Sanming Tonghui, Volume 2: Stems, Branches, and Temporal Cycles

Jia Wood is the head of the ten Stems, governing the four seasons and nurturing the myriad things. In Heaven it is thunder and the dragon; on Earth it is the ridgepole and the pillar -- called yang wood. Its salary reaches Yin. Yin is the wood above the Li trigram position, whose roots are already severed and branches already cut -- called dead wood. Dead wood is hard wood: it requires axes and chisels to be carved into useful implements. Its long-life position is at Hai. Hai is the water of rivers, ponds, and marshes -- called dead water. Dead wood placed in dead water, though soaked for years, will not rot or decay -- like cypress or cedar wood, which becomes more solid when submerged. [The chapter systematically describes each of the ten Heavenly Stems (Jia through Gui) in terms of their yang/yin nature, celestial and terrestrial correspondences, favorable and unfavorable conditions, and the logic of their life-cycle positions (long life, prosperity, decline, death) through the twelve Earthly Branches.] Yi Wood continues after Jia, nurturing the myriad things in ceaseless generation. In Heaven it is wind; on Earth it is the tree -- called yin wood. Its salary reaches Mao, where trees have deep roots and luxuriant foliage -- called living wood. Living wood is soft wood: it fears yang metal's hacking and autumn's leaf-fall. It desires moist earth to nourish its roots and living water to sustain its branches and leaves.

Zi is the chief of the twelve Branches -- the water of streams, channels, rivers, and oceans. It is the place where Wu-Earth prospers, yet only after the period of Great Snow, when the first yang returns, can it become truly prosperous. [The chapter describes each of the twelve Earthly Branches in turn, detailing their seasonal associations, hidden stems, clash and combination relationships, and practical implications for Bazi analysis.] Yin is established in spring; its breath gathers yang, and Bing-Fire is born within it. Yin punishes Si; Si combines with Shen, both prosperous and noble. Prosperous in Mao, stored in Wei, of the same family. At Wu, fire's radiance shines with transcendent brilliance. Meeting Shen, Yin receives a clash -- broken salary and injured establishment. Wu -- the month of blazing fire at its peak; entering mid-breath, the first yin is born. Geng reaches this point as useless; Ji reaches this point as returning to its base. Meeting Shen and Zi, there must be battle; meeting Yin and Xu, the brightness increases.

[Volume 2 continues with extensive technical chapters covering the complete toolkit of Bazi temporal analysis:] 'On the Four Seasons and Solar Terms' -- the relationship between the twenty-four solar terms and the waxing/waning of the five phases. 'On the Twelve Stages of Life for the Five Phases' -- prosperity, decline, bath, coronation, official appointment, emperor, decline, illness, death, tomb, extinction, and gestation for each phase through the twelve Branches. 'On Computing the Hidden Month and Hour' -- the method for determining which Heavenly Stem governs each month and hour based on the year and day stems. 'On Year, Month, Day, and Hour' -- the four pillars of destiny and how each is established. 'On the Embryonic Origin' -- calculating the conception month as an additional factor. 'On the Major Cycles' (大運) -- the ten-year fate periods derived from the month pillar. 'On the Minor Cycles' (小運) -- the annual fate periods. 'On the Grand Duke' (太歲) -- the influence of the current year on the natal chart. 'On Stem Combinations' -- the five pairs of combining stems (Jia-Ji, Yi-Geng, Bing-Xin, Ding-Ren, Wu-Gui) and their chemical transformations. 'On Branch Combinations, Trines, Harms, Punishments, and Clashes' -- the complete system of Branch relationships that form the dynamic engine of Bazi interpretation.