In ancient China, yellow was usually the patent of the royal family. Yellow dragon robes, yellow roofs, yellow holy wills, as long as they are related to yellow, have been given different imperial attributes. If ordinary people dare to use yellow without permission, they can be regarded as committing the crime of usurpation, and the consequences are unimaginable.
In fact, the unique political significance of yellow was only happened in the Ming and Qing dynasties. Historically, many colors have been used as the theme color of the dragon robe. During the two Song Dynasties, the dragon robes were mostly matched with ochre red, and the emperor's "grandfather", the dragon robe of Qin Shi Huang, was neither ochre red nor yellow, but black.
Qin Shi Huang (259 BC – 210 BC), courtesy name
There are many views on why Qin Shi Huang made the dragon robe black. There is a view that the printing and dyeing technology at that time was not developed, and it was impossible to produce a bright cloth with good enough color. Qin Shi Huang wore the same clothes every day as he went out of the funeral, which was really helpless.
There is some truth to this statement, but it is not entirely true. Confucius said that "evil purple seizes Zhu", and Xunzi said that "qing is better than blue", which shows that the printing and dyeing technology at that time was not so primitive, and Qin Shi Huang would never only wear black clothes. Since this is the case, qin shi huang wears a black body every day and is not afraid of obscurity?
In fact, at that time, black was not only not obscure, but also very auspicious. Why black auspiciousness? Because black is the auspicious color of the Qin Kingdom, without black there would be no Qin annihilation of the Six Kingdoms, and there would be no Qin Shi Huang Yu Tianxia.
Legend has it that Qin Wengong, the ancestor of Qin Shi Huang, caught a black dragon alive during a hunting trip. That must be the true destiny of the Heavenly Son. Therefore, the unification of the qin state was doomed at that time. And this dragon is partial to black, this is the heavens in the hint that the Qin kingdom five virtues belong to the water, only more dry water, more rising water can continue to work hard, Qin Shi Huang when the emperor can not forget the original, in order to highlight the qin state water virtue, so Qin Shi Huang only wears a black every day.
In fact, the story of Qin Wengong's capture of the black dragon was mostly made up by later generations. But it is true that the Qin state belongs to water, or that Qin Shi Huang believes that his regime belongs to the five virtues of water.
Above_Five Virtues Always
Now let's find a random temple, where the most devout and willing to spend money are always the only two types of people who burn incense and worship the Buddha: one is a big businessman, and the other is a big official. These people developed too quickly, and they couldn't figure out how to soar, and in order to have a spiritual sustenance, they could only get close to the Buddha.
After Qin Shi Huang unified the Six Kingdoms, the situation was similar, how did he destroy the Six Kingdoms?
Speaking of changing the law, both the State of Wei and the State of Chu changed the law, earlier than themselves, but they all gave up halfway, and the resistance of the Qin State to change the law was not small, so why could they succeed? Isn't this a divine favor? Of course, after we do things, Zhuge Liang looks at the rise of the Qin state as an inevitability, but the authorities are confused, and the law of historical development Qin Shi Huang does not understand.
Of course, in addition to not being able to figure out why he succeeded, Qin Shi Huang also had to have a set of theories to legitimize and sanctify the rise of the Qin state. If Qin Shi Huang is like a successful learning teacher every day, he will say that he can become emperor because of hard work, and his success can be copied, and it is difficult to ensure that which stunned Qingxue will create glory again. When the dragon chair is replaced, he will have to go underground and play chess with the princes of the Six Kingdoms.
In general, this theory must attribute the success of the Qin state to the heavens, let others dispel the idea of replacing it, and also solve the doubts in Qin Shi Huang's heart, so that he can be convinced that he is the true son of heaven.
Above_Spring and Autumn Warring States Map
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there were many theories that could explain the legitimacy of the regime. Ru Mo Dao Fa has its own set of logic. However, if you want to achieve the goal of Qin Shi Huang, the Confucians who explain benevolence and righteousness and the importance of etiquette are certainly not enough; it is not enough to require everyone to be selfless Mo Jia; Taoists talk about doing nothing, which is not in line with Qin Shi Huang's appetite; the Legalists are concerned with social rules and do not stick to the edges. Who is right? Yin and Yang home.
The founder of the Yin and Yang family was Zou Yan of the State of Qi during the Warring States period, and this Zou Yan did not believe in others, but believed in the five elements, the five elements of gold, wood, water, fire, and earth. The Five Elements Theory holds that all substances are composed of five elements: gold, wood, water, fire, and earth. In fact, the superstitious ideas of the ancients and the current scientific theories are just a wall apart, and now physicists also ponder all day long what the smallest particles that make up matter are, first think that they are molecules, atoms, and later find quarks and bosons, and do not know what smaller ones can be found later.
Zou Yanxin believed in the five elements, but the five elements theory was too specific, and could only explain the material that could be seen and felt, and the development space was limited. In order to make the Five Elements Theory flourish, he fried and fried it all, and brought out a smorgasbord called "Five Virtues Always".
Zou Yan (c. 324 BC – 250 BC), a native of the State of Qi at the end of the Warring States period
Zou Yan said that everyone knows that what can be seen and touched is composed of five elements, and now I find that things that cannot be seen and touched are also composed of five elements. A person's spirit and the character of a country are all evolved from the five elements. The Five Elements thing is really a gag cow, of course, such a powerful Five Elements can no longer be called five elements, called five virtues.
The five virtues have always come from the five elements, and the principle of the five elements living in harmony with each other still applies. Water can extinguish fires, water virtue can replace fire virtue, wood can make fire, and wood virtue can give birth to fire virtue. In order to concretize the abstract theory, Zou Yan also gave the five virtues their respective auspicious colors: gold still white, wood still green, water still black, fire still red, earth still yellow.
When Sun Wu wrote the Art of War of Sun Tzu, he said that a general must possess the five qualities of wisdom, faith, benevolence, courage, and strictness, and immediately some Yin and Yang scholars pointed out that these five qualities were evolved from the five virtues. The Yin and Yang family also said that gentleness, kindness, courtesy, frugality, and jean, benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom, and faith are also evolved from the five virtues. I don't know how our ancestors could come up with so many five-word words.
Above_Qin destroyed the Six Kingdoms
Zou Yan also said: With so many countries in the past and the present, the destruction of the country and the destruction of the country and the prosperity of the strong and prosperous mainly depend on whether we can grasp the main line of our own five virtues and whether we can carry forward our own virtues. Zhou Tianzi was initially developed because of the great prosperity of their soil, and later declined because he did not do a good job in soil affairs.
Modern people demand all-round development, so just say what is missing in the five elements and what is missing to make up for what is missing. The ancients paid attention to directional breakthroughs, and they did whatever they wanted.
Zou Yan was very clever, knowing that the more ambiguous a theory was, the greater the room for interpretation, and the more he could get involved. What kind of virtue is the five virtues of gold, wood, water, fire, and earth, Zou Yan did not say. He can't say it clearly, and it's not interesting to say it clearly. To know what a nation is all about, oh no, heaven suggests.
Zou Yan's mysterious and mysterious theory of "five virtues always" can just solve the problem of the legitimacy of the Qin state regime. Unfortunately, Zou Yan died early and did not follow the main line of history of the Qin Dynasty and the Six Kingdoms. Since Zou Yan pointed out the way, the posterity went down.
Lü Buwei (292 BC – 235 BC), surnamed Jiang
Above_"Lü's Spring and Autumn" is a famous book of Huang Lao Daoist compiled by the disciples under the auspices of Lü Buwei, the minister of the Qin Dynasty
Carrying the road down was Lü Buwei. In the "Spring and Autumn of the Lü Clan" compiled by Lü Buwei, it is said that in the ancient times, when the Yellow Emperor was the leader, the big earthworms and the big flyworms were running around, and these two things were drilled into the soil, so the heavens told the yellow emperor that it was Tude. When it comes to Dayu, the flowers and grasses are still emerald green in winter, so Dayu is Mude, Muke soil, and proper. Of course, there were still several generations between the Yellow Emperor and Dayu, and Lü Buwei only picked up the big ones and said that the details in the middle were not equipped with the five virtues.
Mu Ke Tu, Tu Ke Shui, Shui Ke Huo, Huo Ke Jin, Jin Ke Mu, a round of turn to the Zhou Dynasty, the Zhou Dynasty must belong to fire. Legend has it that when King Wen of Zhou was born, there was a big red bird holding a red and red treasure book crouching in the Zongmiao Temple to watch the liveliness, fire virtue and red, theory and practice this is not on the hook?
The iron-like theory is placed here, is the Qin state not able to do it by water? Does the water-owned Qin State want to continue to develop? Does Qin Shi Huang want to be a lineage? If you want to, continue to carry forward the water virtue, the water virtue is still black, and the clothes are changed to black for me first! In addition to the fact that the clothes were black, Qin Shi Huang also changed the name of our mother river, the Yellow River, to Deshui. At that time, there was still the habit of changing the calendar, the leader looked at which month was good to take which month as the first month of the opening year, the number ten belonged to water, and October became the first month of the Qin Dynasty.
Above_Qin Dynasty "Chuanguo Jade Seal", on "Ordained by Heaven, Ji Shou Yongchang"
But in the end, is it good to use the means of Everbright Water Virtue? It seemed to be unusable, and within a few years the Qin state was destroyed.
Of course, the fact of the demise of the Qin state has no impact on the yin and yang family theory, the five virtues are born together, the aquatic wood, the water of the Qin state is too good, so that the Wood is great, you see in the Afang Palace that the boy is not from the Chu state? Chu, two woods.
Text: Liu Chengcheng
References: "Ma Boyong Laughs and Turns Over a Brief History of China", "Lü's Spring and Autumn", "History"
The text was created by the History University Hall team, and the picture originated from the Internet and the copyright belongs to the original author