The Generation and Dissemination of the He Tu’s Alternative Name ‘Lv Tu’ and ‘Lv Zi’ Form 河图的“绿图”别称、“绿字”形态之生成与流衍

Abstract

Chasm has occurred in human cognition about He Tu since the lost of Dong Xu He Tu.
The forms of He Tu in the later generations’ descriptions basically were all formed from
speculations based on Tong Xu He Tu coupled with various legends. As is said, “Luo
produces Dan Shu, He produces Lü Tu”, since Han, the term “Lü” contained in He Tu’s
alternate name, “Lü Tu”, is usually construed to mean the colour “Lü”, giving rise to the
name of “Lü words” to correspond with the Luo Shu with words in Chi colour. This is
inconsistent with the cultural concept at that point of time. Such attribute was not inborn but
was however acquired through strained linkage between name and reality due to the words
used in He Tu. There are signs of inconsistency and flaw arising therefrom in the relevant
literatures, in particular, in “Shang Shu Zhong Hou” which is well noted for “Kao Ming Fu
Shou He”, the promoter and enhancer of the saying about He Tu’s Lü. Subsequently, the
name and form of “He Tu” were even, in the entanglement on whether Yu accepted Tu or
Shu, strained and conferred to Luo Shu. All these show how good humans are in making
far-fetching linkage.

Keywords: He Tu, Lü Tu, Lü Zi, Shang Shu Zhong Hou, Chen Wei