that the twelve zodiac animals are an important cultural carrier of individual life care and aspirations.
The twelve zodiac animals showcase the creativity and vitality of Chinese culture.
As one of the symbols of Chinese civilization, the twelve zodiac animals transcend regional, dialectal, and customary differences, becoming a shared cultural memory and emotional connection point for all ethnic groups in my country. Every Spring Festival, celebrations themed around the Chinese zodiac spread throughout the country, bidding farewell to the old year and welcoming the new in a shared cultural atmosphere, demonstrating a strong cultural cohesion.
The twelve zodiac animals are imbued with profound humanistic care and a deep concern for individual destiny. From the numerous taboos and warding-off customs associated with one's "birth year" (one's birth year), to considerations of zodiac-based marriage compatibility, and the folk customs of using the zodiac to infer personality and predict fortune, they reflect individuals' deep concern for the meaning of their own lives and their expectations for a better life. This practice of incorporating individual life into a cyclical time sequence, such as a twelve-year cycle, and assigning it a specific animal symbol, acknowledges the cyclical nature of life while providing psychological comfort to individuals. It embodies the collective psychology of seeking good fortune and avoiding misfortune, reflecting humanity's shared desire for order and hope. This is why the zodiac culture remains widely loved and appreciated today.
The twelve zodiac animals embody the holistic thinking and cyclical view of time in traditional Chinese culture, reflecting the harmonious unity of "heaven, earth, and humanity." As a cultural symbol transcending time and space, the twelve zodiac animals showcase the creativity and vitality of Chinese culture. Integrating them into modern art design and cultural and creative products revitalizes them. More importantly, as a cultural element universally recognized in China and other Asian countries, the twelve zodiac animals serve as an effective vehicle for enhancing the cohesion and unity of the various ethnic groups in my country, and as a cultural force for showcasing Chinese civilization to the world, promoting dialogue among civilizations, and building a community with a shared future for mankind.
In short, the twelve zodiac animals originated from ancient astronomical observations, agricultural rhythms, and animistic beliefs. They subsequently merged deeply with the traditional Chinese concept of the "three powers" (heaven, earth, and humanity), constructing a grand symbolic system. This harmonious unity of heaven, earth, and humanity imbues the twelve zodiac animals with humanistic warmth. In-depth exploration of their historical value and contemporary significance plays a crucial role in enhancing cultural confidence, strengthening the sense of community of the Chinese nation, and contributing Chinese wisdom to the world.