In ancient China, the five elements were often used to explain the change of 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.

One-five-element theory

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 explore 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.

The relationship between the generation and gram of 1 and the five elements

According to the theory of five elements, there are relationships among the five elements, such as mutual generation, mutual resistance, anti-generation, resistance and so on.

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 rulers, its fire was originally gram gold, but when the rulers were very powerful, it was golden fire, that is, the rulers put out the summer.

2. Five-element classification

All kinds of things and phenomena in nature and human society can be classified into five elements according to their nature and function. The contents related to this article are classified as follows:

five elements

Square position

Seasonal festivals

trait

colour

Five natures

Daichao

wood

east

spring

right and wrong

green

mercy

Qin Song

fire

south

summer

Shang Yan

red

ceremony

Xia Jinming

land

middle

The end of the four seasons

Do farm work

yellow

think

People's Republic of China (PRC), Republic of China in Tang Dynasty

golden

western

autumn

Cong brother

white

fair

Jinyuan

water

north

winter

Runxia

black

wisdom

Shang, Han, Sui and Tang Dynasties

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.

Two or five stars breed history.

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 five elements. In this sense, China's 5,000-year history of civilization is also a history of five elements.

1, Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties started the history of civilization, and later generations were the first in ancient times.

In the theory of five elements, "fire" is the main etiquette of civilization, and fire 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 Muke drifted to Qin Mu in Zhoutu Hanshui.

In the theory of five elements, wood is soil, so it was the Qin dynasty that replaced the Zhou dynasty with the five methods 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 whose five elements belong to wood, namely Song (Wang Xiang), Qin (Mu Gong) and Chu (Zhuang Wang), while there are two tyrants whose five elements belong to wood, namely Qi Huangong, Qin Mugong and 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 Jin fire against Wei soil.

The five elements do not belong to the Han Dynasty, but to the Wei Dynasty. At this time, history entered the period of Wei, Shu and Wu Dong. The five elements of Shu and Han are water, while the five elements of Wu Dong are wood (because the East is the main wood). The relationship between them is: Shui Mu, Wei followed the water, and Mu followed 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 destroyed the Han, Southern and Northern Dynasties and resumed Sui.

After the Jin Dynasty unified the whole country, it was soon destroyed by Liu Yuan, a Xiongnu aristocrat who called himself "Hanwang". 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.

All generations in Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties are equal.

The Sui Dynasty was replaced by the Five Behaviors Tang Dynasty, and the replacement of the later dynasty was also reflected in the relationship between the later dynasty and the former dynasty, that is, the Song Dynasty was like Tang Dynasty, the Yuan Dynasty was like Song Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty was like Yuan Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty was like Ming Dynasty, and the Republic of China was like 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 alternation of dynasties contain the Five Elements Theory and profound China culture.

3. Historical experience and laws

Studying the history of China with the theory of five elements 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 "prosperous time of Wu Ding" in Shang Dynasty, and 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 with five elements of gold is the best.

In the dynasty of China, the five elements belonged to the Jin Dynasty and the Yuan Dynasty, and the Jin Dynasty was founded in 1 1 15.

1234 The country perished, and in * *119, there was a war almost every year, first Liao, then Northern Song and Southern Song Dynasties, and then Xixia Mongolia. 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.

It is easy to win the war from north to south.

If there is confrontation between political groups, it is often the North that will win easily in the end. For example, during the Three Kingdoms period.

Shu Han tried many times to seize the Wei state in the north, but failed, and was finally 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.

The 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 a dynasty with the same name, but the name of this dynasty and the location of the capital were west first, then east, then north and then 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 that a dynasty or political group with five elements belonging to wood should have the characteristics of charity, which can be confirmed by Xiang Yu, the overlord of Chu, releasing the humiliating songs of Liu Bang and Song Dynasty to Liao, Xixia and Jin at the Hongmen banquet. However, the Qin Dynasty with five elements belonging to wood was a rare "brutal rule" and there was no "benevolence" of any wood at all, which needs further study and discussion.

Four thoughts

When I first wrote this article, I thought it was a great discovery to use the theory of five elements to explain the change of dynasties. I collected information and read extensively, only to know that there were relevant records in Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals more than two thousand years ago. However, the ancient people used phonology to determine the five elements, which is very different from the meaning of this font. After 2000, there have been many changes, so I continued to write.

A country with a vast territory and a long history cannot be explained clearly in a few words in this article. I am afraid that the article is far-fetched and wrong. Please correct me.

Note: From the Tang Dynasty to the 54th year of the Northern Song Dynasty, it belongs to the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. The relationship between the five elements is that the back beam is Tang soil, the northern song dynasty is northern song soil, and the relationship between the five elements is northern song soil. Because the existence of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms is relatively short, the change of dynasties is mostly the relationship between the last five elements and the first five elements, so I won't elaborate on it.

This article mainly refers to the bibliography:

China Shi Gang Jian Bozan Editor-in-Chief People's Publishing House

Outline of National History Qian Commercial Press

Practical prediction method of Yijing Feng Jingzhi edited by Changchun Publishing House.

China Ancient Divination Wei Shaosheng Zhongzhou Ancient Books Publishing House

China Wujinghua Publishing House for 5,000 years.

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Excerpts from the e-book alliance originally wanted to post a link, but the content inside was not good, so I had to copy it for fear of misleading children.