The wisdom of the I Ching has always been regarded as one of the representatives of the highest wisdom of Chinese traditional culture, and it has been throughout the historical development of China, and all fields of ancient China, such as politics, economy, culture, education, architecture, medicine, etc., have been deeply influenced by the I Ching. The knowledge of the I Ching, such as yin and yang, the five elements, and the eight trigrams, has been valued by the Chinese dynasties, and even the naming of each dynasty has been branded with the five elements.
In ancient China, in order to distinguish themselves from the previous dynasties, in order to show that they had inherited the mantle of the previous dynasty or reformed the life of the previous dynasty, the founding emperors also liked to use the relationship between the five elements to explain politics and name the country.
From the perspective of Chinese history, there are two main ways for emperors to go to the world, one is the ancient period of Chan Rang;The second is the uprising or revolution itself to replace the previous dynasty. According to these two different ways of obtaining the world, the emperors also divided into two situations in naming the country name: one is to use the symbiotic relationship of the five elements to name the country name, which is applicable to the so-called Zen of the Tang and Yu styles;The other is to use the relationship between the five elements to name the country, which is applicable to those countries that came from the Shang and Zhou style conquests.
Before the Han Dynasty, no matter which way the ruler obtained the world, but when the regime was changed and handed over, the ruler still liked to hypocritically use the Tang and Yu Chan sets. Therefore, at this time, the explanatory statement about the nature of the country and the name of the country is popular with the theory of the symbiosis of the five elements. For example, we say it most often"Three Emperors and Five Emperors"It was once included in this five-element symbiotic relationship by the Han Dynasty scholar Liu Xin, who believed that Taihao Fuxi was wood, Yandi Shennong was fire, Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan was earth, Shaohao Jin Tianshi was gold, and Gaoyang was waterThe emperor beast Gao Xin is wood, Di Yao Tao Tang is fire, Di Shun Youyu is earth, Bo Yu Xia Hou is gold, and Yin Shang is waterThe Zhou Dynasty was wood, the Qin Dynasty was leap water, the Han Dynasty was fire, the Xin Mang was earth, and so on. In short, there is a symbiotic relationship between the former dynasty and the later dynasty.
After the Song Dynasty, due to foreign invasions, the change of dynasties was generally accompanied by conquest and war between ethnic groups, and the political struggle was already white-hot, so there was no need to use the fig leaf of Zen anymore. As a result, the relationship between the former dynasty and the later dynasty has become a life-and-death relationship between you and me, that is, a relationship of mutual restraint.
For example, the emperor of the Song Dynasty was surnamed Zhao, and the surname Zhao was Wuyin"Corners", the five elements belong to wood, and Zhao Kuangyin in front of the yellow robe was also the envoy of the Songzhou return to the German army at that time, so the name of the newly established dynasty is"Song"。The northern minority regime established by Wan Yanmin, who destroyed the Liao at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, was named the country"Kim", has the meaning of gold and wood.
Later, the Jin state was replaced by the Mongol Khanate. In 1271, Kublai Khan, the third leader of the Mongol Khanate, gave the country a name"Meta", named Jingshi"Dadu"。Its theoretical source is the Book of Changes:""Qian", Yuan Heng, Li Zhen. ......"Elephant" said: Dazai Qianyuan, the beginning of ten thousand materials, is the unification of the sky. The clouds are raining, and the quality is flowing. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the six became ......The first out of the house, Xianning of all countries. "Visible,"Meta"It means"Dry"for"Great", and the gossip in it"Dry"The five elements of the hexagram belong to gold, so the country name is taken"Meta", also has the meaning of gold kemu. In 1279, Kublai Khan finally destroyed the Southern Song Dynasty and established the powerful Yuan Empire.
In 1368, Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming regime, conquered Dadu in the same year, and overthrew the Yuan Dynasty.
Like the previous dynasty, the reason why Zhu Yuanzhang set the name of the country is"Ming", the theoretical source of which also comes from the Book of Changes:""Qian", Yuan Heng, Li Zhen. ......At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the six became ......The first out of the house, Xianning of all countries. "It's just that Zhu Yuanzhang wants to take it"Daming"That is, the fire of the sun, went to the dry gold of the Keyuan Dynasty.
According to traditional Feng Shui theory, there is a correspondence between the five elements and the five colors, i.e., gold is white, wood is cyan, water is black, fire is red, and earth is yellow. I don't know if it's providence or coincidence, Zhu Yuanzhang's surname is exactly Zhu, Zhu is red, the five lines are fire, and fire symbolizes righteousness, so the country name is"Ming", that is, it has the meaning of overcoming gold with fire, and at the same time, it also coincides with the surname Zhu.
Now, when it comes to the Northeast, people like to use it"White mountains and black waters"to refer to one of them"White Mountain"Yes"Changbai Mountain","Blackwater"Yes"Heilongjiang"。In 1616, active"White mountains and black waters"Nurhachi established a regime in the northeast, using the old historical name and naming the country"Kim", the history says"Houjin"。Maybe it's worry"Kim"be"Daming"In 1636, Huang Taiji changed the name of the country to restrain it"Clear", take gold to produce water, water and fire meaning. In 1644, the Qing soldiers dominated the Central Plains. "Great Qing Dynasty"The waters have finally been extinguished"Daming"of fire.
In 1911, the Xinhai Revolution"Great Qing Dynasty"Fall, the following year"China**"Establish. According to Feng Shui theory, gold is the west, wood is the east, water is the north, fire is the south, and earth is **. The land of the Central Plains will eventually overcome the waters of the North"China"Supersede"Great Qing Dynasty"It seems to make sense.
From the wood of the Song Dynasty, to the gold of the Yuan Dynasty, to the fire of the Ming Dynasty, to the water of the Qing Dynasty, and then to the soil of the Qing Dynasty, in the past 1,000 years, Chinese history has experienced a cycle of five elements.
Some people think that the use of the five elements to explain the change of dynasties in Chinese history is really unique and refreshing, while others think that this is far-fetched and rigid by later generations, and does not conform to the logic of historical development at all. Which statement do you think is reasonable?