Page 383 - A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols BIG Book

A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols 376
insertion of an intercalary month, it was often 15 days ‘slow’, i.e. behind the sun; and
immediately after insertion of the intercalary month it was 14 days ‘fast’, i.e. in advance
of the sun. Accordingly, another division of the year was worked out, one depending on
the sun.
The year was divided into 24 equal periods, each of 15 days. This gave a solar year of
360 days, which was astronomically never more than 5 days a year out – a minor
discrepancy which could be ironed out by inserting days at certain intervals.

Twins Twins

shuang-tai

Twins differing in sex were allowed to die in ancient China, as they were regarded as
‘ghost spouses’; and it was the custom in one of the aboriginal tribes of Taiwan to kill
one of the twins at birth. In the province of Qinghai in North-west China, twins are
always looked upon as bringers of ill fortune, especially when they differ in sex.
However, in another text we are told that the wife of a pious man was blessed at the age
of fifty with male twins, allegedly as a reward for his piety.

Two
Two

er

Like all even numbers in Chinese, two is female. In ancient times, it was correlated with
the earth, as one was with the sun, and three with man.
‘The One represents unity, which can have no other value, as it is the all-embracing
totality. It is a Whole combining One and Two: for in the One all conjunctive and
disjunctive aspects, such as right/left, up/down, back/front, circle/square, yin and yang
are cancelled out. This Whole which is at once a Unity and a pair, is recapitulated in all
uneven numbers, beginning with Three (which is One plus Two)’ (from Marcel Granet’s
fundamental work on Chinese number mysticism).
Consultation of the oracle is based on two, i.e. on the binary system. Each of the
64 hexagrams of the Yi-jing (‘Book of Changes’) consists of two superimposed
trigrams.