Interesting mysteries of the numbers 36, 72, 108

Numbers are cultural products endemic to humanity, depending on the circumstances in which they show certain values. With Chinese culture, the numbers 36, 72, 108 carry in it many interesting mysteries.

Two numbers "36" and "72" are widely used in the literature and daily life of ancient Chinese people. The military political strategy in the «Ton Tu Legal» generalized into 36 successors, many martial arts practitioners also arranged their system of moves according to number 36, the palace depicted in ancient poetry is often envisioned to consist of 36 arcs. ; The painting that King Kang Hi and Qianlong Qing often visited has 36 scenes.

«Historian - Confucius world» introduced three thousand disciples, among them, the talented Chen Yi had 72 people; the book " Cao nest - The century" introduced Han Cao To Luu Bang, especially mentioning his left thigh has 72 black moles; Cao Cao after having died leaving 72 doubts; Everyone knows Ton Ngo Khong has 72 miracles; The number of elves in the book «Liệt Tiên truyện» is 72. Taoism divides the name of the famous land in China, including 10 large fairy caves and 36 small fairy caves and 72 fates. The Warring Emperor of the ancient legend must also go through 72 wars to win. In depicting beautiful mountain scenery, people often describe in two numbers, for example Vo Di Son has 36 peaks, Hoang Son, Hoanh Son and Tung Son all have 72 peaks.

According to the frequency of use, it can be seen that these are two numbers leaving a deep impression on Chinese people's psychology. So when the number is around 30, it is better to become 36; when the number is around 70, it turns out to be 72. The reason is that the Chinese people like these two numbers, which is also the reason "36 Divine Stars" and "72 Star Wars" in the Water Margin.

36 and 72 are two numbers that leave a deep impression on Chinese psychology.

Number 108 also has many interesting effects. In «Water Margin» , after the Song Ming Dynasty (Song Jiang) became the leader and changed Zhuge Zeng's Hall into Zhongyi Tang, there were also 108 generals. In the Ming Dynasty, a lover of the Water Margin named Van Binh Article invented the Mahjong game with 108 troops representing 108 heroes of good times.

Number 108 also has a lot of connections in Buddhism. The bell in the temple often knocks 108 hours. According to «Hong Tuyet Nhan Duyen Map» of Lan Khanh (麟 庆) (1792-1846), the number of bells is according to the meaning of the mind of 108 rosary beads. The folk found that each year there were 12 months, 24 airs, 72 servings, and combined correctly 108. In Southeast Asia there is a theory that humanity has 108 afflictions, each bell to subtract each affliction, type 108 hours is minus all defilements.

Although the same is 108 hours, the method of typing each place is different. Dai Chung himself in Beijing quickly typed 18 hours and then typed slowly for 18 hours, like that 6 times to 108 hours, sounded like a song. Linh An order in Hangzhou is more variable knocking: 7 hours before typing, 8 hours after typing, 8 hours between typing slowly, finally adding 3 hours, after 3 times like that to 108 hours. The beating is heavy when mild when slowly clear. Han Son self in Suzhou steadily typed every hour for up to 108 hours. From 23h40 in the evening, start typing, typing steadily in 20 minutes is finished 108 hours, when finished just at the middle of the night and the morning, the power of the venerable bell is not trivial.

Why consider the numbers 36, 72, 108?

36: Is multiplication 6 and 6. Number 6 is the lucky number according to the ancient Chinese conception. In «Chu Dich» each monster has 6 moons, the sound has 6 laws (ancient Chinese music), the old officials have 6 positions (the secretary of the upper house), the family relationship has 6 bodies (father, mother, brother , me, wife, children), 6 head helmet, 6 chain car .

72: Originating from thought in the Five Elements. In the Five Elements there are 5 azimuths: east, west, south, north, central; one year has 360 days divided into 72 virtually, every 5 days. Tien sinh Văn Nhất Đa (1899 - 1946) pointed out, 72 is to divide 360 ​​evenly for 5, this number is also due to the transformation from thought in the Five Elements . It can be seen that 72 is the basic calculation in The ancient Chinese calendar, it has a strong attachment to people's lives, has a broad influence on people's perception of quantity.

108: In Chinese culture, 108 delegates represent "extremely high", "luck", "eliminate all afflictions". . Ancient Chinese people like the "9" very much, they think that this is the luckiest number, meaning extremely high. In the first quintessence in the Kinh Dich, Hao from Utu is "At the moment, the dragon is absurd, the sand" (appears dragon flock without head, good). And "9" multiplied 12 times is "108", so 108 means the highest, the highest level.