What do the four elephants mean? Six interpretations of four images

Today's "four elephants" don't mean four elephants. In ancient China, "Four Elephants" also had many meanings.

So what exactly do the four elephants mean? How many layers of meaning?

Well, today I will explain it to you with geomantic numerology.

( 1)。 It refers to spring, summer, autumn and winter. Embodied in the hexagrams, it refers to the four images of Shaoyang, Lao Yang, Shaoyin and Laoyin. On Yi Cohesion: "Tai Chi gives birth to two instruments, two instruments give birth to four images, and four images give birth to gossip." I turned over the note and said, "Four elephants are also four o'clock." Peak note: "Four elephants are also at four o'clock. There are four elephants in each season, so it is called four elephants, and heaven and earth give birth to four seasons, so it is said that' two instruments give birth to four elephants'. On copula: "There are four images in the Book of Changes, so I also show them." Peak Note: "Four Elephants: Shaoyang, Lao Yang, Shaoyin and Laoyin." Tang Luyan's poem "Remembering Jiangnan" says: "Eight diagrams and nine palaces look at the palm, and the five elements and four images are in the human body." Zhulei Volume 137: "The Book of Changes has only the coupling of yin and yang, and there are four images, such as spring is shaoyang, summer is shaoyin, autumn is shaoyin and winter is laoyin." Refers to gold, wood, water and fire. Embodied in hexagrams, there are real images, virtual images, positive images and real images. 【 Yi, cohesion 】 See 《 Kongshu 》.

(2)。 In ancient times, it was used to represent the stars in the east, north, west and south of the sky. That is, there are black dragons in the east, basalts in the north, white tigers in the west and suzaku in the south.

(3)。 Refers to the sun, the moon, the stars and the morning. The first journey to the west: "the sun, the moon and the stars are in the morning, which is called the four elephants."

(4)。 Refers to yin, yang, rigidity, softness or luck, fierceness, regret and meanness. Wang Fuzhi's "The Great Righteousness of Zhang Zizheng and Zhu Meng" in Qing Dynasty: "There are four images of heaven and earth, namely yin, yang, rigidity and softness. The four images of Yi are auspicious, fierce, regretful and stingy. "

(5)。 It refers to the four requirements of leisure, fluency, harmony and elegance. Qing Gong Zizhen's "The Final Theory of the Five Classics": "A saint who can be famous has four images: leisure, smoothness, harmony and elegance."

(6)。 It refers to the pictographs, images, images and sounds of the six books. In Qing Dynasty, Fang Yizhi wrote the hypothesis: "Six books should be divided into six parts. The same is true of Ban Guyun's pictographs, images, images, images, sounds, borrowings and notes. The four elephants are the classics, and the weft is borrowed. "