The other day. We ushered in the beginning of the Spring Festival.
Chinese have a soft spot for the Chinese zodiac.
It is a kind of proof of birth.
It was said. After the beginning of spring this year, it belongs to the "dragon"?
Some people say that the zodiac switch starts at the beginning of the new year.
Which statement is true?
Viewpoint 1: After the beginning of spring, there is the next aspect
At 16:27 on February 4, 2024, the Spring Festival solar term of the Year of the Dragon will be ushered in.
The name of "Jiachen year" is related to the Ganzhi chronology. "Stem Branch" is a general term for the heavenly stem and the earthly branch, and the sequence of the stem branch is matched to indicate the sequence number of the year, month and day, and it is a cycle of 60 years. In order to make it easier to remember, the ancients also designed the 12 zodiac signs to match with the 12 earthly branches. The zodiac corresponding to "Chen" is "Dragon".
Some experts believe that a person's physiognomy is determined by the earthly branch of the stem branch calendar of birth. The 12 earthly branches correspond to the 12 zodiac signs, with the beginning of spring of the 24 solar terms as the "year" dividing line.
Therefore,From the perspective of the Ganzhi calendar, before the beginning of spring is the previous year's phase, and from the beginning of spring, it is the next phase, so this year's after the beginning of spring belongs to the dragon.
Point 2: The zodiac is calculated from the beginning of the first lunar month
Zhao Zhiheng, an astronomical education expert and director of the Tianjin Astronomical Society, introducedWhether it is an ordinary year or a leap year, the zodiac signs are counted from the beginning of the first month of the lunar calendar, and the public must not take the beginning of spring or New Year's Day as the beginning of the zodiac.
So, when, exactly.
Only then did you really enter the zodiac sign of the dragon.
There are national standards for this.
On May 12, 2017, the Purple Mountain Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences drafted the "Compilation and Promulgation of the Lunar Calendar" (GB T33661-2017)., effective September 1, 2017.
It is clearly stipulated that the naming method of the "lunar year" is represented by the "Ganzhi Chronological Method" and the "Zodiac Chronological Method".The first day of the first lunar month of each year to the Chinese New Year's Eve of the second year is the starting and ending days for calculating the zodiac (genus).
In simple terms,The state stipulates that the zodiac (genus) is counted from the beginning of the first month!
The origin of the 12 zodiac signs
People can always talk a few words about the stories of the zodiac, but their origin is still inconclusive.
There is a saying that the zodiac culture originated from the totem culture and has different symbolic meanings: since ancient times, different tribes have their own animals to worship, for example, the cow is a symbol of the farming society, and according to legend, Shennong's Yandi is a "bull-headed human body", so the descendants of the Yandi take the cow as a totem.
It is also stated that the zodiac signs originated in animal worship. In primitive societies, human productivity is very poor, pigs, cattle, sheep and other livestock are closely related to agricultural activities, tigers, snakes and other animals may threaten people's own safety, people will also feel fear ......All of the above reasons eventually lead to the formation of the zodiac.
In addition, some scholars have put forward the idea that the zodiac signs are related to both real animals and have an "astronomical" background, which is related to the association of the stars of the ancients. Wuma, Chenlong, and Yinhu are related to the image of these constellations.
There are also sayings such as "the zodiac signs are foreign", but they are not widely recognized.
The cat-and-mouse battle in the zodiac
Why is the rat at the top of the zodiac?
Ancient Chinese scholars used to explain this from the perspective of the twelve hours of the day and night. When the heavens and the earth are chaotic, the rats come out to move out in the middle of the night and bite the heavens and the earth out of a gap, which is "the rat bites the sky", so the sub-rat is a rat; After the opening of the world, people had to farm for a living, and cattle were the main force in cultivating the fields at that time, so ugliness corresponded to cattle and so on.
Chinese folk believe that rats have strong fecundity, and the ancients looked forward to the reproduction of life and the prosperity of the descendants of large families, so they produced the fertility concept of worshipping rats and having many children and blessings.
There is also an interesting question: why are there no cats in the zodiac?
In fact, the answer is very simple, cats are native to Egypt, and they were only introduced to China after the zodiac was finalized, so there is no way to include them.
To some extent, the Chinese zodiac, as a visual representative of the twelve earthly branches, has rich legends and also adds a different kind of fun to the Spring Festival of the Chinese. 
Source: CCTV, China News Network, People's **, National Standard Full-text Disclosure System, etc. Editor: Zhang Shuhao Review: Li Jinyu Yang Ning Producer: Zhang Fuyi Director: Guo Wenjian Song Shengying WeChat Cooperation: 13598381996 WeChat: sqxiaoqiu