After all this destruction of old literature, it should be obvious why we have so little information about the early history and development of the Lo Shu, which was already semisecret anyhow.

Such an analysis speedily reveals why the middle number of the Lo Shu, 5, was so vitally significant for the Chinese ever since the earliest hints that they had a knowledge of this diagram.

Although the primary mathematical properties of the middle number at the center of the Lo Shu, and the interrelation of all the other numbers to it, might seem enough to account for the deep fascination which the Lo Shu held for the Old Chinese philosophers, this was actually only a beginning of wonders.

For the Lo Shu square was a remarkably complete compendium of most of the chief religious and philosophical ideas of its time.

The Chinese world view during the Han dynasty, when the Lo Shu seems to have been at the height of its popularity, was based in large part on the teachings of the Yin-Yang and Five-Elements School, which was traditionally founded by Tsou Yen.

During the Han dynasty, another Yin-Yang conception was applied to the Lo Shu, considering the latter as a plan of Ancient China.

The same arrangement was used when the Lo Shu was equated with the Nine Provinces ; ;

and whenever the Lo Shu involved directional symbolism, it was oriented in this same fashion.

In the Hall of Two Truths, the deceased's heart was weighed against the Shu feather of truth and justice taken from the headdress of the goddess Ma ' at.

The Ji family held the position " Minister over the Masses ", who was also the " Prime Minister "; the Meng family held the position " Minister of Works "; and the Shu family held the position " Minister of War ".

There were many great encyclopedists throughout Chinese history, including the scientist and statesman Shen Kuo ( 1031 – 1095 ) with his Dream Pool Essays of 1088, the statesman, inventor, and agronomist Wang Zhen ( active 1290 – 1333 ) with his Nong Shu of 1313, and the written Tiangong Kaiwu of Song Yingxing ( 1587 – 1666 ), the latter of whom was termed the " Diderot of China " by British historian Joseph Needham.

The middle part of the period, from 220 and 263, was marked by a more militarily stable arrangement between three rival states, Wei, Shu, and Wu.

The later part of this period was marked by the collapse of the tripartite situation: first the conquest of Shu by Wei ( 263 ), then the overthrow of Wei by the Jin Dynasty ( 265 ), and the destruction of Wu by Jin ( 280 ).

Cao Cao, directly to Yuan Shao's south, was engaged in a struggle against Yuan Shu and Liu Biao, who occupied respectively the Huai River basin and middle Yangtze regions.

Further south the young warlord Sun Ce, taking over after the untimely death of Sun Jian, was establishing his rule in the lower Yangtze, albeit as a subordinate of Yuan Shu.

In 197, Yuan Shu, who was at odds with Cao Cao, Yuan Shao, and Liu Bei, felt assured of victory with his subordinate's conquests, and thus declared himself emperor of the Cheng Dynasty.

The move, however, was a strategic blunder, as it drew the ire of many warlords across the land, including Yuan Shu's own subordinate Sun Ce, who had advised Yuan Shu not to make such a move.

Attacked on all sides, Yuan Shu was defeated and fled into hiding.

As one of the four pillars of Shu and one of the four rudders of heaven he was associated with the North, and is specifically referenced as such in Spell 148 in the Book of the Dead.

Zhou was finally only released after the intervention of a representative of the Twenty-sixth Army, Zhao Shu, who was able to convince his commanders that the arrest of Zhou had been a mistake.

Sichuan was referred to in ancient Chinese sources as Ba-Shu by combining the names two independent states within the Sichuan Basin — the kingdoms of Ba and Shu.

Today, with the extended excavation of surrounding site, it is believed to be an ancient city of the Shu Kingdom, where excavations have yielded invaluable archaeological information.

* King Hui of Qin decides on the advice of General Sima Cuo to invade and annex the ancient states of Ba and Shu in Sichuan to increase Qin's agricultural output and obtain a strategic platform to defeat the state of Chu.

Nevertheless, the Chinese historical text of the Sanguozhi ( Records of the Three Kingdoms ), compiled by the ancient historian Chen Shou ( 233 – 297 AD ), credits the invention of the wheelbarrow to Prime Minister Zhuge Liang ( 181 – 234 AD ) of Shu Han from 197 – 234.

In it, the King Zhao of Chu asked Guanshefu ( 觀射父 ) a question: " What did ancient classic " Zhou Shu " mean by the sentence that Zhong and Li caused the heaven and earth to disconnect from each other?

Lo Shu is part of the legacy of the most ancient Chinese mathematical and divinatory ( Yi Jing 易經 ) traditions, and is an important emblem in Feng Shui ( 風水 ), the art of geomancy concerned with the placement of objects in relation to the flow of qi ( 氣 ) ' natural energy '.

The culture that produced these artifacts is now known as the Sanxingdui Culture, and archeaologists are identifying it with the ancient kingdom of Shu.

Some archaeologists are identifying the Sanxingdui culture with the ancient kingdom of Shu, and linking the artefacts found at the site to the early legendary kings of Shu.

The original Wangdi Temple built in memory of an ancient Shu king was relocated and so locals renamed the temple here in honour of Li Bing and his legendary son whom they had posthumously promoted to kings.

Due to the mild climate and terrain there, it has enjoyed a high level of agriculture civilization since ancient times, and is named after this, for in Chinese Chang ( 常 ) means “ always, often ” and Shu ( 熟 ) has the meaning of “ crop harvest ”.

The recumbent hammer was found in Chinese illustrations by 1313 AD, with the publishing of Wang Zhen's Nong Shu book on ancient and contemporary ( medieval ) metallurgy in China.

This county less than 1 hour from Chengdu city is known for a liquor factory called jiannanchun in the county-level city of Mianzhu and the Sanxingdui museum in Guanhan City ( county-level ) about the ancient Shu culture famous for its bronze mask.

Jinsha culture ( 1200 – 650 BCE ) was a final phase of Sanxingdui culture and represents a relocation of the political center in the ancient Shu Kingdom.

Huang Hao was a eunuch serving Liu Shan, second and last emperor of the Kingdom of Shu during the Three Kingdoms era in ancient China.

The State of Shu () was an ancient state in what is now Sichuan, China.

Herodotus connected Heracles both to Phoenician god Melqart and to the Egyptian god Shu.

In Egyptian mythology, in the Ennead system of Heliopolis, the first couple, apart from Shu and Tefnut ( moisture and dryness ) and Geb and Nuit ( earth and sky ), are Isis and Osiris.

Shu (; meaning " emptiness " and " he who rises up ") was one of the primordial gods in Egyptian mythology, a personification of air, one of the Ennead of Heliopolis.

* Shu ( Egyptian deity )

Mary's patron deities become seven Egyptian gods: Shu, Heru, Amon, Zehuti, Aten, Mehen, and the " most powerful " Egyptian deity, Isis, which increases her other powers and allows her to perform magical feats like weather control and transforming others.

Shu and Tefnut, the children of this creator god, have drifted away from him in the waters of Nu, the chaos that exists before creation in Egyptian belief, so he sends out his Eye to find them.