The meaning of five elements
Five elements can be derived from gossip: five elements
Five elements: fire, water and earth in Jin Mu. When it comes to the five elements, some people think they are superstitious. Some people even say that it is five kinds of substances, corresponding to metals, trees, running water, fire and earth in nature. The five elements are actually five qi, which are compared to five substances and are the description of the image. Of course, it makes sense to turn gas into things. It is said to be five things, but we can't steal the column. Five gases are fundamental.
From the beginning, the connotation of one is enough for us to study. Maybe many people don't understand it for a long time, and foreigners don't understand it. It is divided into two parts, which are drawn as "-"and "-"respectively, that is, Yin and Yang are two devices and Yin and Yang are fundamental. Do foreigners understand yin and yang? We in China didn't understand until we said it, and we still have a little knowledge. The ancients in China studied Yin and Yang thoroughly, and it has developed into a theory of Yin and Yang. Yin and Yang alone can explain everything in the world. For example, the seasons corresponding to Yin and Yang are summer and winter. Yin and Yang are divided into four images, the sun, shaoyang, Taiyin and shaoyin, corresponding to 1, 3, 2 and 4. Yang is single and Yin is double. Why? I can't understand it. Sun, shaoyang corresponds to 1, 3, Taiyin, shaoyin corresponds to 2, 4. The sun is 1, the sun is 3, the sun is 2, and the sun is 4, which is also the origin of the 1234 order. The ancients invented the number 1234. The sun corresponds to the sun, and the lunar corresponds to the moon. The sun is pure and firm, and the moon is pure and soft. Shaoyang is wood, the sun is fire, Shaoyin is gold and Taiyin is water, corresponding to four seasons: Chun Mu, summer fire, autumn gold and winter water. The sun is bright in summer, so the sun is the fire in summer, and Chun Mu is the sun. It should be understandable here. It seems simple to divide things into four images of yin and yang now, but this is knowledge more than 3 thousand years ago. It is even more difficult to associate the four images of Yin and Yang with numbers. Even people today may not be able to do it. Is the ancient people's thinking jumping?
Anode and yin, cathode and yang, this should also be understood, and there are many examples to prove it in reality. How did the ancients get it? Is it true that observing nature leads to such a highly generalized and universally applicable principle? The ancients in China were not simple, so we should learn ancient culture with more awe, and don't scold them. In fact, many problems can be solved by the ancients now, but we are ignorant, shallow and ugly. 1 is the beginning of yang and 2 is the beginning of yin, so just now the sun was 1 and the lunar was 2, which is wrong and needs to be corrected. So the beginning of the sun turning cloudy is 2, the corresponding fire is 2, the beginning of the lunar calendar turning yang is 1, and the corresponding water is 1. The ancients thought it was magical here, so the water.
Five elements characteristics
[First perspective]
This view originated from Hong Fan. Today, many people understand it as:
Characteristics of wood: sunrise in the east, similar to wood. The ancients called it "the wood is straight." "Straight" actually refers to the growth form of trees, which are straight branches that extend upward and around. Therefore, things with growth, rising and smooth functions or characteristics belong to wood.
Characteristics of fire: it is hot in the south, similar to fire. The ancients called it "adding fuel to the fire." "Shang Yan" means that fire has the characteristics of warmth and rising. So what is warm and uplifting belongs to fire.
Soil characteristics: the Central Plains is fertile and similar to soil. The ancients called it "soil and crops", which means that soil has the function of planting and harvesting crops. Therefore, things with biochemical and bearing functions belong to soil. Therefore, there is a saying that "soil carries four lines" and "soil is the mother of all things".
Characteristics of gold; The sun sets, like gold. The ancients called it "the golden jade is outside, and the defeat is among them." "From the skin" means "change". Everything that has cleanliness, depression and astringency belongs to gold.
Characteristics of water: it is cold in the north, similar to water. The ancients said, "Water is moist." It means that the water is wet and downward. Everything that is cold, moist and flowing downwards belongs to water.
[second view]
This view originates from the annotation of contemporary scholar Nie Dui.
The nature of the five elements should be considered from three aspects: "calming qi", "not being as good as" and "passing". Gas is flat, wood says it is flat, fire says it is rising, soil says it is prepared, gold says it is flat, and water says it is flat and stable; Let's say: wood says Yue Wei and peace, fire says prosperity, earth says humble prison, gold says separation, and water says dry flow. Too much: wood said it happened, fire said it was sunrise, soil said it was mound, gold said it was solid, and water said it was flowing. Considering these three aspects, we can understand the understanding of life self-maintenance in Chinese medicine thinking. Different understanding of human ability is the difference between Chinese and western medicine.
In the history of China's philosophy, the five elements thought category: "The above has analyzed the various meanings of the five elements. For the sake of clarity, these meanings are listed as follows:
(1) refers to the five principles of behavior, which are suspected to be held by Xunzi.
(2) It refers to five physical properties such as Shangshu Hongfan and Zhou Zi's Taiji Illustration.
(3) refers to the five essential material conditions of life, such as those held by Cai Mo in Zuo Zhuan.
(4) Five classification principles in taxonomy, such as Lv Chunqiu.
(5) It refers to five "existing forms" that exist through the flow of Yin and Yang, such as Baihutong and Huangdi Neijing Suwen.
(6) refers to wood (plants), fire, earth, gold and running water. Their symbolic meanings are vitality, activity or change, gestation or cultivation, prohibition and concealment. Xiao Ji took this.
The above five elements and six meanings, except (1) and (3), if the other four items (2), (4), (5) and (6) are combined, are the complete meanings of the five elements in the thought of Yin-Yang and Five Elements.
Classification of five elements of objects
Characteristics of palace quotient angle of pentatonic scale