Traditional Culture Encyclopedia - Weather inquiry - Do dragons really exist?

Do dragons really exist?

Does not exist.

Dragon is a creature in ancient folk myths and legends in China, which can be found everywhere in China's ancient books. It can't be found in reality, but the composition of its image comes from reality, which plays a role in exorcising evil spirits and avoiding disasters. Ranked fifth among the 12 zodiac animals, the most basic feature of the dragon image is the "nine elephants", which are still controversial.

Extended data:

The origin of the zodiac is related to animal worship. According to the Qin bamboo slips unearthed in Yunmeng Shuihudi, Hubei Province and Fangmatan, Tianshui, Gansu Province, there was a relatively complete zodiac system in the pre-Qin period. The earliest handed down document that recorded the same Chinese zodiac as the modern one was Lun Heng written by Wang Chong in the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Ugly rats, ugly cows, tigers, rabbits, dragons, snakes, afternoon horses, sheep, monkeys, chickens, dogs and pigs. However, I don't know if friends who like history have thought about it. Why is the order of the zodiac like this? Is it a random order? Unlikely, right? And why does the mouse, a small and annoying creature, become the first of the 12 zodiac animals?

The order of the zodiac is rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, chicken, dog and pig. Twelve in all. And a day is twenty-four hours, and in ancient China it was twelve hours. Among them, each animal represents one hour. China paid attention to the theory of Yin and Yang in ancient times, but in ancient people's minds, the singular number was considered as Yang and the even number as Yin.

References:

Baidu encyclopedia-dragon