Long, Winding Cultural History of Snake

On January 24, the first day of the Chinese lunar calendar, the nation bid farewell to the Year of Dragon and ushered in the Year of Snake.

Ancient Chinese people used a dozen animals to symbolize the 12 Earthly Branches. They are the rat, ox, tiger, hare, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. When the cycle of 12 years is completed, a new round begins.

As is true of most anything ancient, the origin of the Chinese Zodiac animal signs is a mix of legend and folklore.

It is said that, at the dawn of civilization, the Emperor of Heaven summoned all animals to compete for 12 representatives of the Earthly Branches.

The rat and the cat, a pair of good friends, planned to go together the next morning. Since the cat was an insatiable sleeper, the rat promised to wake him up.

Yet the rat broke his promise. He rose early and went to see the Emperor of Heaven alone.

Arriving at the heavenly court, the rat found a queue of 11 other animals, with the ox in the lead. Without hesitation, the rat jumped the queue and took position on the ox's back.

When the Emperor of Heaven appeared, he slipped from the ox's back and stole pole position.

Such treacherous success aroused public indignation, so from that moment on the wily rat has been forced to live murky underground corners. And, of course, it must endure much grief from the cat.

Despite idioms based on the perceived characteristics of some animals - including "short-sighted as a rat," "lazy as a pig" and "narrow-minded as a chick" - they all receive considerable respect in the years they rule.

People born in the Year of Snake are considered rich in wisdom and charm. Usually they are romantic and deep thinking, folks whose intuition guides them strongly.

  • Worshipping the snake


    • In China, worship towards the snake traces back to primitive society. Pan Gu, creator of the universe in Chinese mythology, has the body of the snake and the head of the dragon.

    There is also the God with a snake in hand in the Chinese primitive religion.

    People used to regard the snake as a relative of the dragon, so they sometime call the snake a "small dragon."

    During the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, the ceremonial robes for the emperors were embroidered with dragons while the robes for the princes and court ministers were embroidered with boa designs to show their royal position.

    In some places of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, people give the snake many respectable names, instead of calling it "snake."

    People in Yixing, East China's Jiangsu Province, call it "savage creature" or "black dragon."

    People in East China's Zhejiang Province call it "celestial being" or "dragon in heaven."

    At Dangtu in East China's Anhui Province, snake is called "dragon at home." At Qingjiang, in East China's Jiangxi Province, it is called "snake ancestor."

    There are many superstitions related to the snake.

    People in Qingjiang resent the snake shedding its skin or moving out from its lair.

    In Yixing, people consider it lucky to see the snake in the granary or the bed but unlucky to see the snake on the beams or eaves of the house.

    People in Dangtu believe seeing the snake at home is a bad omen that the head of the household will die or some unexpected disaster will befell the family. If the children see it, they know not to tell the head of the household.

    But people also have ways of turning bad luck into good.

    Some people burn joss sticks to ward off baneful influence. Some present special food such as tofu, fish, wine or tea as offerings.

    If the snake is still alive, it will be sent to the wild. If it is dead, people will bury it respectfully. At Qingjiang, burying a dead snake is equal to prostrating before the Buddha.

    The snake also symbolizes wealth in some places. Many people believe that if they see a snake winding around a rabbit, they will make a fortune soon.

    Thus, rabbits winded by snakes are popular images for paper-cuts in the Spring Festival in northern China.

  • Snake in the literature


    • As early as the Spring and Autumn Period(770-476 BC), the snake appeared in "The Book of Songs," China's first ancient poem collection.

    In one of the poems, the snake is portrayed as the omen of giving birth to a girl.

    One of Chinese earliest poets, Qu Yuan(340-277 BC), wrote a poem about the snake in his signature works "The Poetry of Chu."

    During the Tang (AD 618-907) and Song (960-1279) dynasties, when ancient poetry flourished, more poets composed poems about the snake.

    In ancient stories or folklores, two entirely different images of the snake are often seen. One is as fearful, evil spirits and the other is as charming ladies.

    In the first chapter of "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" by Luo Guanzhong(1330-1400) of the early Ming Dynasty, Emperor Ling of the Eastern Han (AD 25-220 ) was frightened by a huge green snake.

    It reflects a kind of superstitious idea in the feudal society that the evil spirit would appear when a reign was about to be overthrown.

    The most popular "snake" in Chinese folklore is the "white snake lady" in "The Romance of White Snake Lady and Xu Xian."

    A female snake spirit falls in love with an ordinary man named Xu Xian, which violates the rule that a spirit could not marry a common person. So Monk Fahai creates obstacles between them and finally separates them by locking the white snake lady in Leifeng Tower.

    The love story has moved Chinese people generation after generation. Audiences sympathize with the lovers.

    Pu Songling (1640-1775) in the Qing Dynasty also portrays many images of the snake in his "Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio," a collection of about 500 stories of ghosts and spirits.

  • China's "snake" places


    • Snake Hill lies in Wuchang of Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei Province. The name came from its winding shape, which looks like a snake.

    Snake Hill stands across the Yangtze River from Tortoise Hill.

    The late Chairman Mao Zedong(1893-1976) once wrote the famous lines "The Snake and Tortoise hills guard the strategic pass on the Yangtze River."

    Snake Island, which has become a national nature preservation zone, lies in the Bohai Sea. At about 1 square kilometre, the island is well-known for about the 20,000 Pallas pit vipers that live there.

    China boasts many other place names related to the snake, including Snake Ground in Xingyi, Southwest's Guizhou Province, Snake Tail County in Xixia, Central China's Henan Province, and Snake Bone Tower in Dali, Southwest China's Yunnan Province.

    An exhibition of the Zodiac snake is now open at the Beijing Zoo. (China Daily)








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