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Yuanhai Ziping · The Deep Sea of Ziping Astrology
Scroll IV
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Rhapsody of Gold and Jade
Its numerical framework follows the Great Plan; its method honors Ziping. (Marginal commentary: The Great Plan was elaborated by Jizi; the commentary connects it with the River and Luo traditions and the Great Expansion number of fifty.)
Explore the mysteries of Heaven and Earth, listening as though to a voice transmitted through an empty valley.
The single qi circulates, making winter cold and summer hot. The three yang forces emerge, bringing growth in spring and completion in autumn.
The author has heard that whatever arises also passes away, and what is diminished can become full.
Transformation returns to its source through Yin, Shen, Si, and Hai; the Five Phases lie stored in the mounds of the four seasonal Earth periods. (Marginal commentary: Chen, Xu, Chou, and Wei are Earth's Tomb and Storage positions, hence 'stored.')
Birth and growth have their seasons within spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Flourishing and decline have their measures, through which the text examines poverty, low status, wealth, and rank.
Search the Eight Characters with particular attention to Wealth and Officer. Then investigate the Five Phases and their seasonal conditions. Weigh Wealth and Officer and examine the depth of the seasonal qi. Assess whether the chart turns toward or away from Wealth and Officer, and whether the configuration at birth is high or low.
What comes to control the self is Officer or Ghost; a flourishing self can hold authority. What the self controls is wife-Wealth; the verse says that a strong Officer then brings riches.
The year injuring the daymaster indicates an estranged father and son. The hour controlling the day indicates a son who disregards his father's commands.
The year controlling the day is a superior overpowering an inferior; the day controlling the year is an inferior offending a superior. (Marginal commentary: Hour represents children, day the self, year ancestors, and month the father; controlling one's superior is insubordination.)
If another influence restrains the day position, evil can turn into good. (Marginal commentary: Restrained Seven Killings become Indirect Officer and can bring military authority.)
The original master should also meet favorable spirits, turning calamity into good fortune. Favorable spirits meeting in celebration signify abundant assets; the commentary identifies them as Wealth, Officer, and Resource. Four Pillars without a favorable relationship signify simultaneous causes of trouble.
If the foundation and master clash, the Three Punishments recur, and annual and cycle influences press upon the chart, the text predicts an unexpected calamity.
Pure Five Phases entering a valid configuration signify honorable court service. A strong self with subdued Seven Killings signifies guarding a regional frontier.
Without Wealth or Officer, a valid configuration can still open a path to high achievement. Without a named configuration, Wealth and Officer can still bring renown in court service.
If Wealth, Officer, and the configuration are all damaged, the person is assigned poverty or repeated frustration in pursuing distinction. If day and month's command are both strong, the text predicts hardship or lifelong withdrawal into obscurity. Unrestrained Bing and Ding occupying southern Li are described as violent and contemptuous of propriety. Ren and Gui meeting the corresponding Wu and Ji are described as virtuous, talented, and intelligent.
Xin meeting Yi Wood at the southern Tomb is assigned wealth without benevolence; Bing meeting Xin Metal in the northern stronghold, poverty accompanied by virtue.
Indirect Resource in year, hour, or month's command leaves the outcome uncertain. If major cycles or the annual sovereign meet the Longevity Star, the verse says calamity arrives at once.
Lack of milk in infancy is assigned to Food Spirit in a position of punishment and control. Distinction in one's prime is assigned to pure positions of Wealth and Officer.
On a yang day—Jia, Bing, Wu, Geng, or Ren—Food Spirit gaining ground without clash or injury secretly combines with Officer. On a yin day, undamaged Food Spirit is said to establish its own close affinity through combination.
Resource Seal and Indirect Wealth can benefit longevity; Yang Blade and Seven Killings can seize Wealth and turn into Ghosts.
A broken Wealth star signifies abandoning ancestral ways and establishing oneself elsewhere. Injured Resource Seal signifies losing the family inheritance and leaving one's native place.
A chart takes noble spirits as blessings; their control or entrapment brings harmful misfortune. Harmful influences among the Five Phases produce disaster, while combination with Killings together with Food Spirit can bring rank. (Marginal commentary: Food Spirit is valued because it can restrain Killings.)
A deficient chart with flourishing Killings needs Heavenly Pardon and the Two Virtues to bring auspiciousness. A weak self with abundant Wealth likes assistance from Yang Blade and brothers. (Marginal commentary: Jia encountering Yi calls it a younger brother; Yi encountering Jia calls it an elder brother. Apply the same relationship to the other phases.)
A vigorous Food Spirit holding the month's command signifies enjoyment of food and drink and a full physique. Favorable stars supporting one another in the Four Pillars signify accumulated gold and jade.
If no harmful Killings intrude upon the Five Phases, reputation spreads. Repeated Yin, Shen, Si, and Hai signify an intelligent, generative mind; the commentary explains that these are the four Birth positions. Repeated Zi, Wu, Mao, and You are associated with indulgence in drink and sex.
For a woman without Killings, a single noble influence need not be harmful.
Heavenly Virtue and Monthly Virtue are welcome; mixed Officer and Killings are unfavorable.
Numerous noble influences are associated with a singing and dancing livelihood; many combinations, with secret appointments and clandestine meetings.
Vigorous Five Phases are accused here of disregarding propriety. Officer and Killings encountered together are assigned a spouse with a notorious reputation.
Looking Back, Inverted Insertion, Peach Blossom Floating on Water, Naked Bathing, and repeated Mingling influences are listed together. The passage assigns these to servitude, concubinage, or sex work and says chastity is rare.
Double Fish and Double Maiden are called sexually charged stars and should not recur heavily. Officer and Seven Killings represent the husband and should not appear repeatedly together.
Yin and Shen appearing together are associated with sexual excess; Si and Hai meeting, with an unsettled desire.
A Hurting Officer position is assigned either marriage far from home or harm to the husband. Clash involving the Owl Resource spirit signifies loneliness, separation, or parting through death.
Officer-Ghost entering Tomb in the Four Pillars is said to send the husband early to death. Annual or cycle influences entering early-death or Extinction positions cause the married pair to part. (Marginal commentary: Officer-Ghost is a woman's husband: it is Officer when strong and Ghost when declining.)
Difficulty marrying in a woman's chart is assigned to cycles turning away from the husband influence. Early marriage for a man is assigned to a cycle combining with Wealth territory.
Repeated control of the child influence is linked with submerged Killings and declining Officer. Repeated injury to Food is linked with repeated harm to the wife.
Light Wealth, a strong self, and many brothers may instead manifest through punishment and clash of the wife or concubine position.
Secret combinations with Wealth, or a vacant invitation toward Wealth, are said to indicate multiple wives and concubines. Wealth entering Tomb is assigned harm to the wife. A hidden spirit beneath a branch is associated with favoring a secondary wife or concubine.
A clearly exposed wife star is compared to seeking a suitable tall tree as a partner.
Major cycles and annual influences forming a Threefold Combination in Wealth territory bring an auspicious Red Matchmaker omen. Entering the Defeat palace of Wealth instead signifies declining family assets, harm to wife and concubine, and difficulty forming a marriage. Determine precisely where the wife star loses its place, and investigate the source of the positions of official Emolument and Heavenly Kitchen. Even a pure configuration can be assigned death if a harmful influence suddenly clashes with it. A chart without Wealth or Emolument can nevertheless rise suddenly upon entering cycles in which they flourish.
The text speaks of the day seeking ascent and combination, with much Robber of Wealth where Food Spirit flourishes. If Indirect Resource controls Food Spirit, it predicts either poverty or a short life. (Marginal commentary: Food Spirit governs food and drink; its control signifies a beggar.) To assess begging and destitution, examine flourishing and decay, gain and loss, relative weight and depth.
Strong Officer-Emolument and Killings without restraint are assigned early death; a declining daymaster with heavy Wealth supporting Killings is assigned poverty. Examine the annual and cycle influences further for good and bad outcomes. A broken self-palace without support signifies leaving the ancestral home or living elsewhere. When Qian, Kun, Gen, and Xun exchange and face one another, the person is described as fond of roaming and unable to settle the mind.
Canopy in the pillars, together with the Two Virtues, indicates an elevated person. (Marginal commentary: Canopy resembles a covering and signifies literary court service; with Void Emptiness it signifies a Buddhist or Daoist cleric.) Officer and Seven Killings falling into Void Emptiness indicate an unimportant or leisurely post among the various occupations.
The Five Phases controlling the annual influence do not cause disaster unless the daymaster is injured. Annual and cycle influences arriving together bring misfortune if they damage the useful spirit.
Wood controlled by Metal is associated with injury to waist and ribs.
Fire injured by Water is associated with eye disease.
A flourishing Threefold Fire Combination controlling Geng or Xin is associated with injury to head or face and conditions involving pus and blood.
Injury to the day stem or excessive Wealth and Officer is associated with broken limbs and a calamity involving lingering attachment.
Breathlessness and fullness of the heart and lungs are attributed to punishment between Metal and Fire. Injury to spleen and stomach is attributed to Earth and Wood battling through control.
With Water in the branches and Fire above in the stems, Water's control is associated with an obscure abdominal and mental condition.
With Fire in the branches and Water above, flourishing Fire is associated with internal eye obstruction and blindness. Scorching Fire and Earth steaming the four luminaries are associated with baldness and dimmed sight. A pure, moist Flowing Downward configuration is instead associated with a clear spirit and refined frame.
Flourishing Yinghuo at Li or Xun is associated with loss of speech amid a wind disorder. Sharp and strong Taibai combining with Dui or Kun is associated with injury or defeat through weapons and arrows.
Wealth entering Tomb may prosper through a small measure of punishment or clash.
Even where Hurting Officer has fully removed Officer, the appearance of an Officer star is judged harmful here.
The eighteen configurations must be examined through favorable and harmful relationships. All depend on the Five Phases and their changing strength and decline.
Why should a flourishing self need Resource Seal? A declining self does not welcome Wealth and Officer. (Commentary: Resource Seal is the mother that generates the self; a flourishing self has no need of further generation.)
Balance brings blessings; one-sided factions bring calamity.
For Noble Spirit, Facing and Arching, Emolument-Horse, Flying into Heaven, Remote Combination, and Vacant Invitation configurations, avoid breaking the configuration by clash; combinations are also unfavorable. (Commentary: Vacant Invitation forms a configuration by inviting Emolument and Horse that are absent from the month's command.)
Seven Killings and Officer each dislike entanglement; filling the vacant position is harmful.
If a cycle suddenly enters Officer territory, the text advises withdrawing from office.
A weak Horse and broken Officer signify being trapped in hardship; flourishing Emolument and abundant Wealth signify a distinguished official career.
Misfortune in apparently favorable territory can result from a harmful star concealed in a Threefold Combination. Good fortune in apparently harmful territory can result from a favorable star exposed through the Nine Palaces. (Marginal commentary: This concerns shifting palaces.) To judge official rank, examine whether the cycle's spirit turns toward or away from the chart's needs.
A clear and exceptional configuration brings early fame; defects delay the gaining of favorable ground until later life.
A cycle traverses one palace in ten years; the annual influence advances year by year.
An open and successful route signifies great authority and high rank; an obstructed course, meager Emolument and low office. (Marginal commentary: The route means the cycle and its allotted period.)
When investigating the child position, first examine the wife-palace.
Death and Extinction are said to make children of either principal or secondary wives difficult to preserve. Excessive strength is associated with seeking a child from another household.
A clearly exposed wife star indicates many descendants; punishment and harm of the heir-palace indicate few sons or daughters.
To assess the number of siblings, examine the stems and branches of all Four Pillars carefully.
Even when the month's command is strong, consider whether the cycle's spirit turns toward or away from what is needed.
Death, Extinction, punishment, and injury disrupt the order of the sibling flock. Mutual generation and favorable meetings bring shared family honor. (Marginal commentary: This means brothers attaining honor and rank.)
Strong brothers and a strong self are said to diminish the father's prospects; abundant, flourishing Wealth is said to shorten the mother's life. (Marginal commentary: Strong brothers means much Peer and Robber of Wealth among the phases.)
If Officer-Ghost appears, the mother is instead assigned longevity; cycles that drain qi can instead prolong the father's life.
Ren at Wu and Gui at Si can receive a balanced endowment with Emolument and Horse in the same territory; in Rest or Imprisonment, the fetal origin is in Extinction. (Marginal commentary: Emolument and Horse mean Wealth and Officer.) Bing at Shen, Geng at the transmitted 'Yan-Yin' position, Ji entering Xun and Qian, Yi at Double Maiden, Metal occupying Fire, and Jia seated in Kun are called Rest or Imprisonment and especially fear controlling influences.
An unwelcome encounter with Seven Killings is called loss of the soul; a welcome encounter with the Longevity Star, restoration of the soul. The text says that Heaven's allotment can operate beyond the reach of human intelligence and effort.
The enclosing net of transformation is subtle and profound, and mastering its workings is described as a remarkable achievement. When poverty is about to end, humble households may produce high ministers. Excessive luxury may instead leave a distinguished household with starving dependents. A declining family fortune is said to bring an unworthy son; repeated marital punishments, a wife or concubine without longevity.
If the fourth palace turns away from Emolument, do not pursue extravagant expectations: office will fail to materialize and Wealth will be wasted. (Marginal commentary: The fourth is the land-and-dwelling palace; this line reasons through palace divisions.)
If the Eight Characters contain no Wealth, keep within one's proper means. Greedy pursuit beyond them is said to invite calamity.
Accepting poverty and nurturing modest abilities does not mean Yuan Xian lacked talent. Filling one's belly by playing the flute is presented as the frustrated condition of Wu Yuan.
Proceed when circumstances accord; relinquish the effort when they oppose. Understand the allotted course and accept Heaven, maintaining right conduct even in poverty. Here the Great Plan's numbers conclude, revealing the source and marrow of the teaching.
Translator's note: Inline marginal annotations remain attached to their source paragraphs. Unclear expressions concerning a restrained day position, abdominal symptoms, and the transmitted 'Yan-Yin' location are not repaired from another edition. The named Double Fish, Double Maiden, and Mingling influences are retained without supplying absent definitions. Contradictory rules about Officer appearing after Hurting Officer, and the Longevity Star bringing harm or rescue, remain as printed. The source's gender, family, medical, lifespan, and social judgments are historical claims, not established diagnoses or reliable predictions.
Rhapsody of the Jade-Blue Abyss
The author says that the two qi distinguish the Three Powers, while the four seasons bring forth the myriad beings; all of this proceeds through destiny and its governing command.
This command runs through the four seasons and establishes the four limits. Take the daymaster as principal in determining the Three Origins.
Destiny cannot operate without command, and command cannot stand without destiny. Their interdependence reveals the complete workings of Heaven and Earth. (Marginal commentary: Destiny's principle is subtle, which is why Confucius seldom spoke of it.)
Some ask whether Ziping concerns Heaven's allotment rather than human destiny. Heaven's allotment concerns qi and number; human destiny receives the Five Phases.
How, then, do qi and number differ from the Five Phases? How do Heaven's allotment and human destiny differ? The author affirms that these principles can be discussed together.
Human flourishing and decline, gain and loss, are said to lie entirely within generation and control among the Five Phases. Wealth, rank, poverty, and low status depend upon balance within the Eight Characters. First examine the depth of the seasonal node, then whether Wealth and Officer face toward or away from what is needed. (Marginal commentary: Accord is facing toward; opposition is facing away.)
No human chart is assessed apart from Wealth and Officer.
Among the configurations, Vacant Invitation of Emolument and Horse is especially important. Earlier worthies established its forms, but later students must understand their variations.
Excess without restraint is assigned poverty and low status; deficiency without generation and support, early death.
If a favorable influence is needed but the cycle turns away, the text judges poverty and low status. If an influence should be avoided but the cycle approaches it, the judgment is hardship.
If generation is welcome and generation arrives, rank may be predicted; if control is desired and control arrives, auspiciousness may likewise be stated. (Marginal commentary: Welcome generation refers to the Long Life positions Yin, Shen, Si, and Hai.)
On encountering Officer, examine Wealth; meeting Wealth brings wealth and rank. (Marginal commentary: Wealth nourishes Officer as its Emolument. An Officer must have this support to confer true rank; without it, the Officer is false.) On encountering Killings, examine Resource; Resource brings honor. On encountering Resource, examine Officer; the verse assigns rank to eight or nine cases out of ten when Officer is met. Wealth fears Killings, and their presence is assigned poverty in nine cases out of ten.
Abundant Wood meeting Metal becomes timber for beams and pillars. Much Water meeting Earth makes the work of dikes and embankments possible. Fire forging autumn Metal makes a keen sword or useful implement. Wood opening fertile Earth cultivates grain. Blazing Fire with Water is the pattern of mutual completion; shallow Water with abundant Metal is the image of a complete structure.
Jia or Yi entering western cycles may attain distinction if the self is strong. Ren or Gui traveling through southern territory may seek Wealth if the master is vigorous. Robbery Killings need not meet flourishing territory; Food Spirit especially likes Robber of Wealth territory.
Jia or Yi obtaining Hai-Mao-Wei is assigned wealth and rank. Bing or Ding obtaining Yin-Wu-Xu is assigned honor. Geng or Xin completing Si-You-Chou signifies substantial office and high authority. Ren or Gui obtaining Shen-Zi-Chen signifies learning and talent. Wu or Ji completing the four seasonal Earth positions signifies honor above fellow officials.
Meeting Virtue, Excellence, and the Three Wonders spreads fame to the four mountains. (Marginal commentary: The Three Wonders are Yi, Bing, and Ding, representing sun, moon, and stars. At Xu and Hai, described as the great gate, they confer rank; at Chou, Yin, or Mao they signify low status.)
Wood completing the eastern territory Yin-Mao-Chen has its own distinction. Metal completing Shen-You-Xu lacks neither wealth nor rank. Water returning to Hai-Zi-Chou signifies an honored person. Fire occupying Si-Wu-Wei signifies distinction.
Flourishing Wood favors Fire's brilliance and can succeed in the autumn examinations. Strong Metal likes Water's encompassing influence and can excel in literary learning.
If Fire is employed, Water causes anxiety; if Wood is employed, Metal causes anxiety.
Repeated spring Wood should not simply be dismissed as unsupported excess. Blazing summer Fire should not automatically be condemned as excessive hardness.
Keen autumn Metal and abundant winter Water can be excellent. Cutting and stripping their excess can be favorable, while further generation and support are unfavorable.
Properly matched Five Phases are called health, order, and harmony.
Four Pillars without a favorable relationship are called disorder, injury, and calamity.
Battle within a combination resembles a well-ordered age encountering upheaval.
Generation encountered in Death territory resembles extreme adversity giving way to prosperity.
Alternating order and disorder arise when the pillars contain Rolling Waves, punishment, and clash.
Sudden flourishing and sudden decline arise from intersecting breakage and harm in the chart.
Liu Fen failed the examinations, the verse says, because his literary influence met a declining year. The source supplies a pronunciation gloss for his name.
Li Guang never became a marquis because the person was strong but the Horse weak.
To assess lifelong high or low status, examine the stars of examination success.
To assess the level of office, scrutinize the positions of Wealth and Officer.
If office has not yet been obtained, a clash injuring the natal noble influence can, in the wording of the verse, bring examination success.
Once distinction has been attained, avoid renewed injury and breakage.
If Kui outweighs Officer, lifelong examination failure is predicted; if Officer outweighs Resource, fame is said to come easily.
Vigorous Wood and bright Fire favor a high examination ranking.
Cold Metal and chilled Water are assigned lifelong poverty.
With fetal origin and daymaster, flourishing Resource in the governing outline brings first place.
Gathered noble influences in the annual shoots bring an honored place in the Jade Hall and literary academy.
An imbalance can itself be the Kui star; achievement follows only when the imbalance is removed.
The literary influence heads the examination list; advancement appears when Officer arrives.
The Black Warrior configuration with much Peer and Robber of Wealth is assigned true examination success through Taiyi and Jade Hall.
The Vermilion Bird configuration with flourishing Food Spirit can seek success in an Officer year or Resource year.
Much Peer meeting Officer, Killings, and Resource is described as Kui combining with the year and clashing with Officer to bring success.
Repeated Officer and Killings meeting Resource and Hurting Officer are described as the first-rank mansion gaining a recorded name in Food or Resource years.
Wood Kui flourishing in year or month signifies first place in the metropolitan or provincial examination.
The Fire mansion meeting a blazing annual stem assigns first place on the highest list.
Repeated examination failure is attributed to Wealth breaking the literary document. Fame in a single attempt is attributed to Kui carrying the first-rank influence.
The waxing and waning of the Five Phases are said to achieve their effects through Ghosts.
A flourishing Four-Pillar chart without an imbalance is said not to attain rank.
Although Ghosts and imbalances can be useful, removing them is ultimately the blessing.
Seek years of Threefold Combination with Emolument and Horse, and years marked by Jade Hall and Tianyi.
Bing or Ding born in winter values Wu or Ji above; Geng or Xin born in summer values a configuration completed by Ren or Gui. (Marginal commentary: Weak Fire does not suit much Water.)
Jia or Yi born in autumn values Black Warrior; Geng or Xin growing in summer should employ Gouchen. (Marginal commentary: Gouchen is Wu Earth.)
Bing or Ding with much Water fears the north, but meeting Wu or Ji can instead confer rank. Geng or Xin with flourishing Fire fears the south, but meeting Wu or Ji can instead bring honor.
Jia or Yi born in autumn with exposed Bing or Ding should not be treated as simply injured. Wu or Ji born in summer with exposed Geng or Xin should be judged capable of rank.
Fire accompanied by much Water values Wood cycles. Earth encountering flourishing Wood gains honor in Fire territory.
Geng with heavy Water has cold Metal and chilled Water and likes warmth. Wu encountering much You has a weak self and keen qi and likes blazing illumination.
Deficiency welcomes generation and support; excess suits control and stripping away. (Marginal commentary: Generation means parents; support means Peer.)
Mixed Officer and Killings with a weak self signify poverty.
Balanced Officer and Killings, with Killings combined away, confer rank.
Officer in year and month signifies early entry into service; proper noble influences in day and hour signify distinction in later life.
Resource Seal at the fetal origin signifies enjoyment of a thousand grain measures; Wealth meeting Long Life signifies broad fertile estates. (Marginal commentary: The measure named is a container for rice.)
In autumn or winter, when Officer encounters injury from Blade, preserving Metal and removing Fire is assigned rank. Hurting Officer in the twelfth month likes to see Officer; broken Resource with repeated injury is assigned fatal calamity.
Flourishing Wealth generating Officer means more riches than rank. Hurting Officer meeting a noble influence means both high office and sufficient wealth.
Without injury there is no rank; an imbalance can be the exceptional feature. Once this principle is understood, why seek another explanation?
Although such an influence may initially be useful, its removal can ultimately be best. Weigh its relative force rather than following only one approach.
If Fire is intensely blazing and encounters Geng or Xin, do not simply judge it as a strong self with light Officer. If extinct Wood sits on Metal and repeatedly meets Killings and Resource, it is likewise difficult to judge simply as a weak self with flourishing qi.
Light Wealth should not pass through Robbery territory, which is assigned sudden calamity for the wife. Robber of Wealth and Blade accompanied by Officer and Killings signify a high minister. (Marginal commentary: The court pavilion here means the office of chief minister.)
Returning Emolument and Inverted Clash entering Blade and Hurting Officer territory signify court service. A flourishing self with Killings entering Resource Seal signifies an official empowered to decide affairs.
A strong self with a weak master and no Resource Seal is assigned an ordinary life on meeting Wealth. Restrained Yang Blade and Indirect Officer indicate command of military power.
Uninjured Direct Officer and Direct Resource signify office governing the people. (Marginal commentary: A prefectural administrative post.)
Flowing Downward and Sowing and Reaping configurations signify an official administering provisions and rewards. (Marginal commentary: A grain-transport official.)
The honored Zi and Wu positions signify court service. A Gui day and Gui hour together with Hai and Chou signify examination distinction and entry into the Hanlin Academy.
A Ren day and Ren hour with repeated Renchen signify substantial rank, favor, and entry into the imperial pavilion.
Day Virtue meeting Kuigang with punishment and clash signifies a poor person. Kuigang meeting Wealth signifies someone who gains a position and receives Emolument. (Marginal commentary: Chen is Kui; Xu is Gang.)
Hurting Officer meeting Officer favors Resource and Wealth territory. Wealth breaking Resource should meet Peer and Robber of Wealth. Natal Wealth meeting a Killings cycle may be judged favorable; natal Killings meeting a Wealth cycle is judged harmful.
For a woman with Hurting Officer, Returning Emolument is especially favorable. For a man with Yang Blade, encountering it when the self is weak can be excellent.
Metal Spirit, Flying Emolument, and Hurting Officer are especially unfavorable in a woman's chart. Yang Blade, Hurting Officer, and Seven Killings can give a man authority.
Metal Spirit entering Fire and meeting Blade and Killings is assigned rank. Returning Emolument without Officer, on meeting Food and Hurting Officer, signifies honor and authority.
Direct Resource without Officer brings little distinction in office; Yang Blade and Seven Killings bring renown through service.
A strong self with nothing to rely on is assigned a Buddhist or Daoist religious life. Peach Blossom with Rolling Waves is assigned a sex worker's life. (Marginal commentary: Peach Blossom Killings is especially unfavorable for women. Officer carrying Peach Blossom can confer rank; Peer or Robber of Wealth carrying it is associated with sexual excess and low status. At the hour it is called Peach Blossom Outside the Wall and is assigned sex work.)
Weak Metal and extinct Fire signify an artisan wearing down Earth and Wood. A strong self with light Wealth signifies work forging Metal or firing pottery.
Hurting Officer meeting Wealth can bring children; restrained Seven Killings can also bring many children.
Injured Resource Seal is assigned early loss of the mother; a robbed Wealth source, early loss of the father.
Hurting Officer in a man's chart prompts concern for children; in a woman's chart, for the husband.
Wealth and Officer in year and month with a strong self signify distinguished ancestors and an honored father. Emolument and Horse at Long Life in day and hour signify an able wife and distinguished children.
Returning Emolument in the month without Wealth or Officer is assigned the father's death abroad. Emolument and Horse in the year broken by clash are assigned the grandfather's death elsewhere.
Wealth at the day and Robbery at the hour are assigned the wife or concubine's death in childbirth. Killings in the year and Hurting Officer in the month signify discord among brothers. (Marginal commentary: Month stem and branch represent siblings.)
Dedicated Emolument meeting Yin Error signifies decline in the wife's family. Pursuing Horse meeting Yang Difference is said to confuse the genuine status of the husband's parents. (Marginal commentary: Yang days are Yang Difference, yin days Yin Error. The supplied days are Xinmao, Renchen, Guisi, Bingwu, Dingwei, Wushen, Xinyou, Renxu, Guichou, Bingzi, Dingchou, and Wuyin.)
Killings with punishment and harm in year and month signify harm to both grandfather and father. Emolument in both day and hour without Wealth support signifies separation of wife and children.
Direct and Indirect Wealth meeting in combination are associated with adulterous wives or concubines. Hurting Officer and Direct Officer controlling or breaking one another signify mutual marital injury.
A flourishing wife influence with harm to children is attributed to injury of the Food mansion. Flourishing children with loss of the husband is attributed to the Officer-master losing its place.
When flourishing Wealth in a woman's chart generates Officer, the text says the husband's authority will be taken. A man with much Wealth and a weak self is said to heed his wife too readily.
Difference and Error at the day signify cold relations with the wife's family. Established Blade hidden in the year signifies a meager ancestral foundation.
Wealth and Officer at birth, with flourishing Wealth generating Officer, signify a child who helps the state and raises the household.
Repeated Direct Officer is assigned more daughters and fewer sons. Exposed Indirect Wealth is said to favor concubines over the principal wife.
A well-placed Wealth star brings riches and reputation through the wife. Officer and Emolument returning to their domain bring personal distinction and enhance the ancestral estate.
Direct Officer in the year with Hurting Officer in the month signifies a strong grandfather and weak father. Wealth at the day and Robber of Wealth at the hour signify a rising father and failing son. (Marginal commentary: Year is grandfather, month father, day branch wife, and hour descendants.)
Azure Dragon wholly following a Metal configuration is assigned poverty and low status. White Tiger completing Flowing Downward Water is assigned wealth and rank. (Marginal commentary: Jia and Yi Wood are Azure Dragon; Geng and Xin Metal are White Tiger.)
Flourishing spring Wood with shallow Water signifies a monk in patched robes. Blazing summer Fire with declining Metal signifies a Daoist wearing cap and hairpin.
Gouchen completing Flowing Downward signifies a drifting life. Vermilion Bird combining with Black Warrior signifies a distressed and weak person.
Hard Metal with weak Wood signifies merchants and traders. Firm Earth with exhausted Water signifies breaking from the ancestral estate and leaving home.
Metal born in autumn with repeated Earth is assigned poverty without a scrap of iron. Fire growing in summer with repeated Metal is assigned Emolument of a thousand measures.
Spring Wood with much Water signifies poverty and low status. Winter Water with abundant Metal is assigned mental disturbance and weakness.
Chen, Xu, Chou, and Wei meeting punishment and clash are said invariably to prosper. Zi, Wu, Mao, and You with punishment and combination are associated with sexual misconduct and deception. (Marginal commentary: Chen, Xu, Chou, and Wei are the four Tombs. Wealth or Officer entering Tomb likes a clash that opens it.)
Summer Metal with repeated Fire, or autumn Wood with heavy Metal, is assigned poverty or low status. Seasonal Wood with abundant Metal, or spring Metal with much Fire, is assigned early death or poverty.
Rootless autumn Wood following the wife's blessings receives high Emolument and office. Summer Metal losing its color and matching the husband's honor gains distinction.
Fire turning toward a spring forest with flourishing Metal and Water can seek reputation. Earth in seasonal Earth territory with heavy Metal can enter official service. (Marginal commentary: Seasonal Earth territory means the Chen, Xu, Chou, and Wei months; the foregoing concerns exceptional configurations.)
Jia or Yi flourishing in summer with substantial Earth can attain some distinction and sufficient estates. Bing or Ding flourishing in winter with a clear Water source can receive full rank and splendid honor. Dedicated Emolument with Food and Hurting Officer signifies command beyond the inner gates; Yang Blade entering Officer and Killings signifies authority on the frontier.
Arching Emolument, Flanking Emolument, and Arching Nobleman signify abundant rank and income. Inverted Clash, Remote Si, and Railing configurations signify distinction.
Ren Hastening to Gen and Jia Hastening to Qian signify honorable court service. Xin Facing the Sun and Yi Rat Nobility signify literary officials.
A complete Wind Tiger arrangement gives the ability of a good general; full Cloud Dragon pillars give the virtue of a great person.
The four Storehouses complete bring the Dragon's transformation; meeting the Great Sea signifies the sovereign's position. An elegant Three Wonders configuration brings the Phoenix's ascent; meeting Heaven's Gate signifies the ruler described as 'two-six.' (Marginal commentary: Both passages concern an emperor's chart.)
Exposed Wealth and Officer bring riches; hidden Emolument and Horse bring honor.
A chart entering a valid configuration is assessed for rank; a broken configuration is assessed for poverty.
Investigate one principle to examine a hundred details; understand a short statement to comprehend countless cases. Later students should not neglect this teaching.
Translator's note: The translation preserves all supplied paragraph divisions and inline annotations. Variant rules, unusual labels, the listed Guichou day, 'seasonal Wood,' the repeated strong-self/weak-master wording, and the unexplained 'two-six' ruler formula remain as printed. Terms concerning Ghosts and illness may denote chart imbalance rather than literal disease in a given line. The gender, family, occupational, medical, and lifespan judgments are historical astrological claims, not established findings about individuals.
Rhapsody of Favor and Aversion
Nothing is richer than a pure and unmixed arrangement; nothing poorer than forces at war.
Nothing is nobler than refined promise brought to fruition; nothing lower than forces turning back to injure their own source.
Eloquent literary expression is associated with Nobleman and Horse meeting at the Hall of Learning.
Splendid writing is associated with Fire and Wood harmonizing in disposition.
Deep planning and foresight arise when virtuous qualities occupy a quiet palace. Subtle mastery of an art arises when the imperial seat guards the hall of literary learning.
For auspicious blessings to grow and flourish, Emolument and Horse must have vitality.
Kuigang has the capacity for inspired adaptation; Li and Kan are also gateways to intelligence.
Nobleman, Emolument, and Horse are welcome; Robbery, Blade, and Void Emptiness are best kept distant.
Long Life attracts the affection of exemplary people; Decline and Defeat encounter the dislike of petty people.
Four Pillars fighting in disorder signify lack of benevolence and righteousness.
Five Phases generating one another signify filial devotion and loyalty.
Resource Seal caught in punishment and clash is associated with a disturbed mind and death.
Day and hour within Tomb or Storage signify much worry and little happiness.
A flourishing day stem has fewer calamities; declining Wealth and destiny bring more distress.
Toil for food and clothing arises when flourishing positions suffer punishment.
Success or failure in profit and reputation arises when noble positions meet injury.
Lifelong blessings and misfortunes can depend on a single hour. A lifetime's good and bad outcomes depend on qi and cycles.
A Blessing Star with qi allows adaptation, promotion, and advancement.
An annual influence controlling an adverse cycle, without sustaining qi, is assigned separation of people and dispersal of wealth.
A harmful major cycle produces many calamities; a favorable annual influence removes many troubles.
Reaching Extinction where none existed before imperils Wealth and destiny.
The original master receiving generation brings success in profit and reputation.
Threefold and Sixfold Combinations increase auspiciousness and lessen misfortune.
Seven Killings and the Four Harms deepen calamity and diminish blessings.
Promotion and advancement come in years when Emolument meets the chart.
Establishing extensive assets comes in territory combining with Wealth.
The annual sovereign's clash and pressure signify calamity; an injured major cycle has little auspiciousness.
The year should generate the cycle, and the cycle should generate the self. Mutual generation among all three brings a satisfying year.
Flourishing Wealth and Officer signify distinction in an official career.
With Wealth and Food both flourishing, why should one remain obscure in a humble house?
Emolument entering territory of gathered generation makes wealth and rank evident.
Horse running toward flourishing Emolument permits a judgment of honor.
To seek profit from exchange and trade, look for supporting Sixfold Combinations.
Wealth and Officer carrying Emolument Facing the Origin signify blessings obtained in peace. (Marginal commentary: Yin generates Fire. If Jia appears in day, month, or hour and its Emolument is employed at Yin, this is called Facing the Origin spirit. Apply the principle to the other phases.)
A declining month and flourishing hour are said here to bring abundance in early life.
Heavy Wood and light Earth signify lifelong wandering.
Habitually profiting from shops and markets is attributed to Wealth encountered in flourishing territory. Sudden distinction and establishment of a household are attributed to noble influences appearing through punishment and clash. The source glosses the market term as shops selling goods.
The master and foundation in their proper season obtain support from a woman or daughter.
Nobility and Emolument in a favorable relationship bring advancement through a man or son.
Trade southward and travel northward arise when the Horse's road is open. (Marginal commentary: Without a barrier, Horse signifies movement in all four directions. For Yin-Wu-Xu, Horse is at Shen; You provides its favorable barrier. Without it, the roaming described here results. Apply this to other groups.)
Trading east and racing west arise from favorable carriage cycles. With a distressed and weak day stem, Bo Niu might still complain to Heaven.
With declining Emolument and Horse, even Master Yan is said unable to escape a short life.
Nothing is more harmful than Robbery and Blade; nothing more favorable than strength and firmness.
A weak Officer and poor Horse are associated with men and women fleeing. Heaven's Net and Earth's Web are associated with unexpected calamities.
Influences named Loss of Life and Early Death are said to prevent a fulfilled end. Robbery encountered on a desperate road prompts a warning of danger through self-punishment.
Wealth encountered at Extinction is said to prevent husband and wife from growing old together.
Great Depletion and Lesser Depletion are associated with gambling away the household.
Officer Tally and Death Tally are associated with recurrent imprisonment and litigation.
If the Four Pillars encounter Extinction and the Three Destinies suffer punishment and injury, the text predicts penal servitude, strangulation, or the suffering of facial tattoo punishment.
Meeting the Five Ghosts is assigned injury by thunder or a tiger's bite. With further harmful influences, the text predicts a violent death.
The passage characterizes women as sexually disreputable and men as wildly unruly under these conditions.
To assess disposition, intelligence, goodness, or harmfulness, first examine the sources of rank, low status, and flourishing strength. Then investigate the adaptability and ingenuity associated with Decline and Defeat.
Pride is associated with Kuigang causing harm.
A compliant disposition is associated with auspicious Sixfold Combinations. Quiet, detached, and free-spirited people are assigned Canopy, Loneliness, and Vacancy positions. (Marginal commentary: The palace opposite Void Emptiness is Lonely Vacancy.)
Those who rely on power and bully others are assigned the authority of Indirect Officer, Robbery, and Blade.
Robbery and Blade are associated with mean stinginess and dangerous schemes.
Strategy is largely associated with Ren and Gui; commanding force with Bing and Ding. Loneliness and Imprisonment lack vitality; Breakage and Defeat are said here to bring a more relaxed disposition.
Jia and Yi are described as compliant, benevolent, and generous; Geng and Xin as firm, decisive, and strong in spirit.
Dryness and Defeat with flourishing Fire invite suspicion; abundant Metal is assigned concealed endurance.
Punishment and battle signify obstinacy and dullness; quiet stability signifies ability and refinement.
Metal and Water holding command and generating one another, or Fire and Earth in season and assisting one another, signify sufficient food and clothing without anxiety and an established livelihood without excessive labor. Further supporting spirits confer local authority and honor.
Noble influences arching toward Emolument signify renown in the central administration.
What is feared is a blessing that fails to bless, or an achievement that fails to become complete.
A blessing fails when harmful influences strike a favorable position; achievement fails when the configuration is broken.
Injuring the configuration injures blessings; breaking it brings calamity. It is like seedlings meeting autumn drought, leaving the winter granary empty.
It is like blossoms struck by spring frost, leaving no summer fruit. Planning and thought then fail in application.
Even the ability to turn Heaven and shift the axis does not guarantee successful achievement.
Consider Master Li boiled in a cauldron, Master Fan's dusty grain steamer, Yuanming returning east, Zimei going west, Meng Ke failing to find recognition, and Feng Yan returning empty-handed.
Maichen carried firewood and sang; Jiang Ge wept in bitter cold.
Some seedlings never flower; some flowers never bear fruit.
With excessive injury and defeat, even a blessing may amount to no more than gathering grass and firewood.
Even a hundred skills may fail to avert hunger, cold, illness, or destitution in the ditches. The author attributes this to destiny and asks what purpose sighing serves when achievement remains obstructed.
To ask about wealth and rank is to rely upon Wealth and Officer. How are they obtained?
Nothing is more substantial than the foundational implement; nothing more exceptional than refined distinction.
People of wisdom and worth can emerge in every age.
People attaining the greatest wealth and rank have existed since antiquity.
A person born in the Shen month may excel in both literary and military affairs.
One occupying Cap and Belt may establish a great enterprise and exceptional wealth.
How are such mysteries assessed? First examine the Three Wonders and Four Blessings within the Hall of Learning; then examine the single favorable influence and two appropriate conditions outside the configuration. Jiwei meeting Jiawu is auspicious; Renshen meeting Dingsi is a favorable omen.
Renzi and Bingwu are assigned an open, refined, scholarly character.
Xinyou and Bingshen are assigned talent, refinement, and honor.
Yin and yang depend upon purity and excellence; transformation most favors mutual generation.
The Sun's Essence and Moon's Splendor are difficult to distinguish; Golden Hall and Jade Coffer are difficult to fathom.
Obtaining them brings honor; encountering them brings rank.
Wisdom or dullness, prominence or obscurity, are all attributed to the molding force of transformation.
As things flourish and wither, how could human affairs lack success and failure?
A phoenix may be born among pheasants, and a snake may transform into a dragon. Fragrant orchids continue among coarse weeds, and withered trees remain in the wilderness.
Early rank followed by low status, or initial obstruction followed by success, results from changing strength and decline in the major cycles.
A pure configuration becoming mixed brings the sadness of a fading spring.
Cycles that gain the proper season in old age bring a tranquil later life.
Guard against unexpected difficulty in the cycles: seasons alternate, and the moon waxes and wanes.
An heir enjoying inherited privilege may lose direction after a parent's death. A farmer or fisher may become distinguished when the cycle opens a favorable path.
Years of office and Emolument can end in a single day. When the right cycle arrives, opportunity can appear in a moment.
Meeting generation and flourishing need not be harmful. Favorable relationships permit progress; unfavorable relationships obstruct it.
Combination is favorable, clash harmful. An annual arrival of Officer and Resource signifies advancement in official authority.
Food and Wealth encountered in a cycle can bring prosperity even to an ordinary person.
Some rely on ancestors' honor in youth and on descendants' rank in old age.
Others endure hardship as children and remain without support in old age.
These differences arise from strength and decline in the Four Pillars and success or obstruction in the major cycles.
A thoroughly withered tree may fail to sprout even when spring arrives.
A vigorous treetop may resist even the descent of frost.
If hour and day are further deficient, year and month provide no secure later outcome. Flourishing qi Facing the Origin at the birth hour promises blessings in later life. (Marginal commentary: For a Jia day, Yin appearing in the Four Pillars supplies Jia's Emolument within Yin.)
In antiquity, polished jade could be worth the combined value of cities.
An upright person can establish a livelihood, remaining sound after refining and not withering after winter's cold.
The subtlety of change lies in adapting the method; blessings and misfortunes require examining flourishing and decline.
The author hopes that later readers will examine this teaching together.
Translator's note: Unusual or terse phrases, including early abundance despite a declining month, the foundational implement, Sun and Moon influences, and Golden Hall and Jade Coffer, remain without invented definitions. Historical allusions retain the names supplied by the source rather than adding biographies. The text's judgments of character, sex, punishment, illness, and death are historical astrological claims, not established findings or reliable predictions.
Essential Instructions for Swiftly Grasping the Subtle Method
Take the day as master and concentrate on Wealth and Officer.
Officer is the foundation supporting the self; Wealth is the source nourishing life. (Marginal commentary: Wealth is the basis upon which a person depends to live.) Examine Heaven's timing and Earth's advantages, avoiding excess and deficiency and employing balance.
Removal, retention, adjustment, and pairing must accord with principle; weight, strength, and weakness must be assessed correctly. (Marginal commentary: Remove what is not employed; retain what is employed; adjust by bending and restraining; pair by joining into a couple.)
First examine the depth of the seasonal node; afterward assess whether Wealth and Officer face toward or away from what is needed.
No human chart is apart from Wealth and Officer; configurations generally require Vacant Invitation of Emolument and Horse.
Earlier worthies established the model; later students must understand its variations themselves.
If an influence should be approached but the cycle turns away, judge poverty and low status. If it should be avoided but the cycle approaches, judge hardship and weakness.
Welcome generation meeting generation can confer rank; desired control meeting control can be judged favorable.
On encountering Officer, examine Wealth: Wealth brings riches and rank. On encountering Killings, examine Resource: Resource brings honor.
On encountering Resource, examine Officer; meeting Officer is assigned rank in 'seven out of eight.' On encountering Wealth, examine Killings; natal Killings are assigned poverty in nine out of ten cases.
Jia or Yi entering western cycles may attain distinction if the self is strong. Ren or Gui traveling south can attain rank if the master is vigorous.
Resource and Wealth do not suit territory that further strengthens the self. Food Spirit especially likes Robber of Wealth territory. Mixed Officer and Killings with a weak self signify poverty; balanced Officer and Killings with Killings combined away signify rank. (Marginal commentary: With Resource Seal and Robber of Wealth, avoid further Resource and Robber of Wealth cycles.)
Officer in year and month signifies early service; proper noble influences in day and hour signify fame in later life.
Resource Seal at the fetal origin signifies a thousand grain measures of Emolument. Wealth meeting Long Life signifies extensive fertile fields.
In autumn and winter, Officer injured by Blade values preserving Metal and removing Fire. Hurting Officer in the twelfth month likes to see Officer; broken Resource with repeated injury is assigned fatal calamity. (Marginal commentary: In month twelve, Earth operates and Ji generates Geng Metal as Hurting Officer.)
What is flourishing Wealth generating Officer? More riches and less rank.
What is Hurting Officer meeting Officer? High office and sufficient wealth.
Without injury there is no rank; an imbalance can be the exceptional feature. Remove what should be discarded: the subtle principle lies here, so why seek outside it?
Blazing Fire with little Water encountering Geng or Xin should not simply be read as a strong self and light Officer. Heavy Earth with extinct Wood encountering Ren or Gui likewise cannot simply be judged as a strong self with light Officer. Light Wealth should not meet Robbery territory; abundant Resource particularly favors Wealth territory.
Flourishing Wealth generating Officer employs Officer to obtain rank. Killings restraining Blade, with substantial Robbery, can seek reputation. (Marginal commentary: When Yang Blade encounters Robbery, make the Robbery-Officer relationship principal; hence 'substantial Robbery seeking reputation.')
What does a strong self with Indirect Wealth obtain? Unexpected wealth. A vigorous master with Direct Wealth and Indirect Robbery is assigned repeated calamity for the wife.
Robber of Wealth and Yang Blade entering Officer and Killings signify a chief minister. Returning Emolument and Inverted Clash meeting Blade and Hurting Officer signify high court rank. A flourishing self with Killings encountering Resource Seal signifies an official with discretionary authority. A weak master meeting Resource and then Wealth signifies an ordinary person.
Restrained Yang Blade and Hurting Officer signify responsibility for military and penal affairs.
Uninjured Direct Officer and Direct Resource signify office governing scholars and ordinary people.
Flourishing Wealth with Sowing and Reaping signifies an official supplying provisions; Flying Emolument and Facing the Sun signify a minister attending court. (Marginal commentary: Sowing and Reaping means much Earth; supplying provisions is an official function.)
Qian and Kun containing original clear qi signify honor associated with several states. Zi and Wu are the most honored positions and signify court rank. A Gui day and Gui hour with Hai and Chou bring examination distinction and entry into Hanlin. A Ren day and Ren hour with repeated Yin and Chen bring high rank, imperial favor, and entry into the imperial pavilion.
Day Virtue meeting Kuigang is assigned poverty even in a favorable cycle. Kuigang meeting Wealth and Officer signifies someone obtaining position and sufficient clothing and income.
Hurting Officer meeting Officer favors Wealth and Resource territory. Wealth breaking Resource values cycles through Peer and Robber of Wealth.
Natal Wealth encountering a Killings cycle can be judged favorable; natal Killings encountering a Wealth cycle is judged harmful.
A woman with much Hurting Officer finds Returning Emolument especially favorable. A man with Yang Blade may benefit exceptionally if the self is weak.
Metal Spirit, Returning Emolument, and the named Lancha influence are especially unfavorable for women. Yang Blade, Hurting Officer, and Seven Killings can give men authority. Metal Spirit entering Fire and meeting Killings and Blade is assigned rank. Heavy Killings with Resource meeting Food and Hurting Officer can obtain honor.
Direct Officer and Direct Resource are said here to bring little distinction in office; Yang Blade and Seven Killings bring renown in administration. (Marginal commentary: Direct Officer and Direct Resource without Killings to supply punitive force leave the official without authority, hence the lack of distinction.)
A strong self with nothing to rely on is assigned a Buddhist or Daoist religious life. Peach Blossom and Rolling Waves are assigned sex work.
Weak Metal and strong Fire signify an artisan dissolving Earth and Wood; much Earth with shallow Water signifies trading or needlework.
Clouds Encircling the Five Lakes signifies initial honor followed by disgrace and poverty. Peach Blossoms Across the Fields signifies lifelong indulgence in romance, drink, and sex. (Marginal commentary: Many Zi, Wu, Mao, and You form Peach Blossoms Across the Fields. The eight methods distinguish Class, Affiliation, Following, Transformation, Illumination, Reversal, Ghost, and Concealment to assess rank. For women, four pure influences are clear and noble; four mixed influences are assigned sexual disrepute.)
Death Spirit arching Killings signifies a thief. Refined qi out of season signifies a person of unrecognized but honorable reputation. Flourishing Resource and a strong self are associated with fondness for drink; a jealous Ding-Ren combination, with sexual misconduct.
A strong self and strong Resource are assigned little illness. Heavenly Virtue and Monthly Virtue assisting the chart are said to prevent calamity.
A generating and flourishing Food Spirit is said to surpass Wealth and Officer.
Nobility can be completed through Officer and Killings. Abandoning the self to follow Wealth, Killings, or Officer can bring abundant wealth and rank. Unsupported exclusive strength, cutting off Food, Wealth, and Officer, is assigned extreme poverty.
A weak self abandoning its original nature must have no root; the text then permits the office of chief minister. A declining master whose self transforms in season can stand near the imperial court. Men's charts are assessed through Class, Affiliation, Following, Transformation, Illumination, Reversal, Ghost, and Concealment; women's through purity, harmony, clarity, rank, mixture, excess, sexual conduct, and sex work. Examine these distinctions carefully.
Translator's note: The source's 'seven out of eight,' Resource-and-Wealth wording, Yin-and-Chen sequence, unclear Lancha label, and differing lists of the eight methods are retained rather than normalized to neighboring versions. Its claims about gender, sexual conduct, occupation, health, and status are historical astrological judgments, not established findings about individuals.
Abandoning the Self to Follow Killings
Rootless Jia and Yi fear Shen and You. If Killings combine and these positions are encountered, the verse predicts blindness in both eyes.
Yi Wood in a You month values Water. With a root, Chou brings extinction; without a root, Yin brings danger.
Yi Wood seated on You with Geng and Ding exposed meets Storage and returns to its root; the verse associates this with the Lonely Spirit and gain or loss.
Bing Fire under the Shen governing outline follows Killings if rootless. With a root it flourishes in the south; losing the root is assigned a shortened life.
Rootless yang Fire especially fears Water territory; rootless yin Fire is said to require rescue through Water territory.
Yin Fire in a You month abandons the self to follow Wealth. Moving north completes the configuration; moving south brings calamity.
Wu and Ji in a Hai month abandon the self when weak. Apply the same reasoning in a Mao month; Peer and Robber of Wealth territory are unfavorable.
Rootless Geng Metal at Yin with a Fire configuration can gain rank in the south, but the verse warns of a short life.
Xinsi is soft and yin. Water imprisons Officer and Killings; cycles adding Metal bring intelligence and advancement.
A Ren day under the Xu governing outline, or a Gui stem in a Wei month, favors eastern cycles; clash brings extinction.
Abandoning the self to follow Wealth requires a meeting of Wealth. Abandoning the self to follow Killings requires a meeting of Killings.
Following Wealth fears Killings; following Killings welcomes Wealth. Encountering the original root-qi is said to injure the allotted life.
Marginal commentary: 'Rootless Jia and Yi' means being in Rest or Imprisonment and approaching Extinction.
Translator's note: Rooted and rootless conditions, as well as the different instructions for yang and yin Fire, are retained as given. The predictions of blindness, shortened life, and death belong to the historical astrological text and are not established medical or lifespan forecasts.
Seasonal Verses for the First Month: Yin Established
The first month's Yin palace is fundamentally Wood: Wood generates flourishing Fire, and Earth reaches Long Life. Wu Earth favors the Wu and Wei palaces; do not proceed into the Rest and Imprisonment of Shen and You.
In a Yin month, consider repeated Wu and Xu. For a Geng or Xin master, distinguish two cases: with roots and Earth, Fire is particularly suitable; a weak self in Rest or Imprisonment fears Fire.
When the Wood and Fire spirits of Yin are employed, southern Wu and Wei bring welcome Emolument and Wealth. Backward movement through Xu and Hai should strengthen the self; You and Shen bring injury and worry.
A weak Wu or Ji self likes established Yin. Repeated Officer and Killings are said here to bring honor. Seek auspicious mutual generation of Wood and Fire; westward cycles through You and Shen are feared.
Translator's note: The verse's differing instructions for strong and weak charts, including repeated Officer and Killings for weak Earth, are retained as supplied rather than made into a single universal rule.
Seasonal Verses for the Second Month: Mao Established
Bing or Ding in the second month encounters Resource. Geng, Xin, You, and Chou are especially feared as injuring it. Water cycles bring Wealth while Wood and Fire flourish; western cycles are assigned calamity.
A Jia day in a Mao month with repeated Chou need not object if the configuration contains Fire. Further Fire and Earth increase Wealth and Emolument. Annual and cycle influences favor Metal and fear entangling Water.
Wood is flourishing in the Mao month. If Wood is employed, generation is welcome. Northern Hai and Zi bring reputation and profit; Wu and Wei add substantial blessings.
Mao especially fears descending Metal. Flourishing Fire with deep roots provides strong restraint. If the Four Pillars contain Metal, Si and Chou are unwelcome; a cycle arriving at You is assigned injury.
A Jimao daymaster in the second or third month has Killings generated; exposed Fire is especially favorable. Repeated Wood and Fire alone are suitable, while Metal and Water cycles are said to injure the allotted life.
Geng or Xin in a Mao month with much Wood fears flourishing Wealth if the daymaster is rootless. Guard against breakage in both south and north; Shen and You are said to prevent calamity.
A rootless Gui day in the Mao month can succeed if the configuration contains Fire. Cycles strengthening the self bring much wealth; Officer territory is assigned the end of the allotted life.
Translator's note: The source gives different Metal, Water, and Fire preferences for its separate daymaster cases. Their conditional distinctions and lifespan claims are retained; the latter are historical astrological predictions, not established forecasts.
Seasonal Verses for the Third Month: Chen Established
In the third month's Chen palace, assess Earth. With much Killings, Metal and Water turn conditions favorable. If the governing outline employs Wealth, Officer, or Resource, however, Metal and Water arriving together are said to injure the chart.
Rootless Wu Earth seated on Yin with repeated flourishing Water has a deep source of blessings. Wood and Fire territory is favorable; Metal and Water encountered together bring invading calamity.
In the third month, the verse says to employ Metal alone among the exposed stems. Fire generating thick Earth makes the blessings real. If the self is Ren or Gui and encounters much Earth, guard against calamity when Fire flourishes.
Translator's note: The source's different instructions about Metal and Water are retained under their separate conditions. Its final calamity statement is an astrological claim.
Seasonal Verses for the Fourth Month: Si Established
Jia or Yi in the fourth month strengthens the Wealth source through Water territory and flourishing Wood. Yet the verse also assigns much harmful breakage to northern territory, and calamity on meeting You and Chou.
Water and Earth appearing in the stems in month four can still obtain Emolument through Fire territory and flourishing Wood. Metal and Water cycles bring repeated success and failure; direct clash with the governing outline is feared still more.
For Metal and Water stems conceived in the fourth month, Earth is called Resource Seal and Fire Wealth. A strong self with thick Earth favors Metal and Earth; a weak, ungrounded daymaster fears Water.
A Ren day in a Si month with much Fire and Earth fears Wealth territory if it has neither roots nor Resource. Forward movement through Shen and You brings reputation and profit; backward movement southeastward is assigned a short life.
Metal born in the fourth month encounters flourishing Fire and Earth. Distinguish clearly the three operative spirits: Wealth, Officer, and Resource Seal are concealed within the palace. Examine cycles carefully to judge the level of the configuration.
Translator's note: Both the favorable and harmful northern indications and the printed Resource/Wealth assignments for 'Metal and Water stems' are retained. The source's shortened-life prediction is not an established lifespan forecast.
Seasonal Verses for the Fifth Month: Wu Established
Fire flourishes in the fifth month's palace, allowing distinctions of level and status. Wealth, Officer, and Resource should be generating and flourishing; transforming Killings welcomes the proper balancing condition of Water.
In blazing month five, assess Fire. Wood and Fire naturally bring prosperity. Guard against control from western Metal and Water; when Chou Earth returns, the arrival of Zi is also feared.
The Wu palace fears a clash from Zi Water. If Fire is employed, such a clash is harmful. But for a Geng or Xin daymaster meeting Killings, encountering this in a cycle can instead bring success.
If Wealth, Officer, and Resource Seal are concealed in Wu, avoid northwestern territory and Shen-Zi-Chen. Wood, Fire, and Earth territory can still bring wealth and rank. The verse then warns against Water and Earth and expresses further aversion to Metal.
Translator's note: The final stanza's differing Earth indications are retained as printed. The verses require distinguishing the daymaster and operative influence, rather than treating every direction identically.
Seasonal Verses for the Sixth Month: Wei Established
A Bing or Ding day meeting the Wei palace need not find Metal and Water harmful, despite their adverse appearance. Wood Storage and Water territory are said to bring wealth and rank; further movement through Shen and You brings heavy calamity.
Translator's note: The initial statement that Metal and Water need not be harmful and the later warning about Shen and You are both retained. The source's calamity judgment is historical astrology.
Seasonal Verses for the Seventh Month: Shen Established
When the Wei month's branches conceal Wood and Fire, the verse says not to distinguish the configuration's level simply by forward or backward movement. A southern course and flourishing east are favorable. In western territory, do not worry about the deficiency of Xu and Hai.
Translator's note: Although the heading names the seventh month and Shen, the body explicitly says the Wei month. The mismatch and the terse final direction instruction are retained rather than silently corrected.
Seasonal Verses for the Eighth Month: You Established
Rootless Jia and Yi in month eight need not regard flourishing Geng and Xin Metal as harmful. Northern Water cycles provide sufficient Wealth influence; backward movement southward has mixed gains and losses.
An Yi day meeting the You month, which conceals Metal, encounters repeated Water in northern Hai and Zi. Bright southern Li, Wu, and Wei give substantial Wealth and authority; the arrival of Ji and Chou is assigned the end of life.
Jia or Yi in a You month with much Officer and Killings, and a rootless daymaster, is assigned a low course through life. Moving forward northward, avoid Chou; moving backward southward brings loss at Si.
Ding born in a You month with Gui in the stems must remove Killings before it can remove Wealth. With qi, preserve the self and retain Resource Seal; without a favorable relationship, the course enters Water.
Translator's note: The northern Wealth wording and the separate instructions for the final Ding case are translated as printed. The lifespan statement belongs to the historical astrological text.
Seasonal Verses for the Ninth Month: Xu Established
The ninth month's Xu conceals Fire and Earth. Geng and Xin do not fear a rootless day. If the configuration has Wealth, Officer, and Resource, southern cycles bring blessings and Emolument.
Jia and Yi born amid ninth-month autumn Metal have declining Wood and flourishing Metal and fear Geng and Xin. Water and Fire can establish the household, but Metal and Water arriving together bring calamity.
Wealth, Officer, and Resource Seal in month nine rise and flourish on meeting Mao and Yin. Forward movement northward passes through Zi and Chou; backward movement fears western breakage on meeting Shen.
Metal born in Xu has concealed Fire and Earth. Cycles may proceed south, north, or east. Regardless of forward or backward course and the configuration's level, a major cycle meeting Chen is assigned the end of life.
A rootless Ren day with much Wu and Ji, born in month nine, fears excessive Wealth. In backward movement, do not employ southern Wu; what can be done if Yin is encountered as well?
Bing and Ding without a master in the middle of Xu employ exposed Wealth in the stems as the useful spirit. This configuration welcomes flourishing Hurting Officer and Killings; it fears a flourishing self bringing complete injury to the self.
Translator's note: The contradictory-sounding Water preferences, unconditional Chen lifespan statement, and last stanza's 'without a master' and flourishing-self wording are retained rather than reconstructed. They are not established forecasts.
Seasonal Verses for the Tenth Month: Hai Established
Water or Wood born in the Hai month's Qian territory likes Wealth, Officer, and Resource Seal to connect. Employing Ren favors flourishing cycles and movement southward; employing Wood welcomes Yin and Mao.
A Bing day with Ren Killings likes the southeast, where an evident Officer can emerge. Major cycles fear autumn Metal and Water; further western Dui territory is said to make a full lifespan difficult.
Wealth, Officer, and Resource Seal established in Qian receive blessings and Emolument through mutual generation of Water and Wood. Yang Water likes Metal and dislikes Fire and Earth; cycles especially fear punishment and clash from Si.
A rootless daymaster with Earth and Metal in the stems, and a month connecting with Hai or Zi, is invaded by Earth. Only Resource Seal supporting a flourishing self is suitable; the verse then asks why one should fear the governing outline damaging the useful spirit.
Translator's note: The final rhetorical question and the differing preferences of the separate cases are retained. The lifespan claim is historical astrology, not an established prediction.
Seasonal Verses for the Eleventh Month: Zi Established
A Bing or Ding daymaster in a Zi month, with Shen among the branches and Chen at the hour, gains wealth and rank in flourishing Fire and Earth territory. Further Metal and Water cycles bring calamity that is difficult to withstand.
Water in the Zi palace flourishes in Metal territory. Earth brings Rest and Imprisonment, and breaking the branches is unfavorable. Without Earth, meeting Water apart from it is said to confer rank; Wu arriving in direct clash diminishes the life-span origin.
Geng Metal meeting Zi is often strong and favorable. Fire and Earth may be unwelcome without necessarily being harmful. A cycle approaching the original influence can instead confer rank; a further Wu cycle brings repeated blessings.
A Geng day encountering Yin-Wu-Xu proceeds with a Fire configuration connected to the day as governing outline. Metal and Water cycles instead bring harm; how can further Fire and Earth calamity be borne?
Water returning to winter flourishing enjoys ease. Exposed Wealth and Officer can bring riches throughout the realm. Forward or backward direction alone does not prevent wealth and rank, but punishment or control of the governing outline ends the favorable course.
Translator's note: The fourth stanza first establishes a Fire configuration but then speaks of further Fire and Earth as calamity. This and the terse second stanza are retained rather than harmonized. Lifespan claims are historical astrological judgments.
Seasonal Verses for the Twelfth Month: Chou Established
Jiazi born in a Chou month, without a root, does not regard Metal and Water as harmful. Repeated Metal and Water bring reputation; Fire and Earth meeting break the original foundation.
Bing or Ding seated on Fire, with Killings amid Wealth, fears Water territory when the Four Pillars have no root. Fire cycles add supportive blessings and bring a distinguished reputation and profit.
Geng or Xin in the Chou month has concealed Resource. Fire and Earth arriving together bring blessings and Emolument. If Ren or Gui appears in the stems, Wu and Ji are welcome and appropriate.
Ren or Gui under the Chou governing outline has an excellent configuration when both Metal and Earth are present. Forward movement through Chen and Si increases Wealth and Emolument; backward movement rises through Shen and You.
Wu Earth born in month twelve has flourishing Hurting Officer and Wealth concealed in the season. Clear Water and pure Metal support the configuration; Fire and Earth bring many setbacks.
A Ji stem under the Chou governing outline, with a Metal configuration in the branches, forms a high configuration when Killings flourish and the self is strong. Repeated Metal and Water bring substantial reputation and profit; Water territory and Fire territory are then described as insecure.
A Bing day with many roots meeting a Chou configuration has Wealth and Officer concealed in the month's governing outline. Flourishing Water territory and Metal territory are favorable; Earth brings obstruction, and a southern course is said to yield nothing.
Wu or Ji born in a Chou month may suddenly encounter Yang Blade in the heavenly palace. Much Metal with Water permits rank. Fire and Earth are unwelcome, as are Peer and Robber of Wealth.
Translator's note: The first stanza explicitly names Jiazi, not a general Jia-Yi pair. The Ji stanza's favorable Metal-and-Water statement and subsequent insecure Water territory are both retained. The different instructions for rootless and rooted Fire are not collapsed into a single rule.
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