As the saying goes: "The little finger passes the three levels, and there is food and clothing when you are old", this saying full of folk wisdom has aroused people's curiosity. What does it mean to pass the three levels? Is there a deep truth behind this proverb? This question involves many aspects of life, folk traditions, and wisdom proverbs, and raises questions about the wisdom behind ancient proverbs.
Let's dive into this philosophical world of proverbs and reveal the ins and outs of the saying "little finger passes the three levels", and whether it contains practical life truths. Perhaps, this is a fascinating journey of exploration of wisdom, philosophy of life and cultural heritage, waiting for us to reveal its meaning.
Physiognomy, ancient Chinese exploration of the mysteries of the human body, analysis of the mystery of fate of the Qi Men Dun Jia. And the little finger length also has a place in its theoretical system.
According to legend, in the last years of the Shang Dynasty, there was a face master named Yan Ying. He discovered that the length of a person's little finger is closely related to the fate of his life, so he created the saying that "the little finger passes the three levels".
According to Yan Ying's theory, if a person's little finger is longer than three knuckles, it is "little finger through three levels", which indicates that he will be successful, rich and healthy. On the contrary, those with shorter pinky fingers are doomed to a bumpy and turbulent fate.
This seemingly bizarre statement was quite popular among literati and scholars during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. There are even princes and nobles who specially ask the physiognomist to identify the length of their little finger or that of their descendants, and when they see that they have passed the three levels, they praise them and have high hopes for their future.
At the same time, some older generations will also measure the baby's blessing by "passing the three levels with the little finger", believing that it is a gift from God. Gradually, this simple proverb has become widely spread among the people and has become an important criterion for predicting a person's fate, profoundly affecting people's value orientation and even marriage choices.
"Little finger passes the three levels" also has a unique interpretation in Chinese medicine. As early as the Eastern Han Dynasty, the medical saint Zhang Zhongjing noticed the close relationship between the little finger and multiple organs of the human body.
He wrote in "The Golden Essentials": "The use of the little finger is the heart and the kidneys. The elders are rich and rich, and the short are decrepit. It can be seen that the length of the little finger is related to a person's physique and innate endowment in his opinion.
This view has also been inherited and carried forward by later generations of physicians. Li Shizhen, a medical master of the Ming Dynasty, also has a similar record in his medical masterpiece "Compendium of Materia Medica". He added: "A man's little finger is longer than three knuckles, and a woman's one knuckle is a good life." ”
In his opinion, it is not only about the physical state, but also shows whether a person's vitality is strong. Therefore, it has become one of the key indicators to judge the length of life.
It can be seen that the saying that "the little finger passes the three levels" also occupies a place in the theory of traditional Chinese medicine. It reflects the unique way of the ancients who explored the mysteries of the human body and analyzed health and disease through external forms.
In Chinese art and culture, the image of the little finger passing the three levels often embodies people's yearning for a better life and becomes a symbol of happiness and hope. In the flying patterns in the bronze mirrors handed down from the Han Dynasty, the fairies who control auspicious clouds, treasure bottles, and longevity are all slender with five fingers, and the little finger adds an elegant posture.
In the illustrations of the Tang Dynasty classics, the hands of ladies and talented women almost all depict the characteristics of the little fingers being extraordinarily slender. This seems to be the artist's intention, with the help of this detail to highlight the character's fate and bright future.
In the Song Dynasty, the image of the little finger passing the three levels was even more ubiquitous. It not only appears in murals, prints and other artistic creations, but also has become a common element in handicrafts.
Even those talented women in ancient operas who eventually became immortals and became famous, such as Bai Suzhen in "The Legend of the White Snake", often have the depiction of "jade hands and little fingers passing the three levels" to symbolize their unique opportunities and futures.
It can be seen that this external characteristic has gone beyond the level of physiognomy and medicine, and has played a special symbolic meaning in Chinese culture and art, and has become a cultural symbol of people's expectation of a better life.
In ancient China, a society that advocated prophecy and paid attention to numerology, the saying that "the little finger passes the three levels" also reflects a unique cultural psychology and value orientation. The ancients who lived in the agricultural era often experienced the impermanence and vicissitudes of nature and fate. The slightest carelessness may lead to floods, droughts, plagues and other disasters.
This makes them extra sensitive and concerned about fate and well-being, and longs to find some kind of symbol or sign to ** or change their destiny. The legend of "the little finger passing the three levels" has become a kind of sustenance, and people try to determine the fate of themselves or their children by interpreting this external feature, and act accordingly in order to turn evil into good fortune.
This kind of belief is actually a cultural psychology in which the ancients explored the inner essence through external forms and solved the anxiety caused by the unknown fate. It not only contains the expectation of a better life, but also reflects the confusion and anxiety of the ancients in the face of an unknown fate.
In this era of ancient society, which was dominated by tradition and word of mouth, the legend of "the little finger passing the three levels" was also widely spread among the people through various stories.
It is reported that during the Western Han Dynasty, there was a man named Gongsun Pestle Mortar, whose family was poor since he was a child. One year, during the Spring Festival, his mother examined his palmistry and found that his little finger was longer than three knuckles.
The mother was overjoyed and said to him, "My son, you will be a great official!" Sure enough, Gongsun Pestle later became a jinshi and became the third duke, causing his mother's prophecy to come true.
During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, there was another scholar named Wang Yuanzhi, who was admitted to Xiucai, and wanted to devote himself to his career. However, his little finger was very short, only two fingers.
Seeing this, some scholars strongly persuaded him to give up the dream of the imperial examination and turn to business. Wang Yuanzhi listened, and later really accumulated a huge fortune through business and became famous at home.
Through the accumulation and spread of these legends, the saying of "little finger passing the three levels" has become more and more popular among the people, and is regarded as an important criterion for evaluating whether a person can move towards success.
It is precisely because of this that in many ancient art and literary works, the protagonist can finally become violent, and the slender little finger is the common denominator. It can be seen that this legend has become a part of cultural memory and has influenced the ancients' perception of success and destiny.
Despite today's rapid changes and technological advances, we no longer believe that external signs such as pinky finger length can determine fate. However, the existence of this ancient legend still contains a certain amount of cultural wisdom, which is worthy of our reflection.
It embodies the Chinese nation's pursuit of destiny control, yearning for a better life, and even the cultural genes of finding the inner essence through external forms. It also reflects the need for emotional sustenance and spiritual sustenance, and is a cultural response of the ancients to the unknown world.
What's more, in today's society, many young people still care about the length of their or their partner's little finger and hope for a better future. From this point of view,"The little finger passes three levels"It is a national belief that has been passed down from generation to generation and has lasted for a long time.
It embodies the unremitting pursuit of a better life by the Chinese nation, and also reflects the understanding of destiny and nature of this ancient nation. We might as well use modern scientific methods to verify that perhaps there is some subtle connection behind this traditional symbol. If we are skeptical and negative, we may be able to block our vision of understanding Chinese civilization and lose the opportunity to acquire traditional wisdom.