Taiyi Golden Mirror Cosmic Board Classic: Volume 6 — The Seven Tactical Arts and Secondary Methods

PREFACE TO THE SEVEN ARTS: The Taiyi arts were first transmitted by the Dark Lady to the Yellow Emperor. The Yellow Emperor obtained them and defeated Chiyou at Zhuolu — this was the original art. Later, Fan Li studied them and assisted King Goujian of Yue in conquering Wu, ultimately achieving hegemony. When the Qin dynasty lost the Way and the fiery Han was about to rise, Zhang Liang used them to assist the Duke of Pei: entering Guanzhong in the west where Ziying surrendered with the imperial jade seal, and meeting at Gaixia in the east where Xiang Yu's vanguard was shattered. Thus: when employed at court, these serve as the teacher's counsel; when dispatched to the field, they become the general's strategy. Whether attacking or defending, nothing fails to be illuminated by them. Because the methods have a core principle, they are called the Seven Arts. ART ONE — CROSSING THE FORD TO ASK THE WAY: 'Crossing the Ford' works as follows: always place Minister Shen over the year the enemy raised troops. Look at the Great Spirit's position below — that is the year of defeat. Then place Minister Shen over the defeat-year; the Great Spirit's position below is the defeat-month. Then the defeat-month yields the defeat-day, and the defeat-day yields the defeat-hour. ART TWO — LION'S REVERSE THROW: 'Lion's Reverse Throw' works as follows: place Minister Shen over the enemy's starting year. Observe the Great Spirit's position — if it falls on imprisoned, dead, resting, or combining positions, the enemy will be defeated. If it falls between flourishing and minister positions, the enemy will not be defeated. ART THREE — WHITE CLOUD SWEEPING THE SKY: 'White Cloud Sweeping the Sky': when two armies face each other, cast the Taiyi reckoning for both host and guest. Place Minister Shen over the Host Major General's palace and examine the Great Spirit. If it falls on imprisoned, dead, resting, or defunct positions — if the host unfurls banners and engages in battle, it will suffer great defeat. If it falls on capped-and-belted, soldiers will die in battle. If it falls on imperial-throne, the enemy must not be provoked.

ART FOUR — FIERCE TIGER STANDOFF: 'Fierce Tiger Standoff': observe the day the enemy sets camp. Place Minister Shen over that day. If Taiyi's Great Spirit falls on flourishing or minister positions, the enemy camp cannot be attacked. If on declining, dead, or entombed positions, the camp will soon be defeated. ART FIVE — THUNDER LORD ENTERING WATER: 'Thunder Lord Entering Water': place Minister Shen over Taiyi's palace. Examine the palace below the Great Spirit's position. If it overcomes the Host Major General's palace, the general will certainly die. If it overcomes the Minor General's palace, the same applies. If it overcomes the Guest Major General, disaster follows; the same for the Guest Minor General. Otherwise, soldiers will desert and mutiny. ART SIX — WHITE DRAGON OBTAINING CLOUDS: 'White Dragon Obtaining Clouds': place Minister Shen over the current day's Taiyi palace. Examine the palaces where the Great Spirit and Major General reside. If the host occupies a flourishing or minister position, it is favorable to dispatch troops and set camp. If on imprisoned, dead, resting, or entombed positions, troops must not be dispatched. If the enemy's Major General's palace punishes or overcomes our Major General's palace, engaging in battle means certain death. The same applies if their Minor General overcomes ours. ART SEVEN — RETURNING ARMY WITHOUT WORDS: 'Returning Army Without Words': place Minister Shen over the day and hour when the enemy first arrived, aligned with Taiyi's palace. Examine the Great Spirit's position. If the enemy occupies flourishing or minister positions, they have hidden ambush troops — prepare accordingly. If on imprisoned, dead, resting, or defunct positions, the enemy will collapse on its own and can be immediately overcome. If our own army similarly occupies flourishing or minister positions, we should also set ambush troops.

METHOD 8 — THREE POWERS FOR DIVINING HEAVEN, EARTH, AND PEOPLE: The Three Powers are heaven, earth, and people. If the reckoning contains no tens-digit: 'no heaven' — celestial anomalies such as eclipses of sun and moon, planets straying from their courses, comets, meteors, frost, and hail. If the reckoning contains no fives: 'no earth' — terrestrial anomalies such as mountains collapsing, earthquakes, rivers drying up, and locust plagues. If the reckoning yields 10, 20, 30, or 40: 'no people' — human calamities such as verbal disputes, false prophecies, mutual slaughter, plague, forced migration, and mass displacement. METHOD 9 — LONG AND SHORT FOR URGENCY: The Celestial Eye's reckoning number determines timing. Long reckonings (11 and above) favor slow, deliberate action; short reckonings (9 and below) favor urgent action. Long numbers favor deep penetration; short numbers favor shallow penetration. Long numbers indicate victory; short numbers indicate defeat. METHOD 10 — FIVE TONES FOR DISASTER CLASSIFICATION: Reckoning of 1 or 2 = Gong tone: disaster concerns the sovereign. Reckoning of 3 or 4 = Zhi tone: disaster concerns the ancestral temple. Reckoning of 5 = Yu tone: disaster concerns the empress or consorts. Reckoning of 7 = Shang tone: disaster concerns sons and grandsons. Reckoning of 9 or 10 = Jue tone: disaster concerns illness. METHOD 11 — SOLITARY AND SINGLE FOR SUCCESS AND FAILURE: 1, 3, 7, 9 are 'single yang.' 2, 4, 6, 8 are 'single yin.' 10 and 30 are 'solitary yang.' 20 and 40 are 'solitary yin.' Single-yin reckonings are unfavorable for the lower side and for the guest. Single-yang reckonings are unfavorable for the upper side and for the host. METHOD 12 — INNER AND OUTER FOR ATTACK DIRECTION: Positions ahead of the Celestial Eye are 'inner' — favorable for attacking outward. Positions behind are 'outer' — favorable for attacking inward. METHOD 13 — MANY AND FEW FOR VICTORY: If the guest's reckoning is large and faces a host with a small reckoning, the host is defeated. If the guest's reckoning is small facing a large host reckoning, the host wins. METHOD 14 — YIN AND YANG FOR CATASTROPHE TIMING: If Taiyi is in a yang palace and the reckoning yields an odd number: 'doubled yang' — catastrophe comes through fire. If in a yin palace with an even number: 'doubled yin' — catastrophe comes through water. METHOD 15 — DOMAINS FOR FORTUNE AND MISFORTUNE: The reckoning has domain assignments for determining fortune: 10 represents the general, 5 represents officers and soldiers, 1 represents foot-soldiers. If the reckoning lacks these numbers, it is inauspicious. If the total reaches 16 or above, general, officers, and soldiers are all present — all affairs are auspicious.