五方 체계로 본 五獸의 형성 과정

Abstract

From the excavated Oracle bone script data, we can see that the geographical directions and their areas are divided into east, west, south, north, and center. The five elements theory (Ohaeng) is a fivefold conceptual scheme composed of the five materials as Water (水, north), Fire (火, south), Wood (木, east), Metal (金, west), and Earth (土, center). Based on this theory, ceremonies to pray for good harvest for these five regions and managers to govern the area were selected so that the people could live comfortably. Ohaeng conceptual scheme was applied many fields of ancient East Asia to categorize the area of key elements, which were progressively expanded from geographical, political and life to astronomical phenomena. In this study, we explored the process of forming symbolic animals which an important subject along with five areas and their rulers, and five colors. These animals were clearly described on the excavated Oracle bone script data as blue dragon in the east, red phoenix in the south, white tiger in the west, and black turtle in the north. However, the symbolic animal for the center does not appear in the Oracle bone script data and bronze script of the Shang and Zhou periods. It was during the Warring States Period and the Qin and Han dynasties that the selection of symbolic animals for this center began to be discussed. At the same time, the order cycle of mutual generation (相生) concept was defined as Wood (木) - Fire (火) - Earth (土) - Metal (金) - Water (水). From this time on, the center of government began to become the center (土) of the Five Elements and theorists also began to select the symbolic animal for the ‘center’. The candidate animals were kylin (麒麟), Gujin (句陳), Deungsa (螣蛇), Heonwon (軒轅), or yellow dragon (黃龍). Among them, the dragon is the most favored animal for rulers in the Qin and Han periods. Because the dragon was an auspicious animal and also a symbol of the East, which had long served as the center of four directions. Eventually, the symbol animal of the center was created by synthesizing the dragon of the eastern symbol and the yellow color in the center.