The origin of the dragon zodiac sign

 

The origin of the dragon zodiac sign

 

The dragon ranks fifth among the twelve zodiac animals, and belongs to "Chen" as the ruler of the twelve earths. 7-9 am is the "Chen hour". Also known as "Dragon Time". Legend has it that this is the time when dragons are making rain. Dragon is a mythical animal, so Chenshi is a dragon.

How did the dragon zodiac sign come about?

There is a myth and legend about the origin of the twelve zodiac signs:

The Jade Emperor, who had always been autocratic, suddenly wanted to elect 12 animals as representatives. Then he sent gods to earth to tell the animals about it, and also set a time to come to the Heavenly Palace for democratic election at Mao, month, month, day, and hour of the Mao year, and he came more and more. Those who are early will be ranked higher in the queue, and those who are later will not be ranked.

At that time, the cat and mouse were still good friends. The cat likes to sleep in, but he also wants to be selected, so the cat tells the mouse to call him when the time comes. But the mouse turned around and forgot. The mouse went to the old cow and told him that he would run faster if he got up early and asked the cow to take him with him. Lao Niu agreed.

By the time of the year of the year, the animals rushed to the Tiangong, and the cats were still sleeping.

The rat sat on the cow's back. After arriving at the Heavenly Court, the mouse jumped up and down. The Jade Emperor said that the mouse was the first to arrive and ranked first; the old steak was second; the tiger arrived soon after and ranked third; the rabbit also arrived and ranked fourth; the dragon arrived very late, but he was big and the Jade Emperor could see it at a glance. Seeing that he was so beautiful, he asked him to rank fifth, and also said that his son would rank sixth. But Long was very disappointed because his son did not come today. At this time, the snake from behind came, and the snake was ranked sixth; the horse and the sheep also arrived. You let me, and I let you: brother horse, you go first, brother sheep, you go first, they were pushing back and forth. . The Jade Emperor saw that they were so polite, so he ranked them seventh or eighth. The monkey originally ranked in the thirties, but because he could jump, he pulled the clouds in the sky and jumped to the front, ranking ninth; then the chicken and dog Pigs were also chosen one after another.

But when the competition was over, the lazy cat woke up. As soon as the mouse came home, he was chased by the cat all over the world...

It is said that dragons in ancient times had no horns. Dragons at that time lived on the ground. It relies on its strong body, ability to fly, and good swimming. It wants to be the zodiac sign and the king of beasts, replacing the tiger's position. Thus, the human world came into being, and the result was indistinguishable. Finally, the Jade Emperor felt that their fight was too outrageous, and ordered them to come to the Heavenly Palace for review. Before leaving, the dragon thought that although he was tall, he was not as majestic as the tiger, and was afraid that the Jade Emperor would underestimate him, and he would not be able to be the king of beasts. sign of the Zodiac. At this time, the dragon's little brother Centipede came up with an idea: "The rooster has a pair of beautiful horns. If you want to borrow them and wear them, it will definitely add a bit of prestige to Brother Long." After hearing this, the dragon was overjoyed, and he and the centipede went to the rooster to borrow his horns. .

When the rooster heard that the dragon wanted to borrow its horn, he refused to do so. The dragon became anxious and swore to God, "If I don't give you back your horn, I will die when I return to land."

Centipede also served as a protector for Yi Di. "If Brother Long doesn't give you back your horn, you can eat me in one bite."

Seeing the centipede as a guarantor, the rooster lent his horn to the dragon.

When the dragon and tiger arrived at the Heavenly Palace, the Jade Emperor saw that both dragon and tiger were very majestic, so he ordered the dragon and tiger to be the king of beasts, the tiger to be the king of beasts on land, and the dragon to be the king of the aquatic tribe in the water.

Since tiger can be the zodiac sign, dragon can also be the zodiac sign, but it has to come later. So, both the dragon and the tiger were very happy, said goodbye to the Jade Emperor and returned to the mortal world.

After the competition, the dragon came to the seaside and saw that he was much more beautiful than before with horns. The dragon thought to himself, if I give the horns back to the rooster, will the water tribe still obey me when they see how ugly I am? So the dragon said to the chicken: The chicken is already very beautiful, you don't need the horns. The dragon decided not to return the rooster's horns, so he plunged into the water and disappeared from the world, never to come to land again.

When the rooster saw that the dragon did not return his horns, his face turned red with anger, and he also turned his anger on the centipede. The centipede was so frightened that it crawled into the cracks in the rocks. Today we can still see that the rooster's face is always red, and centipedes rarely climb out of the ground. The rooster always eats centipedes one by one when it sees them.

Although the dragon is the only fictitious animal among the twelve zodiac signs, the Chinese people respect and fear it and have a special feeling. The status of the dragon is so high that no other animal can compare with it. In the hearts of the Chinese people, it is a A magical creature that can call for wind, rain, and soar into the clouds and mist. The emperor claimed to be the real dragon emperor, and the people themselves were the descendants of the dragon.

People used their unlimited imagination to describe dragons as magical and great. They combined the images of various animals into one body, with the wildness of beasts, the understanding of humans, and the spirituality of gods. They also created many legends about dragons. These legends After folk processing and literati polishing, it becomes even more fascinating. People's psychology of respecting and loving dragons has been sublimated into a kind of worship. Perhaps, this is also the cultural factor why dragon became the zodiac sign.

Interestingly, in ancient China, the dragon symbolized that the emperor was aloof, and everyone had to obey his will. The dragon is ever-changing, but the dragon has no ears. People born in the year of the dragon are very subjective and base everything on their own judgment. Although the opinions given to him by others may sound submissive, in the end they all act according to their own opinions and are not easy to accept the opinions of others. Therefore, if a person born in the Year of the Dragon has ears, it means he has no ears. When the ancient Chinese made characters based on the character of dragon, they added the word "ear" under the word "dragon". If you still can't hear, you are "deaf". This is the reason.

There is another interesting story:

At the beginning of chaos, when the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches were just established, the Jade Emperor ordered to summon the animals from all over the world to select twelve zodiac animals according to the twelve earthly branches of Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu and Hai.

On this day, the beasts gathered in the Lingxiao Palace to start the selection. The Jade Emperor singled out twelve dragons, tigers, ox, horses, sheep, monkeys, chickens, dogs, pigs, rabbits, snakes and rats according to the differences between heaven and earth. Plant aquatic and land animals to make the twelve zodiac signs. At that time, the rooster had two beautiful horns and was also included in the beasts. At that time, the cat and the mouse were two good friends. The cat said to the mouse: Tomorrow at five o'clock, I will go to heaven to apply for the election. I have a habit of snoozing, so you have to call me out then! The mouse kept saying: Easy to say, easy to say! But early the next morning, the unfaithful rat got up secretly and left without saying goodbye, becoming the first among the twelve zodiac animals. This incident made the defeated cat angry. At the same time, it also caused dissatisfaction among other animals.

After the Jade Emperor arranged the seats for the twelve zodiac signs, as soon as the Jade Emperor left, the twelve zodiac signs became a mess.

The pig, who was born with a clumsy mouth but loves to cause trouble, flashed out and said: The mouse deceived the cat and also deceived the Jade Emperor. Why does he rank first among the twelve zodiac animals? It makes no sense that the gentle and kind-hearted old scalper is ranked behind the mouse, and even the mighty tiger and blue dragon are ranked behind the mouse. There is no reason why I was ranked last. The one on the back cover should be the mouse.

The mouse that was huddled in the corner suddenly came out and cursed: You pig head actually instigated everyone to oppose the Jade Emperor's decision. This is a blatant rebellion! If you don't believe me, can I be the boss? Let's go to the human world to test and listen to the comments of the people.

The mouse insisted: I should be first.

The cows, horses, and sheep were not convinced and said: Why are you ranked first? The mouse boasted: I am big, so I have to be first.

The cows, horses, sheep, etc. couldn't help laughing: Are you as big as us?

The mouse said: It doesn’t matter if we argue, let’s let the people in the market judge.

Cows, horses, sheep, etc. all agree to have people come and review them. So they discussed a way: led by the ox, the horses, sheep, and rats walked through the street one after another to see what people thought.

As a result, cows, horses, sheep and mice came to the streets to market.

On the market street, the cow came by, and people said: This cow is very strong. When the horse came over, people said: This horse is so tall. When the sheep came over, people said: This sheep is very fat.

Finally, the mouse swaggered over with its belly full. The mouse climbed onto the back of the cow and set up a stake. People on the street suddenly saw the big mouse and yelled after it. They all chased it and shouted: "It's so big." What a mouse, what a big mouse! When people came to beat them with sticks, the mice had already run away.

The rat came back and boasted. At this time, the cows, horses and sheep had nothing to say. The people's opinions were terrible, so they had to agree to let the rat rank first among the twelve zodiac signs. Even the dragon and tiger did not raise any objections.