" Zhouyi " is written according to the hexagram Qi diagram.
The hexagram chart corresponds the sixty-four hexagrams with the celestial astrology and solar terms.
The hexagrams and lines in "The Book of Changes" are the monthly instructions for different seasons.
For example, "Ming Yi".
In the hexagram "Ming Yi", the most famous line is
"Ming Yi flies, hangs its left wing".
This flying Mingyi is obviously a kind of bird.
We have said that all the birds in "The Book of Changes" refer specifically to the Nangong Zhuniao in the sky.
Don’t believe it? Open the Gua Qi picture.
In the hexagram Qi chart, "Ming Yi" is the ninth hexagram.
In September and autumn, we happened to be able to see this Nangong Zhuniao.
The month order says:
The month of autumn is in the middle of the willow. - " Book of Rites. Monthly Order "
This means that in the early morning of September every autumn, the Liusu in the seven places of Zhuniao in Nangong happens to appear in the middle of the sky in the south.
Liusu belongs to Quail Fire , and was originally regarded as a bird.
"The Rites of Zhou" records:
The bird has seven branches, which resemble quails and fire.
Quailhuo Liusu looks like a big bird flying with its wings.
But why did the author call this bird "Mingyi"? Why does this Mingyi still "hang its left wing"?
First of all, "Ming Yi" is a pun on "Ming Pheasant".
The ancient sounds of "yi" and "pheasant" both belong to the fat part, and the two characters are interchangeable. For example, "Xin Yi" is also written as "Xin Pheasant".
The pheasant was regarded by the ancients as a symbol of a gentleman. For example:
In the temple where Emperor Gaozong offered sacrifices to Chengtang, there were pheasants rising up and the cauldron ringing in their ears. Emperor Gaozong asked Zu Yi (Ji), and Zu Yi (Ji) said: "There are always gentlemen from far away." ’” Ancestor Yi (Ji) saw that the pheasant behaved like a gentleman. The pheasant was upright in nature and resembled a scholar, so he said: “The pheasant behaved like a gentleman.”
Because the pheasant (Ming Yi) is a metaphor for a gentleman, so “Ming Yi” "When flying, hang down its left wing." The following goes on to say: "A gentleman is on the move and does not eat for three days."
This is a metaphor for a gentleman who does not eat for three days with his left wing hanging down.
In the early morning of autumn in September, the Nangong Zhuniao was in the sky in the south. As time went by, the cold air became heavier and heavier, the Yang energy became lower and lower, and the Zhuniao continued to fall to the ground, so it is said to "hang its left wing" , the left is Yang, and the drooping left wing of the red bird is a metaphor for the declining Yang energy after autumn.
