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Sanming Tonghui · A Comprehensive Account of the Three Destinies
On the Four Seasons and Solar Terms
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In hexagram energy, the first month is Peace. Heaven's energy descends, corresponding to Rain Water. The second month is Great Strength, thunder above heaven, corresponding to Awakening of Insects. Rain Water preceding Awakening is appropriate: all things emerge through Zhen, and Zhen is thunder. At Clear and Bright, things become ordered through Xun, which is wind; Xun cleanses and orders them, hence the term's meaning of cleanliness and order. Grain Rain is the middle of the third month. Since Rain Water, Earth's rich substance and veins have stirred; rain again now makes Earth's veins generate things and nourish the grain seeds. Lesser Fullness is the middle of the fourth month. Former scholars said that after Lesser Snow, yang grows one part daily, accumulating thirty parts in thirty days to form one daytime at Winter Solstice. Yin's growth after Lesser Fullness is the same. Grain Rain in the third month and Grain in Ear in the middle of the fifth, as the source places it, alone name grain and wheat. Grain must be traced to the beginning of generation: sown in spring, it receives Wood's energy and perishes in autumn as Metal conquers Wood. Wheat must be considered at its final completion: sown in autumn, it receives Metal's energy and matures in summer as Fire conquers Metal. Lesser Heat is the sixth month's opening term and Greater Heat its middle term. Heat at the month's middle reaches its utmost and is called greater; before reaching that height it remains lesser. End of Heat is the middle of the seventh month, heat ending and cold beginning. Great Fire moves west, and summer heat then withdraws: withdrawal means concealment and lying hidden. White Dew opens the eighth month and Cold Dew the ninth. The source's autumn-Wood phrase belongs to Metal; Metal is white and its energy cold. White is dew's color and cold its energy. First whiteness, then the beginning of cold, shows a progression. Frost Descent in the ninth month's middle is cold dew first congealing as frost. After Beginning of Winter come Lesser and Greater Snow. Cold begins in dew, reaches its middle in frost, and ends in snow: before frost is dew, beginning white and then cold; after frost is snow, progressing from lesser to greater. All are gradual. For Lesser and Greater Cold, the supplied You Airs says: “In the first month, yangfa; in the second, bitter cold.” Yangfa is cold wind, so the remainder of the eleventh month is Lesser Cold. Bitter cold is cold energy, so the end of the twelfth month is Greater Cold.
In general, the first half-year governs growth and Birth: rain, thunder, and wind are all generating energies. The second half-year governs generation brought to completion: dew, frost, and snow are completing energies. The second half speaks of heavenly seasons rather than agricultural timing, because farming is most urgent in spring and summer.
Translator's note: The source's monthly placements, Lesser-Snow-to-solstice explanation, autumn-Wood wording, and irregular You Airs and yangfa spellings are retained rather than corrected to another calendar or received poem. Great Fire is the celestial name used in the seasonal discussion.
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