Ngoc Lu Drum expresses creatively, accurately, clearly, consistently & fully, both in the format & the content, the Circle Square Dao or Âm Dương Ngũ Hành (ADNH), one of the most ancient & comprehensive theories of mankind, comprising all 3 aspects – scientific, philosophical & spiritual. Circle Square Dao is about the interactions and changes presented & expressed through diagrams, symbols, models, numbers, laws, rules, methods, their relationships and meanings. Therefore, it is also called the Law of Five Interactions.
Unlike the Bible, Vedas or I Ching that expressed primarily in words, Circle Square Dao is the Wordless & unspoken Sutra, perhaps the only one in human history in terms of its comprehensive scope.
Circle Square Dao, encoded on the Drum is characterized by 3 most outstanding features: originality, comprehensiveness & coherence.
Originality
The Originality of the Drum is the most noticeable feature. The Ngoc Lu bronze drum was discovered in 1893 in Ngoc Lu village, Ly Nhan, Ha Nam province of Vietnam. The drum is the most outstanding, beautiful & quintessential representative of Dong Son culture that existed between 900 BC and 200 AD. Many researchers have agreed that the age of drums is about 2500 years 1Source: Wikipedia.
Recognized as the National Treasure of Vietnam, the drum is currently kept and displayed at the National Museum of History in Hanoi, Vietnam2Source: Vietnam National Museum of History.
Thus, in terms of chronology, the Drum & the Circle Square Dao have existed in parallel with “I Ching”, one of the 5 Chinese classics since at least 2500 years ago but almost no one knows.
With works that are several thousand years old, originality is very rare. Having the original publicly displayed is very important as it makes the study & reference transparent and easy.
Coherence
Circle Square Dao displays its coherence by the consistent & systematic connections & dependencies between the diagrams, laws, methods, their meanings, and the core philosophy & ideas. Coherence is characteristic of a doctrine. When the doctrine’s coherence is expressed in numbers, proportions, shapes, models & laws that reflect the objective reality & are proved by the modern science, the doctrine is a scientific theory.
Comprehensiveness
Circle Square Dao’s comprehensiveness is shown by the fact that the Drum has full set of the diagrams covering all 3 interactions or parts of Heaven, Earth & Human. Generally speaking, Heaven Treatise 8 Trigrams (BQHT) & Land Directions 8 Trigrams (BQLD
Bát Quái Lạc đồ giống TTBQ của KD nhưng phối với số Lạc Đồ còn TTBQ phối Hà Đồ. BQLD is similar to TTBQ or... More) represents Heaven & Earth, Yin & Yang, Science & Philosophy while Land Heaven 8 Trigrams or “Bat Quai Lac Hong” (BQLH) covers Human, Center & Dao.
Among all diagrams, BQLH is the most important. Without BQLH, Dao ADNH would not be complete. Without BQLH, the Dao is just a theory without the practice thus losing a significant value.
BQLH provides the key principles, methods & techniques guiding the actions corresponding with the views about Heaven & Earth or Cosmos & Society expressed by BQLDBát Quái Lạc đồ giống TTBQ của KD nhưng phối với số Lạc Đồ còn TTBQ phối Hà Đồ. BQLD is similar to TTBQ or... More & BQHT. Specifically, BQLH enables people to experiment, understand, overcome & master the inner world, to harmonize Dao & life, to follow the lifestyle of the joyful action & to achieve the great harmony, often referred to as the Bipolar Unity i.e. harmonizing, balancing and uniting all opposites of Yin Yang or “Am Duong”.
In addition, based on the BQLH, 64 hexagrams had been generated to provide a living manual to help people handle daily practical issues. By practicing it repeatedly, people will also get another benefit i.e. to learn & understand the Dao’s wisdom & insights.
In short, in the Circle Square Dao all 3 aspects of Heaven Earth & Human, Circle Square or Âm Dương & Center, Science Philosophy & Dao blend together as One.