China's Five Elements Theory in Past Dynasties

The theory of five elements is a treasure in Chinese traditional culture. Shining with the light of simple materialism and dialectics, it is one of the important ways for the ancients to understand the world. It is still the theoretical basis of traditional Chinese medicine, martial arts, qigong and some traditional cultures. Using it to study the dynastic alternation in the history of China, we can clearly see the internal relations and laws of dynastic alternation, and at the same time, we can explore a new method to study the history of China. The theory of five elements refers to the theory that the attributes of wood, fire, earth, gold and water are used to express and classify the attributes of various things in nature, and the relationship between the five elements is used to discuss and deduce the relationship between various things and their laws of movement and change. Its essence is to classify everything in the universe into five basic substances: wood, fire, earth, gold and water. It is believed that the development and change of everything in nature are the result of the continuous movement and interaction of these five basic substances. Both nature and human society are material, so whether it is the birth and death of various substances in nature or the development and change of human society, we can use the theory of five elements to analyze and find its laws. 1 and the relationship between birth and grams of the five elements According to the theory of the five elements, there are reciprocal, reciprocal, anti-birth and anti-grams among the five elements. Common growth means mutual endowment and mutual encouragement. The order of the five elements is: wood fires, fire produces soil, soil produces gold, gold produces water, and aquatic wood. Contain and restrict each other. The order of the five elements is: Mutuke, Tukeshui, Shuihuoke, Huojinke and Jin Kemu. Mutual growth, mutual restriction and inseparable. Without life, everything cannot grow. Without grams, things have no constraints and cannot maintain their normal harmonious relationship. In the history of close cooperation between political groups, there is often a symbiotic relationship between the five elements. For example, the combination of Shu Han and Dongwu in the Three Kingdoms was the tree of Shu Han's aquatic Dongwu; The five elements of violent confrontation between political groups are often a mutual relationship. For example, at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, two rebel leaders, Song Jiang and Fang La, surrendered to the imperial court to help it fight Fang La. Song Jiang's army was named Song and Wu, and Fang La's rebel army was named Fang and Wu Zhitu (referring to four directions and having the nature of soil). The relationship between these two elements is "Song Mu" and "Fang Tu". Inverse generation refers to two interrelated five elements. Among them, the natural five elements are weak, while the natural five elements are strong. As a result, the natural five elements are too mutually generated. They are not assisted, but restrained and restrained. For example, water is a log, but too much water will restrict the wood, just like watering a small tree with too much water. The result will inevitably be "more water than wood" and the small tree will be drowned. Anti-gram refers to two kinds of five elements in the relationship of mutual restraint, in which the restrained five elements are strong and the restrained five elements are weak, so the restrained five elements cannot be restricted. Water can resist fire, but if the fire is strong and the water is weak, its water will not resist fire, but will be evaporated or even dried up by fire. Anti-generation and anti-gram are special forms of the five elements, and they are manifestations of the loss of normal attachment or restriction between things. For example, Chu and Han struggle, Chu five elements belong to wood and Han five elements belong to water. It turns out that "Hanshui" originated from "Chu Mu", which can be confirmed by Liu Bang's early help to Xiang Yu to break the state of Qin. But when "Hanshui" is relatively strong and "Chumu" is relatively weak, water will not produce wood, but will inhibit it. So Liu Bang's "Hanshui" and the water of Wujiang River together gave birth to "Chu Tomb" Xiang Yu. Another example is the five behaviors of Daxia (known as Xixia in history). When it coexisted with the ruler, its fire was originally Kejin, but when the ruler was strong, it was Jinke that caught fire, that is, the ruler put out the summer. 2. Classification of Five Elements: All kinds of things and phenomena in nature and human society can be divided into five elements according to their nature and function. The relevant contents of this paper are classified as follows: the five elements are characterized by season, color and five generations.

Mu Dongchun Qu Zhi Qing Ren Qin Song

Southern Xia Yan, Red Ceremony, Xia Jinming

At the end of the four seasons in the soil, crops are cultivated. Xin Huang Zhou Weitang Republic of China People's Republic of China (PRC)

Autumn evolved from Bai Yi Jin Yuan.

Shuibei Dongrun Xiahei Shang Zhi Han Sui Qing

The classification of the five elements of the dynasty in the table is determined according to the font, word meaning and the theory of the five elements of the dynasty, that is, the method of five fires in Xia Dynasty and the meaning of Xia Dynasty; The Five Laws of Shang Dynasty are water, which means commercial circulation and has the nature of water. The five laws of the Zhou dynasty are earthy, which means that they surround all directions and are earthy. The five laws of Qin are the names of wood, Qin Naihe and wood; The five laws of water in Han dynasty, the name of water in Han dynasty, has water on the side; Wei Chao has five scenes of earth, and Gu's only word means mountain height; The five laws of the Jin Dynasty are fire, and gold is the meaning of sunlight entering everything; The five laws of the Sui Dynasty are water, followed by the Sui Dynasty, the meaning of effective law, and the nature of water; The five laws of the Tang Dynasty are soil, and the Tang Dynasty has the meaning of dikes and roads; The five methods of Song Dynasty are wood, which means that Song Naiju is middle wood, and the radical is wood; The five laws of the Yuan Dynasty were gold, and the Yuan headed by them had the meaning of dry yuan. The five laws of the Ming dynasty are fire, which means light and lighting; The five methods of cleaning are water, which means water is clean, and the head is water; The people of the Republic of China and China and the five elements of the country are all earthy, because they all highlight the "China" orientation. If the names of dynasties that realized the relative integrity and unity of the state subject are transformed into five elements according to the above table, it is not difficult to see that the replacement of dynasties often follows the principle of the five elements. In this sense, China's 5,000-year history of civilization is also a history of five elements. 1. After the Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties opened the history of civilization, the dynasty set a precedent in ancient times. In the five elements theory, "fire" is the etiquette of the main civilization, and at the same time it is magnificent and endless. Therefore, the 5,000-year history of civilization of the Chinese nation began in the Xia Dynasty, and there were five behaviors in the Xia Dynasty that were "fire". The establishment of Xia Dynasty marked the great progress of social development, and it was the first dynasty that China entered. The five elements of fire are water, so the Xia Dynasty was replaced by the Shang Dynasty, where the five elements belonged to water. If Shang's "water base" is still weak in form and meaning, the five elements of its founding monarch "Tang" are also water, which just makes up for the shortage of water. In addition, the Shang Dynasty moved the capital many times, which was not only related to the internal political struggle as historians said, but also related to the strong mobility of water names. The five elements belong to water and soil, so they replaced the Zhou Dynasty of Shang Dynasty as soil. The replacement of ancient dynasties set a precedent for the replacement of previous dynasties after the replacement of dynasties in Chinese history. In the subsequent dynasties, the relationship between the five elements was mostly the five elements of the later dynasty and the five elements of the former dynasty.

2. Qin Mugong, Zhou Ke, Tu Han, Water Drifting Qin Mugong In the Five Elements Theory, wood is broken, so the Qin Dynasty, which replaced the Zhou Dynasty, was five elements of wood. In fact, the Zhou dynasty was replaced by a dynasty with five elements of wood. From the beginning of the "five tyrants in the Spring and Autumn Period", there have been signs. Among the five tyrants, there are three tyrants who belong to the Five Elements, namely Song (Wang Xiang), Qin (Mu Gong) and Chu (Zhuang Wang), the second tyrant who belongs to the Five Elements is Qi Huangong and Qin Mugong, and the other tyrant is Jin Wengong. Due to the tyranny of the Qin dynasty, it became very fragile under the attack of the peasant uprising army at the end of the Qin dynasty, so the Qin dynasty was finally destroyed by Hanwang Liu Bang. Originally, the five elements of the Qin Dynasty were wood, while the five elements of the Han Dynasty were water. Water is raw wood, but Qin Wei is weak wood, and Hanshui is stronger. So the Qin and Han dynasties met, and the result was floating on the water, and the Han River gave birth to Qin Mu. 3. Wei Tuke Hanshui Golden Fire gave birth to Wei Tu, not the Han Dynasty, and was the Wei Dynasty with five elements of soil. At this time, history entered the period of Wei, Shu and Shu, and Shu Han was water and wood (because the East was the main wood). The relationship between them is: Shu and Hanshui gave birth to wood, Wei and Hanshui, wood and Wei. The famous "Red Cliff War" is the proof of the relationship between the three. Because of this complicated situation, there is a life in the body and a life in the body, so the three countries have formed a tripartite confrontation. Wei dynasty was replaced by Jin dynasty, and the five elements of Jin dynasty belonged to fire. The law of five fires in the Jin Dynasty is local. However, when Wang Jin Si Mazhao and his son Sima Yan are very powerful, that is, when the fire is very powerful, it will not be local, but conquered. So Wei was replaced by Jin. 4. Jin was destroyed by Liu Yuan, a Xiongnu aristocrat who called himself "Hanwang", shortly after the unification of Sui and Tang Dynasties at the end of Han Dynasty. Obviously, the relationship between Han and Jin is incompatible. Later, history entered the split period of the Southern and Northern Dynasties. The Sui Dynasty, where the last five elements belonged to water, unified the whole country. In the Sui Dynasty, the canal was overhauled, and Emperor Yang Di toured the whole country, which was probably related to the water quality of the national name. 5. Tang Dynasty, Song Dynasty, Yuan Dynasty, Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty all acted in the Sui Dynasty with five dynasties, and the subsequent dynasty changes were also reflected in the relationship between the later dynasty and the former dynasty, namely, Song Dynasty, Yuan Dynasty, Jin Dynasty, Ming Dynasty, Qing Dynasty and Qing Dynasty. Of course, the replacement of dynasties is by no means as simple as a gram, which historians have explained in detail. However, it is not difficult to see from the above analysis that 70% of the dynasty changes are the five elements of the later dynasty and the five elements of the former dynasty. This is obviously not a coincidence. The development of history and the change of dynasties contain the theory of five elements, and also precipitate the profound China culture. 3. Historical Experience and Laws Using the Five Elements Theory to study the history of China can not only explain many historical events and reveal the internal relations between dynasties, but also sum up many useful experiences and laws. 1. Prosperous times often appear in dynasties belonging to soil and water. In the history of China, historians call it a prosperous time: the Shang Dynasty "Wu Ding's prosperous time" in which the five elements belong to water; The five elements belong to the earth in the Han Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty, the Zhenguan and Kaiyuan Dynasties. At the same time, these two dynasties with five elements often ruled for a long time, such as the Zhou Dynasty with a history of more than 800 years. The Han dynasty has a history of more than 400 years, and both the Tang dynasty and the Qing dynasty have a history of nearly 300 years. In the theory of five elements, water dominates wisdom and water is the source of life; Local faith is very inclusive and germinal. The so-called "four lines of soil" and "everything is born in soil" all illustrate the biochemical and receptive functions of soil. Therefore, dynasties with these two titles and five elements can often show extraordinary wisdom, create a prosperous era of enriching the country and strengthening the people, and achieve long-term stability. At present, China is in its heyday, and its firmness, vitality and cohesion have been fully reflected. Therefore, judging from the current development and historical experience, a strong and unified China people and country will stand in the world just around the corner and will surely achieve long-term stability. In addition, there are often many small countries behind local dynasties, which can be confirmed by the eagerness of many vassal States to compete for hegemony in the late Zhou Dynasty, the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and the pattern of five dynasties and ten countries after the Tang Dynasty. The reason is also related to the fact that soil is the mother of all things and has strong germination ability. 2. The dynasty in which the five elements belong to gold is the best one in China. The dynasties in which the five elements belonged to gold were mainly the Jin Dynasty and the Yuan Dynasty. The Jin Dynasty was founded in 1 1 15 and died in 1234. In *** 1 19, there was a war almost every year. First of all, In the Yuan Dynasty, the territory conquered by force was the first in China. Since he entered the Central Plains, the struggle against Yuan has never stopped all over the country. The reason is that the autumn spirit of Jinbing has the nature of bearing, killing and destroying in the five elements, so the dynasty in which the five elements belong to gold is naturally more belligerent than the other five elements. 3. From north to south, it is easy to win the war between political groups. If there is a North-South confrontation, it is often the North that wins in the end. For example, during the Three Kingdoms period, Shu Han tried many times to seize Wei in the north, but they failed and were eventually destroyed by the north. In the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the South could not defeat the North, and eventually the Sui Dynasty in the North unified the whole country. The Southern Song Dynasty always wanted to restore its rule over the north, but it was finally wiped out by the Yuan Dynasty in the north. China's war of liberation was also fought from north to south, and finally won the national victory. The reason is that the five elements in the north belong to water, while the five elements in the south belong to fire, and water can overcome fire. Therefore, it is easy to win in the north and fail in the south. 4. Dynasties with the same name are all east, west, north and south. In the history of China, after a dynasty was overthrown, the "royal family" of that dynasty often formed another dynasty with the same name, but the name of this dynasty and the location of its capital were east, west, north and south. Such as the Eastern Zhou Dynasty after the Western Zhou Dynasty, the Eastern Han Dynasty after the Western Han Dynasty, the Eastern Jin Dynasty after the Western Jin Dynasty and the Southern Song Dynasty after the Northern Song Dynasty. The land of the Central Plains is most threatened by foreigners from the north and the west. When the north calls, it moves south, and when the west calls, it moves east. But North Five is water, South Five is fire, and water is fire-resistant. Five in the west are gold, five in the east are wood, and gold is wood resistance, so wars are often from north to south and from west to east. To sum up, the study of dynasty replacement with the theory of five elements can not only reveal the general law of dynasty replacement and the characteristics and characteristics of the five elements of each dynasty, but also make reasonable explanations for many historical events. However, there are some special cases where this is not the case. For example, the dynasties in which the five elements belonged to water generally ruled for a long time, but the Sui Dynasty was very short, with a history of only 38 years. Another example is a dynasty or political group with five elements belonging to wood, which should have the characteristics of charity, which can be confirmed by Xiang Yu, the overlord of Chu, asking Liu Bang and Song Dynasty to humiliate Song Dynasty to Liao, Xixia and Jin at the Hongmen banquet, and they paid for peace. However, the Qin dynasty, where the five elements belonged to wood, was a rare "brutal rule" and could not see any "benevolence" of wood at all. The reasons need further study and discussion.

This year's college entrance examination question is really nonsense.