The cultural symbol of the rabbit

　　Cattle and Rabbit Race, Losing Jingzhou Carelessly-- The Myth and Legend of Rabbits

　　Speaking of rabbits as the sign of the zodiac, there is an interesting "rabbit and cow race" legend among folks.

　　According to legend, the rabbit and the scalper are neighbors, they get along very well and call each other brothers. The scalpers live by hard work, and the rabbits live by cleverness, and they have a very good life.

　　One day, the rabbit who was good at long-distance running flaunted in front of the scalper: "I am the long-distance running champion in the animal world, no one can run me!" The scalper asked for advice and asked the rabbit to teach the master running trick, but the rabbit proudly shook his head and said: "The champion of long-distance running depends on innate qualities. You can't learn it. Besides, long-distance running is light and easy. Your stout body will never run fast."

　　The scalper's heart was cold to the rabbit, but he was very unconvinced. From then on, the scalpers began to practice long-distance running, and finally became a pair of "iron feet" with their general perseverance. The tail is upturned, and the four hoofs are like the wind, and he is tireless for days and nights.

　　When the Jade Emperor arranges the zodiac signs, according to the rules, whoever comes first will be regarded as the zodiac signs. The scalper and the rabbit agreed that the rooster would get up all the time and head straight to the palace to fight for the zodiac sign.

　　The rooster cried, and the rabbit ran away alone when the scalper got up. The rabbit ran for a long time, and when he looked back, he couldn't see any animals. It turned out that the rabbit thought: "I got up the earliest and ran the fastest today, even when I got up to sleep, the first name of this zodiac sign belonged to me." So, it fell asleep on the grass.

　　Although the scalper lags behind, but with its tough endurance and normally trained iron feet, it swells up, and when the rabbit is still asleep, it ran to the palace first.

　　A rush of footsteps awakened the rabbit, and when he opened his eyes, it turned out that the tiger ran past like a gust of wind. Now the rabbit was in a hurry, and quickly spread his legs and chased after him. It's a pity that he was a step slower, and after all, he fell behind the tiger. Because there was a little mouse squatting between the horns of the cow , the rabbit was only ranked fourth, and the top three were the rat, the cow, and the tiger.

　　Although the rabbit also became a sign of the zodiac, he felt that his face was dull after all and lost to the old bull who he had mocked. After coming back, he moved his family to a dirt cave. Now the hares still live in the dirt cave. However, the rabbit will learn its lesson. Believe it or not, if you have another "cow and hare race" or "tortoise and hare race" today, the rabbit will definitely win the championship.

　　"Rabbit" is a beautiful word in China. It is not only one of the zodiac signs of human beings, but also closely related to human life and people's beautiful hope.

　　"Rabbit" is a pictograph of animal rabbit. Xu Shen's "Shu Wen Jie Zi" in the Han Dynasty explained: "The rabbit, the name of the animal, is like the tail shape after the distance." His oracle bone inscriptions and seal script depict the image of "rabbit" with long ears and short tail.

　　There are not many Chinese characters derived from the "tu" character, but they all have their own characteristics.

　　For example, "Yi" is an understanding word. Rabbits running fast are called "Yi". Books such as "Shuowen Jiezi" and other books all believe that the word "yi" means the rabbit "good escape". This shows that the rabbit is a well-deserved champion of long-distance running. So there are "Ben Yi", "Escape", "Escape", "You Yi", "Seclusion", "Ease", "Ecstasy", "Super Ease" and other words injustice." The symbol of "Shu Wen Jie Zi" explained: "Injustice, wrong. "It means that the rabbit cannot escape under the snare fence. It can only submit but cannot stretch. The extension is wronged.

　　It can be seen that the cute rabbit is most worthy of people's sympathy.

Rabbit