十二生肖讲稿

大纲：

1.简介中国十二生肖。（about 5min）

2.讲解“生肖”、“属相”两词的含义，十二生肖是哪十二种动物（放视频《汉字解读十二生肖》），以及古人发明十二生肖的作用。（15min）

3.关于十二生肖排序的神话传说。（为什么没有猫？为什么龙没有排第一？…）（15min）

4.放视频《十二生肖歌》（配英文字幕）（3min）

4.生肖与个性。（各个动物的性格特点、各生肖的人适合的职业以及外国名人们的生肖）（15min）

5.生肖与婚配。（5min）

6.本命年。（5min）

以下为英文讲稿：

General Introduction：

In Chinese culture，twelve animals are very special：they are selected as twelve symbolic animals to form twelve-year cycles. Since each year has an animal as its symbol, a person born in a certain year will have one of the twelve animals as his/her symbolic animal . That is called a person's shengxiao(生肖）or shuxiang（属相）.

The twelve shengxiao, or the twelve symbolic animals are of great importance to many Chinese, and people all of the country tell many interesting stories and follow various customs associated with the twelve symbolic animals.

Warming-up Questions:

(1)What are the twelve symbolic animals?

(2)What is the sequence of the twelve symbolic animals ?

rat , ox , tiger, rabbit , dragon , snail , horse , sheep(or goat) , monkey , rooster , dog , pig

Lecture

Explanation of Shengxiao(生肖）and Shuxiang(属相）

Sheng 生：the year one is born

Xiao 肖：resemblance

Shu 属：belong to

Xiang 相：resemblance

Both phrases mean that a person will resemble the symbolic animal that is used to denote to his/her year of birth.

When talking about the origin of the twelve symbolic animals, information is needed concerning the ten Heavenly Stems(天干）and twelve Earthly Branches（地支）. The ten Heavenly Stems consist of：

1Jia甲: Bud - the sign of growth

2Yi乙: Sprout - the spread of growth, bursting forth from Earth

3Bing丙: Concentrated growth like fire in the house

4Ding丁: Maturity, solidity, Heavens kiss.

5Wu戊; Flourishing and nuturing

6Ji己: Full bloom

7Geng庚: Harvesting and abundance. Fullness leading to changes

8Xin辛: Dead heading, reformation

9Ren壬: Sustenance, supporting life

10Gui癸: Regenerating roots and preparation for spring

甲、乙、丙、丁、戊、己、庚、辛、壬、癸

And the twelve Earthly Branches consist of：

1Zi子: Young shoot of a plant

2Chou丑: Young plant supported by stick

3Yin寅: Celebration of spring and New Year

4Mao卯: Life springing forth

5Chen辰: Pregnant and timid

6Si巳: 7 months pregnant with fully formed embryo

7Wu戊: Summer solstice

8Wei未: Big tree with solid branches

9Shen申:Expansion

10You酉: Harvest, celebration

11Xu戌: Clearing and preparation

12Hai亥: Conception, mating of yin and yang

子、丑、寅、卯、辰、巳、午、未、申、酉、戌、亥

If we combine each of the ten Heavenly Stems with one of the twelve Earthly Branches in sequence, we will have sixty chronological symbols.

For example, 甲子（Jia, the first Heavenly Stem, Zi, the first Earthly Branch),乙丑，丙寅，etc.In this way, sixty chronological symbols are formed and used in circles.

It is revealed by the oracle-bone inscriptions that during the Shang Dynasty , the ancient Chinese began to dominate days using the combinations of ten Heavenly Stems and twelve Earthly Branches to form sixty-day circles. Later they dominated years using the combinations of ten Heavenly Stems and twelve Earthly Branches to form sixty-year circles. Probably from the Eastern Han Dynasty , twelve symbolic animals were used to correspond to the twelve Earthly Branches, from the twelve year cycle within the sixty-year cycle.

The twelve symbolic animals connected with the twelve Earthly Branches are: 子鼠丑牛寅虎卯兔辰龙巳蛇午马未羊申猴酉鸡戌狗亥猪

In correspondence with the birth （or the zodiac）sign in the West, this system can also be called the Chinese zodiac, or Chinese astrology.

Another point worth mentioning is that the use of the twelve animal symbols is not unique to the Hans in China. Many ethnic groups have their own animal symbols with minor differences. For example, the inner Mongolians use the same animals but they are arranged in a different sequence with tiger as the first one; the Dai people eliminated the pig and added the elephant instead. Some sociologists think that the Hans inherited their twelve animals from the northern tribes in ancient times and gradually evolved their own. Others believe that exchange between different cultures cultivated the various differences in the twelve animal symbols. Similar animal symbols can also be found in some other Asian countries. But today we will only focus on the twelve symbolic animals of the Hans.

The Origin: