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Dog---A man's best friend through the ages
The dog has also been worshipped as a totem in history and it played a role in
the formation of time.
The Chinese people started matching the 12 Earthly Branches with animals in
the Spring
and Autumn Period (770-476 BC). The 12 Earthly Branches and 10 Heavenly
Stems were used to record the passage of time in a 60-year cycle.
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"Nine Dogs Painting Scroll" by
Huang Jiming and Li Tingliang of the Qing
Dynasty (1644-1911), treasured in the Palace
Museum . |
The ancient Chinese calendar divided each day into 12 two-hour periods called
"shichen." Each period was matched with the 12 Earthly Branches and their
symbolic animals. As number 11 among the animals, the dog represented 7 to 9 pm.
Why did the ancient Chinese set the order of the 12 animals in this way? One
of the legends goes that the animals do what they are best at doing during their
respective hours. For instance, tigers represented 3 to 5 am, the time they
would be roaming the woods in search of food, whereas dogs would be guarding the
house from 7 to 9 pm.
Using animals to symbolize time was also practiced in ancient Babylon, Chenla
(today's Cambodia) and India, though different animals were used.
The dog was the god who safeguarded people during the night, according to
"Classics of Mountains and Seas" (Shanhaijing), a series of books about
prehistoric tales written by unknown authors in the Spring and Autumn Period
(770-476 BC).
In the Zhou
Dynasty (1046-221 BC), there was a special post established in the court to
take care of dogs.
Dogs were not only companions, they were seen as powerful protectors in the
other world and much evidence has been excavated to support this claim.
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