On the theory of four images of geomantic omen
In the traditional culture of China, the four elephants refer to the dragon, the white tiger, the suzaku and the Xuanwu, representing the four directions of east, west, north and south respectively, which originated from the belief in stars in ancient China. In "Twenty-eight Nights", four images are used to divide the stars in the sky, also known as four gods and four spirits. In the theory of astronomical yin and yang in the Spring and Autumn Period, the four images refer to the natural weather of the four seasons. The concept of "Four Elephants" was highly valued in ancient Japan and Korea, which were often called "Four Saints" and "Four Holy Beasts".
Classification of four images
The ancients imagined the seven nights in the east, west, north and south as four animal images, called "four elephants". Seven nights in the East Palace are like flying dragons in the air in early spring and early summer nights, so they are called "East Palace Black Dragon". The seven nights in the north appear as snakes and turtles in the night sky in summer and early autumn, so it is called "Gong Bei Xuan Wu"; The seven-night tiger in the west jumps out of the night sky in late autumn and early winter, so it is called "West Palace White Tiger"; Seven nights in the south are like a suzaku spreading its wings and flying, appearing in the night sky in winter and early spring, so it is called "Nangong Suzaku". In ancient China, astrology refers to the black dragon in the east, the white tiger in the west, Suzaku in the south and Xuanwu in the north.
Second, the source of the four elephants
1 originated from the belief in the stars in ancient China.
Qinglong-the patron saint of the East in Taoism
In ancient China, the sky was divided into four regions: east, north, west and south, which were called "four elephants", namely, the black dragon elephant in the east, the Xuanwu (tortoise and snake) elephant in the north, the white tiger elephant in the west and the suzaku elephant in the south. This "four elephants" is the image of four animals imagined by the ancients by connecting seven nights in each direction. For example, in the Oriental Black Dragon, the horns are like dragon horns, the rafters are like dragons, and the tails are like dragon tails. The southern rosefinch is like a bird of hibiscus, with a beak, a star for its neck, a piece of zinc and a feather purlin for its wings. Later, the ancients matched it with yin and yang, five elements, five parties and five colors, so there were Oriental Dragon, Western White Tiger, Southern Suzaku and Northern Xuanwu. Later, it was applied to military pits and ranks and became the patron saint of marching and fighting. For example, in the Book of Rites Quli, "OK, the former Zhu bird (sparrow) and then Xuanwu, the left Qinglong and the right white tiger, shaking in the building." Hao Chen wrote, "Yes, the army will leave. Suzaku, Xuanwu, Qinglong, Tiger, the name of the Quartet. " Then he said, "Liu, the flags are flying, all of them are flying, dragon flag nine, sparrow seven, tiger six, tortoise and snake four." In other words, its manifestation is to draw "four elephants" on the standard to show the front, back, left and right military formations, boost morale and achieve invincible goals. On its function, The Thirteen Classics, Book of Rites, Quli and Shang Notes says: "It is like a bird flying, like the poison of a tortoise and a snake, and the prosperity of a dragon and a tiger is incomparable with these four things." It can be seen that its role is great.
2. From Taoism
After the rise of Taoism, following the old saying, Qinglong, Baihu, Suzaku and Xuanwu were brought into the spiritual system, and as the guardian gods, they were extremely majestic. Bao Puzi Miscellaneous English quoted the Immortal Classic to describe the image of the old gentleman in Taishang, saying that there were twelve green dragons on the left, twenty-six white tigers on the right, twenty-four suzaku in front and seventy-two Xuanwu in the back. Very imposing, really imposing. Later, the four elephants were gradually personified and had their titles. According to the Secret of the Seven Yuan Purple Extension in the Arctic, the name of Qinglong is Meng Zhang Shen Jun, the name of White Tiger is Shen Jun, the name of Suzaku is Ling Shen Guang Jun, and the name of Xuanwu is Meiji Shen Jun. Soon, the belief in Xuanwu (Zhenwu) gradually expanded, and it stood out from the four elephants and became the "Great Emperor". Qinglong and Baihu are included in the list of door gods, specifically guarding the Taoist temple gate. Fan Zhineng's "Yueyang Geography" in the Song Dynasty said: "There are two gods in Laozi Temple, called Qinglong and Baihu." Yao Ming's Shu Guan, a private record of Changshu, said: "There are two great gods at the entrance to the Taoist temple, the dragon god on the left and the white tiger god on the right.
The mysterious study of three or four images
1, four elephants and twenty-eight nights
In ancient times, people divided the constellations in the sky into 28 nights. Because of their poor memory, they divided them into four parts and replaced them with an animal image called four elephants. Seven Oriental Hostels: Angle, Sound, Correlation, Room, Mind, Tail and Body; Seven nights in the north: sinus, cow (morning glory), female (bearded female), emptiness, danger, house (barracks) and wall (east wall); Seven Nights in the West: Que, Lou, Stomach, Chang, Bi, Gou and Shen; Seven nights in the south: essence (cave essence), ghost (Yu ghost), willow, star (seven stars), Zhang, wing and Yi. In addition, there are some star officials who are closely related to these star officials, such as tomb, detached palace, ear, chop, graupel, corpse accumulation, right jurisdiction, left jurisdiction, Changsha, shrine and so on. , respectively, attached to the room, dangerous room, Bi, ginseng, well, ghost, tail, known as auxiliary officials or auxiliary seats.
2. Four images and colors
Twenty-eight huts are divided into four groups according to the northeast and southwest directions. Each group has seven huts with four colors, five kinds and four kinds of animal images, which are called four elephants or four places. The corresponding relationship is as follows: Oriental black dragon, cyan; Xuanwu in the north, black; White tiger in the west, white; Southern Suzaku, red.
3. The formation of the concept of "Four Elephants" in Twenty-eight Youth Hostels
The concept of four elephants and twenty-eight lodgings was formed very early, and it was recorded at the beginning of the Warring States Period. Later, in the Book of Rites Quli, it was said: "Before the trip, Zhu bird followed Xuanwu, left Qinglong and right White Tiger." Confucius said, "Zhu Bird, Xuanwu, Qinglong and Baihu are also named after these four places." In the Han Dynasty, the book Shang Shu Kao Ling Yao said: "Twenty-eight nights are the vitality of the sky and the essence of everything. Therefore, the Oriental Corner, Kang, Bian, Fu, Heart, Tail and Basket are seven nights, and their shape is like a dragon, which is called Zuo Qinglong. Nanjing, Ghost, Willow, Star, Zhang, Wing and Bird stayed for seven nights, which looked like quail birds and were called' former Suzaku'. In the west, there are Wei Xiao, Lou, Wei, Chang, Bi, Gou and Shen for seven nights, which are shaped like tigers and called' right white tigers'. North, fighting, cows, women, emptiness, danger, rooms and walls are seven nights. Shaped like a tortoise and snake, it is called' post-Xuanwu'. "
4. Aliases of four elephants
(1) Taoism personifies this celestial phenomenon and gives it a name, color and work to pay tribute to it. "Seven Stars Cloud" Volume 24 "Twenty-four Nights" said: "A is the God of Guanyang, the Lord of Stars, the God of Jiuyang, surnamed Bin Ming, dressed in green and mysterious clothes, and the Lord of Stars. B follows the official Yin God, who is the Lord of Kangxing God. There are four Yin gods, surnamed Sima. The horse's head is naked, dressed in red light clothing, holding a sword, and prospering the Lord. " (2) The remaining 26 lodgings are of this kind. The book Tai Shang Shen Dong Sun, Moon and Five Stars describes the appearance and behavior of Twenty-eight Hostels. As the saying goes, "The essence of the star of the claw often travels in the temple after the birthday in spring, with a moustache and a temple, asking questions about Zen rituals, ... or swimming to the hotel to drink by himself, ... asking the knower, showing more people's skills of health preservation and sowing." "Kang, Di and Fang are the essence of Samsung. They often wear green clothes, walk around each other on the bases of Yin and Mao, ... swim in the crowd or in lent, and the four elephants (four spirits) synthesized with ... twenty-eight lodges are more respected by Taoism. The main feature is to use it as a patron saint. (3) Ge Hong's "Miscellaneous Answers in Bao Puzi" takes it as the bodyguard of the old gentleman in Taishang, saying that the old gentleman "has twelve dragons on the left, twenty-six white tigers on the right, twenty-four suzaku in front and seventy-two basalts behind"; He also said, "This matter comes from the immortal scriptures." (4) The secret of prolonging life is that the seven-yuan pavilion of the Northern Emperor is even named: "On the left, there is a blue dragon, and on the right, there is a white tiger, a prison soldier. In front of it, there is a rosefinch named Lingguang, and then there is a Xuanwu named Zhiming. They build festivals and hold buildings, and they are surrounded by bells and drums. "(5) this is the patron saint of Taoist priests. Later, Taoist temples also carved statues of green dragons and white tigers in front of the mountain gates as the patron saints of the temple. In the Qing Dynasty, Yao Fujun's "Casting Ding Yu Wen" has a cloud: "Song Fanzhineng's" Yueyang Customs Records "says:' There are Er Shen in Laozi Temple, so-called Qinglong and White Tiger." Yao Ming Zong Yi's "Private Records of Changshu" describes the scene of the temple: "There are two great gods at the entrance of the Taoist temple, Alina Zhang, the god of Qinglong, on the left and the god of white tiger on the right". "Sifang and Siling have only been regarded as patrons since ancient times, and their status is not very high.
5. The difference between Four Spirits and Four Gods
Qinglong, Baihu, Suzaku and Xuanwu are the four gods, Kirin, Phoenix and Dragon Turtle. The biggest difference between the two is Kirin. According to the classification of ancient organisms in China, organisms can be divided into five categories: scales, feathers, ostriches, hairs and nudes, and classified according to their body surface characteristics. Four spirits are the top creatures in scales, feathers and ostrich pyramids. His works in Spring and Autumn Annals died soon. People think that Kirin does not bring auspicious omen, so it is not included in the Four Gods. However, in the Han Dynasty, Kirin was still added to astronomy, and the middle palace was named Huang Lin, which was also called the Five Beasts with the Four Gods.
6. The origin of four elephants and twenty-eight hotels
Lu Si is actually the middle part of the four astrological phenomena, that is, the most important astrologer (constellation) in each of the four astrological phenomena. To say "the stars in the sun are in Yin Zhongchun", "the sparks in the sun are always in midsummer", "the stars in the night are empty in Yin Zhongqiu" and "the stars in the sun are short in the middle of winter" is to observe the gradual formation of stars and hearts. That's right. There are four elephants and 28 huts painted on the box of the tomb of Zeng Houyi (that is, the tomb mentioned above), but the lack of Gong Bei is considered to imply the death of the owner of the tomb. In addition, Xiguan's paintings are like tigers, and some people regard them as the foundation of the Western Palace. But in the ancient tombs unearthed in Xishuipo, there are already dragons and tigers and white tigers. In addition, the Nangong where Suzaku is located consists of a quail head, a quail fire and a quail tail three times. All this shows that Suzaku is a quail, but it is unsightly to be juxtaposed with the other three elephants. So in the Han dynasty, it was replaced by a red peacock, and later it was a phoenix.
7. Evolution of Four Elephants
With the gradual enrichment of Taoist gods, the status of the four gods has gradually declined, and the function of guarding the quartet has been replaced by the Four Seas Dragon King. In folk tales, dragons and white tigers are born generals and enemies for generations, but they are always white tigers and dragons. Finally, he became a Taoist goalkeeper. Suzaku almost disappeared into the myth. Only Xuanwu became a nine-day god, that is, the god of Tian Xuan, the northern emperor of Zhenwu.
8. Four images and directions
As the orientation of the "Four Elephants", it has been recorded in the Book of Rites Quli in the pre-Qin period: "Zhu bird goes forward and then Xuanwu, left Qinglong and right white tiger." "Sparse": "The front south and back north, the right west, the Zhu bird, the Xuanwu, the Qinglong and the White Tiger are also named." Here, Suzaku is Suzaku. The concept of "Zuo Dong owns the West" is different from looking at a map. The current maps are all up north and down south, left west and right east. The map of the ancients was upside down, with a north-south trend, so it became "Zuo Dong's right and west".
9. Four Elephants and Feng Shui
Mr. Feng Shui applies the "Four Elephants" to the terrain, and uses the images and actions of the "Four Elephants" to compare the terrain, which is accompanied by good and bad luck. "Biography of the Three Kingdoms and Guan Ju" records: "Ge went west with the army, passed the tomb of Wu, leaned against the tree and mourned, and was unhappy. It is said that although trees are lush, they can bloom for a long time. Although the tablet looks good, there is nothing to keep. Xuanwu hides its head, the black dragon has no feet, the white tiger hugs its body, and the rosefinch cries sadly. It is necessary to prepare for the four dangers, so the law will be extinct. But after two years, it should be gone. " This is based on the fact that the four elephants are in a state of four dangers, and it is judged that Wu will be extinct within two years. Guo Pu also preached this point in "Buried Classics", saying: "Classics, Classics and Classics have four potentials, and qi comes from all directions. So on the left is the dragon, the white tiger, Suzaku in front and Xuanwu in the back. Xuanwu hangs its head, Suzaku dances, Qinglong winds and white tigers tame. If the situation is reversed, it should be against the law. Therefore, the tiger crouched and said the corpse, the dragon crouched and said the Lord was jealous, Xuanwu refused to hang the corpse, Suzaku did not dance, the soil returned to its position, and the jade measured its distance. Those who regard branches as dragons and tigers will stop at hills, such as elbows and arms, which is called embracing. Those who use water as a rosefinch are in line with the shape, and they are afraid of turmoil, which is called weeping. "
Different concepts of 10 and four images
Four images of Zhouyi: Sun-Shaoyin-Shaoyang-Taiyin: There are four elephants and four baby elephants. The four elephants are pure dry (pure yang)-dry (yang)-Kun (yin)-Kun (pure yin). The little four elephants are lunar calendars without yang, yin and yang.
1 1, the correspondence between four images and twenty-eight guest houses.
East: the tail dustpan in the center of the room in Qinglong Corner.
North: Xuanwu virtual dangerous building wall.
Lucy: White Tiger Quelou's stomach is full of ginseng.
Nan: Suzakui, Ghost Liu Xing and Zhang Yiting.