Emerging information lc0535: Why was the ancient emperor called the Ninth Five-Year Plan Supreme?

As the palace building of the last two feudal dynasties in China, the Forbidden City embodies the supremacy of the emperor everywhere. Most people know the saying of "the glory of the Ninth Five-Year Plan", and the architecture of the Forbidden City is really related to the figures of "Nine" and "Five". For example, the world-famous Tiananmen Gate has five gates, nine wide faces and five deep faces on its platform. There are nine or five buildings in the Forbidden City, but eleven in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, which is unique in the whole Forbidden City. Why is this? Before analyzing why the width of the Hall of Supreme Harmony is eleven bays, it is necessary to briefly introduce the concept of numbers in ancient China, especially the numbers "nine" and "five".

The numbers "nine" and "five" are closely related to all aspects of feudal court life, including architecture, and have supreme symbolic significance, which can only be enjoyed by feudal emperors. What is the reason?

To put it simply, in ancient China, numbers were divided into positive and negative numbers, odd numbers were positive and even numbers were negative. Nine is the highest yang number, and five is right, so "nine" and "five" symbolize the authority of the emperor and are called "the respect of the Ninth Five-Year Plan".

Another view is that the word "Ninth Five-Year Plan" comes from the Book of Changes. The handed down version of the Book of Changes is said to be played by Zhou Wenwang, so it is also called the Book of Changes. The first of the sixty-four hexagrams in Zhouyi is the dry hexagram, which symbolizes the sky, so it becomes the hexagram representing the emperor. The dry divination consists of six Yang divinations, the anode and the prosperous pole. Counting from the bottom up, the fifth one is called the Ninth Five-Year Plan. Nine means that this plan is a positive plan, and five means the fifth plan. The ninth five-year plan is the best of the dry hexagrams, which is the first of the sixty-four hexagrams, so the ninth five-year plan is the first of the sixty-four hexagrams and the first of the three hundred and eighty-four hexagrams, which has become the emperor's phase. The "nine" here is not a specific number, but a symbol to distinguish the yin and yang attributes of numbers. Later, people used "Nine" and "Five" as specific figures, thinking that one was to fit the "Ninth Five-Year Plan" representing the emperor; Furthermore, the use of the numbers "nine" and "five" in architecture is also in line with aesthetic principles. The paraphrases in the Book of Changes include "the change of the avenue, each with its own destiny, is conducive to maintaining harmony and chastity". The origin of the name of the Hall of Supreme Harmony is said to come from this.

Zhouyi is one of the oldest classics in China. It has always been regarded as the first of the Six Classics and has a far-reaching influence on all fields of the Chinese nation. Therefore, it should be more credible that the word "Ninth Five-Year Plan" originated from Zhouyi.

Since "Nine" and "Five" are symbols of feudal emperors, why is the Hall of Supreme Harmony as wide as eleven rooms? According to relevant records, the Hall of Supreme Harmony was called Fengtian Hall in Ming Dynasty, with nine rooms wide and five rooms deep. Li Zicheng was destroyed after entering Beijing, and it was rebuilt in the eighth year of Kangxi (AD 1669) and changed to eleven rooms. Why did you change it into eleven rooms? It is said that at that time, you couldn't find a good golden nanmu long enough. If you build nine rooms and the span of wood is not enough, you have to change it to eleven rooms to shorten the span.

Whether this statement is true or not, the Hall of Supreme Harmony, as the first building of the Forbidden City, has adopted the unique form of eleven bays, which has achieved the effect of standing out in the architectural world and highlighted its supreme position. The nine-room format has been used many times in the Forbidden City, and more than nine plus a number unit can only be eleven. The number of rooms must be odd in order to keep the characteristic of opening the door in the middle of the building. From the aesthetic point of view, eleven rooms are acceptable, and more than thirteen rooms are too much for building construction, unless it is a promenade.

There are still many digital phenomena in the buildings of the Forbidden City, and they often have different interpretations. But we have reason to believe that whether we really understand their original meaning now or not, their creators, our ancestors, are by no means on a whim. And everything has a unified purpose-the perfect combination of etiquette, order and beauty.

Note: Nine is yang and five is five. That's right. Of course, the ninth five-year plan is the best of the dry divination, but it is not all because it represents the supremacy. Each hexagram has a specific representative meaning. The fifth was originally the throne, representing the emperor. In the divination, Yang reached its peak in this position, which represented the universal virtue. It is precisely from the ninth day that I arrived at the most vigorous position here. This position is a symbol of the emperor's virtue, and no other status can match this divination. By 1996, if we have to surpass the Ninth Five-Year Plan, it will be too late to become "96, Kanglong has regrets."