"Two instruments give birth to four images". What do the first four images mean?

The word "Xiang" is used the most in Zhouyi, and its explanations are also the most diverse. However, what cannot be explained correctly is the "four images" of two instruments and four images! Why?

In the Book of Changes, Tai Chi's endless "Qi" splits into a light and turbid two-Qi, forming a world of two instruments, and then continues to split into four images. What are the four elephants? Why are they called four elephants?

The Book of Changes: "Easy to have Tai Chi means that two instruments are born, two instruments are born with four images, and four images are born with eight diagrams", which explains how eight diagrams were formed at the beginning of heaven and earth. "Two instruments give birth to four images" shows that the "four images" are split from the original two instruments of heaven and earth, and this evolutionary way is based on the principle of survival of the fittest. This sentence is the earliest source of the word "four elephants". It is from this sentence that the interpretation of the four elephants is full of tricks, and the public is right and the old woman is right.

The "Four Elephants" in ancient China were mostly Shaoyin, Shaoyang, Laoyin and Lao Yang, but there were many other sayings. Now I will briefly extract some representative "four images" in the past dynasties (unchanged, released) for the reference of Yi-ology lovers. In order not to be annoying, I only make a personal opinion.

China's "Natural History" Volume 1: The sun and the moon enter the west with little shade. There is less sun in the east, and the sun and the moon rise.

Hanshu: those who lack yin come from the west. West, moving also, Yin Qi falling objects, when it is autumn.

Quotations from Pei Qian's Collection of Sounds and Meanings of Hanshu: Shaoyang, Dongji.

Wang Kaiyun's Hengyang Changshi Temple Monument: There is a big hall in front, and the door faces Shaoyang.

Selected works. Yan Yanzhi's Preface to Qushui Poetry on March 3rd: Shaoyang has virtue and virtue. Shan Li's Note: With proper health, the prince is also ... Shaoyang, and the East Palace is also.

Between the Han and Jin dynasties, less yin and less yang all refer to the direction and position. And the season represented by the direction. And the crown prince. However, "image" should not be the direction, nor should it be the position.

Yu Fan, a scholar of the State of Wu during the Three Kingdoms period, pointed out: "The four elephants are also at four o'clock."

Peak note: "Four elephants are also at four o'clock. There are four elephants in four seasons, so it is called four elephants, and there are four seasons in heaven and earth, so it is said:' Two instruments have four elephants. "This' four seasons' refers to the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter.

Shang Zhouyi School: "The four images are four seasons, spring with less yang, Ciel Phantomhive with less yin, autumn with less yin and winter with old yin. Lao Yang's old yin is 96, and less yang and less yin is 78. So the four elephants are decided by gossip. "

Zhuzi school: "The Book of Changes has only the coupling of yin and yang, and there are four images, such as spring for shaoyang, summer for Lao Yang, autumn for shaoyin and winter for laoyin."

This is the explanation of the "Four Elephants" by Yu Fan, a scholar of the State of Wu who inherited the Three Kingdoms period since the Han and Tang Dynasties. Say the four elephants into four seasons and four seasons. Four seasons is the basis of performing divination after painting, and it achieves the normal state of advance and retreat, mutual change and nature. The four seasons are the inner life after the hexagrams are painted. It is doubtful whether these four seasons are "elephants".

I ching: nine times out of ten, I will change my mind. Don Kong Ying Da said: "Every hexagram has three changes ... Those with two more and one less yang are said to be between three levels, or there is a nine, an eight, a four, or two eights and one five, that is, two more and one less. Such three changes are over, but they are fixed; If two less and one more are less yin, it means that there are four, five and eight between the beginning and two and three; Or there are two four and one nine, that is, two less and one more. " Seven is shaoyang and eight is shaoyin.

"Zuo Zhushu" quoted the cloud of changes: the speaker, seven for shaoyang, eight for shaoyin, unchanged. Nine is Lao Yang and six is Lao Yin, all of which have changed.

On the Book of Changes written by Liu Zongyuan and Liu Yuxi in Tang Dynasty: "Lao Yang counts nine, and Lao Yin counts six".

Song Shen Guo's "Meng Qian Bi Tan". Elephant number one: easy nine elephants, seven less; Eight is shaoyin and six is laoyin.

Peak Note: "Four Elephants: Shaoyang, Lao Yang, Shaoyin and Laoyin."

Notes on Zhouyi Biography: Seven Fingers of Shaoyang. Eight fingers and less yin. Lao Yang's nine fingers. Six fingers old Yin's stubbornness … Four battalions are four battalions of elephants … Four battalions are four elephants.

This is the "four images" of yin and yang transformed from yarrow divination in Yijing.

Tang Luyan's poem "Remembering Jiangnan" says: "Eight diagrams and nine palaces look at the palm, and the five elements and four images are in the human body." Although the four images refer to gold, wood, water and fire, they are all based on the four seasons. In addition, the simple Zhouyi does not involve the five elements.

Kong said that the four images on the hexagrams are real images, virtual images, positive images and real images. This "four images" is the four images on the hexagrams, not the four images deduced from the two instruments.

Wang Fuzhi's "The Great Righteousness of Zhang Zizheng and Zhu Meng" in Qing Dynasty: "There are four images of heaven and earth, namely yin, yang, rigidity and softness. The four images of Yi are auspicious, fierce, regretful and stingy. " This is the orientation of heaven and earth introduced from Yi Dao and the foundation of divination, but the "four images" are not "images" introduced from two instruments.

Qing Gong Zizhen's "The Final Theory of the Five Classics": "A saint who can be famous has four images: leisure, smoothness, harmony and elegance." These four political requirements should not be "image".

The first journey to the west: the sun, the moon and the stars in the morning, collectively known as the four elephants. These are the four elephants, but they are not actually the four elephants in Yi.

Meridians disperse shaoyang meridian and foot shaoyang meridian. The shaoyang meridian in the hand is the triple energizer meridian, and the shaoyang meridian in the foot is the gallbladder meridian. Decompose Shaoyin Meridian and Foot Shaoyin Meridian. The meridian of hand with little yin is the heart meridian, and the meridian of foot with little yin is the kidney meridian. In the theory of luck in traditional Chinese medicine, "Shaoyin" also refers to monarch fire. In addition, Dongyi's punctuality and treasure source also describes the nature and feelings of the four elephants, saying: "The nature of the sun remains unchanged, and then it doesn't want to retreat; Shaoyang's nature is always wanting to do something; The lunar qi is constant, and it wants to be quiet and motionless; The nature of shaoyin is always wanting to be in the place but not out, and the love of the sun is always thinking of men but not women; Less yin, constant desire to be a woman instead of a man; The feeling of shaoyang is better than the desire to keep the internal constant; The feeling of the lunar moon is set inside, not outside. " Sun's nature is natural, Shaoyang's nature is restored, Taiyin's nature is outstanding, and Shaoyin's nature is frank. These are just the easy-to-learn names of the four images under the guise of the number of images in traditional Chinese medicine, and they are not the "four images" of the two instruments.

In Qing Dynasty, Fang Yizhi wrote the hypothesis of "TongLiu Ya's Book Form and Sound Change": "Six books should be divided into six parts. The same is true of Ban Guyun's pictographs, images, images, images, sounds, borrowings and notes. The four elephants are the classics, and the weft is borrowed. " This is the form and source of explanatory words.

In ancient times, the 28 constellations near the equator of the ecliptic were divided into seven constellations in the southeast and northwest, and every seven constellations were connected together to form an animal, also called four spirits. For example:

The horns, sounds, rafters, houses, hearts, tails and dustpans in the East are seven nights. The horn is like a dragon horn, the rafters are like a dragon body, and the tail is like a dragon tail. Together, they are like a dragon, which is called the black dragon in the East.

Well, Ghost, Willow, Star, Zhang, Wing and Bird's beak In Southern Vitamins, the star is the bird's neck, Zhang is the bird's beak and the wing is a feather. Together, they are like a bird spreading its wings and flying, and they are called South Suzaku.

In the west, there are seven nights, such as Kui, Lou, Stomach, Zan, Bi, Gou and Shen, which are like tigers leaping forward, and are called Western White Tigers.

There are seven nights fighting in the north, cows, women, air, danger, houses and walls, walking slowly like turtles, and the north is called Xuanwu.

From the perspective of the Book of Changes, these four phenomena are astronomical phenomena observed by the ancient Bao family, namely, black dragon, suzaku, white tiger, Xuanwu, twenty-eight nights and nearby stars. When Wen Wang delivered his eulogy, a considerable part of it was explained according to the astronomical phenomena. In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, Huang Zongxi also used astronomical phenomena to explain the image of divination. He thinks that the Qinglong in the East has seven places: Jiao, Kang, Shi, Fang, Xin, Wei and Ji. Therefore, all hexagrams take dragons as metaphors. At the beginning of the month, the child is ugly, and at dusk, the black dragon enters the ground, so it is called "diving". At the beginning of the month, the black dragon in Tatsumi saw the sky and the stars, so he said "I saw dragons in the fields". San Yao, Shen Xiyue, the fire flows to the west, and the dragon will enter the ground, so it is called "Xi Di". Among the four hexagrams, Yin and Jiao Su faintly see the difference between heaven and earth, so they are called "in the deep". On the fifth day, at noon, Long Xing was lost in the sky, so it was called "in the sky". Liuyi, Chenghaiyue, Pingdan, Dragon in the Northeast, Heaven.

It has been recorded in the Book of Rites Quli in the pre-Qin period: "Before the trip, Zhu bird followed Xuanwu, and left the dragon and right the white tiger."

"Sparse": "The front south and back north, the right west, the Zhu bird, the Xuanwu, the Qinglong and the White Tiger are also named."

"The history of the Three Kingdoms. "Guanju" records: "Going west with the army, passing by the tomb of Wu, leaning against the tree and hanging, people ask why, saying: Although the tree is lush, it can last for a long time; Although the tablet looks good, there is nothing to keep. Xuanwu hides its head, the black dragon has no feet, the white tiger hugs its body, and the rosefinch cries sadly. It is necessary to prepare for the four dangers, so the law will be extinct. But after two years, it should be gone. " In geomantic omen, the image and movement of the "four elephants" are compared with the terrain to show good luck and bad luck.

Guo Pu's "Buried Sutra": "According to Confucian classics, the earth has four potentials, and qi comes from four directions. So, there is a dragon on the left and a white tiger on the right. The former is Suzaku and the latter is Xuanwu. Xuanwu hangs its head, Suzaku dances, Qinglong winds and white tigers tame. The form is contrary to this and should be broken. Therefore, the tiger crouched to claim the corpse, the dragon crouched to admire the Lord, Xuanwu refused the corpse, and Suzaku did not dance to leave. The earth is expensive to measure its position, and the jade measures its distance. Those who regard branches as dragons and tigers will stop at hills, such as elbows and arms, which is called embracing. Those who use water as a rosefinch are in line with the shape, and they are afraid of turmoil, which is called weeping. "

These feng shui orientations are the "four elephants" of Shanghai Yingtian, not the "four elephants" of two students.

In addition, there are also explanations that the "four images" are purely wrong. For example, the four images are interpreted as "sacred objects, changes, pendants, and the book of Hutuluo". The analysis of the reasons for its mistakes is nothing more than based on these words in Cohesion: "It is a natural thing, but a saint; The change of heaven and earth is also the work of saints; The sky hangs like an elephant, seeing good or bad luck, and saints are like it; Rivers paint, Luo writes, and saints write. It is easy to have four images, so it is also shown. The department is embarrassed, so it also reports; It is set or broken, so it is broken. "

Although the above-mentioned "four images" have been played by Yi-ology scholars in past dynasties, they are complete and perfect in image. However, these four images are not the four images that Zhouyi said, "Two instruments give birth to four images, and four images give birth to eight diagrams".

If you want to accurately understand the four images of "two instruments give birth to four images, and four images give birth to gossip", please take a moment to listen to me and chat with you.

The word "four images" first came from Yi Cohesion: "Tai Chi gives birth to two instruments, two instruments give birth to four images, and four images give birth to gossip".

There is no doubt that "four" means a natural number. "Elephant" is the largest mammal on earth, which refers to its obvious shape and appearance. Fundamentally speaking, "Zhouyi" should be "those who manage the Book of Changes, like it; You do this, you do this, you do this. The original meaning of pictophonetic word "Xiang" is similar in appearance.

Zhouyi mainly talks about hexagrams, which are images of existence (pictures in nature). Just as heaven and earth are the portals of the Book of Changes, closing the portal at night is like the earth (Kun), and opening the door during the day is like the sky (dry), so that when it is closed and opened, there will be changes in Yin and Yang, which can be accessed through endless visits. Now this picture borrowed from its form and meaning is an object. After it is made, the process used is called the method. We all call it "God" and regard it as the gateway to heaven and earth.

There are also many kinds of images in Zhouyi. As for the general image of hexagrams, there are sixty-four images, six hexagrams and six paintings in Zhouyi. There are six broken; Three images of eight sons; There are six single images and one image; There are astronomical phenomena reflected by hexagrams; There is an "object image" whose shape is represented by hexagrams; There is a dynamic "image" represented by hexagrams; And images such as opposition, orientation, intertextuality and symbolic contrast. Its image and six paintings are original images, and other point-by-point images are small images.

Why do you use so many words like forty in the classics? Confucius said: when saints see the complexity and subtlety of things in the world, they compare their shapes and appearances to symbolize the appropriateness of things, and do "gossip with images" and "saints try their best to set up images" because the words in the book can't fully express what they want to say, nor can they really feel and see. At this time, the sage created "image" to complete the meaning he expressed, set up hexagrams to completely reveal the truth of his truth, and then if he exhausted his meaning, modify it to deduce and dredge it, so that the Book of Changes can be completely convenient and driven to use, and the magic and subtlety of hexagrams can be fully brought into play.

We should also know the "image" in Yi Gua later. If you have any good comments on this topic, please feel free to comment or chat in the comments section. Next, let's not talk too much and get back to the point.

This "cohesion" of the ancients is the treasure of every word. The position and meaning of each word are specific, unchangeable and have profound meanings. If it changes, it's like a damaged baby.

Cohesion is the soul of the whole Zhouyi. There is Tai Chi in the connection, that is, two instruments give birth to four images, and four images give birth to gossip. Gossip decides good or bad luck, and good or bad luck gives birth to great cause "is the main axis connecting the preceding with the following in the Book of Changes. And "four images" is the key to interpret this sentence.

The ancient book "Dry Chisel Degree" in the Western Han Dynasty said that when the world evolved, there was "Taiyi" at first, but it did not present a gaseous state at this time. Second, there is a "beginning" and qi begins to appear. Third, it is "beginning", and the gas begins to transform into a form. Fourthly, with Tai Su, form began to transform into matter. The "four images" are also temperament, which is formed between the beginning and the beginning of evolution, and is the temperament in evolution and growth.

Yi says that two instruments give birth to four images, and four images give birth to gossip. According to gossip, you can infer good or bad luck, and you can make achievements at will if you know good or bad luck. Therefore, following these laws to form a dynamic picture of opening and closing, there is no better metaphor than the image of the legal image-heaven and earth. The change of the opening and closing of the gate of heaven and earth is the change of the four seasons, showing the most obvious hanging images of the four seasons-the sun and the moon.

The "law" of legal image means rules and frameworks; The "hanging" of hanging an elephant is not to stop on one side. This "legal image, suspended image" is two instruments, talking about two elements: inside and outside. Such a whole is the four images produced by these two instruments-"the sky, the earth, the sun and the moon". At this time, these four images are still constantly moving and evolving. It is based on the portal of heaven and earth, and the sun and the moon keep running, forming the rigidity and softness of Yin and Yang, forming the four seasons and eight sections, forming the youngest son of Yin and Yang (6789), and forming the fire and water of Jin Mu. These four images include tangible material and intangible quality.

In fact, from Tai Chi to Eight Diagrams, this model is about the evolution of the material world in the universe. In this way, from the world of two instruments, "heaven" gave birth to an invisible "god"; "Earth" gives birth to tangible "things". The sage recognizes the changes in the world of two devices and follows them; The hanging image in the sky-the movement of the sun and the moon, allows you to see all kinds of good and bad luck, and the saints make instruments accordingly. In this way, the images appearing in the endless sky and the established customs and cultures of the tribes around the Luohe River were all chosen by the saints.

Saints believe that all things generated by heaven and earth and all kinds of changes in heaven and earth have certain internal reasons. There are four images in Yi, which heaven and earth want to show to the world. It is based on these that I wrote Cohesion, and I also want to tell the world about these things and let the world judge what they say and do.

Therefore, the Book of Changes has Tai Chi, resulting in two instruments and four images. It is to let the world explore the complexity of things, explore the minuteness of things, infer far-reaching truth, judge the good or bad of the world and promote the natural normality of the world.

Am I right about the "four images" of these two students? Let's look it up from Cohesion Biography.

At the beginning of Cohesion Biography, it is said that "gossip is in the column and image is in it". Xunzi? On soldiers: therefore, benevolent people use soldiers, and when they gather, they become soldiers, and when they disperse, they form columns. The word "column" in these two sentences has the same meaning. "Column" is a noun, which means to arrange in an orderly and complete line (the vertical line is called "row" and the horizontal line is called "column"). The sentence "Gossip in a row, elephants in it" means that four elephants are among them after gossip is arranged in an orderly and complete row.

See Yi Sheng gossip. The four images of Kun (Earth), Kan (Moon), Li (Sun) and Gan (Sun) are arranged in an orderly and complete line in the gossip.

Look at innate gossip again. Gan (Tian), Li (Japan), Kun (Di) and Kan (Yue) are also among the orderly and complete gossip ranks.

The second chapter of Cohesion Biography says, "The ancients were kings of the world, looking up at the sky, looking up at the land, observing the articles of birds and beasts and their suitability to the land, taking the body near and the things far away, so they started gossip and communicated the virtues of the gods and the feelings of all things."

The meaning of this sentence in the second chapter of Cohesion Biography is: Bao looks up at the sky, the sky seen on Mount Tai during the day is the sun hanging in the sky, and the earth leaning on Mount Tai at night is the distant earth and the stars and moons outside.

Then observe the patterns of birds and beasts and the patterns formed by the mountains and rivers, compare them far and near, think about the image, and then start to create gossip runes according to the discontinuity of their stripes. The laws leading to heaven and earth are used to control the situation and state of everything.

The most obvious objects observed by Bao Fu's Bow are the main body (four images) of the Eight Diagrams: the sky, the earth, the sun and the moon.

The most obvious analogy of Bao's comparative thinking is the source of Taoist spells that form witch culture.