One of the theoretical origins of Feng Shui: What are the concepts of Yin-Yang and Five Elements?

The theory of Yin-Yang and Five Elements is the starting point for us to study the traditional culture of China. As Xie Xialing said, "If you don't understand the theory of Yin-Yang and Five Elements, and want to talk about China culture without reading Fa Ji, Tian Wen and Wu Xing Zhi, I'm afraid it will be difficult to achieve tangible results after all."

The Yin-Yang School and the Five Elements School originated in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and by the end of the Warring States Period, they had become a fairly mature and complete theoretical system. This period was written in Guoyu and Zuozhuan, and the concept of Yin-Yang and Five Elements was obvious. "Mandarin. Regarding Zhou Yu, a note from Bai Yang's father said, "Zhou will die. The spirit of heaven and earth does not lose its order. If it goes beyond its order, people will die in chaos. The sun is too strong to come out, and the shade is too strong to steam, so there will be an earthquake. The real earthquake in March this year was Yang's fall and his fall. Yang is lost in yin, and the source of Sichuan will be blocked. "

This explains the "earthquake disaster" with the concept of "yin and yang". Similarly, "Guoyu Luyu" records bird language: "Therefore, there are five official elements, which are five senses. ..... Wood is talking about cheese, fire is talking about Zhu Rong, gold is talking about thinness, water is talking about Xuan Ming, and soil is talking about thick soil. " In addition, "Two Years of Zuo Debate" records the history and ink language: "There are three days in the sky and five elements in the earth."

Hong Fan, written in the Warring States Period (refer to Liu Jie's Interpretation of Hong Fan Zheng and Ancient History Volume V), lists five elements in the first place, "the first day, the five elements", and records the order, nature and taste of the five elements as follows: "One is water, the other is fire, the third is wood, the fourth is gold, and the fifth is earth; Water is moist, fire is inflamed, wood is straight, gold is skin, and soil is valley. Moisturizing is salty, inflammation is bitter, straight is sour, leather is spicy, and farming is sweet. " As can be seen from the above, by the end of the Warring States period, the theory of Yin-Yang and Five Elements had matured, which was also one of the theoretical origins of Feng Shui in later generations.