The four images in the original meaning of the Book of Changes refer to the different states of the four yin and yang momentum: less yin, less yang, sun (old yang), and too yin (old yin). Elephant is the meaning of image, state, symbol and analogy, which is a means and method of classification and analysis of things by the ancients to understand the world. The state of operation of celestial bodies is called celestial phenomena, the topographic state of the ground is called earth phenomena, and the spring, summer, autumn and winter are called four elephants, also known as the four seasons. In the Book of Changes, the state of hexagrams and hexagrams is called hexagram and hexagram.
Among the four images, less yin and less yang are the initial states of things, which are more stable, less yang is the state of gradual increase of masculinity and reaches the balance of yin and yang, and less yin is the state of gradual increase of newest and reaches the balance of yin and yang;The sun and the yin are the manifestations of the anode and the cathode respectively, which are the ultimate state of the development of things, which is unstable and about to change, moving in opposite directions. This is also the truth that is often said that "the extreme of things must be opposed".
The origin of the four elephants
The term "four elephants" first came from "Yi Ji Ci Shang": "Yi has Taiji, which is to give birth to two yi, two yi to give birth to four elephants, and four elephants to give birth to gossip". The sages called the primitive and infinite chaotic state of the universe at the beginning of the universe and before the division of heaven and earth as Tai Chi, and Tai Chi moved to differentiate into yin and yang. Yin and Yang are opposites and unified, there is yang in yin, yin in yang, yin in yang, yin in yin, yin and yang, one eliminates the other, and transforms each other. According to the composition and degree of yin and yang, the changes of the four images are produced.
On the basis of the four elephants, due to the continued action of the power of yin and yang, a new combination of yin and yang is generated. The sun can be divided into the yang of the sun and the yin of the sun, that is, the hexagram and the hexagram;Shaoyin can be divided into the yang of less yin and the yin of less yin, that is, the separation hexagram and the shock hexagram;Shaoyang can be divided into the yang of Shaoyang and the yin of Shaoyang, that is, Xun hexagram and Kan hexagram;Taiyin can be divided into the yang of Taiyin and the yin of Taiyin, that is, the Gen hexagram and the Kun hexagram. Qian, Dui, Li, Zhen, Xun, Kan, Gen, and Kun are the first combination of yin and yang, collectively known as "Bagua", and this process is "Four Elephants Born Bagua".
Four Elephants and Five Elements
Ziping Zhenquan said: "Between heaven and earth, there is only one breath, only movement, and then yin and yang." There were young and old, and they were divided into four elephants. When the old man is extremely active and quiet, it is because the sun is too cloudy;When the few are first moving and quiet, it is for less yin and less yang. There are four images, and the five elements are embodied in them. The water is too yin;The fire, the sun also;The wood, the less yang, the gold, the less yin;The earth, yin and yang, old and young, wood, fire, gold, and water are also knotted."
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Zhou Yi Zhengyi also believes that the four images born of Liangyi are wood fire and gold water, shaking wood is spring, leaving fire is summer, gold is autumn, kanshui is winter, each master is for a while, and the earth is prosperous in the four seasons, that is, the last month of each season. From spring to summer, the five elements change from water to wood, and the yin energy gradually decreases, and the yang energy gradually risesFrom autumn to winter, the five elements change from fire to gold, and the yang energy gradually decreases and the yin energy gradually rises.
The use of wood, fire, and gold water to represent the four common concepts of Shaoyang, Sun, Shaoyin, and Taiyin has been given philosophical meaning and become the "Four Elephants". When the ancients believed that other things and phenomena were similar to wood, fire, earth, metal, and water, they could use the five elements to represent their imagery. For example, in the course of life, wood, fire, metal, and water can represent birth, growth, old age, and death, respectively, and these four continuous processes, from nothing to being (birth), from being to being (long), from being to being (old), from strong to weak (old), and from weak to nothing (death).
The image of the four elephants
The concept of the four elephants has gradually evolved over the course of history and has been endowed with more connotations. For example, the four symbols of the moon are the hope, the new moon, the upper chord, and the lower chord, and the four elephants of the earthly branch are the son, the meridian, the mao, and the unitary. In the Song and Yuan dynasties, the four images of the Book of Changes were equated with the four images of astronomy and geography. In the Book of Changes, it is mentioned that "the image is formed in the heavens and the earth", so the sun, moon and stars become the four images of the sky, and the wood, fire, gold and water become the four images of the earth. Each of these elements is divided into yin and yang, forming eight different forms, like the eight trigrams, symbolizing the change and balance of various forces in the universe. This idea has deeply influenced ancient Chinese culture and philosophy, and is still widely inherited and applied today.
The four images in astronomy, also known as the "four spirits", are regarded as "the four spirits of the heavens, with the four directions". By observing the stars, the ancients chose twenty-eight constellations near the ecliptic equator as coordinates. These 28 nakshatras are divided into four directions, south, east, west, and north, and there are seven nakshatras in each direction. They correspond to the image of an animal respectively, such as the Oriental Horn, Kang, Di, Fang, Heart, Tail, Kei Qisu, the horn is like a dragon's horn, the Difang is like a dragon's body, and the tail is like a dragon's tail, they are connected like a dragon rising in the air, so the Oriental Qisu is called the Green Dragon;The southern seven houses, the willow, the willow, the star, the zhang, the wing, and the seven houses, the willow is the beak, the star is the neck, the zhang is the bird, and the wings are the feathers, and they are connected like a bird that spreads its wings and flies, so the seven houses in the south are called the red bird;The seven houses of the north, the bull, the woman, the void, the danger, the room, the wall, like a turtle walking slowly, because it is located in the north called Xuan, the body has scales and armor called Wu, so the northern seven houses are called Xuanwu;In the west, there are Kui, Lou, stomach, Ang, Bi, Mi, and Shen Qisu, like a tiger leaping forward, so the Western Qisu is called the White Tiger.
"Funeral Sutra" cloud: "It is said that there are four potentials in the earth, and the qi comes from all directions. Therefore, the burial is a green dragon on the left, a white tiger, a red bird in the front, and a Xuanwu in the back. Xuanwu hangs its head, the vermilion bird dances, the green dragon meanders, and the white tiger tames. The situation is the opposite, and the law should be broken".
In traditional Chinese Feng Shui, the concept of the orientation of the south on top and the north on the bottom is different from the modern one. Therefore, when describing the orientation of the four elephants, the green dragon (east), the white tiger (west), the red bird (south), and the Xuanwu (north) are also represented. At the same time, the East and the West, the South and the North in the Five Elements Theory are also corresponded, so as to indicate the relationship between the five elements and mutual restraint. This concept of orientation has a very important position in traditional Chinese culture and is widely used in architecture, home furnishing and other aspects.