Sanming Tonghui, Volume 1: Cosmological Foundations

Laozi said: 'The nameless is the beginning of Heaven and Earth; the named is the mother of the myriad things. There was something undifferentiated and complete, born before Heaven and Earth.' Liezi said: 'Form is born from formlessness. At the beginning of Heaven and Earth, there was the Great Change, the Great Beginning, the Great Commencement, and the Great Simplicity. The Great Change is when vital breath had not yet appeared. The Great Beginning is the start of vital breath. The Great Commencement is the start of form. The Great Simplicity is the start of substance. Breath, form, and substance were combined and not yet separated.' [The chapter continues with an extensive philosophical discussion tracing the origins of creation through Daoist, Confucian, and cosmological sources, establishing that the Supreme Ultimate (太極) is the root principle from which yin and yang, the five phases, and all things arise.] Zhu Xi said: 'The Way of Qian completes the male; the Way of Kun completes the female -- this is the bodily formation at the beginning of creation. The two breaths interact, feeling and response transform and give birth to the myriad things -- this is the flowing operation after creation.' This is the constant principle. As for human destiny: it is endowed at the very beginning of life, before birth, and is not something people can alter. There is no willing it into being, yet it comes about. Some are born wealthy, some noble, some long-lived, some short-lived, some poor, some base. Some enjoy both wealth and nobility, towering above others. Some suffer both poverty and baseness, falling below others. The Plowing-the-Wild Master says: Heaven is one breath only. When breath transforms, it produces water. The sediment within water accumulates and becomes earth. When water recedes and earth emerges, mountains and rivers are formed. The hard parts of earth become stone, and metal is born within. The soft parts of earth grow wood, and fire is born within. With the five phases complete, the myriad things are born, and transformation becomes inexhaustible.

Heaven is lofty and vast; the six breaths revolve to form the four seasons. Earth is thick and deep; the five phases transform and give birth to form the myriad things. This can be called infinite and unfathomable. The sages established methods to calculate these -- for nothing can escape their numbers. Observing the basis of these numbers, all emerge from what is natural. Therefore what is recorded in the classics is uniform and consistent. By calculation one reaches their mechanism; by exhaustive study one penetrates their transformations -- all remain within the numbers. One is water, two is fire, three is wood, four is metal, five is earth -- each has its reason. Water occupies the northern position of Zi. Zi is the first yang; one is a yang number, therefore water is one. Fire occupies the southern position of Wu. Wu is the first yin; two is an yin number, therefore fire is two. Wood resides in the east. East is yang; three is an odd number, also yang, therefore wood is three. Metal resides in the west. West is yin; four is an even number, also yin, therefore metal is four. Earth corresponds to the southwest and late summer. Five is an odd number, also yang, therefore earth is five.

Wood governs the east, corresponding to spring. 'Wood' (mu) means 'to touch' (chu) -- yang breath stirs and pushes through the earth to grow. Water flows eastward to generate wood. Wood grows upward and spreads its canopy downward -- this is its natural substance. Fire governs the south, corresponding to summer. 'Fire' (huo) means 'to transform' (hua) and 'to destroy' (hui). Yang is above, yin is below; it blazes mightily, transforming the myriad things. Drilling wood produces fire -- fire is born from wood. Yet fire has no independent body; its body is fundamentally wood. It emerges to respond to things and returns when exhausted -- this is its natural breath. Metal governs the west, corresponding to autumn. 'Metal' (jin) means 'to restrain' (jin). Yin breath begins to restrain the myriad things, gathering them in. Sifting sand to find gold -- metal is born from earth. Born from earth yet distinct from earth -- this is its natural form. Water governs the north, corresponding to winter. 'Water' (shui) means 'to moisten' (run). Yin breath moistens and nurtures the myriad things. Water flows from west to east -- metal generates water. Water flows in meandering courses, following downward and reaching everywhere -- this is its natural disposition. Earth governs the center, also positioned in the southwest, corresponding to late summer. 'Earth' (tu) means 'to disgorge' (tu). It contains and disgorges the myriad things: what is about to be born, it sends forth; what is about to die, it takes back -- the home of all things. The five phases conquer each other, and each child can avenge its mother. Wood conquers earth, but earth's child metal conquers wood in return. Metal conquers wood, but wood's child fire conquers metal. Fire conquers metal, but metal's child water conquers fire. Water conquers fire, but fire's child earth conquers water. Earth conquers water, but water's child wood conquers earth. Their mutual generation is their beginning; their mutual conquest is their end. All proceed from the nature given by Heaven.

'Stems' (gan) are like the trunk of a tree -- strong and yang. 'Branches' (zhi) are like the branches of a tree -- flexible and yin. In ancient times, Pangu understood the Way of Heaven and Earth, comprehended the transformations of yin and yang, and established the Three Powers. After Heaven and Earth had separated -- Heaven existing first, then Earth, then from the transformation of breath, humanity was born. Therefore the Celestial Sovereign, of one clan with thirteen rulers, succeeded Pangu in governing. His rule was characterized by ethereal detachment and effortless transformation. He first established the names of the Stems and Branches to fix the position of the years. His ten Stems were called: Yanfeng, Zhanmeng, Rouzhao, Jiangyu, Zhuyong, Tuwei, Shangzhang, Chongguang, Xuan, and Zhaoyang. His twelve Branches were called: Kundun, Chiferruo, Shetige, Chanyu, Zhixu, Dahuangluo, Dunyang, Xieqia, Tan, Zuoe, Yanmao, and Dayuanxian. Cai Yong's Duanduan says: 'Stem (gan) means trunk (gan). Its names number ten, also called the ten mothers -- these are today's Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, Wu, Ji, Geng, Xin, Ren, Gui. Branch (zhi) means branch (zhi). Its names number twelve, also called the twelve children -- these are today's Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu, Hai.'

The method of nayin (sound-allocation) follows the principle of 'same type marries wife, skip eight to produce child' -- the method of mutual generation among the pitch-pipes. The nayin and the Yijing's 'accepting the stems' (najia) follow the same method: Qian accepts Jia, Kun accepts Gui -- beginning with Qian and ending with Kun. Nayin begins with metal -- metal is Qian -- and ends with earth -- earth is Kun. Among the five phases, only metal, when cast into vessels, produces clear resonant sound. This is why nayin begins with metal. Jia-Zi is metal's middle position. It 'marries' Yi-Chou of the same type. Skip eight to produce Ren-Shen below -- metal's initial position. Ren-Shen marries Gui-You. Skip eight to produce Geng-Chen above -- metal's final position. Geng-Chen marries Xin-Si. Skip eight to produce Wu-Zi below -- fire's middle position. And so the cycle continues through all five phases and sixty combinations. [The chapter explains the complete nayin system, in which each pair of Stem-Branch combinations in the sixty-year cycle is assigned a specific five-phase quality with a descriptive name, such as 'Sea Metal' (海中金) for Jia-Zi/Yi-Chou, or 'Thunderbolt Fire' (霹靂火) for Wu-Zi/Ji-Chou.]

In ancient times, the Yellow Emperor divided Jia-Zi by weight and paired them into sixty, naming it the 'Flower Jia-Zi.' The word 'flower' (hua) is truly profound and subtle -- the sage borrowed this metaphor to express the concept; one must not fixate on it literally. From Zi to Hai there are twelve palace positions, each containing metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. Beginning with Zi as the first yang and ending with Hai as the sixth yin, the five phases in their symbolic assignments -- as stars in Heaven, peaks on Earth, virtues in character, organs in the body, and phases in destiny -- all correspond to destiny, which encompasses one's entire life. Therefore the nayin images are the sage's metaphor, like the events of a person's life. Zi and Chou: yin and yang first conceive; the person is in the womb, the thing stores its root, without boundary or limit. Yin and Mao: yin and yang gradually open; the person gradually grows, the thing breaks through its shell, buds begin to split -- as if one is about to establish oneself. Chen and Si: yin and yang breath is vigorous; things are in full flower; like a person at thirty or forty who has established a position and begins to advance. Wu and Wei: yin and yang are fully manifest; things have reached maturity; a person at fifty or sixty, whose wealth or poverty, nobility or baseness, can be known. Shen and You: yin and yang contract and kill; things have been harvested; the person has withdrawn into quiet retirement. Xu and Hai: yin and yang are sealed; the thing's breath returns to its root; the person rests, each finding their final dwelling. [The chapter then explains each of the thirty nayin types in detail, tracing the metaphorical logic of each name through the twelve palace positions.]

Jia-Zi Metal: a precious object. Favors places where metal and wood are prosperous. [Auspicious markers:] Advancing Spirit, Joy; Fortune Star. [Inauspicious markers:] Flat Head, Hanging Needle, Broken Character. Yi-Chou Metal: crude ore. Favors fire and southern day-hours. Fortune Star, Flowery Canopy, Direct Seal. Bing-Yin Fire: furnace charcoal. Favors winter and wood. Fortune Star, Salary-Punishment, Flat Head, Deaf-Mute. Ding-Mao Fire: furnace smoke. Favors the Xun direction and autumn-winter. Flat Head, Severed Road, Hanging Needle. Wu-Chen Wood: unworked timber in mountain forests and wilds. Favors water. Salary Storehouse, Flowery Canopy, Water-Salary-Horse Storehouse, Rod-Staff, Hidden Spirit, Flat Head. Ji-Si Wood: flowers and grasses on the mountaintop. Favors spring and autumn. Salary Storehouse, Eight Auspicious, Missing Character, Crooked Foot. [The chapter continues through all sixty Stem-Branch combinations, listing each one's nayin type, metaphorical characterization, favorable conditions, and associated auspicious and inauspicious markers (神煞).]