The Zodiac Sign of the Pig

The last of the twelve earthly branches is Hai, and its zodiac sign is pig. On the land of China, as early as the matrilineal clan commune period, people had begun to raise pigs, dogs and other domestic animals. The pottery pigs unearthed at the Hemudu Neolithic Cultural Site in Yuyao, Zhejiang are very similar in body shape to the current domestic pigs, indicating that the domestication of pigs at that time has taken shape.

"Black sheep" is another name for pig. Pigs have long beaks and are good at digging. In people's imagination, they have become the main force in opening and closing canals. It is recorded in the "Send Bi Lei Chao" that when the river was excavated, an ancient man who repaired water conservancy transformed into a big pig, struggling to take the lead. For this reason, the locals called the pig "black sheep" to commemorate the immortal. The connection between pigs and water control projects should be said to be due to the genus of water.

"Ghost" is also another name for pig. One of Du Fu's "Two Poems of "Haikai Haikai": "Every family raises crow ghosts and eats yellow croakers" Black Mian Lang" and "Hei Ye". "The Royal Family" says that Hongzhou people in the Tang Dynasty raised pigs to get rich. The pig is called "Wujin." The Tang Dynasty "Miscellaneous Notes of Yunxian" quoted "Chengping Old Compilation": "Heimian Lang is called the pig. "On the land of China, as early as the matrilineal clan commune period, pigs, dogs and other domestic animals have been raised. The imprisonment of pottery pigs unearthed at the Hemudu Neolithic Cultural Site in Yuyao, Zhejiang is very similar to the current domestic pigs, which shows that The domestication of pigs has taken shape.

Pig is a very familiar word in people's lives, and pig plays a lot of role in good things. Pigs also have ironic terms such as stupid pigs. There are many sayings about pigs everywhere, let us look at the customs, customs, sayings and interesting talks about pigs in various places.

No. 1:

In the past, the Han nationality had a kind of folk exorcism activity of "killing sow ghosts". When there is a disaster in the family, the elders in the family set up incense cases to sacrifice sows and ghosts, and make vows to the gods to drive away evil spirits. During the sacrifice, you must choose the auspicious days and kill the old sows. Put the idle, hoof, liver, intestines, and lungs in a basket in the middle of the hall. The host burns incense and prays. After the sacrifice, the internal organs are cooked. Eat it. The folks believe that "kill a sow ghost and get rid of an evil."

No. 2:

The pig worship culture of the female direct ancestors has a particularly profound influence in the origin of the Chinese civilization. Fuxi is known as the first ancestor of the Chinese civilization. According to the ancient book "Lu Shi", this person is also known as "Fangya" and "Cangya". , He directly used the pig fangs as the code name! It can be imagined that his head should be decorated with pig fangs. It may be the same as the owner of the tomb we saw in the Liangzhu Culture Tomb. There are rows of pig fangs on his skull.

No. 3:

In Shaanxi, there is a wedding custom of giving pig's feet. The day before the wedding , the man must give four catties of pork and a pair of pig’s trotter, which is called a "gift hanging", and the woman will return the pig's front hooves after leaving the "little hanging". On the second day after marriage, the couple should bring double noodles and pig hooves back to their natal family, leaving the noodles, and returning the hooves. It is commonly known as "hoofs come, hoofs go", which means that they will have a close relationship in the future.

No. 4:

The custom of "big pig racing" in Guanshan, Chenghai, Guangdong, the ceremony is grand, the scene is very spectacular, it is rare. At the big pig race scene, I saw a dense cluster of hundreds of open-cut big fat pigs, each lying on a special wooden frame about 1 meter high, facing in one direction, looking at a whiteness from a distance. These big fat pigs, which were used as offerings, held their heads high, stuffed oranges in their mouths, opened their mouths, and leaped, masculine and enraged, and the whole scene was full of joy.

Every year, the big pig will decide the biggest one, and that one will be in the forefront, and the weight will be marked in detail, usually about a thousand catties. In addition to the other ones, the relatively large ones were also put on big red flowers! The family that was determined to be the big pig became the most glorious object of praise in the village this year, and it won't be replaced until a new big pig comes out in the next year.

No. 5:

In Taiwan’s rural tourism, the pigsty is most commonly posted with a red joint paper with the words "Six Animals Prosperous". Farmers in Taiwan attach great importance to raising pigs, which is related to traditional Chinese culture. Pigs played an important role in ancient agricultural society. The upper and lower structure of the Chinese character "home", and the hieroglyphic writing resembles a yurt, which means house. Below is the pig (hog), reflecting the ancient Chinese people who have a family to raise pigs.

There are three main factors in the importance of pig raising that Taiwanese talk about. First, pig raising can solve the leftovers in the family. Rural pig farmers like to use swill (rice washing water) to feed pigs, thinking that swill is a cheap and good feed for pigs; second, pig raising is a small bank, which is a fortune. Accumulation, many families rely on the money they save from selling pigs year after year by marrying wives, building new houses or doing important things; third, pig raising can solve the problem of employment.

No. 6:

Pigs are the most sensitive issue for the Hui people, and it is also one of the most important issues in the customs and habits of the Hui people . For a long time, no matter what pressure and resistance they encounter, the Hui people’s habit of banning pig raising and eating pork has not changed. Why do the Hui people fast for pork? This has to start with the customs of ancient Arabia. Before the founding of Judaism and Islam, there was a custom of fasting pork in the Arabian Peninsula. Because the Arabian Peninsula has a hot climate and mostly deserts, it is not conducive to the growth and development of pigs, and there are many infectious diseases in pigs. Therefore, the Semites on the Arabian Peninsula at that time mainly shepherd sheep and llamas, and did not raise pigs.

The ancient Egyptians also regarded pigs as unclean and disgusting. The ancient Greek historian Herodotus recorded what he saw and heard in Egypt and the Middle East in his book "History": "In the eyes of the Egyptians, the dolphin is an unclean animal. If a person walks He accidentally touched a dolphin, and he immediately hurried to the river, dressed in clothes and jumped into the river. Even if the dolphin herder is an indigenous Egyptian, no one wants to marry his daughter to him..." The ancient Egyptians banned pigs strictly. Not only did they not eat pork, they couldn't even touch or touch pigs, but they also hated pig shepherds. After the founding of Judaism, in order to adapt to the ban on pig raising in the Arab region at that time, the fasting of pork was written as a commandment in the eleventh chapter of the "Veli" in the Old Testament of the Bible: "The hoof is divided into two halves. Chew away the beast, you can eat it... The pig is unclean to you because the hoof is divided into two halves, but it does not ruminate. You must not eat the meat of these beasts, and you must not touch the dead animals. They are all unclean to you.” Emphasis here The precepts are no longer general hygiene and cleanliness, but have a strong religious concept of holiness. In the seventh century AD, Muhammad founded Islam. In order to eliminate frequent wars and promote the unification of religious beliefs, customs and habits, he conformed to the habit of fasting pork in Arab areas at that time, and absorbed the prohibitions in the Old Testament of Judaism. The precepts of eating pork, supplemented and perfected on this basis, are included in the "Quran" and repeatedly emphasized four times. As pointed out in the third chapter 172 of the "Quran": "He (referring to Allah) only forbids you to eat dead things, blood, pork, and animals that are slaughtered without the name of Allah." When stressing fasting of pork, it also shows that if you have to eat a little bit to survive, Allah is forgiven. These prohibitions are all issued in the name of Allah, and Muslims must unconditionally accept and abide by them, without the slightest suspicion. Because these provisions of Islam adapted to the living habits of the people at that time and conformed to the objective requirements of social development in the Arab region at that time, Islam gradually expanded and spread to vast areas of Asia and Africa. Chinese Tang dynasty Du Huan said in his "Jing Xing Ji": "The big food method does not eat pigs, dogs, donkeys, horses and other meat."

Part 7: (Chinese Zodiac http:///shengxiao/)

Before the Spring Festival , people usually kill pigs before the 25th of the twelfth lunar month . When killing pigs in the Zhejiang area, they pay attention to "one-shot cleaning", that is, one-shot killing, otherwise they will be considered unlucky. When entering the knife, the butcher has to say "being out of the world", and children and women cannot watch it. After killing, press the paper with pig blood in the corner of the room or in the pig pen to show that the pig is not dead. Pig hair should be filled with a fire tube. After all the boiling water is in the bucket, dip the lower end of the fire tube into the soup bucket, blow the upper end with your mouth, and blow around the bucket to show that the pig will grow faster and bigger in the future. When Qiao pig hair, leave a quick hair on the pig’s head and pig’s tail, which means "head and tail", and then put the whole pig on the bench, first with the head facing outwards, the owner burns incense and the pig hair, and cuts the pig into pieces. Two slices, except for New Year's consumption, I put the rest in the tank for later use.

Pig