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Sanming Tonghui · A Comprehensive Account of the Three Destinies
On Generation and Conquest Among the Five Phases
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The principle by which the five phases generate and conquer one another is clear. The ten stems and twelve branches, five movements and six energies, and year, month, day, and hour are all established from it and function through one another. In heaven they are energies: cold, heat, dryness, dampness, and wind. On earth they take form as Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth. Form and energy respond to one another and transform to generate the myriad things. This is the great ordering of creation and generation. Tracing its subtle operation, it may be called inexhaustible.
Wood governs the east and corresponds to spring. The word Wood is explained through touching: yang energy touches and stirs, breaking through the earth to grow. Water flows toward the east and generates Wood. Wood issues upward and spreads a covering downward: this is its natural substance.
Fire governs the south and corresponds to summer. The word Fire is explained through transformation and destruction. Yang is above and yin below; blazing strongly, it transforms the myriad things. Fire is obtained by drilling Wood, so Wood generates it. Yet Fire has no fixed body; its body is rooted in Wood. It emerges to respond to things, then returns within when exhausted: this is its natural energy.
Metal governs the west and corresponds to autumn. The word Metal is explained through prohibition: yin energy begins to restrain and gather the myriad things. Metal is selected out of sand, so Earth generates it. Born from Earth yet distinguished from Earth, it has its natural form. Water governs the north and corresponds to winter. The word Water is explained through moistening: yin energy moistens and undertakes the nourishment of the myriad things.
Water goes from west to east and is generated by Metal. It flows in bends, follows downward, and reaches its destination: this is its natural disposition. Earth governs the center, also occupies the southwest, and corresponds to late summer.
The word Earth is explained through issuing forth. It contains and releases the myriad things: those about to be born emerge, and those about to die return. It is their home. Thus it flourishes at summer's end and is generated by Fire. Earth may overcome Water, and Water then returns against Earth: this is a natural principle.
In the conquest of the five phases, each child can avenge its mother. Wood conquers Earth, but Earth's child Metal in turn conquers Wood. 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. Mutual generation is their beginning; mutual conquest is their ending. All issue from Heaven's nature. As the Basic Questions says, Water generates Wood and Wood in turn generates Fire. Wood has its energy stolen, so Water becomes angry and conquers Fire. When a child suffers stolen energy, its mother strives on its behalf; when the mother is injured by a hostile agent, the child comes forcefully to rescue her. The meaning is the same. The strong can attack the weak: Earth encountering Wood is opened through. The full can overcome the empty: Water encountering Earth is cut off. Yin can dissolve yang: Fire encountering Water is extinguished. Fierceness can oppose hardness: Metal encountering Fire is impaired. Firmness can restrain softness: Wood encountering Metal is felled. Thus the five circulate and rotate: in the forward direction they generate one another, in reverse they conquer one another. Each thereby functions to complete its own way.
Translator's note: The word associations and mother-child revenge imagery belong to the source's account of the five phases. Its list of five heavenly energies and the phrase about Water returning against Earth are preserved without adding a standard correspondence table.
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