The Complete Collection of Ice Books

Chapter 14 Hard and soft (2)
Rigidity and Softness and Yin-Yang Five Elements

Original text
If it is rigid and soft, then the five elements produce the number ① of restraint ②, which is called "innate seeds ③".News ④ is directly connected with fate, so it is easy to see its brightness ⑤.

注释
①Five Elements Shengke: Ancient Chinese philosophy and medical terminology.The five elements refer to metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. The ancients believed that everything in the world is composed of these five substances.Birth refers to the mutual generation of the five elements, wood generates fire, fire generates earth, earth generates metal, metal generates water, water generates wood, and they are born together.Restraint, the five elements restrict each other, such as metal restrains wood, wood restrains earth, earth restrains water, water restrains fire, fire restrains metal, and the five elements reverse each other. ②Number: luck number, gas number. ③ Innate seeds: the vitality left by the innate. ④ News: Refers to the mutual growth and decline of yin and yang, which is rigid and soft. There is an ancient article "The Five Elements Principle News Fu", in which the word "news" is like this. ⑤ Jiaoran: The appearance of the bright moonlight, here refers to clearly visible.

Translation
The masculinity and femininity of things are determined by the relationship between the five elements of mutual generation and mutual restraint. This is the so-called "innate seed" - the vitality inherited from the innate.If a certain part is relatively weak, the other parts will supplement it; if a certain part of the whole body is too strong, the other parts will weaken it.In human appearance, the ups and downs of masculinity and femininity are closely related to people's innate destiny, which is like the bright and bright moonlight, which is relatively easy to see.

Interpretation
The book "Bingjian" begins with "sacred bones", and then follows with "hardness and softness". "God" and "bone" are the root of "phase" and "innate seeds".Only with "seeds" will they take root, germinate, blossom and bear fruit.And "rigid" and "soft" are also "innate seeds". In other words, "god" and "bone" are very important, and "rigid" and "soft" are equally important. It is possible to clarify the principles of "hardness and softness" and "the number of five elements that produce restraint".It is based on this theoretical basis that when people observe and judge the fate of people, they must conform to both their natural nature and their social nature, and they should be implemented in practice.This reality is the law of mutual rotation of yin and yang, and the law of generation and restraint of the five elements.To put it bluntly, Yin Yang and Five Elements are just a method used by people to understand and explain objectively understood objects.

Therefore, before discussing "rigid" and "soft", let's talk about the theory of Yin-Yang and Five Elements in ancient China, which is the theoretical basis of "rigid" and "soft".

The emergence of the theory of yin and yang was formed as early as the Xia Dynasty.The yin and yang lines in the gossip appear in the divination book "Lianshan" of the Xia Dynasty ("Lianshan", "Guizang" and "Zhouyi" are famous divination books in ancient times, and only "Zhouyi" and "Zhouyi" are preserved now. Lianshan and Guizang have been lost). "Shan Hai Jing" records: "Fuxi got the river map, and the Xia people called it "Lianshan" because of it; the Yellow Emperor got the river map, and the merchants called it "Guizang" because of it; , called "Book of Changes." That is to say, the Fuxi family obtained the river map, and the people of the Xia Dynasty wrote "Lianshan" based on the river map, the people of the Shang Dynasty wrote "Guizang", and the people of the Zhou Dynasty wrote "Zhouyi" based on it.

What happened to Hetu?It and Luoshu are called "Hetu" and "Luoshu".According to legend, in the era of Fuxi, the leader of clans and tribes in my country's primitive society, a dragon horse came out of the Yellow River and carried the "River Map" on its back;After Fuxi got the "Hetu" and "Luoshu", he drew the gossip according to the yin and yang points on the "Hetu" and "Luoshu".Later, Zhu Xi, a great scholar in the Song Dynasty, became even more enlightened, and described "Hetu" and "Luoshu" as "the natural Yi of heaven and earth".

Yin-yang is a unique category of Chinese philosophy, originally used to refer to two opposing qi or two states of qi.Later, it was used to refer to all the opposing relationships in the universe, as well as the dynamic equilibrium forces or attributes of the unity of contradictions.Yin and Yang can be summarized and symbolized in an extremely wide range, and all the contradictory and contradictory phenomena in nature and human society are all contained in it, such as heaven and earth, sun and moon, day and night, movement and stillness, and coldness. Warm and warm, virtual and real, bright and dark, good and bad, black and white, hard and soft, etc.Simply put, yin and yang reveal the basic laws of the physics of various phenomena in nature and human society. The two aspects are opposed to each other, interdependent, ebb and flow, and transform together, constituting the basic law of the movement of the universe.

The emergence of the Five Elements Theory has yet to be concluded.Yi scholars believe that the theory of the five elements should be born at the same time as the theory of yin and yang.Historians believe that the founder of the five elements is Mencius.Philosophers believe that it was produced in the Western Zhou Dynasty, and it was first seen in "Shangshu·Hong Fan".The three opinions have been at loggerheads.

"Five elements" refers to "gold, wood, water, fire and earth".They each have their own properties:
"Wood" has the characteristics of hair growth and stretching.
"Fire" has hot and upward characteristics,
"Soil" has the characteristics of long-term cultivation and chemical cultivation.
"Gold" has the characteristics of tranquility and killing.
"Water" has a cold, downward quality.

The ancients believed that the five elements are the five basic elements that make up the universe, and they are also the externalized formation and transformation methods of the Yin-Yang movement.There is a mutual generation and mutual restraint relationship among the five elements.Among the five elements, one element that promotes the growth of another element is called "Xiangsheng", and one element that inhibits and restricts another element is called "Xiangke".The law of mutual generation of the five elements is:

Mutual growth: wood generates fire, fire generates earth, earth generates metal, metal generates water, and water generates wood.In layman's terms: wood can make fire, and wood can be burned to form fire; fire can make soil, and the dust accumulated by fire can become soil; soil can make gold, and common sense believes that gold is mined or washed from ore soil. Gold can produce water, just as dew condenses on a cold iron block; water can produce wood, because water and wood can grow.This is the principle of the mutual generation of the five elements. The five elements are interdependent and never stop, just like the biological chain, forming an endless Taiji diagram.

The five elements not only co-exist, but also restrain each other in pairs, thus building a dynamic system of mutual restraint and balance of power.

The law of the five elements restraining each other is: wood restrains earth, earth restrains water, water restrains fire, fire restrains metal, and metal restrains wood.In layman's terms: wood can overcome soil, because trees always break through the ground when they grow, but their roots are deeply inserted into the ground; soil can overcome water, because water banks, dikes, dams, and sills can block water, and soil can Absorb water, etc.; water can overcome fire, because water can extinguish fire; fire can overcome gold, because fire can melt gold; gold can overcome wood, because using metal to make knives, axes, etc. can cut down trees.This is obvious common sense.

Between the five elements, mutual generation and mutual restraint go round and round and never die.

The mutual generation and mutual restraint among the five elements, this kind of mutual restraint relationship is called reverse restraint, also known as reverse restraint, commonly known as the five elements and five insults.

The mutual generation and mutual restraint of the five elements is not just birth and restraint, but restraint in birth, and restraint in restraint, mutual connection and mutual transformation.In addition to the Shunke phenomenon such as "gold overcomes wood" and "wood overcomes soil", there is also the phenomenon of inverse restraint. For example, wood can restrain soil, but if the soil is very hard and the wood is too tender, it will be difficult for the wood to grow, and the wood will be restrained by the soil. ; Metal can overcome wood, but if metal is too weak and wood is too strong, then metal will be overcome by wood; earth can overcome water, but if water is too much, water will wash away soil, and soil will be overcome by water; Fire can be restrained, but if there is more fire and less water, the water will instead help the fire, and the fire will restrain water; fire can restrain metal, but if the metal is strong and the fire is weak, the fire will not be able to play its role and will be extinguished instead.

The principle of mutual restraint is the same, and so is the principle of mutual generation.

The five elements grow together, but if the contrast between the two elements is too great, the rings will grow together to form a counter-restraint.Water can grow wood, but if there is too much water, wood will not be able to grow. As the saying goes, "a lot of water drifts away wood".Wood can make fire, but if there is too much wood, the fire will not be born, but will be extinguished quickly.Gold can generate water, but if gold is prosperous and water is weak, the effect of water cannot be exerted.Soil can produce gold, but if there is too much soil, gold will be buried.

The relationship between the five elements' mutual generation and mutual restraint seems to be very complicated, but the basic relation of mutual generation and restraint is these four: mutual generation, mutual restraint, restraint and anti-restraint, birth and counter-restraint.

In ancient China, the celestial stems and earthly branches were used to record the year, which is also closely related to the yin and yang and five elements.The heavenly stems are A, B, C, D, E, Ji, G, Xin, Ren, and Gui, a total of 10; the earthly branches are Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu, Hai, a total of 12.

The Yin-Yang and Five Elements of Heavenly Stems are as follows:
A and B belong to wood, A is Yang wood, B is Yin wood,

Bing and Ding belong to Fire, Bing is Yang Fire, Ding is Yin Fire,

Wuji belongs to earth, Wu is Yang earth, Ji is Yin earth,

Geng and Xin belong to gold, Geng is Yang metal, Xin is Yin metal,

Rengui belongs to water, Ren is Yang water, and Gui is Yin water.

The five elements of yin and yang in the earthly branch are as follows:
Yin Mao belongs to wood, Yin is Yang wood, Mao is Yin wood,

Si Wu belongs to Fire, Wu is Yang Fire, and Si Wu is Yin Fire.

Shenyou belongs to gold, Shen is Yangjin, unitary is Yinjin,

Zi Hai belongs to water, Zi is Yang water, Hai is Yin water,

Chenxu and Chouwei belong to Earth, Chenxu is Yang Earth, and Chouwei is Yin Earth.

So, what is the relationship between human temperament, destiny and Yin-Yang and Five Elements?
In order to illustrate and explain everything in the universe, the ancient Chinese used the viewpoint of Yin-Yang and Five Elements to analyze everything, and incorporated everything into this system.For example, the east and spring belong to wood, the south and summer belong to fire, the middle and long summer belong to earth, the west and autumn belong to metal, and the north and winter belong to water.For example, when the five elements are combined with the five sense organs and five virtues, they are Mumuren, Huotongli, Tukouxin, Jinbiyi, Shuierzhi, etc.

This is actually the manifestation of the concept of "harmony between man and nature" in Yin-Yang and Five Elements. "Heaven and man as one" is the core concept of ancient Chinese philosophy.This concept believes that the way of heaven and humanity, nature and people are interlinked, similar and unified.Thinkers in ancient China generally advocated the mutual unity of heaven and man, and opposed the mutual enmity between heaven and man.This has something in common with modern environmentalism, but the ancient Chinese idea of ​​"harmony between man and nature" has much richer connotations than the concept of environmental protection.Some people believe that advocating and emphasizing the "unity of man and nature" is one of the characteristics of ancient Chinese philosophy, and striving to achieve "unity of man and nature" is the highest state of existence for Chinese people.

Ancient Chinese philosophy believes that human beings, as the superior life of "the primate of all things", are the products of the natural world, so they contain all the information of the natural world and are the epitome of the natural world; similarly, human beings are the products of human society, so they contain With all the information of human society, everyone is the epitome of society.Due to these two reasons, people not only have natural attributes, but also social attributes.

According to the above theories, when the ancients predicted and judged the fate of people, they required that the human appearance should be fully in line with nature and sociality.And conforming to nature and conforming to society is in line with the law of movement and change of yin and yang and the five elements, that is, the law of mutual rotation of yin and yang, and the law of restraint by the five elements.

Liu Shao, a thinker in the Wei state during the Three Kingdoms period, believed in "Characters" that the root of a character can be found in the principle of emotion.However, the principle of human nature is both subtle and mysterious, and it is difficult for ordinary people to understand without the vision of a sage.The principle of emotion can be found in the external performance of a person, that is to say, to know a person's inner world, one can obtain it by observing his external voice, appearance, and every move.The whole way of knowing people is to know the heart from the appearance, and judge the hidden place from the obvious place.That is: things must find their nature from the outside to the inside.

Where does form come from?Liu Shao, a native of the Wei Dynasty in the Three Kingdoms, believes that form and quality are closely related to the five elements, yin and yang, and Yuanyi.Because Hanyuan Yi regards quality, it has its confusion; because it observes yin and yang to establish its nature, it has its rigidity and softness; because it is shaped by the body and five elements, it has the shape of water, fire, gold, wood, and earth.Although the shape is ever-changing, its intrinsic properties remain unchanged, thus forming form and quality.

Emotional nature is discussed through Yuanyi, yin and yang, and five elements, which is the basis for the theory of qi and nature (or called talent theory, qualitative theory).During the Eastern Han Dynasty, Wang Chong put forward the idea of ​​"using qi for nature". He believed that "Qi of Yuanyi" was the root of "nature".Wang Chong said: "People are endowed with qi from the sky, and when qi is formed, they are formed." He also said: "People's good and evil have one vitality." How much qi is decisive is whether it is good or bad.

The quality of human beings lies in the amount, thickness, and turbidity of the qi observed, so the nature of human beings naturally has the differences of good and evil, wisdom and ignorance, talents and talents, and virtuous and unworthy.The person who observes the qi is abundant, thick, and clear is a wise man, and the person who observes the qi is little, thin, and turbid is a fool.Although malleable, the change will not be great for those with weak willpower.

The theory of Yin-Yang and Five Elements prevailed in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Those who come to Qi are called Yang Qi, and those who lose Qi are called Yin Qi.The two qi of yin and yang come from the one qi of heaven and earth, and they are integrated into one body. There are yin and yang qi in the sky and earth, and people have two sides of yin and yang. Therefore, Dong Zhongshu said: "The body has temperament, just like the sky has yin and yang."

The yin and yang sides of people refer to greed and benevolence.Dong Zhongshu said: "People's sincerity is greed and benevolence. The spirit of benevolence and greed lies in the body. The body takes the heavens. The sky rains, and there is yin and yang. The body also rains, and there is the nature of greed and benevolence." , benevolence can be good.The greed and benevolence shown by people is formed by habit, so the good and evil of human nature need to be cultivated after the day after tomorrow.

Applying these principles to the analysis of human beings constitutes the practical value of "hardness" and "softness" in "Bing Jian".This is to label various human elements as Yin-Yang and Five Elements, and then observe and judge according to the relationship of mutual generation and mutual restraint.Observing and analyzing the fundamentals of characters can turn to human nature, but the principle of human nature is very subtle and requires extremely high and deep insight.The principle of disposition must be manifested from the outside.To know a person's inner world, you can observe his external speech, manners, voice and smile.For the understanding of the whole person, it should be from the appearance to the heart, from the obvious to the hidden.That is to explore the essence from the appearance.

How to link appearance with essence?One tabulates these relationships as follows:
The five elements of yin and yang are hidden in the human appearance, but human beings cannot be perfect, and there will often be "insufficient" or "surplus". The prescription given by "Bingjian" for this purpose is "replenish if there is not enough, and vent if there is excess".It means: if a certain part of the human figure is insufficient, it must be damaged or made up for in other parts, that is, "the loss is more than enough to make up for the deficiency" in "Laozi"; Partial loss, this is a more neutral and balanced "yin and yang complementarity" and "combination of hardness and softness".For example, if a person has poor eyes but excellent ears, the ears make up for the "deficiency" of the eyes.If a person's cheekbones are too high and his nose is protruding, then the excessive masculinity brought about by the cheekbones can be reduced, which is "use venting".

Lao Tzu said in Chapter 77 of "Tao Te Ching": "The way of heaven is like drawing a bow? The high ones suppress it, the low ones lift it up, the surplus damages it, and the deficiencies make up for it. The heaven's way damages the excess and makes up for the deficiency. It is not the case when a person establishes the Tao, and the damage is not enough to give more than enough. Who can give more than enough to serve the world? Only those who have the Tao. They do not rely on sages, do not rely on achievements, and do not want to see sages."

The meaning of this passage is that the "Tao" of heaven is not very similar to shooting an arrow with a bow?If it is high, lower it a little, raise it a little lower, relax it a little when it is too high, and pull it up a little when it is not enough.The "Tao" of heaven is also to reduce the excess to replenish the deficiency.Man's "Tao" is not like this, it is to reduce what is not enough to dedicate to what is more than enough.Who can reduce the surplus and dedicate it to the people of the world?Only people who follow humanity.Therefore, the sage promotes all things without asking for rewards, achieves something without claiming merit, and is unwilling to show his intelligence.

The saying in "Bing Jian" that "make up for what is not enough and vent when there is excess" is an extension of Lao Tzu's thought.This idea is an important embodiment of dialectics in Yin Yang and Five Elements.For example, if gold is prosperous, it is said that things will be reversed when they are extremely strong, and if they are hard and easy to break, use water to vent the prosperity of gold; if the water is too weak to help things, use gold to generate water to help the weak.This overall concept can overcome the one-sided view of "only seeing the trees but not the forest".When applying the principle of "supplementing what is insufficient and venting what is surplus", the principle of ebb and flow of things should be followed—that is, the law of the balance of yin and yang, the combination of hardness and softness, and the harmony and unity of the five elements.

It has a long history to judge people with the theory of yin and yang, rigidity and softness, and the theory of the five elements, and it is most respected by the theory of physiognomy.As stated in Chen Tuan's "Fengjian": "Human life is also derived from water, observing form from fire, water is essence and aspirations, fire is spirit and heart. After essence is combined, spirit is born, and spirit is born and then form is complete. , The shape is complete and then the color is. It is the knowledge that is manifested outside, called the shape; born in the heart, called the god; in the flesh and blood, called the qi; in the skin, called the color; in the human body, there is gold The signs of wood, water, fire, and earth have the signs of birds and beasts." Another example is "Taiqing Shenjian" Volume [-] "On Flesh and Bone" says: "The way to establish the sky is called Yin and Yang, and the way to establish the earth is called rigidity and softness. A body of rigidity and softness can give birth to all things. The mountain is the rigidity of the earth. The earth is the softness of the earth. Rigid and soft, it is fortunate but not showy; soft and rigid, it is vain and unreal. Those who have flesh and blood, that’s the case.” Also, “On the Five Elements” in volume two of “Taiqing Shenjian” can be read in conjunction with the “external rigidity and softness” discussed in this article.For example, in his "The Born of the Five Elements": "Wood is benevolence, and it is dominated by brilliance and luxuriance. Determining life and longevity. Water is wisdom, mastering wisdom and sensitivity, and determining virtuous and foolish people. Earth is faith, governing virtue to carry all things, and determining wealth and poverty." There are also "Songs of the Five Elements Interaction" and "Songs of the Five Elements Interactions". It has a pendant bead nose and a bridge, and the gold and water phase is the main source of great prosperity. Eyes are clear and ears are full of air, if you are not an official and rich..." This is the so-called relationship between the so-called "pros and cons" of the five elements and people's fate. In fact, it is far-fetched Attachment, belongs to the superstitious thought of idealism.However, if we say that the mutual generation and mutual restraint among the five elements embodies the principle of surplus and ebb in the development of things, that is, the balance of yin and yang, the harmony of hardness and softness, and the law of harmony and unity of the five elements, it is a reasonable view to observe the process of life's development and change.

"Book of Changes" in "Book of Changes" says: "Heaven is respected and the earth is humble, and the universe is determined. The humble is high, and the high and the low are. The movement is constant, and the wind is soft. Fang is gathered by like, and things are divided into groups, and good and bad are born. Well...so there is Tai Chi in Yi, and there are two appearances. Liangyi produces four images, four images produce eight trigrams, eight trigrams determine good and bad, good and bad produce great cause." And its "Shuo Gua" says: "The ancient sage's work "Yi" Also, Youzan is born from the gods, towers the sky and two places and relies on numbers, observes changes from yin and yang and establishes hexagrams, exerts hardness and softness to make friends, and obeys morality and reason from righteousness, exhausts reason and exhausts nature, and even human life. The "Yi" written by the sage is also based on the principle of following nature and fate. It is the way of setting up the sky, which is yin and yang, the way of setting up the earth is softness and rigidity, and the way of setting up people is called benevolence and righteousness. Combine the three talents and make two of them, so The six paintings in "Yi" form a hexagram. Divide yin and yang, and use softness and rigidity repeatedly, so "Yi" has six characters to form a chapter." The thoughts of "yin and yang", "hardness and softness", "movement and stillness" in this chapter of "Bingjian" follow Back to its source, it comes from here.Liu Shao’s "Character History" commented on "The Eighth Heroes": "The one who is the best of the husband and grass is the hero, and the one who is the beast is the hero. The old man’s literary and military prowess is named here. Therefore, it is called smart and beautiful. Ying, a hero with extraordinary courage, this is its general alias. If the scores are corrected, they must be compared with each other, each with two points, and the other one point, and then it will be successful." The so-called "hero" is also a combination of yin and yang, hardness and softness. economical people.

(End of this chapter)