1) Mountain 山 (Also known as The Alchemy of Immortals [仙]),
2) Medicine 医, 3) Life 命, 4) Appearance 相, 5) Divination 扑
READ MORE>> What Is Chinese 5 Arts?
Before You ever begin your journey to explore the Ancient Chinese Wisdom, You have to understand these very basics shown below. The subjects of Chinese Metaphysics will get more and more complicated as You dwell deeper. Without memorizing these basic knowledge, You will be lost in the mist of Ancient Chinese Secret Knowledge later.
You need to be able to read, write, understand and pronounce the Chinese Characters which are often used in Chinese Metaphysics, in order to feel the true essence of the knowledge. Many Western Folks, and even the English Educated Chinese, only memorize the English Pronunciation of the Chinese Characters.
The Duality Of Tao
Yin (阴) -
Negative, passive, female principle in nature / darkness / softness etc
Yang (阳) -
Positive, active, male principle in nature / brightness / hardness etc
The 5 elements
Metal - 金 (Jin), Wood - 木 (Mu), Water - 水 (Shui),
Fire - 火 (Huo), Earth - 土 (Tu)
Bagua (八卦)
乾 (Qián) ☰ 兌 (Duì) ☱ 離 (Lí) ☲ 震 (Zhèn) ☳
巽 (Xùn) ☴ 坎 (Kǎn) ☵ 艮 (Gèn) ☶ 坤 (Kūn) ☷
The 10 Heavenly Stems
甲 (Jia), 乙 (Yi) , 丙 (Bing), 丁(Ding), 戊(Wu),
己( Ji), 庚( Geng), 辛(Xin), 壬( Ren), 癸( Gui)
The 12 Earthly Branches
子(Zi), 丑(Chou), 寅(Yin), 卯(Mao), 辰 (Chen), 巳(Si),
午(Wu), 未(Wei), 申(Shen), 酉(You), 戌(Xu), 亥(Hai)
The Chinese 60 Years Cycle (六十干支)
The 60 Years Cycle (六十干支) is also named the sexagenary cycle or the stem-branch cycle. It is based on the combinations of a cycle of ten heavenly stems and twelve earthly branches. Each year is named by a pair of one stem and one branch.
Chinese Traditional Time System
The 12 earthly branches are used to name the 12 shi (时): The time length of a shi (时) is two hours.
子 (Zi) - 11pm to 1am, 丑 (Chou) - 1am to 3am, 寅 (Yin)- 3am to 5am, 卯 (Mao) - 5am to 7am, 辰 (Chen) - 7am to 9am, 巳 (Si) - 9am to 11am, 午 (Wu) - 11am to 1pm, 未 (Wei) - 1pm to 3pm, 申 (Shen) - 3pm to 5pm, 酉 (You) - 5pm to 7pm, 戌 (Xu) - 7pm to 9pm, 亥 (Hai) - 9pm to 11pm.
Chinese Traditional Months system
The 12 earthly branches are used to name the 12 lunar months (月).
子 (Zi) - 11th month, 丑 (Chou) - 12th month, 寅 (Yin)- 1st month, 卯 (Mao) - 2nd month, 辰 (Chen) - 3rd month, 巳 (Si) - 4th month, 午 (Wu) - 5th month, 未 (Wei) - 6th month, 申 (Shen) - 7th month, 酉 (You) - 8th month, 戌 (Xu) - 9th month, 亥 (Hai) - 10th month.
Notice that the 1st Lunar Month is Yin Yue (寅月) - The Month Of Tiger, not the Zi Yue (子月) - The Month Of Rat. Many people think Rat is placed No.1 in Chinese Zodiac, therefore the Zi Yue (子月) - The Month Of Rat is 1st Month, which is wrong.
The 4 Mythological Creatures & 28 Chinese Constellations
Azure Dragon of the East (東方青龍)
>> 角 (Jiăo), 亢 (Kàng), 氐 (Dī), 房 (Fáng), 心 (Xīn), 尾 (Wěi), 箕 (Jī)
Black Tortoise of the North (北方玄武)
>> 斗 (Dǒu), 牛 (Niú), 女 (Nǚ), 虛 (Xū), 危 (Wēi), 室 (Shì), 壁 (Bì)
White Tiger of the West (西方白虎)
>> 奎 (Kuí), 婁 (Lóu), 胃 (Wèi), 昴 (Mǎo), 畢 (Bì), 觜 (Zī), 參 (Shēn)
Vermilion Bird of the South (南方朱雀)
>> 井 (Jǐng), 鬼 (Guǐ), 柳 (Liǔ), 星 (Xīng), 張 (Zhāng), 翼 (Yì), 軫 (Zhěn)
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