華夏傳統十二生肖的文化源遠流長，每個華人從出生之日起，就與生肖文化密切相關，因此相關的文創商品隨處可見。其實十二生肖與「地支」關係十分密切，即「子－鼠、丑－牛、寅－虎、卯－兔、辰－龍、巳－蛇、午－馬、未－羊、申－猴、酉－雞、戌－狗、亥－豬」，最早出現在東漢思想家王充的《論衡》中。在十二生肖的文化淵源方面，雖眾說紛紜，但較為可信者有：源於「中國北方民族説」及「源於圖騰崇拜說」。其原因在於湖北省《雲夢睡虎地秦簡》與甘肅省《天水放馬灘秦簡》的出土，此二簡約當戰國時代晚期至秦初之間，遠早於其他各說的時間。至於十二生肖的起源，由三星堆文化（距今4000~3100 年）所出土的文物中，已有十二生肖中的10 種動物，占全部生肖動物的83%，並顯現十二生肖發展的趨勢，已逐漸開始定型。

The traditional Chinese zodiac (twelve-animal symbols) culture has a long history. Since every Chinese is closely related to the zodiac culture from the day of birth, relevant cultural and creative products can be found everywhere. In fact, the Zodiac is closely related to the “Earthly Branches”, that is,” zǐ- Rat, chǒu- Ox, yín- Tiger, mǎo- Rabbit, chén- Dragon, sì- Snake, wǔ- Horse, wèi- Sheep, shēn- Monkey, yǒu- Rooster, xū- Dog, hài- Pig.” It first appeared in the “Lun Heng” by Wang Chong (27 - 97 AD), a renowned astronomer, and philosopher in Eastern Han Dynasty. Regarding the cultural origins of the zodiac, despite many different sayings, two credible doctrines stood out: “rom the northern Chinese people” and “from the totem worship,” based on the unearthed “Yunmeng Shuihudi Qin Bamboo inscription” from Hubei province, and the “Tianshui Fangmatan Qin Bamboo inscription” from Gansu province. These two Bamboo inscriptions were produced between the late Warring States period and early Qin dynasty (300 to 220 B.C.), much earlier than the rest of other doctrines. As to the origins of Chinese zodiac, the animals unearthed by the Sanxingdui culture (4,000 to 3100 years ago) have already contained 10 species of animals, which accounted for more than 83% of all zodiac animals in their latest format. At that time the development trend of Chinese zodiac also began to shape up.