He Tu and Luo Shu are mentioned in Xi Ci Zhuan (繫詞傳) but without any description or illustration. It is alleged that the ones, including Tai Ji Tu, known to us were sketched later by Master Chen Tuan (陳摶, an archaeologist and the founder of Zi Wei Dou Shu in the 9th century). Chen Tuan also deduced the relationship amid metal, wood, water, fire and earth from them. Metal, wood, water, fire and earth are five basic elements of Chinese fortune-telling, such as eight pillars (i.e. Ba Zi), Wen Wang Gua and Zi Wei Dou Shu.
I would like submit the following explanations of how the post-heaven diagram (later heaven arrangement) is drawn from the concept of five elements.
1) He Tu and the five elements
According to the layout of He Tu, 2 and 7 are located in the south to which fire is ascribed; consequently 1 and 6 are in the north and water is ascribed to the north; 4 and 9, in the west and metal; 3 and 8, in the east and wood; 5 in the middle and earth.
Remarks: a) The south was located at the top in the ancient Chinese map because Chinese ancestors observed astronomy in the face of the Plough, hence the south on top of the head and the north at the foot of the sky. b) Attribution mentioned above is designated according to Chinese geography and climate.
According to He Tu, the relationship amid metal, wood, water, fire and earth in terms of reproduction is displayed as: fire reproduces earth; earth reproduces metal; metal reproduces water; water reproduces wood and wood reproduces fire.
The one reproducing the other is the parents, while the one reproduced is the children. Therefore it might be one of the reasons that regard the pre-heaven diagram derived from He Tu as the origination and essence of the eight trigrams.2) How Luo Shu is related to the five elements
There is another relationship, to subdue, amid the five elements: metal subdues wood; wood subdues earth; earth subdues water; water subdues fire and fire subdues metal. The one subduing the other is the commanding officer, while the one subdued is the wealth of the other.
Lou Shu exhibits the relationship of subduing amid them; five elements with their directions are presented as follows.
Or, I should say the other way around: Luo Shu reveals the relationship of subduing amongst five elements.3) How the post-heaven diagram is drawn
In following the attribution and direction specified in Luo Shu, Kan is water and put in the north , while Li is fire and in the south. Qian and Dui are in the west of He Tu; thus they are located in the northwest and the west, respectively, as well as are ascribed to metal. Zhen and Xun are ascribed to wood, and thus they are located in the east and the southeast. Kun and Gen are earth; therefore they stay in the middle (i.e. at the diagonal positions). Hereby the post-heaven diagram is formed accordingly.
In the post-heaven diagram the attribution and direction of eight trigrams are designated, which is regarded as one of the reasons that the post-heaven diagram is meant for describing the application of eight trigrams.
According to Shuo Gua, Chapter 6, ………Water (Kan) and fire (Li) at two opposite sides keep a distance but reach to each other (i.e. water flows downward and flames blaze upwards) in order to fulfill their assigned duties (i.e. to generate steam and power) but water won’t extinguish fire. The thunder (Zhen) and the winder (Xun) stay next to each other but won’t revolt against each other because both are ascribed to wood. The mountain (Gen) and the marsh (Dui) exchange breath since earth (Gen) reproduces metal (Dui)…….., which prove their subduing and reproducing relationship.
0 comments:
Post a Comment