The Complete Collection of Ice Books

Chapter 16 Hard and soft (4)
The "reverse combination" mentioned in "Bing Jian" focuses on the word "combination".Incompatible means that the subject cannot become a useful thing, that is, the subject destroys the "usefulness of things" of the subject; conformity means that under the tempering of the subject, the subject is honed into a tool and can be used more fully. Reflect the "usefulness of things".Soil can restrain water, if the water cannot irrigate crops, feed and drink livestock, relieve drought, and exert the nourishing effect of "nectar", this kind of contradictory combination is useless.One of the forms of water nourishing all things is stored in the soil. With the traction of soil ridges, ridges, embankments, and canals, it will not become floods, or it will not become flooded water drifting around.This kind of soil restraining water is a reverse combination, which fully exerts and protects the usefulness of water.The mutual generation and restraint among the five elements has a profound dialectical thought, which is consistent with the origin of the dialectical thought in traditional Chinese medicine.

By analogy, water overcomes fire, wood overcomes earth, metal overcomes wood, and the answer to "reverse combination" can be found. "Shenfeng Tongkao" said: "It is not strange to be free of disease, and it is expensive to be sick." There is medicine for illness, mutual nourishment, and the balance of power between the five elements. The five elements are harmonious and do not compete. This is in line with the dialectical law of the unity of opposites, this kind of nature is expensive, and "Bing Jian" identified this situation as "very expensive".

"The shape of gold carries fire, and it is very expensive." Fire can overcome gold. According to a pejorative understanding, gold is melted by fire, which is also injurious and has the taste of tyranny.Conversely speaking, gold cannot be refined without fire, and as long as the heat is right, gold will benefit instead.

"Fire with gold in it will die at thirty." Gold cannot be made into a weapon without fire, but with gold in the fire, it will make the fire impure and form a mixed and messy fire. Gold disturbs the purity of fire, and fire cannot help gold to make a weapon. , On the contrary, the gold was melted, but it couldn't be melted completely. In this way, the fire was mixed, and the gold and fire fought, which was naturally dangerous, and it was difficult to survive, so it was called "thirty deaths".

"The shape of water with soil is very expensive." The water is originally vast and unrestrained. If there is no soil to restrict it by dikes and banks, it will become a flood, which is not conducive to things.If there is soil as the embankment and the bank, the water can be used by people and become a useful thing, so it will be expensive.

"The shape of the soil is filled with water, and the lonely and cold will grow old." Building soil as an embankment can restrain the flood from causing damage; building it as a house can shelter from wind and rain.Such soil is good.If there is water in such soil, the firmness is destroyed, and it is not safe.The impact of the flood, the collapse of the earth embankment, and the collapse of the earth house will cause unimaginable consequences.There is a difference between soil shape with water, and building soil to store water to breed trees. This must be carefully distinguished, and the water is too much and the soil is flooded; water grows wood, wood suppresses soil, and turns against each other, making the soil shape impure; the soil is too wet , needs a little heating to breed all trees. If you bring water, water can overcome fire, without warm and warm air, all kinds of disadvantages will be superimposed, and you will naturally be "lonely, cold and old".

"Wood with gold is very expensive." Wood will not become useful furniture or art without being cut with an axe, without being carved and polished with a planer; Therefore, the shape of the wood is gold, which is very expensive.But the gold can't be too heavy, otherwise it will kill Chunmu and become a withered and lonely autumn tree.From the perspective of the relationship between the five elements and the four seasons, autumn is the season of gold, and the air of gold is too heavy, so it is called killing golden autumn, and the trees are restrained, so they appear to be withered and fallen leaves.

"The golden shape brings wood, and the sword goes with you." Wood makes fire, and fire overcomes gold. This is a disadvantage of the golden shape with wood; The second is disadvantageous; wood is heavy, but it insults gold, which is the third disadvantage.In this way, the quality of gold will naturally be damaged, and the trend of losing gold will be bad, and everything will not go well.

"In addition, they are all miscellaneous cases, which are not included in the formal theory of literati." Except for the above-mentioned "reverse unions" that interact with each other and are reasonable and restrained, other "reverse unions" have nothing to recommend, they are all "miscellaneous cases".Miscellaneous, miscellaneous and unclear, either in the ups and downs, or with bad intentions, so it can't make the supervisor feel at ease, so it can't be used well, naturally it won't be rich, and fame and fortune will be difficult.This kind of situation has no effect on literati, so it "does not belong to the theory of literati".This kind of thinking is influenced by "everything is inferior, only reading is high".

According to the nature and symbolic meaning of the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire and earth, the ancients used the method of analogy to draw images to summarize the human body, appearance, personality and temperament into five types, namely, the shape of gold, the shape of wood, and the shape of water. The shape of fire and the shape of earth have something in common with the classification of human heads in art.In terms of art, the head is divided into eight types: Mu, Guo, Tian, ​​Jia, Shen, and Feng.The five elements and the classification of aesthetics all lie in the fact that they have different starting points for understanding the problem, but the nature is the same.

According to ancient philosophy, everything in the universe is composed of five elements: metal, wood, water, fire and earth.Since man is the essence of the universe and the primate of all things, its constituent elements are also gold, wood, water, fire, and earth, so of course it should be in line with the nature of nature.Therefore, it is said: "In order to live with the five elements, follow the harmony of the heaven and the earth, and eat the fortune of the heaven and the earth, it may not be due to the acquisition of the five elements. To distinguish the shape of the five elements, one must fully understand the nature of the five elements." Since the five elements are in harmony with the heaven and the earth, since they come from the five elements, if you want to understand the shape of the five elements, you must know the properties of the five elements, know the root and the bottom, and then grasp the essence of things.

This idea became the theoretical basis of the ancient talent study, so it was preached in "Theory of the Five Elements":

Madam was fertilized by water, so her qi was born from fire and she became a human being. When essence merged, spirit was born, and after spirit was born, she became complete. She knew everything outside. She had the appearance of gold, wood, water, fire, and earth, and she had the appearance of birds and beasts. .

The idea of ​​"man is fertilized by water" is not simple.Darwin and other Western biologists proved that life comes from water, which was hundreds of years later than the ancient Chinese's conclusion ("The Five Elements" was written in the Song Dynasty).

According to Darwin's theory of biological evolution, since human beings are derived from animals, they cannot escape the attributes of natural creatures. Therefore, it is not unreasonable to compare the human form with birds and beasts.Hua Tuo, a famous doctor in the Three Kingdoms period, imitated the "Wu Qin Xi" made of five animals, which is a good way to exercise.However, the ancients spoke of the relationship between birds, beasts and human figures in a miraculous and infinitely mysterious way, but it was too much and not enough.

The ancient Chinese method of knowing people has the theory of five forms, which correspond to the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire and earth.

1.golden shape
Appearance: The denomination and hands and feet are square and small like a piece of square gold, with solid bones and flesh.

Skin colour: white.

Voice: He Run.

Personality: Resolute and decisive, rigorous thinking, deep thinking, wise and quick-witted.

Others: The height should be moderate, not too low.

With the above conditions, it is called the alloy bureau, which is the best.However, people with a golden shape have edges and corners, so it is most taboo to have cramped facial features, which means that the pattern is not open.

2.wooden man
Appearance: Thin and straight, like a tall straight tree, imposing manner, prominent joints, wide upper part and pointed lower part, delicate eyebrows, round waist and abdomen.

Skin color: Cyan (white to blue).

Sound: High and loud.

Personality: Gentle and tolerant, but not firm in will.

With the above conditions, it is called Hemuju, and it is the best.But a person with a wooden shape is straight and tall, and should be thin but not weak. It is best not to have a thin waist and back, as this will sway with the wind, and swaying will weaken the will.

3.water figure
Appearance: round and obese, with more flesh and less bone, round waist and thick back, thick eyebrows and big eyes.

Skin Tone: Slightly dark.

Voice: Uncertain.

Personality: Emotional, imaginative, intelligent and lively.

With the above conditions, it is called Heshui Bureau, and it is the best.However, water-shaped people are harmonious and easy-going, and they should avoid being bloated, as bloated people will go with the flow.

4.fire man
Appearance: Narrow forehead, wide cheeks, tall and open nose, less hair.

Colour: Red.

Voice: Dry.

Personality: Emotional, easy to temper, not good at abstract thinking.

If the above conditions are met, it is called Hehuoju, and it is the best.However, fire-shaped people are fiery and fierce, and it is most taboo to show their facial features, which lacks restraint.

5.earthen man
Appearance: Thick and strong, with round back and round waist, light flesh and heavy bones, broad and round facial features.

Colour: yellow.

Voice: thick and long.

Personality: Serene demeanor, slow and steady demeanor, calm and composed, but the city is deep and difficult to fathom; intelligence is mediocre, emotion is indifferent; but treats people generously, and is very trustworthy.

With the above conditions, it is called Hetuju, and it is the best.However, earth-shaped people are honest and peaceful, and they should avoid rough breath, because rough breath means mediocre intelligence.

The characteristics and differences of the five elements and phases can be summarized in the following table:
Although the five shapes are different, they are all regarded as the best body shape.Because they all maintain coordination on the whole, and they all reflect a relatively complete pattern.And our ancestors firmly believed that a complete pattern is to inherit a certain pure spirit of the five elements between heaven and earth, and simplicity is the essence and preciousness.Let's ignore it for now.Based on empirical theory alone, we can actually feel that a well-proportioned figure does give people a sense of beauty, goodwill, intimacy, stability and even a sense of dependence. People will have stronger personal charm, better popularity, and more chances of success.But there are taboos for the five shapes. The so-called taboos are actually damage to the overall pattern, even if there are fatal flaws in the originally very harmonious shapes, or they go to the extreme of "extreme things must be reversed".

It is worth noting that the above five types of forms are the standard types of gold-shaped people, wood-shaped people, water-shaped people, fire-shaped people, and earth-shaped people. , is the best of the best, is the "standard" situation, and belongs to the positive pattern of the five elements, or in other words, it is a pure form, which is fully integrated without any confusion.However, although the above five forms are very good, few people can grow into such a pure figure. Most people always use a certain form as the main framework and are compatible with some features of other forms.The so-called "few people with pure form, more people with both form, and more people with both form and form" is what I mean.

Therefore, "Bingjian" lists many principles of the five elements blending, mutual generation and mutual restraint, such as "wood and fire", "water and wood", "golden shape with fire", "fire shape with gold", etc. Judging whether this kind of heterozygosity is good or bad based on the relationship, a series of methods of knowing people are derived.Because these methods are basically based on the traditional Chinese theory that the five elements generate and restrain each other, they are more metaphysical, difficult to understand, difficult to explain, and not very useful in real life, so this book will not discuss them in detail.However, the physical characteristics coincide with the personality characteristics to a large extent, and a coordinated body reflects the organic unity of character elements. No matter what kind of personality, as long as it is harmonious, stable and self-contained, it will definitely be beneficial to success.Therefore, in real life, we don’t have to stick to the traditional Chinese theory of the Five Elements, as long as the body is healthy, beautiful, and full of vitality, we can think that they herald the success of our career.

Utilize the world
People have many comments about body shape, such as "a good head is not as good as a good face, and a good face is not as good as a good body" "It doesn't matter whether you are tall or short, you should have a square body."It boils down to "the body is important", and "a good body" means "the body is square and heavy".There is a famous Chinese saying: "A person needs to get close to see, and a horse needs to ride to see." From the speech and behavior of a person, although we can see the general outline of a person's inner activities, but through the observation of "body shape", we can see Show the other party some special potential.

What is body shape?The so-called body shape refers to a person's body shape and height, shortness, fatness, and thinness. It is one of the most obvious external physiological characteristics of a person.The view that body shape is related to human personality and psychology is very popular in daily life. The ancients often linked human personality and psychology with people's external appearance and physical characteristics.The characteristic of body shape is the outline of a person, and it is also a person's portal and program. By studying the program, one can observe one's nature and know one's heart.

Li Bai, a great poet in the Tang Dynasty, was called the Immortal of Poetry by later generations.Most people only know his poems, but not necessarily his ability to read physiognomy.According to legend, there is such a story.

One day, Li Bai was a guest at the home of general Ge Shuhan, and there was a man named Guo Ziyi in the seat.At that time, Guo Ziyi was just an ordinary officer.Li Bai looked at him and said, "This strong man's long eyebrows extend all the way to his temples, his eyes are shining, his eyes are full of energy, his voice is loud and clear, and he has a strong penetrating power. Obtained a high official and a generous salary, and was a great minister." Later, Guo Ziyi made great achievements in quelling the Anshi Rebellion.

Li Bai once set off with Guo Ziyi, and happened to meet a famous monk and a group of mages in the Tang Dynasty on the way.It is said that this group of monks knows astronomy at the top and geography at the bottom. They have deep knowledge and can predict the good and bad fortune of people.Li Bai and Guo Ziyi consulted a group of monks about their life-long affairs.Yixing had always admired Li Bai's poems, and saw that he was diligent and inquisitive, so he said to Li Bai: Everyone has a body, and has various organs such as ears, eyes, nose, and tongue.But if you want to get to the bottom of it, there are no such things in the first place, and these things are all created out of nothing, illusioned from nothingness.Therefore, observing a person should not be confined to these parts, but should be observed through these to observe the person's bearing and expression.Only in this way can we predict things like a god, penetrate three points, and discover the essential things.One party wanted to teach Li Bai some secrets of observing people.

The party looked at Guo Ziyi and said: "You have an extraordinary bearing and a broad mind. You are the five-in-one face of your appearance. You will be famous far and wide in the future, and ordinary princes will not be able to compare with you." Li Bai hurriedly asked what is five-in-one .One party replied: "The principle of Wuhe is relatively advanced. The taboo of a person's face is flat and crooked. To put it simply: the nose is afraid of the deep root of the mountain, especially the small flat nose; the eyes are afraid of red silk piercing Go in; the eyebrows are afraid of breaking in the middle, especially the eyebrows that grow backwards... These are called five incompatibility. If the five incompatibility is not in harmony, there will be many disasters, and things will be counterproductive. On the contrary, if the face is pure and radiant, and the face is clean and flawless, it is Tianxin Compatibility; extraordinary demeanor, majestic, this is the harmony of heaven and virtue; strict morality, benevolence, this is the harmony of heaven and earth. With these characteristics, one can be healthy, disease-resistant, famous and loved by scholars and people.

Later, Guo Ziyi's merits and virtues spread all over the world, and he lived to be nearly a hundred years old. When he died, his beard and hair fluttered like silver.From this point of view, Li Bai's ability to know people is no different from that of a monk.However, Li Bai relied on understanding, and his party relied on long-term experience summarization.

Business utilization
Rigidity and softness are also important factors that cannot be ignored when managers manage enterprises.Some aspects need to adopt rigid management methods, and some aspects need to adopt soft policies.And by adopting appropriate management methods according to different job categories, it is possible to develop the potential of talents to the greatest extent and improve the company's competitiveness.

A key reason for Japan's meteoric rise in the decades following World War II was its united and upward national spirit.The personnel management method of Japanese enterprises is a lifetime employment system, the purpose is to let employees have a sense of belonging to the enterprise.This system fundamentally ensures that the people of the company are united, and many companies care about their employees, which makes them work extra hard in their work.

Shinjiro Torii, chairman of Japan's Suntory Corporation, is a good example. He is affectionately called "father" by his subordinates.He manages the company with a combination of toughness and softness.In terms of strength, he is very strict with his employees, sometimes bordering on harsh.He often inspects the factory in person, and once he finds paper scraps, dust and other dirt, he yells at the employees to clean it up.When seeing employees who are not working hard, they scold them unceremoniously, which makes people feel ashamed.Some employees once fainted on the spot because they could not bear such severe scolding. Some employees even felt very bad after being scolded, so they ran to the bridge to peel apples to relieve the pressure.Therefore, employees are very afraid of Torii.But this is only the side of Torii's "strict father".

On the soft side, as a "father", Torii is unequivocal and never stingy when rewarding employees for their merits.Once, the clerk of the General Affairs Unit sent out an email with an inadvertently wrong price and quantity.When Torii found out, he immediately ordered another employee to retrieve it.The employee complained: "How do I know which mail box he posted in? It's really unreasonable to ask me to do this kind of thing." , you go find it!" Reminded by the chairman, the employee immediately went to the shipyard post office, and after a lot of effort, he finally found the mail.Torii immediately showed a happy smile, comforted the employee and said, "Thanks for your hard work!" Then he took out a very expensive gift to reward him.

In addition, when the company makes money, Torii has always attributed the credit to the employees and added bonuses to them.There are so many bonuses that often make employees dumbfounded: "Is it a mistake? Why are there so many?" Bird Well's way of distributing bonuses is also very special.Every time he would call the employees to the office, and when the employees were about to leave after receiving the bonus gift, he would say, "Wait a minute, this is a gift for your mother." Stop it: "This is a gift for your lover." After taking these gifts, the employee thought that he should be able to leave this time, but the chairman called again: "Wait a minute, there is another gift for the child." How can such a boss not be moved by the employees and work hard?
Strict requirements for work, but caring for the lives of employees, combining rigidity and softness, this is the main reason why Bird Well is loved by employees.At the beginning, not long after the store opened, Torii often heard the clerk complain: "There are bedbugs in the room, which made us sleep well at night." One night, after the clerk fell asleep, Torii quietly held a candle to the cracks in the pillars of the room and Catch bedbugs in the crevices of cabinets.The sound woke up the shop assistants from their sleep, and when they saw the boss who was catching bedbugs, they were moved to tears.This is the "fatherly" side of Torii.

(End of this chapter)