RoosterFolklore

In traditional Chinese folk culture, the first day of the first lunar month is “Rooster Day” (鸡日). According to the Book of Divination (《占书》): “正月一日为鸡，二日为狗，三日为羊，四日为猪，五日为牛，六日为马，七日为人。” Nüwa created the six domestic animals within six days, and the Rooster was the animal created on the first day.

Legend of the Origin of Rooster Day

Why is the first day of the first lunar month Rooster Day? According to legend, Nüwa created one living creature on each of seven successive days: on the first day she created the Rooster, on the second the Dog, on the third the Goat, on the fourth the Pig, on the fifth the Ox, on the sixth the Horse, and only on the seventh the human being. The Rooster thus became the first of the six domestic animals.

Customs of Rooster Day

According to Liang Zonghuai’s Jingchu Suishiji (《荆楚岁时记》) of the Southern Tang, the first day of the first lunar month was Rooster Day, when people pasted images of roosters on their doors; the seventh day was Human Day, when human figures were cut out and pasted on screens. Folklorist Professor Tian Zhaoyuan has pointed out that on the first day of the first lunar month people would rise at the crowing of the Rooster. Ancient people explained that the Rooster was a yang bird, an auspicious bird capable of driving away evil. The next practice was “pasting painted roosters, or carving five-colored or earthen roosters on the door”—that is, before replacing the peachwood charms, people first pasted Rooster New Year prints or placed carved multicolored and earthen roosters on the entrance.

Among the people, red paper was cut into Rooster-shaped window decorations on the first day of the first lunar month. The day itself was called “Rooster Day”, its pronunciation associated with “Auspicious Day” (吉日). “Paste a Rooster on Rooster Day, paste a human figure on Human Day”—the “Rooster King guarding the household” was regarded as a door god, while the Dog, Pig, Goat, Ox, and Horse never attained comparable status. No matter which zodiac year it was, the Rooster remained the presiding auspicious deity of the day.

Rooster Day and “Great Auspiciousness of the You Rooster”

Within the twelve earthly branches, the Rooster corresponds to You hour in the daily cycle and to the first day of the Lunar New Year in the annual cycle. The first day of the first lunar month is Rooster Day: great auspiciousness of the You Rooster. The single character “You” (酉) was taken to encompass two great themes of auspicious culture: first, there is nothing it cannot suppress; second, there is nothing it does not possess.

“Pasting an Upside-Down You”

For this reason, “pasting an upside-down You” (贴倒酉) became one of the highlights of Spring Festival auspicious culture. Rooster motifs on Spring Festival couplets, door-god images, and the character 福 brought the auspicious power of the You Rooster into countless households.

The Beginning of Spring (立春) is the first of the Twenty-Four Solar Terms. In southwestern Shandong and other regions, children traditionally wear cloth Spring Roosters on this day, symbolizing the shining of an auspicious star.

Making the Spring Rooster

The Spring Rooster is a rooster-shaped ornament tied or sewn from scraps of brightly colored cloth. A common method is to wrap cotton in patterned fabric so that it resembles a water caltrop; a peppercorn seed is attached to one pointed corner as the eye, while several strips of patterned cloth, as long as the body itself, are sewn to the other corner to form the tail. Some Spring Roosters also hold a string of beans in their beaks.

Wearing the Spring Rooster

The Spring Rooster is pinned to a child’s left sleeve, carrying the meaning of auspiciousness in the new spring. Children wear the Spring Rooster in the hope that the bird will eat all manner of harmful insects and protect them from calamity and illness, allowing them to grow safely and strongly. Generally, on the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, the cloth Rooster is thrown away at a temple fair, symbolically carrying away the year’s misfortune with it.

Legend of the “Spring-Welcoming Rooster”

In northern Shanxi and some parts of Shandong, there is a custom of wearing the “Spring-Welcoming Rooster” (迎春公鸡). Young mothers make “Spring Roosters” or “Spring Gugu” from colorful cloth scraps as festival ornaments for their children. The custom derives from ancient Rooster worship: because the Rooster was a yang bird, wearing the Spring Rooster was believed to draw the yang energy of spring into the child’s body and protect healthy growth.

The first day of the second lunar month is the Zhonghe Festival (中和节), also known as the “Birthday of the Sun.” On this day, people worship the Solar Star Lord, and the characteristic food is the Sun Rooster Cake (太阳鸡糕).

As a solar bird, the Rooster once again receives particular affection on this day. Sun Rooster Cakes are shaped like chickens, symbolically uniting the brilliance of the sun with the auspiciousness of the Rooster. This custom closely links the Rooster with solar worship and represents a distinctive manifestation of Rooster culture in the ritual calendar.

Grain Rain (谷雨) is the final solar term of spring. Around Grain Rain each year, the folk custom of pasting the “Rooster King Guarding the Household” image (鸡王镇宅图) is widely observed.

At Grain Rain, insects begin to stir and epidemics are considered more likely to arise. People paste images of the Rooster King on doors and windows, using the image of a rooster pecking poisonous insects to repel pests and pray for peace. The Fengxiang, Shaanxi, scorpion-averting talisman 《神鸡》 depicts a rooster holding an insect in its beak, with a large scorpion beneath its claws, accompanied by the incantation: “谷雨三月中，蝎子逞威风。神鸡鹐一嘴……”

Among the twelve traditional double-hours, You hour (酉时) corresponds to 5:00–7:00 p.m. and is also called “sunset,” “the sun entering,” “the sun sinking,” or “evening,” referring to the time when the sun goes down. As the light fades, chickens that have spent the day foraging and moving about begin to return to their roosts, bringing their day’s activity to an end. This habit of returning to the roost at sunset corresponds perfectly with the natural rhythm of You hour. Ancient people therefore bound the moment of the Rooster’s return to You hour, which consequently also became known as “Rooster Hour” (鸡时).

In ancient Chinese belief, the Rooster was regarded as a solar bird. Legend held that the Rooster was the bird within the sun: its crowing brought sunrise and light and could drive away demons and evil spirits.

Myth of the Heavenly Rooster

The ancients believed that the first creature to crow at dawn was the miraculous Heavenly Rooster, which lived on Mount Taodu. The Taiping Yulan, quoting the Xuanzhongji, records: “东南有桃都山，上有大树名曰桃都，枝相去三千里。上有天鸡。日初出照此木，天鸡即鸣，天下鸡皆随之鸣。”

The form of the Taodu tree can even be seen in Han-dynasty cultural relics. A glazed pottery tree unearthed from a late Western Han tomb at Sijiangou in Jiyuan, Henan, has a straight central trunk with nine lateral branches, each ending with sacred birds perched upon them.

Golden Rooster and Door Gods

Ancient texts say that Mount Taodu had a giant peach tree whose branches twisted and stretched for three thousand li. Atop it stood a Golden Rooster that crowed when sunlight struck it. Beneath the tree were two deities, one named Yu and the other Lei, both holding reed ropes and waiting to seize inauspicious ghosts. The door gods thus appear almost as subordinates of the Golden Rooster. This is why, in former times, images of chickens dominated household doors during the New Year.

Phoenix Worship in New Year Customs

Rooster worship is closely connected with ancient phoenix worship. Professor Tian Zhaoyuan has argued that in many contexts the Rooster is regarded as an earthly manifestation of the phoenix, a form of ceremonial distinction accorded to none of the other eleven zodiac animals. The idea that the Rooster is the source of the phoenix became deeply rooted in popular culture. The Song-dynasty Taiping Yulan records: “黄帝之时，以凤为鸡。”

“Rooster King Guarding the Household” (鸡王镇宅) is the most famous Rooster belief in Chinese folk culture, with a history traceable to the Jin dynasty.

Legend of the Chongming Bird

According to Wang Jia’s Shiyiji (《拾遗记》) of the Jin dynasty, during the reign of Emperor Yao, evil tigers frequently descended from the mountains and demons emerged from the forests to wreak havoc. Later, the state of Zhizhi presented a “Chongming Bird” (重明鸟), also called the “Double-Pupiled Bird.” It looked like an ordinary rooster but crowed with a voice like the phoenix. Fiercely opposed to evil, it could beat its wings and soar, strike with its beak, raise its claws, and specifically attack wild beasts and malevolent spirits.

The Chongming Bird, however, did not appear often. Some people believed that it was the king of all chickens, so they imitated its form, carving wooden roosters and placing them on doorways or rooftops. These carvings were unexpectedly also believed capable of frightening away demons and monstrous beings. People began to imitate the practice, and because painting was easier than carving wood or casting metal, the custom of pasting painted roosters gradually developed.

New Year Prints of the Rooster King Guarding the Household

The classic New Year print of the Rooster King Guarding the Household depicts a large red rooster standing proudly on a great rock, head raised and chest out. The Rooster can ward off evil and also bring auspiciousness. The rooster used for household protection stands on a stone because “stone” (石) is homophonically associated with “room” (室), symbolizing the welcoming of auspiciousness into the dwelling. Thus, in folk terminology, the motif of the Rooster King Guarding the Household is also known as “Great Auspiciousness Above the House” (室上大吉).

Why the Rooster Can Ward Off Evil

Ancient people believed that chickens and chicken blood possessed the power to drive away ghosts, evil forces, and calamities, and therefore chickens were frequently used in exorcistic and sacrificial rites. As early as the pre-Qin period, chickens and chicken blood were used to expel evil, symbolizing protection from harmful forces, the removal of disaster, and divine power. Within ancient nature worship, the Rooster possessed supreme supernatural force and the ability to expel evil and bring auspiciousness, exerting influence on people’s spiritual world and daily life through sacrifices, protective prayers, and consecratory rites.

Chicken Divination

In ancient times, chicken bones, chicken blood, or whole chickens were often used as sacred implements or sacrificial offerings in religious activities. The Shiji·Xiaowu Benji contains a record of the ancient divinatory method known as “Chicken Divination” (鸡卜)—people offered chickens to the gods and divined good or ill fortune from the shape of the eye bones. Liu Zongyuan of the Tang dynasty also wrote verses concerning the use of chicken eye bones to divine the year when worshipping a water deity.

Blood Oaths with Chicken Blood

In the past, people dripped the blood of a rooster into wine or smeared it upon their lips when sacrificing to Heaven and Earth and swearing solemn oaths—forming a blood covenant and pledging to keep one’s word. Chickens were indispensable in oath-taking and curse rituals in ancient social life. Blood covenants used chicken blood, and ancient emperors sometimes proclaimed general amnesties in the form of a “Golden Rooster Amnesty” (金鸡赦).

Chicken Sacrifice among Ethnic Groups

In Dai culture, during the annual worship of “Pifa”, the Heavenly Spirit, a chicken must be killed. Different households choose chickens of different colors: some use black chickens, others white. Yao wedding ceremonies also include the ritual slaughter of chickens to honor the gods and expel evil.

Eggs also possess sacred meaning in New Year customs. After making New Year visits, people traditionally eat an egg known as the “Ghost-Repelling Pill” (却鬼丸), indicating that the egg itself is an auspicious New Year object imbued with sacred meaning. Eggs are also widely used in customs for praying for children. In many regions of China, when a daughter marries, her natal family gives her a “Descendants’ Bundle” (子孙包) filled with several red eggs, symbolizing abundant offspring and many blessings.

The character 鸡 happens to be homophonic with 吉, and so the Rooster became an auspicious bird in popular culture. The first day of the first lunar month is Rooster Day, understood as an “auspicious day”, and people traditionally paste painted roosters inside homes or on doors, symbolizing auspiciousness entering the dwelling. Rooster motifs express such blessings as “great auspiciousness with abundance” (大吉有余) and “great fortune and great benefit” (大吉大利).

In folk art, a large red rooster standing on a great rock draws on the homophony between “stone” (石) and “room” (室), and between “chicken” (鸡) and “auspicious” (吉), expressing “great auspiciousness upon the dwelling” (室上大吉)—good fortune for the household.

Every Year of the Rooster brings an especially rich range of auspicious expressions: “Great Fortune and Great Benefit” (大吉大利)—the most common blessing of the Rooster year; “Auspicious Celebration with Abundance” (吉庆有余)—a Rooster paired with fish, symbolizing good fortune and plenty; “The Golden Rooster Announces the Dawn” (金鸡报晓)—symbolizing light and hope; “The Golden Rooster Brings Blessings” (金鸡纳福)—the Golden Rooster brings good fortune; “The You Rooster Brings Auspiciousness” (酉鸡有吉)—may all go as one wishes; “Great Fortune in the Year of the Rooster,” “Fulfillment in the Year of the Rooster,” and “May the Year of the Rooster Bring Blessings.”

In ancient times, the Rooster was known as a “virtuous bird” (德禽). The Han Shi Waizhuan summarized its five virtues—civil refinement, martial prowess, courage, benevolence, and trustworthiness. Civil virtue—it wears a crest upon its head, like a cap of refinement; martial virtue—it possesses spurs behind its feet and can fight; courage—when an enemy stands before it, it dares to confront it; benevolence—when it finds food, it calls its companions to share it; trustworthiness—it keeps watch through the night without missing the proper time and announces the dawn when day breaks. These five virtues embody human moral ideals projected onto the animal. The Rooster thus appears almost as a gentleman accomplished in both civil and martial virtues and faithful to his word—and this is presented as the fundamental reason it could become the only bird among the twelve zodiac animals.

The Rooster carries multiple auspicious meanings in Chinese culture: light and hope—the Rooster crows and the sun rises, bringing light; diligence and punctuality—the crowing of the Rooster is an important traditional marker of time in Chinese daily life; courage and fighting spirit—the fighting instinct of roosters was trained by owners and developed into cockfighting as a form of entertainment; auspiciousness and blessing—鸡 and 吉 are homophones, giving rise to the blessing 大吉大利; fertility and reproduction—as a solar bird, the Rooster carries masculine implications within fertility worship and embodies vigor, vitality, and heroic bearing.

A zodiac song says: “申猴尊为九，酉鸡若凤凰。” The Rooster is regarded as the earthly incarnation of the phoenix and receives the lofty praise “like a phoenix.” Within zodiac culture, the Rooster is the only animal compared to the phoenix, an honor not accorded to any other zodiac sign.

Rooster King Guarding the Household: “Rooster King Guarding the Household” is the most classic Rooster theme in New Year prints. A large red rooster stands proudly upon a great stone. Late-Qing New Year prints of the Rooster King Guarding the Household have survived to the present day. Auspicious motifs include the Golden Rooster standing on peonies, “Great Auspiciousness on the Stone,” woodblock prints of paired chickens, the Rooster King Guarding the Household, a rooster holding a scorpion in its beak, and one trampling a centipede beneath its claws. People either cut these images from paper or print them from carved blocks and paste them on doors and windows to suppress evil and welcome good fortune.

Great Auspiciousness at the Opening of Business: the New Year print “Great Auspiciousness at the Opening” (开市大吉) takes the rooster as its central subject, wishing merchants success when opening their businesses and prosperity in trade. The rooster announcing dawn symbolizes the beginning of a new day and, by extension, the arrival of new commercial opportunities.

Dawn-Announcing Picture: the New Year print “Dawn-Announcing Picture” (报晓图) centers on a rooster crowing at daybreak, symbolizing a fresh atmosphere in the new year and the idea that the early bird catches the worm. This theme is particularly common in northern New Year prints.

Regional characteristics: Taohuawu New Year prints also include works on the theme of the Rooster King Guarding the Household. The traditional Fengxiang, Shaanxi, New Year print 《人活七十古来稀》 uses the Rooster as a subject and emphasizes fertility worship.

One Hundred Roosters, One Hundred Auspicious Blessings: folk paper-cutting includes the traditional work “One Hundred Roosters, One Hundred Auspicious Blessings” (百鸡百吉), in which one hundred paper-cut Roosters form a large composition, symbolizing great fortune in all things.

Rooster Window Decorations: on the first day of the year, people traditionally cut Roosters from red paper as window decorations. In rural Gansu, northern Shaanxi, and other regions, window paper-cutting is popular during the Spring Festival, and the Rooster is one of the five major subjects of the art.

Line-Drawing Rooster: the carefully designed “Line-Drawing Rooster” (线画鸡图) created by folk artists is a classic of paper-cutting art.

Zodiac Rooster Paper-Cuts: across the generations, there have always been painters skilled in depicting chickens. With the flourishing of woodblock New Year prints and paper-cutting, more and more artists adopted the Rooster as a subject in the visual arts.

Cloth Rooster Sachets: the most common cloth Rooster is sewn from colorful fabric in the shape of a chicken and filled with fragrant medicinal herbs. Usually around two centimeters in size and made in both hen and rooster forms, it is hung from children’s clothing as a toy. Another type of chicken sachet, only three to five centimeters long, is tied to a child’s body with the idea that the Rooster will eat harmful insects and protect the child from calamity and illness, ensuring safety and strong health.

Spring Roosters: as noted above, the Spring Rooster worn by children at the Beginning of Spring is an important form of folk fabric art.

Rooster embroidery patterns: in folk embroidery, the Rooster is often paired with peonies, auspicious clouds, the character 福, and other favorable elements to create richly symbolic patterns such as “Great Fortune and Great Benefit” and “The Golden Rooster Announces the Dawn.”

Neolithic Pottery Rooster: a Neolithic “Pottery Rooster” (陶鸡) was unearthed from the Dengjiawan site at Shihe Town, Tianmen, Hubei. Pottery gui vessels unearthed in Shandong, known as “Chicken Yi” (鸡彝), were important ritual vessels of the Shang and Zhou periods.

Chicken-Head Ewer: during the Western and Eastern Jin and the Six Dynasties, “Chicken-Head Ewers” (鸡首壶), also known as Heavenly Rooster Ewers, were popular. They took their name from the chicken-head-shaped decoration forming the spout. A “Celadon Dragon-Handle Chicken-Head Ewer” was excavated from the Northern Qi tomb of Lou Rui in Taiyuan.

Tang You Rooster Figurines: Tang tombs at the Astana Cemetery in Turpan, Xinjiang, yielded painted clay You Rooster figurines.

Glazed Pottery “Taodu” Tree: a glazed pottery “Taodu” tree was excavated from a Han tomb at Sijiangou in Jiyuan, Henan, with Heavenly Roosters perched among its branches.

The image of the Rooster has long been beloved by painters throughout Chinese art history.

Han-Dynasty Door-God Roosters: the earliest Rooster paintings appear in Han-dynasty door-god images and primarily functioned as symbols for driving away evil.

Song Literati Rooster Painting: Song painters frequently depicted pheasants in sparse forests and wild ravines. Their technique was meticulous and their coloring rich and brilliant.

Shen Zhou’s Rooster Paintings of the Ming: works by the Ming painter Shen Zhou featuring chickens embody the elegant refinement of literati painting.

Modern and contemporary masters of Rooster painting: in modern and contemporary times, major bird-and-flower painters such as Ren Bonian, Qi Baishi, Xu Beihong, and Pan Tianshou inherited tradition or combined Chinese and Western methods, each using distinctive brushwork and artistic sensibility to continue and further develop the cultural meanings of the Rooster in Chinese folk tradition. Qi Baishi’s chicks, rendered in ink to convey the softness of down, became classics of Rooster painting. Amid washes of ink and color, and in the vigorous crowing of the rooster, one seems to feel a spring filled with myriad reds and purples advancing out of poetry and painting.

One’s zodiac year is traditionally regarded as an inauspicious year. A folk saying goes: “本命年犯太岁，太岁当头坐，无喜必有祸。”

People born under the Rooster observe several particular rules during their zodiac year.

Red — not advisable: when a Rooster year arrives, many people immediately put on the red sweatshirts, red underwear, and full sets of bright-red clothing commonly associated with one’s zodiac year. Folk belief, however, holds that the Rooster year, or You year, belongs to Metal in the Five Phases, while red belongs to Fire, and Fire overcomes Metal. Wearing too much bright red is therefore said to “add fuel to the fire.” For this reason, people born under the Rooster are advised not to dress entirely in bright red during their zodiac year, though small red accessories may be used as accents.

Marriage is not advisable: people born under the Rooster are said to offend the presiding Tai Sui during their own Rooster year. Among the twelve earthly branches, there is also the saying “Chen, Wu, You, and Hai punish themselves”, so people born under the Rooster are further considered to be under the influence of punishment by Tai Sui. They are therefore said to be unsuitable for marriage during their zodiac year.

Avoid attending weddings and funerals: folk custom says that people in their zodiac year should not attend major joyous or mournful ceremonies, because the energy generated by such events is considered especially strong, and people in poor health are thought to be most vulnerable to disturbance.

Pay attention to safety: in a year of offending Tai Sui, bloodshed is considered especially inauspicious, so people born under the Rooster who drive are advised to take particular care.

Conduct oneself modestly: during their zodiac year, people born under the Rooster are advised to remain low-key in dealing with others and managing affairs.

In traditional zodiac marriage culture, people born under the Rooster are said to be in conflict with the Rabbit—the Mao–You clash (卯酉相冲)—and in a harm relationship with the Dog—the You–Xu harm (酉戌相害). Old customs claimed that people born under the Rooster and Dog should not marry, for fear that the household would become “鸡犬不宁”—literally, “neither chickens nor dogs at peace.” There was also a saying that the Rooster and Rabbit were incompatible because You Rooster and Mao Rabbit form one of the Six Clashes. These sayings are all superstitions; marriage should still be founded on love.

In folk numerological culture: auspicious colors—gold, brown, yellow-brown, yellow; colors to avoid—green, red, blue, gray; lucky numbers—seven, five, eight; highly inauspicious numbers—three, nine, one.

Laudatory expressions, emphasizing diligence, trustworthiness, and auspiciousness: 闻鸡起舞—to rise and practice at the crowing of the Rooster, a metaphor for striving energetically toward one’s ambitions; 金鸡报晓—the Golden Rooster announces the dawn, symbolizing light and hope; 金鸡独立—the Golden Rooster stands on one leg, describing a steady one-legged posture; 鸡犬相闻—the sounds of chickens and dogs can be heard from neighboring households, describing peaceful and harmonious life; 鹤立鸡群—a crane standing among chickens, describing a person whose virtue or talent surpasses the crowd; 鸡鸣戒旦—the Rooster’s crow warns of dawn, describing persistent diligence.

Derogatory expressions, more numerous: 鸡飞蛋打—the chicken flies away and the eggs are broken, meaning to gain nothing at all; 鸡毛蒜皮—chicken feathers and garlic skins, referring to trivial matters; 呆若木鸡—as stiff as a wooden chicken, describing a foolish or stunned appearance; 鸡犬不宁—neither chickens nor dogs are at peace, describing severe disturbance; 鸡鸣狗盗—the crowing of chickens and stealing like dogs, referring to insignificant skills; 杀鸡取卵—killing the chicken to take its eggs, sacrificing long-term interests for immediate gain; 杀鸡儆猴—killing a chicken to frighten the Monkey, punishing one as a warning to many.

Many Rooster-related proverbs circulate among the people. “宁为鸡口，无为牛后”—better to be the beak of a chicken than the tail of an ox, meaning it is better to lead among the small than follow among the great. “鸡鸣即起，洒扫庭除”—rise when the Rooster crows and sweep the courtyard, describing diligence in managing the household. “一人得道，鸡犬升天”—when one person attains the Way, even his chickens and dogs ascend to Heaven, describing how those connected to a powerful person also benefit. “嫁鸡随鸡，嫁狗随狗”—marry a chicken and follow the chicken, marry a dog and follow the dog, traditionally describing a woman’s obedience to her husband after marriage. “小肚鸡肠”—a small belly and chicken intestines, describing narrow-mindedness.

Rooster-related xiehouyu (歇后语) are humorous and lively: “Picking bones from an egg—finding fault where none exists”; “The chicken flies and the eggs break—both ends come to nothing”; “A chicken pays a New Year visit to a weasel—walking into a trap”; “The flesh on a rooster’s head—large or small, it is still an official ‘cap’”, a pun on 冠; “Driving a chicken into the river—forcing it toward death”; “A rooster eating rice—too many grains to count”; “The eggs break and the chicken flies—nothing left at either end”; “A chicken wears a hat—office upon office,” a pun on 冠上加冠; “Walking when the Rooster crows—the farther one goes, the brighter it becomes”; “An egg on a stool—dangerous”; “Poking a chicken coop with half a garment—causing trouble in secret”; “The rooster that announces dawn—it calls early.”

In popular zodiac personality culture, people born under the Rooster receive characteristic evaluations. Positive traits: diligent and hardworking, punctual and trustworthy, shrewd and capable, articulate, and possessing leadership ability. Negative traits: vain, overly ambitious, and excessively calculating over small matters. A folk verse says: “酉鸡性灵巧，五德世无双。一生多机遇，富贵自名扬。”

The Rooster in the Song of the Twelve Zodiac Animals: one nursery rhyme describes the zodiac as follows: “鼠牛虎，钻山洞；兔龙蛇，爬大山；马羊猴，练跨步；鸡狗猪，比跳高。” The song imagines the zodiac order as being determined by the results of a competition among the twelve animals.

Another zodiac song says: “一是老鼠吱吱叫，二是牛儿尾巴摇。三是老虎威风到，四是白兔蹦蹦跳。五是飞龙像座桥，六是蛇会圈圈绕。七是马儿最会跑，八是羊儿吃青草。九是猴子会爬树，十是公鸡喔喔叫。十一是狗会看门，十二是猪睡得早。”

Nursery rhyme based on “Rising at the Rooster’s Crow to Practice”: the story of 闻鸡起舞 has been turned into children’s songs that teach them to rise early, work diligently, and aspire to achievement.

Children’s performances of zodiac songs: songs about the twelve zodiac animals are an important form of children’s cultural initiation. By learning the Song of the Twelve Zodiac Animals, children can become familiar with the zodiac and encounter Chinese culture through relaxed and enjoyable music.

Cockfighting: in the children’s game of cockfighting, each child stands on one leg and bends the other into a triangle by holding it with the hand, using the raised knee to attack the opponent until a winner emerges. Unfortunately, this athletic game once used to display boys’ courage has now almost disappeared.

“Laying Eggs” game: in kindergartens, teachers sometimes extend Rooster-themed zodiac activities into the highly popular “laying eggs” game. When the music begins, children jump with both feet or twist their bodies to shake the “eggs” loose, experiencing the joy of cooperative play.

Making feather shuttlecocks: in traditional Chinese culture, the Rooster is a messenger of light and is also praised as the “Bird of the Five Virtues.” In parent-child activities, adults guide children in making traditional feather shuttlecocks, allowing them to experience the enjoyment of traditional games.

Zodiac-themed activities: in activities such as “Golden Pheasant Steps into the Spring Radiance,” “Golden Pheasant Raises Its Crest,” “Pretty Golden Pheasant,” and “Ink Dance of the You Rooster,” children make Rooster dolls, create Rooster-crest hats, and take part in Golden Pheasant challenge events.

Cloth Rooster Sachets: sewn from colorful cloth in the form of a chicken and filled with fragrant herbs, these are hung from children’s clothing as toys.

Spring Roosters: cloth Spring Roosters worn by children at the Beginning of Spring.

Clay Roosters: common temple-fair toys, often brightly colored.

Feather Shuttlecocks: shuttlecocks made from chicken feathers, serving both as toys and sporting equipment.

The Shijing already contains references to chickens. Shijing·Zhengfeng·Fengyu includes the famous line “风雨如晦，鸡鸣不已”—even amid wind and rain, when the sky is dark, the rooster continues to crow without cease, symbolizing the gentleman’s steadfast integrity in troubled times. The Zhouli·Chunguan records officials responsible for the ritual use of chickens who also announced the time and kept watch at night; they were called “Chicken Men” (鸡人).

The Rooster’s five virtues are first described in the Han-dynasty Han Shi Waizhuan: “君独不见夫鸡乎？头戴冠者，文也；足傅距者，武也；敌在前敢斗者，勇也；见食相呼者，仁也；守夜不失时者，信也。” These five virtues—civil refinement, martial prowess, courage, benevolence, and trustworthiness—embody the moral ideals pursued by people.

The Youming Lu records that the Jin-dynasty scholar Song Chuzong kept a long-crowing rooster beside his window. The Rooster opened its mouth and conversed with him, displaying extraordinary eloquence and wisdom, and Song Chuzong’s own verbal skill improved greatly as a result. From this arose the literary allusion “Rooster Window” (鸡窗) as a term for a scholar’s study.

Tang dynasty: Li Bai wrote: “大鹏一日同风起，扶摇直上九万里。” Although the poem does not directly mention the Rooster, its heroic spirit resonates with the Rooster’s vigorous bearing. Wang Anshi wrote: “宫楼唱罢鸡人远，门阙朝归虎士闲。”

Song dynasty: Su Shi wrote verses involving chickens, using their diligence as a metaphor for human striving.

The Rooster in literati writing: “雄鸡一唱天下白”—when the rooster crows, the whole world turns bright—became a timeless expression of the Rooster’s association with sunrise and light. “金鸡忽放赦，大辟得宽赊” presents the Rooster as a messenger of illumination, bringing a sudden turn from darkness toward hope.

Golden Rooster Amnesty: a Golden Rooster was erected atop a tall pole as part of the ceremonial display accompanying the proclamation of an imperial amnesty, becoming a symbol of sovereign command. “金鸡忽放赦，大辟得宽赊。” Ancient emperors sometimes issued general amnesties in the form known as a “Golden Rooster Amnesty.”

The Rooster as command: the Zhouyi says: “巽为鸡，亦为号令。” The Rooster thus became a symbol of issuing commands.

The Rooster has been greatly loved by painters throughout the ages, serving as a vehicle through which artists expressed emotion and their longing for rural and pastoral life.

Earliest Rooster paintings: the earliest known Rooster paintings appear in Han-dynasty door-god imagery and mainly functioned as symbols for expelling evil.

Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern Dynasties: literati painting had already begun to include chickens as supporting motifs that enhanced the central theme.

Tang and Five Dynasties: paintings devoted specifically to pheasants began to appear.

Song dynasty: Song painters frequently depicted pheasants in sparse woodland and wild ravines, using meticulous techniques and rich colors.

Yuan dynasty: influenced by scholar-official painting, pheasant images were often rendered in fine ink brushwork, emphasizing the plain and elegant taste of the literati.

Ming and Qing dynasties: the precise and sumptuous court-academy style inherited from the Song and Yuan continued, while the freer, more unrestrained brushwork of literati painting gradually became mainstream.

Modern era: masters of bird-and-flower painting such as Ren Bonian, Qi Baishi, Xu Beihong, and Pan Tianshou each used their distinctive brushwork and artistic sensibility to continue and further develop the meanings associated with the Rooster.