Chinese Zodiac十二生肖

許林玉

在 2022 年北京冬奧會(huì)閉幕式上，載著孩子們飛舞滑行的十二只巨大冰鞋，采用了十二生肖的造型。它們惟妙惟肖，十分搶眼。實(shí)際上，在我國(guó)傳統(tǒng)文化中，十二生肖不僅是用 12 種動(dòng)物紀(jì)年這么簡(jiǎn)單，背后還蘊(yùn)含著古天文歷法邏輯。

On the traditional Chinese lunar calendar， the Chinese Zodiac is based on a 12-year cycle， with each year represented by an animal. On New Year’s Day， we enter a new Chinese zodiac cycle， which follows this order： Rat， Ox， Tiger， Rabbit， Dragon， Snake， Horse， Ram/Goat， Monkey， Rooster， Dog and Pig.

As sometimes happens with historical developments， several versions of the origin of the Chinese zodiac exist. Most stories do seem to agree on one thing： the animals that make up the signs were the animals that appeared in response to an invitation. As a 1）reward for appearing， these 12 animals were included on the Chinese zodiac. As interesting as the story of the animals is， there’s much more to the origin of the Chinese zodiac than that.

Whether it was Buddha inviting the animals to take part in a race or it was the Jade Emperor who invited the animals to attend a birthday celebration is one difference you’ll uncover when researching the origin of the Chinese zodiac. Another difference is the invitation itself. Some myths state that all animals were invited to a feast. Other stories

mention that the animals were invited to

1） reward [r??w??d] n. 獎(jiǎng)勵(lì);獎(jiǎng)金

詞組加油站

（be） based on 以……為基礎(chǔ)

make up 組成

take part in a race and as a reward for crossing the finish line. The first 12 animals would appear on the Chinese zodiac. Their order would 2）correspond with the order that each crossed the finish line.

The first to cross the finish line was the rat， followed by the ox， tiger， rabbit， dragon， snake， horse， goat， monkey， rooster， dog and finally， the pig. Interestingly， you’ll find that most discussion of the origin of the Chinese zodiac tends to focus on the order of the appearance of these animals. Perhaps this is because the story is easier to understand and much more entertaining than learning about the various physical and celestial elements that led to the creation of Chinese numbering systems.

There is 3）evidence that the Chinese zodiac came out a long time ago. The 12 earthly branches， which is a system devised by early Chinese astronomers for reckoning time. These astronomers closely monitored the orbit of the planet Jupiter which they referred to asthe “Year Star”. After extensive study， they realized that Jupiter’s orbit 4）occurred every 12 years. That’s probably why the Chinese zodiac is based on a system of years， not months.

Another evidence that the Chinese zodiac came out early is the use of the 10 heavenly stems. This is an early cycle numbering system developed and used during the Shang Dynasty （1600 BC ～ 1046 BC）. The 10 heavenly stems system is based on the 5）belief that 10 heavenly suns each appeared in 10-day cycles. Each cycle was given a name and the names were supposedly based on the clans that made up the ruling class at that time.

2） correspond [?k?r??sp?nd ] v. 相一致;符合

3） evidence [evid?ns] n. 證據(jù)

4） occur [??k??r] v. 發(fā)生;出現(xiàn)

5） belief [b??li?f] n. 信念;信仰

詞組加油站

focus on 聚焦于

refer to…as 把……稱作

Just like the Western zodiac， the Chinese zodiac attributes personality qualities to each of the 12 animal signs. These are often derived from observations about how animals behave and also come from the story of how the animals traveled to the Jade Emperor’s banquet.

The dragon， for example， could have been the first to arrive at the banquet， since he could fly. But he stopped to help some villagers and then helped the rabbit on his way. So those born in the year of the dragon are described as being interested in the world and willing to give a helping hand.

The rat， on the other hand， arrived at the banquet by taking a ride on the ox. Just as the ox arrived at the palace， the rat stuck his nose forward， so it was the first to arrive. Those born in the year of the rat are described as shrewd and manipulative.

在中國(guó)傳統(tǒng)農(nóng)歷中，生肖以十二年為一周期，每年由一種動(dòng)物作為代表。在農(nóng)歷新年第一天，我們進(jìn)入新的十二生肖周期，其順序如下：鼠、牛、虎、兔、龍、蛇、馬、羊、猴、雞、狗、豬。

和某些事物的歷史發(fā)展一樣，關(guān)于十二生肖的起源同樣流傳著多個(gè)版本。大多數(shù)傳說(shuō)似乎都有一個(gè)共同點(diǎn)：組成這些屬相的動(dòng)物是應(yīng)邀而來(lái)。作為對(duì)其到場(chǎng)的獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)，這 12 種動(dòng)物被列入十二生肖。盡管有關(guān)動(dòng)物的故事很有趣，但中國(guó)十二生肖的起源遠(yuǎn)勝于此。

是佛祖邀請(qǐng)動(dòng)物們參加比賽，還是玉皇大帝邀請(qǐng)動(dòng)物們參加生日慶典？這是在研究十二生肖的起源時(shí)，人們會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)的一大區(qū)別。另一個(gè)區(qū)別在于邀請(qǐng)這件事本身。在有些神話故事中，所有動(dòng)物都被邀請(qǐng)參加宴會(huì)。而有的故事則提到，動(dòng)物們被邀請(qǐng)參加比賽，作為通過(guò)終點(diǎn)線的獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)，前12 種動(dòng)物將出現(xiàn)在十二生肖中。它們的排序與沖過(guò)終點(diǎn)線的順序一致。

率先沖過(guò)終點(diǎn)的是鼠，隨后是牛、虎、兔、龍、蛇、馬、羊、猴、雞、狗，最后是豬。有趣的是，你會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)大多數(shù)關(guān)于十二生肖起源的討論往往集中在這些動(dòng)物的出現(xiàn)順序上?；蛟S，這是因?yàn)檫@樣的故事更容易理解，而且比學(xué)習(xí)促成中國(guó)數(shù)字系統(tǒng)形成的各種物理和天體元素更具娛樂(lè)性。

有證據(jù)表明，十二生肖的出現(xiàn)時(shí)間很早。十二地支是中國(guó)早期天文學(xué)家設(shè)計(jì)的一個(gè)時(shí)間計(jì)算系統(tǒng)。這些天文學(xué)家稱木星為“歲星”，并密切監(jiān)測(cè)其運(yùn)行軌道。他們對(duì)此進(jìn)行了廣泛的研究，發(fā)現(xiàn)木星的軌道每 12 年出現(xiàn)一次。這可能就是為什么十二生肖是一個(gè)以年為單位，而非以月為單位的系統(tǒng)。

另外一個(gè)證明十二生肖的起源時(shí)間早的證據(jù)是十天干系統(tǒng)的使用。這是一個(gè)早期的周期編號(hào)系統(tǒng)，產(chǎn)生于商朝（公元前 1600 年 ～ 公元前 1046 年）時(shí)期，并從那時(shí)開(kāi)始使用。在十天干系統(tǒng)中，人們認(rèn)為天上有 10 個(gè)太陽(yáng)，它們以 10 天為周期相繼出現(xiàn)。每個(gè)周期都有對(duì)應(yīng)的名稱，據(jù)說(shuō)這些名稱源自當(dāng)時(shí)組成統(tǒng)治階級(jí)的氏族。

與西方的黃道十二宮圖一樣，十二生肖也將個(gè)性品質(zhì)賦予這十二種動(dòng)物屬相。這通常來(lái)自對(duì)動(dòng)物行為方式的觀察，也源自動(dòng)物們?nèi)绾乌s赴玉皇大帝宴會(huì)的故事。

例如，龍本可以第一個(gè)到達(dá)宴會(huì)現(xiàn)場(chǎng)，因?yàn)樗麜?huì)飛。但他曾在途中停下來(lái)幫助一些村民，然后又在路上幫助了兔子。因此，那些在龍年出生的人被描述為對(duì)世界充滿興趣并樂(lè)于助人。

而老鼠則是搭在牛背上來(lái)到宴會(huì)現(xiàn)場(chǎng)的。就在牛到達(dá)宮殿時(shí)，老鼠把鼻子往前一伸，于是就成為第一個(gè)到達(dá)的動(dòng)物，因此鼠年出生的人被描述為精明能干、善于操控。