12 Earthly Branches

rat , ox , tiger , hare , dragon , snake , horse , goat , monkey , rooster , dog , and pig

Snake in the literature
As early as the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476BC), 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 (340-277BC), wrote a poem about the snake in his signature works "The Poetry of Chu."

During the Tang (AD618-907) 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 (AD25-220) 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, winch 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.

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