Dong Zhongshu's Five Elements Theory and the October Solar Calendar

Author: 邓红 (Professor, Faculty of Letters, Kitakyushu City University, Japan)

In articles such as "Spring and Autumn Prosperity and Five Elements of Water Control", in order to perfectly combine the five elements and the four seasons of yin and yang throughout the year, Dong Zhongshu put forward the idea that each line of the five elements should be equally matched with "seventy-two days". This "seventy-two days" statement may have been influenced by the Pipe, but in the final analysis it dates back to the October solar calendar in ancient times.

The Five Elements of Water Control basically states that the last day of the year is the winter solstice. The winter solstice is the beginning of another year. The first seventy-two days are the season of the wood, and the air in this season is dry and turbid and cyan, which can be called spring. The second seventy-two days are the season of fire, and the atmosphere of this season is bright and red, which can be called summer. The third seventy-second day is the season of the earth, and the air of this season is moist and moist and yellow, which can be called the season of summer. The fourth seventy-second day is the golden season, and the atmosphere of this season is dim and weak and white, which can be called autumn. The fifth seventy-second day is the season of water, and the air of this season is pure and cold and black, which can be called winter. After that, it returned to the wood season. Subsequent articles talk about the "use of things" that is, what should be done at that time, but do not explain what will happen if the season is violated, that is, the violation of the order.

The Five Elements of Yin and Yang are said to be an important part of Dong Zhongshu's thought. His main contribution to the Five Elements of Yin and Yang is that he perfectly combines Yin and Yang and the Five Elements. In terms of numbers, yin and yang are even numbers, five elements are odd numbers, and it is very difficult to divide two into five equals, or to divide five points into two. In order to better combine yin and yang and the five elements, Dong Zhongshu has adopted many methods, the most important of which is to mix a four seasons between the five elements of yin and yang. The Five Elements of Mutual Birth says: "The qi of heaven and earth, combined into one, is divided into yin and yang, and when it is judged to be four, it is listed as five elements." Dong Zhongshu in the "Five Elements Pair" and other articles, with the trajectory of yin and yang two qi to match the four seasons, that is, the yin and yang two qi are divided into less yang, sun, less yin, and too yin according to the operation of the four seasons of the year, and they are matched with spring, summer, autumn and winter respectively. That is to say, "Shaoyang Spring" with "Wood", "Sun Xia" with "Fire", "Shaoyin Autumn" with "Gold", "Taiyin Winter" with "Water", but there is still a lack of "soil" of the five elements.

In order to give time to the "soil", Dong Zhongshu divided the year into five seasons in the "Five Elements of Righteousness", that is, a "season summer" was established between summer and autumn. So the soil has the time of "season summer", and it is also endowed with the seasonal function of "raising". Secondly, in order to make the "soil" gain space, Dong Zhongshu also allocated the soil to the center and became the "humerus" that ruled the other four elements. Finally, in order to overcome the problem that the four seasons cannot be equally matched with the five elements, the Five Elements of Water Control divides the three hundred and sixty days of the year into five seasons, that is, one season is seventy-two days. Soil not only has time and space, but also has a "yellow" color.

So, where did this "seventy-two days" come from? After a detailed investigation, we found that the roots can be traced back to the "Pipe". The narratives of the Seasons in the Five Elements of Water Control and the Five Elements of the Pipe have many similarities, that is, they divide the year into five seasons of spring, summer, summer, autumn and winter, and the seventy-two days of each season are accompanied by the five elements of wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. The "Young Officials" of the "Pipe" divides the year into thirty solar terms such as "earth qifa" and "xiao jiao", and one solar term every twelve days. After each solar term, talk about what should be done in these twelve days. For example, in the first solar term, "the earth is full of qi", it is necessary to "abstain from spring affairs", that is, to prepare for spring ploughing; The second solar term, "Xiao Jiao", should be "ploughed", start cultivating the land, and so on. There are eight twelve-day solar terms in spring, seven twelve-day festivals in summer, eight twelve-day days in autumn, and seven twelve-day festivals in winter, adding up to a total of thirty twelve-day solar terms equaling three hundred and sixty days, which is exactly one year. These commonalities all show that there is an inextricable connection between "Spring and Autumn Dew" and "Pipe"

But a Chinese New Year's Eve solar terms, and the usual twelve months of the year can not correspond to and cooperate at all. For the thirty solar terms with four seasons, the average of each season is 7.5 solar terms; if the thirty solar terms are combined with twelve months, the average number of solar terms is 2.5 solar terms per month. Therefore, there is an imbalance in the eight solar terms of spring, seven solar terms in summer, eight solar terms in autumn, and seven solar terms in winter. However, the "Young Officials" provides an important clue to solve the "seventy-two days" problem with this article: if the three twelve-day solar terms are taken as January, thirty-six days of the month, two months is seventy-two days, which is exactly in line with one season of the five elements of the "Five Elements to Control Water" mentioned earlier in this article. If a year is divided into five seasons: spring, summer, summer, autumn and winter, each season has two months and six seasons of 120 days, and each year has 10 months and 5 seasons of 360 days. It is just that the "Young Officials" does not yet have "soil", and the concept of using "soil" to match the four seasons, so there is an imbalance between the eight solar terms of spring, the seven solar terms of summer, the eight solar terms of autumn, and the seven solar terms of winter. This raises the question of whether a year is twelve months or ten months.

The research results of Chen Jiujin and other scholars on the October solar calendar and the history of Yi astronomy show that in ancient China, a solar calendar with one year was ten months. According to Chen Jiujin et al., "History of Yi Astronomy" (Chapter VIII, Yunnan People's Publishing House, 1984), "The Book of Dai Li Xia Xiaozheng" records the oldest October solar calendar in ancient documents. "Xia Xiaozheng" originated from the Xia Dynasty and was written in the Spring and Autumn Period, that is, Confucius went to the Xia people to investigate the culture and customs of the Xia people and learned about the Book of the Four Hours of Xia. The Guan Zi Young Officials (and the Young Officials Picture) and the Book of Poetry and the Poems of the Seventh Month also use the October solar calendar. The Xia people who use the October solar calendar belong to the ancient Qiang people, and the Qi Zongmu is a descendant of Jiang Shang, a descendant of the ancient Qiang people, so traces of related records related to the October solar calendar appear in the "Pipe".

The above views provide us with important enlightenment for us to explore the root causes of Dong Zhongshu's "Seventy-two Days" theory. After comparative research, we believe that:

First, the one-season seventy-two days proposed in the Five Elements of Water Control can be traced back to the October solar calendar in ancient times. Dong Zhongshu divided the three hundred and sixty days of the year into five equal seventy-two days, which corresponded to the five seasons of spring, summer, summer, autumn and winter, with two months in each season, and five seasons with wood, fire, earth, metal and water.

Second, Dong Zhongshu's Seventy-Two Days Theory is directly related to the Guan Zi, and its seasonal theory and the Five Elements Theory are influenced by the Five Elements and The Four Hours of the Pipe, and are also importantly related to the Young Officials and even the Young Officials. For example, the "Diagram of the Young Officials" has five square stars, ten figures, and thirty solar terms (each solar term is twelve days). The twenty-eight houses are divided into five square stars, which represent the distance traveled by the sun in a year, showing the five directions. The ten figures represent ten months of a year, one Chinese New Year's Eve solar terms, three solar terms a month, twelve days of each solar term, a total of thirty-six days, and two months is exactly seventy-two days.

Third, each seventy-two-day season has its own seasons, actions, and disobediences. The "Five Elements of Governing Water" talks about seasonality and use of things, and the "Spring and Autumn Prosperity" also talks about seasonal uses, as well as the "Five Elements Of Victory" and "Five Elements of Shun and Reverse". The Five Elements of Chaos and the Five Elements of Salvation say that violating the seasons will be punished. Dong Zhongshu's seasonal theory says that in addition to the influence of the Guanzi, the influence of the Li ji and the Twelve Records of the Spring and Autumn of lü shi can also be seen.

Fourth, the October solar calendar has three hundred and sixty-five (three hundred and sixty-six leap years) days in one year, while the five seventy-two days add up to only three hundred and sixty days. Dong Zhongshu did not give a clear account of the remaining five (six) days. There is no such thing as "The Day of one", "The Day of the Second", and "The Day of the Third" in the "Poetry of the Book of Poetry and the Poetry of July". However, in the October solar calendar, the remaining five (six) days after ten months are the "First Year's Prayer" sacrifice day, which is equivalent to the "New Year's Day" of the Yi people, or can be seen as the origin of the holiday days of the first, second and third days of the spring during the current Spring Festival. These days do not count in ten months.

Fifth, Dong Zhongshu also often used twelve months as one year old, and the one year here should be that he was using the december calendar at that time, and the two belonged to different systems. The Spring and Autumn Folio Ren Vice Heavens says: "Man has three hundred and sixty knots, and the number of even days is also ... The number of days is the number of years, the body of an adult, so the subsection is three hundred and sixty-six, and the number of secondary days is also. "The number of heavens is three hundred and sixty, and the number of days is three hundred and sixty-six. The Official System Like Heaven says: "Every year of heaven is also in December." The number of days of the ten, the age of the twelve... There are four o'clock in the day, and at each hour there is a month of March, thirty-forty-two, and December, and the age is over. "It can be known that in Dong Zhongshu's place, when talking about the combination of the five elements of yin and yang, the October solar calendar is used, and the year is three hundred and sixty days; In real life situations other than the five elements of yin and yang, the popular December calendar was used at that time, three hundred and sixty-six days a year. Because when talking about the five elements, especially the combination of the five elements of yin and yang, only the seventy-two days of the October solar calendar can be perfectly matched.

Guangming Daily (2022-04-09 11th edition)

Source: Guangming Network - Guangming Daily