The word "Shang" first came from the totem of a primitive tribe, and this tribe was the Shang clan. The earliest ancestor of the Shang clan can be traced back to the name "Qi", born in the matrilineal clan society period, when people "only know their mother and do not know their father", and their mother's name is Jian Di. According to the "Records of History and Yin Benji", JianDi was bathing by the river, and a bird (swallow) flew over the sky and dropped a bird egg, which fell into Jiandi's mouth, and Jiandi unconsciously swallowed the egg into his abdomen, so she became pregnant and gave birth to a contract. In the "Book of Poetry, Shang Song, Xuan Bird", it is said: "The Heavenly Destiny Xuan Bird descends to give birth to the merchant, and the house is full of land", which refers to this myth and legend, and later Qi became the leader of the tribe and the ancestor of this tribe. The totem of this tribe is the blueprint for the word "Shang". The original "Shang" totem, above is the image of a bird, below is a bird egg. The word "Shang" vividly expounds the myth and legend of "Heavenly Destiny Xuan Bird, Descending to Give Birth to Shang", and defines the origin of the Shang clan.
Qi's grandson Xiangtu tamed the horse, and Qi's seventh grandson Wang Hai tamed the ox and invented the ox cart. Merchants served cattle and horses for transportation and production, which greatly increased productivity, and ox carts led to heavy weights and far-reaching, creating conditions for long-distance trafficking of bulk goods, and commerce arose. The Pipe, Light and Heavy Chapter E says: "The king of the Yin people, set up a soap prison, and serve the cattle and horses, thinking that it is for the benefit of the people." The "Yi Zhi Zhi Zhi Xia" said: "Serve the cattle and ride the horses, lead the weight and go far, so as to benefit the world, and cover and take what you want." The Shang people are good at long-distance trafficking of goods for profit, and even ordinary civilians are "leading cattle and cattle to serve Jia and using filial piety to raise their parents" (Shang Shu Jiu Yue Chinese), so since ancient times, people who are engaged in trade and serve Jia have been called merchants, and their livelihood is called commerce. Therefore, the word "shang" is also associated with trade and trading.
Coincidentally, the glyph of the word "Shang" remains unchanged, and it can also be associated with trade. The part of the word "shang" except for the mouth is like the gate tower of the market, and in the Song Dynasty, the market was also called the market. There is a "mouth" in this gatehouse, which indicates the bargaining sound in the market. Tradition holds that the word "Shang" is from Xin, which is true, and the word "Xin" is the symbol of commercial trade, placed on the gate tower of the market to show as a place of trade. Why is "Xin" a symbol of commercial trade?
We know that "Xin" is one of the Ten Heavenly Stems, and the five elements of Geng and Xin belong to gold, representing autumn. Geng, more also, the new and the old, the renewal of all things also. The spices, the grains ripen and harvest also. The ancient glyph of Xin, or like an axe blade, is more like a straw that has been cut off from its ears. The upper end of the broken ear of the grass is a horizontal line that indicates that the grain is cut off from here, and "Xin" is used as a symbol of commercial trade, precisely because "Xin" represents that after the autumn harvest, the ear of grain has been broken, leaving only the grass pole. When the ancients wanted to sell something, they often had to insert a straw such as straw and other ear-cut straws on the item to show their willingness to sell. In ancient times, bulk trade was mostly carried out after the autumn, so the word "shang" and autumn were inseparable. "Etiquette Moon Order" Yun: "It is the month (mid-autumn month) also, Yiguan City, come to the business trip, pay bribes, for the sake of civility." When the four parties come together, and the distant villages are all there, then the wealth is not scarce, there is no lack of use, and everything is accomplished. ”
The I Ching is the root of traditional culture, and as far as gua xiang is concerned, the "Eating Gua Gua" talks about market trade. There is a passage in the second chapter of the I Ching Chronicles: "The city of the day is the market, and the goods of the world are returned, and each gets what he wants, and he covers all the devourers." "The "No Gua Gua" is a variation of the "No Gua", and the "No Gua" is a unitary, which is the mid-autumn gua. "No Gua" first became "Phagocytosis", and then "Phagocytosis" became "Gui Mei Gua". "Eating Gua Gua" is on and off the earthquake, "away from the day", the sun is on, so it is called "day in the middle"; "the earthquake is enough to move", symbolizing the people in the market, moving one after another, so it is known as "the day is the city". After "Gui Mei Gua" became "Gui Mei Gua", "Gui Mei Gua" was exchanged on the earthquake, "earthquake for thunder", "exchange for Ze". "Thunder" symbolizes the energy gathered, thunder symbolizes the expansion of energy inside, and thunder symbolizes the release of energy on the outside; "Ze" refers to the use of things, the so-called anointing. The anointing is used inside, representing that each thing has its own master; the accumulated trading energy can be released outside, indicating the end of the transaction, so it is said that "to the goods of the world, the transaction is withdrawn, and each gets what it wants.".
As mentioned earlier, "Sui Gua", then "Sui Gua" "serve the cattle and ride the horse, lead the weight and go far, and benefit the world", and there is also the image of long-distance trafficking in business, then it should also be the mid-autumn gua. "Yi is accurate with heaven and earth, so it can be the way of heaven and earth", indeed. "Sui Gua" is also changed from "No Gua", "No Gua" first becomes "Xian Gua", and then "Xian Gua" becomes "Sui Gua". "No Gua Gua" on the dry and lower Kun, "dry for the horse", "Kun for the cow". Since the "No Gua" is a message gua, the natural state of heaven and earth, so the cow and horse are also wild. After "No Gua" became "Xian Gua", "Xian Gua" exchanged for the lower Gun, "exchange for the mouth", "Gong for the nose", so that it is like a horse opening its mouth and the cow exposing its nose. The Xian Gua (咸卦) 93 is the main body of the Gong body, so it takes the image as a cow's nose; the 93 and 94 and 62 form a Sundanese body, "Sundanese is a rope for wood", which is like wearing a rope on the nose of a cow. The upper six of the "Salty Gua" are the main body of the body, so it is the horse's mouth; the upper six and the nine five and the above eliminated yang are composed of the separated gua, away from the hollow, and the fishing and hunting are the nets, and the image here is taken as the head of the cage. The cow wears a rope on the nose and the horse has a cage head on the mouth, indicating that the cow and the horse have been tamed, so it is called "serving the cow and riding the horse".
The "Xian Gua" has the image of "serving the cattle and riding the horse", and after the cow and horse are tamed, they can "lead the weight and go far". "Xian Gua" will eventually become "Sui Gua". Compared with "Sui Gua" and "Gui Mei Gua", "Gui Mei Gua" is exchanged externally and internally, which is the image of "trading and retreating, each getting what they want", while "Sui Gua" is just the opposite, which is an internal earthquake and external exchange, indicating that it is not getting what it is, and it is necessary to go out to trade. And "Sui Gua" external exchange internal earthquake, "exchange" itself has the meaning of exchange, and all things out of the earthquake, so "the earthquake is out of motion". "Sui Gua" out of the inside and out of the transaction, this belongs to the long-distance trafficking business, "Sui Gua" is changed from the "Xian Gua", and "Xian Gua" has the image of "serving the cattle and riding the horse", so the long-distance trafficking transaction of "Sui Gua" is to serve the cattle and ride the horses, lead the weight to the far, so it is said that "serve the cattle and ride the horse, lead the weight to the far, in order to benefit the world, cover the "Sui". ”
It seems that the Shang has a close relationship with the exchange of gua, and the exchange of gua is the gua of the right autumn, living in the west, and the five elements belong to gold. "Exchange for the mouth" has the meaning of discussion and exchange, so the "mouth" in the word "shang" is probably derived from the exchange. In addition, "Shang" is also one of the five tones, which are horn, sign, palace, shang, and feather, which are spring, summer, middle, autumn, and winter. The five elements of Shang Yin are gold, which is the sound of autumn. In autumn, everything declines and withers, and its sound consumes people's will, so the shang yin is called the sound of jing. "The merchant girl does not know the hatred of the country, and sings the backyard flower across the river", the "backyard flower" here belongs to the sound of the mesmerizing, and the "merchant girl" here refers to the singer who sings the mesmerizing sound.
In short, the earliest source of "Shang" should be the myth, legend and tribal totem of "Heavenly Destiny Xuan Bird, Descending to Birth Shang", which is the original meaning of the symbol and title of a primitive tribe. The "mouth" in the word "Shang" represents the bird's egg, and the rest is the image of a bird. Coincidentally, the people of the Shang tribe will naturally take trading as the basis for making a living, and what is more coincidental is that the word "Shang" does not change its shape, and can also deeply reflect the traditional commercial culture of our country, so the word "Shang" has become a special name for trade activities. Trade activities need to bargain, so "business" is also extended to the meaning of consultation and negotiation, so it is from the "mouth". In this way, the "mouth" in the word "Shang" is also egged, and the rest is like a bird and a market gatehouse. Ancient artificial characters, ingenious craftsmanship, its magic is endless! No wonder it caused "the sky rains, the ghost cries at night".