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John Lindsey
25th October 2000, 18:52
There is a proverb telling "Ao ha ran yori idete ran yori aoshi",
where "ran" is a Japanese indigo plant and "ao" is a stuff to dye
deep blue, which is made from "ran". This proverb has another saying
of "Shutsu ran no homare" which means (to surpass one's teacher).

In imitation of this proverb, it may be said that the number five
had surpassed the number four in ancient China.

I wrote in my latest post that the number four has deep relation
to the season and the direction.
Ancient Chinese found the fifth direction besides four directions:
north, south, east and west. The fifth is the center which is set
just at the middle of four directions.
As you may suppose, five directions are one of facets of "Go-gyo"
(The five elements of Chinese philosophy).
Five (Go) of "Go-gyo" may be superior to the number four in cultural
point of view. "Chu" of "Chu-goku" or "Chu-ka" (China) is kanji of
the fifth direction <the center>.
--- S. Shingai

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