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Yuanhai Ziping · The Deep Sea of Ziping Astrology
Scroll V
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Images of the Twelve Earthly Branches
Zi Water in the month branch takes the leading name: streams and ravines, an inexhaustible expanse. When the heavenly course returns to yang, Earth flourishes; when earthly waters warm, Metal is entrusted with birth.
Wu breaking it brings instability; even Mao's punishment retains a relationship. Shen and Chen in the pillars complete the configuration, forming rivers and seas with roaring waves.
Marginal commentary: The eleventh month has one yang.
Chou established in deep winter fears ice and frost; who recognizes Heaven's timing turning toward two yang? Warm Earth can indeed generate the myriad beings; cold Metal should not merely remain deeply concealed.
Punishment and clash with Wei and Xu are not useless. Gathering with Rooster and Snake has its proper method. With much Water and Wood in day and hour, one must enter Xun and Li territory.
Marginal commentary: The twelfth month has two yang; its hidden influences are Ji Earth, Gui Water, and Xin Metal.
Wood in Gen's palace is established in spring. Three yang gather their qi, and Fire lies in Yin. Its intent joins Snake and Monkey as three noble guests; it belongs with Mao and Wei as one family.
Meeting Wu alone can transcend the ordinary; Shen alone is feared for breaking Emolument and injuring the governing outline. If the Four Pillars have much Fire, Fire territory is unwelcome: dry Wood has never needed to rush south.
Marginal commentary: The first month has three yang. The Hai-Mao-Wei Wood configuration forms one family.
Mao Wood is abundant and deeply endowed with qi. How could midspring fail to dislike Metal? Repeated Geng and Xin fear Shen and You; repeated Hai and Zi make Gui and Ren unwelcome.
The calamity of a Sixfold Clash makes leaves fall; the welcome Threefold Combination makes a forest. If day and hour have heavy autumn Metal, further westward movement brings unbearable trouble.
Chen in the third month has warm muddy Water, able to nourish the roots of countless trees. Though Jia declines, Yi retains residual qi; though Ren enters Tomb, Gui returns to life.
A single key is needed to open Storage, but three clashes break the gate. Repeated Water and Wood with northwestern cycles raise concern that thick Earth cannot survive.
Marginal commentary: Third-month Earth likes Threefold Combination and dislikes controlling depletion.
At Si in early summer, Fire gains brilliance and transformation circulates through six yang. Out-of-season Geng Metal relies on its mother for birth; in-season Wu Earth follows its mother to Emolument.
The Three Punishments involving Chuansong are said here to do no harm, but a single impact with Dengming injures it. Eastern and southeastern generating territory produces extraordinary flames that seem to burn the sky.
Marginal commentary: Six yang means the fourth month. Dengming is the Hai palace, referring to a Si-Hai conflict. Chuansong is explained here as Yin punishing Si. The southeast is favored and the northwest avoided.
In the blazing Wu month, Fire rises. The six yang continue while one yin is born. Geng Metal loses its position and usefulness; Ji Earth returns to its domain and achieves Emolument.
Shen and Zi arriving together can battle and control it; Xu and Yin appearing together make it brighter still. The southeast is territory of a strong self; northwestern Rest and Imprisonment bring loss of form.
Marginal commentary: Yin begins one day after the summer solstice. The Shen-Zi-Chen Water configuration is feared for punishment and control; the Yin-Wu-Xu combination is favored as auspicious.
In the Wei month, yin deepens and Fire gradually declines. Officer and Resource are concealed, but Wealth is not. Without nearby Hai and Mao, its form is difficult to change; distant punishment and clash can still open Storage.
Without Fire, Metal and Water cycles are feared; abundant cold especially welcomes Bing and Ding. Distinguish the useful spirit's preferences and aversions; do not treat a measuring standard as an unthinking stone.
Shen Metal is firm and vigorous in the month branch. Water and Earth reach Long Life in this palace. In the Si-Wu furnace it becomes swords and halberds; in the Zi-Chen configuration its edge gains brilliance.
Even with much Wood and no Water, it can ultimately prevail. Heavy Earth burying Metal, however, is harmful. To understand its image, distinguish it from gentle pearls and jade.
Marginal commentary: Geng Metal has Emolument in Shen, and Water also reaches Long Life there. The commentary warns of Metal holding the season and expresses aversion to Earth.
In month eight, Congkui has attained its name. Admirable are pure Metal and clear flowing Water. Much Fire moving east fears Yin and Mao; flourishing Wood moving south fears Bing and Ding.
Water and muddy Earth in the pillars can be useful; northwestern cycles need not be unrelated to its needs. A Threefold Combination can make it firm and keen, unlike stubborn Metal that has never been refined.
Marginal commentary: Month eight is flourishing Xin Metal territory; Ding and Ji reach Long Life there. Congkui is the star-name occupying You.
Month nine's Hekui has the firmest nature. Do not merely say that things are stored here: a great furnace and mighty Fire can achieve something, and dull iron and stubborn Metal rely upon its directing force.
The sea-cavern clashing with Dragon generates rain and dew; the mountain-top combining with Tiger stirs literary expression. Though Heaven's Net is an array that confuses the soul, the verse says Fire destiny alone suffers injury from it.
Marginal commentary: Hekui is the star-name at Xu.
At Dengming, Water has a deep source. Rain and snow bring cold under six yin. Shengguang must arrive before Earth can be employed; without Chuansong, abundant Metal is in vain.
The Five Lakes gathering together form its image; restraint through a Threefold Combination expresses its purpose. To find warmth between Heaven and Earth, look toward Gen, Zhen, Xun, and Li.
Marginal commentary: Hai is Dengming.
Translator's note: The twelve branch images retain their inline seasonal and spirit-name explanations, including the supplied Chuansong assignment, differing treatment of punishment and clash, and unusual phase statements. These are historical symbolic and astrological descriptions, not established forecasts. No missing definitions have been supplied from another edition.
Verses on Direct Officer
Seek Direct Officer in the month. Without breakage or injury, rank continues; the verse pictures true wealth and honor through jade bridle, golden saddle, and banners entering the imperial capital.
Infer the properly endowed Officer star from the month. Freedom from clash and breakage is especially excellent. Supporting annual and cycle influences in middle life can bring the offices of general, minister, duke, or marquis.
Direct Officer is described as humane, virtuous, and pure in disposition. Literary skill can establish a livelihood in court institutions. Officer and Resource generating one another in the annual and cycle influences signify a court minister in Jade Hall and Golden Horse service.
Direct Officer generally needs a strong self. If qi is weak, seek a cycle that strengthens it. Annual and cycle influences bringing generation and flourishing without clash or breakage signify honor and prosperity.
For a Ji stem master with exposed Officer, the governing outline should show Bing or Ding. Metal and Water generating one another make an inferior configuration here; Fire gathering and holding the influences brings flourishing Wealth and reputation.
A Xin day with exposed Bing in a Yin month can transform back within the configuration and establish a source of Wealth. Officer must not recur repeatedly. Cycles involving clash and punishment fear You and Shen.
An Officer star in month eight gains its proper name. Mao and Ding are particularly feared within the configuration. If the pillars remove the unfavorable influences, and the cycles do likewise, rank and distinction follow.
Translator's note: The daymaster-specific phase preferences and the final eighth-month formula are retained without supplying a day stem that the source does not name. The promised ranks are historical astrological judgments.
Verses on Indirect Officer
Indirect Officer resembles a tiger and fears repeated clash. With flourishing cycles and a strong self, what can it do? A weak self with a strong tiger suffers calamity; a strong self that restrains it values balanced rank.
Restrained Indirect Officer becomes authority, bringing an easy ascent and advancement in youth. Annual and cycle influences strengthening the self bring substantial achievement and blessings together.
Indirect Officer must not invariably be called harmful. With restraint it brings abundant clothing and income. Food Spirit in the stems and combination in the branches are assigned many descendants and inexhaustible blessings.
Yin Gui injured by repeated Ji needs Wood to subdue the Killings star. Although reputation and profit may become prominent, the verse says the lifespan will not be long.
For the six Bing days with much Hai and Zi, Killings draw upon Resource and restore balance. An eastern course develops reputation and profit; western cycles bring setbacks.
Spring Wood without Metal is not exceptional, but excessive Metal can also create danger. Obtain balanced qi within the configuration, and the text promises blessings, longevity, peace, and success.
Indirect Officer and Indirect Resource are especially difficult to understand. Generation between upper and lower positions brings profit and reputation. Wealth seated in the four Storehouses should turn toward noble influences and can bring an easy rise to high office.
If Wu or Ji meets Officer and Killings, with further Metal and Water in the configuration, natal Fire should meet more Fire. Once Fire retreats, Metal causes anxiety and invading Wood is feared.
Translator's note: These are separate conditional instructions, not a single preference applying to every chart. The shortened-life claim is the source's historical astrological prediction, not an established lifespan forecast.
Verses on Resource Seal
Resource Seal in the month likes the Officer star. Cycles entering Officer territory bring clear blessings. Death and Extinction cycles are unfavorable to the self; subsequent Wealth cycles are said to accomplish nothing.
Unimpaired Resource Seal brings inherited blessings, office, and estates. The household receives imperial commands and abundant grain and wealth, with lavish daily expenditure.
Unimpaired Resource Seal relies upon ancestors, displaying fine residences and family prestige. Annual and cycle influences bringing flourishing Officer give wealth and rank together and an ascent to the Moon Palace.
The month generating the daymaster likes Officer. Officer cycles bring clear Emolument. The verse assigns an imposing appearance, extensive assets, and high ministerial office.
Repeated generating qi without Officer should be read as refined or elevated technical skill. Without Officer or Killings, there is no official rank or Emolument; even a skilled artisan may remain isolated and poor.
Repeated Resource Seal can form a clear and exceptional configuration, but examine stems and branches carefully. Salty Pool in a branch with a stem combination is accused of producing a dissolute person who ruins the household.
Resource Seal in stems and branches favors a natural, coherent arrangement, bringing distinction, riches, and advancement. A Wealth cycle injuring Resource calls for retirement from office to avoid calamity.
Repeated Resource Seal enjoys an already established inheritance, but the verse fears Food Spirit secretly applying punishment. If the person does not die young, the text predicts loneliness, separation from home, and chronic illness.
Bing or Ding in a Mao month with much Officer and Killings fears Water territory if the Four Pillars have no root. Wet Wood does not generate flameless Fire; personal honor requires the south.
Ren or Gui meeting Shen dislikes Fire breaking the configuration. Earth within it can confer rank. Northern Water cycles are favorable; the clash of Yin is always unwelcome.
Wood encountering Ren and Gui can drift upon Water. A rootless daymaster struggles through autumn. Annual and cycle influences bringing flourishing Wealth can turn harm into good and bring a meeting with rulers or nobles.
Do not invariably call greed for Wealth that damages Resource harmful: examine the subtle principle carefully. A cycle removing Wealth can restore blessings; another Wealth cycle is assigned the end of the allotted life.
Resource Seal passing through Death and Extinction fears Wealth and continues to fear Void Emptiness. The text associates these meetings with calamities involving drowning, fire, punishment, hanging, or injury.
Resource Seal does not suit an excessively strong self. Even without trouble, the outcome is ordinary. Only if the natal chart has much Officer or Killings can the person gain reputation and become a pillar of service.
Resource Seal with repeated Peer in the stems, further supported by cycles, is said to injure the self. Yet this configuration has a subtle application: Resource entering Wealth territory can bring real blessings and Emolument.
Resource Seal and Officer with pure cycle-qi gain vitality from repeated Indirect Officer. Death, Extinction, and Wealth territory, without rescue, are assigned death.
Translator's note: The text gives conditional exceptions to its warnings about Wealth injuring Resource and retains its unusual warning about Food Spirit. Its claims about character, chronic illness, causes of death, and lifespan belong to historical astrology, not established diagnosis or prediction.
Verses on Direct Wealth
Unbroken Direct Wealth generates Officer. A flourishing self with generated Wealth has broad opportunities for Emolument and office. A weak self with much Wealth labors in vain; Robber of Wealth dividing and seizing it brings many troubles.
Well-placed Direct Wealth holds proper authority. A strong daymaster can possess abundant wealth. Resource Seal should not come to add further support; the verse promises chests of gold and pearls and high advancement.
Direct Wealth resembles Officer in the month: clashes and breakage among stems and branches are especially feared. Annual and cycle influences entering flourishing Wealth territory can bring rank and wealth surpassing Master Tao.
A weak self cannot bear much Wealth. Generating Officer turns it into a Ghost that attacks instead. Much Wealth with a vigorous self can confer rank; with a declining self, more calamity arrives.
Translator's note: The warning against additional Resource belongs to the strong-daymaster case. The comparison with Master Tao and the outcome claims are retained as historical language.
Verses on Indirect Wealth
Indirect Wealth with a flourishing self is assigned a bold and outstanding person. Without Yang Blade intruding, blessings and Emolument are high. Form relationships with feeling and act generously; if the self is weak, the effort is unproductive.
Indirect Wealth in the month is the wealth of many people. Brother influences in stems and branches are especially unfavorable. A strong self and flourishing Wealth bring blessings, made finer still by an Officer star.
Indirect Wealth meeting a Robbery star is assigned ruined estates, hardship, and poverty. The verse also predicts harm to wife and concubine, repeated humiliation, and inadequate food, comparing it to distress in Chen.
If Indirect Wealth carries Direct Officer, the verse says the Robbery star must be exposed for the blessings to connect. Repeated Robbery cycles should nevertheless be avoided; they reveal many sources of trouble.
Indirect Wealth with a flourishing self needs Officer. Officer cycles develop reputation and profit. If brothers come to divide and seize it, achievement fails and calamity follows.
Translator's note: The fourth stanza affirmatively calls for an exposed Robbery star; this wording differs from the later hour-position version and is retained rather than silently reversed. The family and fortune claims are historical astrology.
Verses on Hurting Officer
Hurting Officer fully removing Officer is especially excellent, but excessive injury can become unfavorable. This configuration has countless variations and requires attentive judgment.
Fire-Earth Hurting Officer should remove Officer completely; Metal-Water Hurting Officer should see Officer. In Water-Fire, the encountered Officer is flourishing; in Earth-Metal, Officer's removal is said to make Officer again. Only the Water-Wood Hurting Officer configuration welcomes both Wealth and Officer together.
Hurting Officer must not invariably be called harmful. A Xin day meeting Renchen can contain rank. Autumn and winter births have refined qi; births in the four seasonal Earth periods have abundant Earth Wealth.
Bing Fire with many roots and connected Earth can form its configuration in a Shen month or in Qian. Metal and Water cycles raise reputation and profit; repeated Fire and Earth make the outcome insecure.
Hurting Officer must not invariably be called harmful. With restraint it brings abundant clothing and income. Food Spirit in the stems and combination in the branches signify many descendants and pine-like longevity.
Encountering Hurting Officer is generally unsuitable, but Wealth present with Officer absent forms a basis for blessings. A Hurting Officer configuration in hour, day, and month gains rank through flourishing Wealth cycles.
Hurting Officer fully removing Officer is especially excellent; the verse then says that the presence of Hurting Officer brings calamity. Relying on oneself to overbear others and seeking to win are associated with injury to blood relations and much grief.
Translator's note: The source's Water-Fire and Earth-Metal formulas are terse and retained without invented explanation. Its final warning repeats 'Hurting Officer,' rather than saying 'Officer'; this apparent inconsistency is preserved. Character and lifespan claims are historical astrology.
Verses on Punishment and Combination
Stems and branches in the Four Pillars combining toward punishment are associated with death through drink and sex. If Yang Blade becomes entangled with Seven Killings, the text predicts a journey to the Yellow Springs.
For the six Gui days with a Jiayin hour, the name Punishment and Combination is provisionally assigned but is not necessarily genuine. If the month's command is Hai or Zi, investigate it instead as Hurting Officer.
A Gui day with a Jiayin hour especially dislikes Officer in the Four Pillars. Without Wu, Xu, Geng, and Shen, the verse promises honor in one's prime and arrival at the imperial capital.
For a Gui day and Jiayin hour, punishment removing Officer can indicate rank. Geng Metal injuring Jia Wood is unwelcome; the Yin-Shen clash brings worry and danger.
A Gui day and Yin hour entering Punishment and Combination should attain distinction. Officer and Seven Killings should not be encountered; Jia, Geng, and Ji are named as calamity-bearing influences.
Translator's note: The final warning against Jia is retained even though the configuration requires a Jiayin hour. The preceding unpunctuated sequence of Wu, Xu, Geng, and Shen is translated as individual characters, not silently repaired. Death and fortune claims belong to historical astrology.
Verses on Metal Spirit
With Jiawu, the verse places Metal Spirit at the hour. Killings and Blade arriving together signify a truly noble person. Fire and Wood cycles develop Wealth and Emolument; Metal and Water are said to injure the self.
Metal Spirit meeting Fire confers rank; Metal and Water bring calamity. Fire cycles often bring advancement, high office, and a wealthy household together.
Metal Spirit at the hour carries much noble qi. Yang Blade can restore balance. Water cycles signify poverty and illness; Fire's restraint brings reputation and high rank.
Guiyou, Jisi, and Yichou, when met at the hour, are called blessing spirits. Talent accompanied by arrogance needs restraint; meeting Killings and Blade signifies a genuinely noble person.
The disposition is described as fierce and violent, but intelligent and quick. Generating Water brings immediate hardship. A restraining cycle with a Fire configuration brings exceptional promotion, rank, and abundant Emolument.
Translator's note: The opening Jiawu wording and the Guiyou-Jisi-Yichou hour list are retained as supplied, although other sections give different Metal Spirit formulas. Personality and health claims are historical astrology.
The four Kuigang days take priority; repeated encounters bring great authority. Gengxu and Gengchen fear an exposed Officer. The following line names Renchen and Renxu with connected Wealth. Such people are described as intelligent, decisive, and disposed to killing. Punishment, clash, breakage, and harm in the pillars instead bring extreme poverty and beating.
Wuxu and Gengchen have the strongest Killings; Renchen and Gengxu are called Kuigang. Repeated day influences bring blessings. A flourishing self meeting this configuration has exceptional rank.
A person carrying Kuigang is described as forceful, with ghosts and spirits uneasy nearby. But a single such position under heavy clash and punishment brings unbearable poverty.
Repeated matching Kuigang day influences in the Four Pillars hold the promise of noble qi. If the daymaster encounters it alone under heavy clash and control, exposed Wealth and Officer bring endless calamity.
Translator's note: The opening stanza's Renxu and the later four-day list including Wuxu are both retained. The source's descriptions of violence and its promised social outcomes are historical astrological judgments, not established findings about individuals.
Verses on Mixed-Qi Wealth and Officer
Mixed-Qi Wealth and Officer occupy the month palace and become abundant when exposed in the heavenly stems. Much Wealth and flourishing Officer favor clash that opens the position, but heavy suppression by stems and branches is unwelcome.
Chen, Xu, Chou, and Wei are the four seasonal Earth periods. Resource Seal, Wealth, and Officer occupy their mixed qi. Exposure in the stems makes the configuration genuine; the verse particularly associates abundant Wealth with distinction.
Wealth and Officer concealed in Storage do not prosper while their light remains hidden. If the storage gate opens and they emerge, unusual wealth and rank follow.
Mixed qi carries substantial blessings, becoming genuine through exposure in the stems. A strong self with flourishing Wealth generates official Emolument; cycles involving punishment and clash gather treasure.
Wealth and Officer hidden in the four seasonal months require proportionate punishment, clash, and control. Excess and deficiency both bring calamity; cycles entering Wealth territory are auspicious.
Exposed Wealth and Officer gather official Emolument, riches, and the rank of the Three Dukes. A transformation through punishment or clash is the subtle feature; with the appropriate cycle, a snake becomes a dragon.
The month branch encountering one of the four seasonal Earth periods wants Resource Seal to appear honorably in the stems. Mutual generation in the Four Pillars welcomes Officer and Killings, adding assets and distinction.
Translator's note: The repeated praise of punishment and clash concerns opening stored influences and is qualified by the source's explicit warning against excess and deficiency. The promised outcomes are historical astrological claims.
Verses on Tomb at the Hour
Wealth and Officer stored in the four seasonal branches can advance a person in youth through punishment and clash. Without such opening, suppression prevents youthful success.
Northern Ren and Gui encountering Hekui have an especially favorable time when southern territory arrives. Full storehouses of gold and jade accompany a leisurely, blessed life.
To examine Wealth and Officer in Tomb or Storage at the hour, assess Chen, Xu, Chou, and Wei by the same method. Both Wealth and Officer require a key to open Storage; holding them down is not excellent.
What opens Storage? Punishment, clash, breakage, and harm are the key. Wealth and Officer become useful only when exposed. A declining self with a Ghost Tomb is particularly dangerous and uncertain.
Translator's note: Hekui is the Xu designation used elsewhere in this text. The verses retain their historical Storage-opening logic and outcome claims.
Verses on Day Nobility
You and Chou in the pillars are assigned an outstanding person seeking reputation and profit. Examine annual and cycle influences to determine flourishing and decline: the author calls this the true Ziping method.
Day Nobility is concentrated in a stem-branch position. Void Emptiness and an Officer clash are especially unfavorable. The verse describes benevolence, broad virtue, and attractive appearance, while warning that Wealth and Officer in combination may exalt themselves in vain.
For Ding days: Pig and Rooster; for Gui days: Rabbit and Snake. Punishment, clash, breakage, and harm bring lamentation. Wealth arriving in combination completes nobility, and sustained harmonious establishment is best.
The verse again names Gui, Ding, Snake, Rabbit, Pig, and Rooster. Officer suffering punishment or clash brings calamity. Pure conduct signifies benevolence and virtue and can produce exceptional wealth and rank.
Translator's note: The opening You-and-Chou formula differs from the later named day positions and is retained. The repeated animal names are translated without constructing a replacement stem-branch list. Character and fortune claims are historical astrology.
Verses on Day Virtue
Renxu and Gengchen are Day Virtue palaces; Jiayin, Wu, and Bing are named with Dragon. Strong-self cycles signify a compassionate nature, and repeated Day Virtue brings abundant blessings.
Punishment, clash, breakage, harm, flourishing Officer and Wealth, and a meeting with Void and Kuigang are harmful. The verse assigns isolation, poverty, and danger in office; even advancement can be followed by death.
Bingchen especially avoids Renchen. Renxu guards against Wuxu. A day seated on Gengchen is linked here with Gengxu; Jiayin returning to Chou fears Gengchen.
Day Virtue dislikes Kuigang. Its transformation into a Killings influence is difficult to withstand. Repetition in the configuration brings illness; its arrival in an allotted cycle is assigned death.
Repeated Day Virtue can avert calamity. Officer especially avoids Wealth territory. With no clash, breakage, Void, or punishment, the person can become a pillar of court service.
Jiayin, Renxu, and Gengchen, together with Bing and Wu meeting Chen, are genuine Day Virtue. They dislike Void Emptiness, broken Emolument, breakage, harm, punishment, and clash.
Translator's note: The first and final lists are preserved separately. The terse Gengchen-Gengxu and Jiayin-Chou line is translated as supplied rather than repaired from a different version. Illness and lifespan statements are historical astrological claims.
Verses on Yang Blade
Do not regard Yang Blade at the hour as necessarily harmful. The next line nevertheless says that, even when it assists a light self, it is harmful. Repetition in year and month alone is disliked; do not make the birth hour a palace of anger.
Horse with Bing or Wu, and Rat with Ren, like the arrival of Officer and Seven Killings. Punishment and harm need not be adverse, but clash and defeat are feared. Wealth territory brings substantial calamity.
Renzi should not encounter the Wu palace; Wu likewise fears Zi's clash. A Bing day seated on Wu should not recur, and combination involving the self-palace can bring harm.
Day Blade is assessed like Yang Blade and welcomes Officer and Seven Killings. If the annual sovereign does not injure or rob it, punishment and clash in the branches can establish military achievement.
Yang Blade dislikes clashing or combining with the annual sovereign. Such an annual meeting signifies calamity and obstruction. The Three Punishments meeting Seven Killings are pictured as the King of Hell sending a summons.
Yang Blade at the hour likes Indirect Officer; Wealth brings many troubles. Annual and cycle influences involving clash or combination can suddenly bring calamity to the door.
Repeated Yang Blade with combination can cause injury. The disposition is described as proud and forceful. Heavy punishment and clash bring many troubles; restraint is needed to preserve auspicious prosperity.
The Yang Blade position is then said to fear Officer. Punishment, clash, breakage, and harm bring numerous calamities. Flourishing Wealth within a Threefold Combination is especially disliked and is associated with severed fingers, injury, and disability.
Translator's note: The second line explicitly calls assistance to a light self harmful, despite the opening qualification; the final Officer warning also differs from earlier praise of Officer. Both are retained rather than normalized. Violent injury and lifespan claims belong to historical astrology, not established forecasts.
Verses on Food Spirit
Food Spirit with qi surpasses Wealth and Officer. First it must be strong and make its original stem flourish. Reversed injury seizing Food brings anxious toil and many troubles.
Undamaged Food Spirit gives an elevated configuration. Jia, Bing, Geng, and Ren have firm noble qi; Ding, Ji, Yi, and Xin have many blessings and much Emolument. The household's birth celebrations produce outstanding people.
For Jia, Bing originally drains qi. Bing generating Wealth is called Food Spirit. The text associates this with generosity, a full physique, and substantial clothing and income; encountering Resource Seal instead signifies isolation and poverty.
Combining the life-span origin is especially excellent. Why fear Seven Killings in year or hour when flourishing stems can prohibit harm and restrain Killings? This is assigned a person of wealth and rank.
Food Spirit before Killings brings undiminished livelihood and substantial wealth and rank. But Food Spirit close to Killings is called harmful, leaving the person rushing vainly about the world.
A Shen hour and Xu day have an excellent Food Spirit, with complete blessings and Emolument only in autumn or winter. Jia, Bing, Mao, and Yin coming to control or break it leave an encounter ineffective and signify loneliness and distress.
Translator's note: The source's differing statements about Food Spirit preceding or closely approaching Killings are retained. The last stanza names a Xu day without supplying its stem. Physical and lifespan judgments are historical astrology.
Verses on Indirect Wealth at the Hour
Indirect Wealth at the hour need not be numerous. Search the stems and branches carefully. Flourishing Wealth together with a flourishing self is welcome; clash and breakage injuring Wealth bring suffering.
A single Indirect Wealth at the hour is excellent. Without clash or breakage, the person enjoys honor. If neither damaged Wealth nor Robbery and Blade are encountered, wealth and rank can rival the Shi household.
Indirect Wealth at the hour meeting a Robbery star is assigned ruined estates, hardship, poverty, harm to wife and concubine, repeated humiliation, and inadequate food, like distress in Chen.
If Indirect Wealth carries Direct Officer, an exposed Robbery star is said to make blessings difficult to obtain. Avoid repeated Robbery cycles; these reveal many sources of calamity.
Translator's note: The final stanza's wording about exposed Robbery differs from the earlier general Indirect Wealth verses; both versions are retained. The family and fortune statements are historical astrological claims.
Verses on the Single Noble Influence at the Hour
A single Indirect Officer at the hour, with a strong self and light Killings, fears punishment and clash. If the month also repeats it, effort is wasted and affairs come to nothing.
Indirect Officer at the hour likes a clash involving Blade. A strong self with restraint brings abundant Emolument. Mixing Direct Officer with it, or generating Wealth while the self is weak, signifies hardship and poverty.
A single strong Indirect Officer at the hour with a flourishing day position has exceptional rank. Wealth and Resource bring ample wealth and livelihood; the verse assigns such a person the role of a pillar of service.
Seven Killings at the hour are Indirect Officer. With restraint and a strong self, judge the chart favorably. Excessive restraint welcomes flourishing Killings cycles. Once favorable ground is gained in the three directions, advancement is not difficult.
If the natal chart lacks restraint, it must appear in the cycles. Punishment and clash need not be feared even with gathered Killings. But a declining self with only flourishing Killings is assigned poverty.
Translator's note: The verse distinguishes absent, sufficient, and excessive restraint; its conditional recommendations are retained rather than merged into a universal rule. Social and fortune claims are historical astrology.
Verses on Emolument and Horse Flying into Heaven
A Geng or Ren daymaster with repeated Zi clashes out Emolument and Horse in reverse: this is called Flying into Heaven. Pure Metal and Water can confer rank, but southern cycles raise concern for obstruction.
For Geng and Ren, a troop of Rats clashes with Horse; Xin and Gui seek Snake through many Pigs. A Bing day uses a herd of Horses to clash out Rat Emolument; Ding with many Snakes sees Double Fish.
Entangling spirits and combinations are most unfavorable. An Officer filling the invited position brings calamity. Give cycles greater weight and annual influences less, adjusting the judgment; an undamaged useful spirit allows a lofty ascent.
A Xin day with Qian repeatedly present is called Flying into Heaven. Completing the configuration through You and Xu strengthens the self and brings rank; a Si cycle involving punishment and clash is assigned an incomplete lifespan.
Few understand Emolument and Horse Flying into Heaven. The verse names Geng and Ren days with repeated Zi in year, month, day, and hour. Without breakage or clash, unusual wealth and rank result.
Flying into Heaven has exceptional rank. Xin and Gui are named as its strong pair; repeated Hai in year, month, day, and hour, without Officer clashing or entangling it, signifies a worthy person.
Seek Flying into Heaven carefully through Hai for Xin and Gui, and Zi for Geng and Ren. Annual and cycle influences reaching Officer's Extinction can bring easy distinction and fulfill the original ambition.
For Geng and Ren Day Blade with much Zi, the Flying into Heaven configuration is pure and harmonious. Clashing out and combining Officer gives true rank; filling the invited position instead brings hardship.
Avoid Seven Killings and Officer. Chou entangling the configuration is also unwelcome. Repeated Earth in Heaven, Earth, and Human Origins controls Zi and Chou and prevents the waves from rising.
A Ding day with repeated Si has harmonious rank if the configuration contains no Water. This Hurting Officer configuration should remove Officer completely; Hai arriving in clash makes its promise empty.
Bing and Ding days require many Wu positions to clash out Officer and deepen noble qi. Even if the Four Pillars lack repeated Officer and Killings, further Officer cycles bring calamity that is difficult to withstand.
Bing and Ding in high positions stir rivers and lakes. Annual and cycle influences without Officer permit official service. Dedicated Emolument brings honor and fulfillment; an apt remark can move the imperial capital.
A Bing day needs Zi-Wu clash, with Wu clashing Zi auspiciously. There is no need to discuss combination; Wei alone is unwelcome. Meeting Zi and Gui brings further harm.
A Ding day seated on Si repeatedly clashes with Hai. Ren and Gui should not enter the Four Pillars. If Shen appears in the branches, it entangles the arrangement and makes rank difficult.
Dingsi with repeated Snake branches forms a good configuration through punishment and clash involving Renzi. Hai and Wu together with Yimao are then said to combine Officer and add flowers to brocade.
For a Gui day, Hai is called an enemy. Nearby Yin combining and entangling it causes dispute. Spring and autumn are partly favorable, winter ineffective; a summer birth enjoys honor.
Translator's note: This series retains its differing daymaster formulas, the unexplained Double Fish label, the printed reference to controlling Zi and Chou, and contradictory Hai instructions. It is not harmonized into a single rule. The lifespan and fortune judgments are historical astrology.
Verses on Rat Nobility for the Six Yi Days
Rat Nobility for the six Yi days lies at the birth hour. Killings, Officer, clash, and breakage are unsuitable. The month must connect with the genuine three Wood influences before the text assigns exceptional profit and Emolument.
An Yi day obtaining a Zi hour is called Gathered Nobility and is especially excellent. Wu breaking it by clash is unwelcome; Xin, You, Geng, and Shen are all unsuitable.
An Yi day should meet a Bingzi hour. Without Wu breaking it, rank is especially remarkable. Shen, You, and Chou in the Four Pillars are unfavorable; without Officer and Killings, the person can bow before the imperial steps.
Yin Wood meeting yang with much Hai and Zi often forms Gathered Nobility with substantial blessings. Only southern Li is feared in the pillars, where the verse predicts suffering and bodily injury.
The six Yi days meeting Rat at the hour are then discussed with an Officer also present. Geng, Xin, Shen, You, Horse, or Ox oppressing the arrangement—even one of them—is assigned a beggar's life.
Translator's note: The first stanza does not specify the 'three Wood' characters, so none are supplied. The final Officer wording is retained despite the earlier warnings against Officer. Injury and social-status predictions are historical astrological claims.
Verses on Combining Emolument
A Wu day meeting Gengshen at the hour, without Officer or Resource, gains rank in autumn or winter. Jia, Bing, Mao, You, and Si are named as unwelcome presences in the four positions and annual breakage.
A Gui Water day with a Gengshen hour brings wealth and rank in autumn or winter. Yin injuring the refined qi is especially unfavorable; a spring or summer birth attracts calamity and obstruction.
A Gui day meeting Gengshen at the hour forms what the verse calls Officer and Resource combining the Officer star. Without Officer, Killings, or yang Fire, reputation becomes prominent and the person attends the imperial court.
A Wu day with a Shen hour has an excellent Food Spirit, favoring autumn and winter for blessings and Emolument. Jia, Bing, Mao, and Yin controlling or breaking it make the encounter ineffective and signify isolation.
Flourishing Food Spirit without punishment or control surpasses Wealth and Officer. Officer and Resource coming to assist are then said to bring examination success and court service in youth.
Translator's note: The differing instructions about Officer and Resource, and the two different character lists, are retained as separate transmitted stanzas. No alternate edition has been used to reconcile them.
Verses on Zi Remotely Inviting Si
A Jiazi day meeting a Jiazi hour should not be dismissed because flourishing Officer seems unsuitable. If the month generates the daymaster and its root is strong, Metal cycles can instead be excellent.
Jia with Zi complete in day and hour is assigned the laurels of examination success. Chou entangling, Wu clashing, or exposed Officer and Killings instead bring obstruction and continuing calamity.
A Jiazi day meeting a Jiazi hour is called Remote Si and is especially suitable. Chou or Wu arriving brings ruin to the household; Officer in annual and cycle influences is likewise unexceptional.
On a Jiazi day with a Jiazi hour, Zi remotely combines with the branch within Si. Wu can stir Bing, and Bing combines with You; Jia thereby obtains Xin Officer and its rank becomes evident.
Exposed Geng, Xin, Shen, or You is unwelcome; Chou's entanglement is also unsuitable. Without Wu clashing and harming it, however, entering flourishing Officer territory is then called excellent.
Translator's note: The last recommendation of Officer territory differs from earlier warnings and is preserved. The transmitted Wu-Bing-You explanation is translated without replacing it with a reconstructed mechanism.
Verses on Chou Remotely Inviting Si
A Xin or Gui day with many Chou positions is called Remote Si Combining Officer. Do not simply say that flourishing Officer is unwelcome: the verse asks who would believe that Officer arriving can instead bring achievement.
On Xinchou and Guichou days, Chou can combine with Si, which conceals Officer. Many Chou positions are excellent; Zi among the pillars is unsuitable.
Meeting Shen or You makes the arrangement finer. Xin dislikes Si, Wu, Bing, and Ding. Gui dislikes Wu and Ji stems and Si and Wu branches. Examine the chart carefully.
Xin or Gui meeting Chou lets Officer secretly enter its palace. One Shen or You is welcome; Si, Wu, and Zi territory are feared as harmful.
Translator's note: The opening defense of Officer's arrival is retained alongside the later exclusions, without substituting a single normalized rule. The outcomes are historical astrological judgments.
Verses on Ren Riding the Dragon's Back
Ren Riding the Dragon's Back is exceptionally welcome. Few Yin and many Chen develop its promise. Officer breaking the configuration is especially unfavorable; punishment and clash are assigned injury to the life-span origin.
A Renchen day with another Chen at the hour is especially excellent when year and month also contain many Chen. Yin in the Four Pillars brings both Wealth and blessings.
A Renchen day is said not to equal a Renyin day. The Four Pillars should contain many Renchen positions. Many Chen mean heavy Officer and Killings; many Yin can bring wealth surpassing Shi Chong.
A Renchen day forms a rare configuration, called Riding the Dragon when repeated. Repeated Yin are said to bring wealth and rank rivaling Shi Chong.
The verse names Wu, Xu, and Xu as Wealth joined with Yin. Emolument and Horse within Xu are employed through Chen's clash. If Renyin suddenly appears with Chen throughout the Four Pillars, the configuration is treated similarly.
Translator's note: The initial preference for few Yin and the later praise of repeated Yin are both retained. The final stanza repeats Xu; it is not silently replaced by another branch. Lifespan and fortune claims are historical astrology.
Verses on the Well-Railing Fork Configuration
A Geng day completing Shen-Zi-Chen forms Well-Railing Fork, restraining Officer. Rank requires the configuration to contain no Fire; breaking the governing outline brings calamity.
A Geng day meeting Ren and completing Flowing Downward has a noble influence named Well-Railing Fork. Avoid Bing, Ding, Si, and Wu; a complete Shen-Zi-Chen arrangement is excellent.
A Shen hour can be Returning Emolument; a Bingzi hour adds a Killings spirit. The Water configuration should clash with Yin-Wu-Xu, but filling these invited positions leaves Emolument difficult to remove.
Well-Railing welcomes eastern territory; reaching Wealth territory brings true wealth and rank. Annual and cycle influences meeting Bing, Ding, Si, or Wu prompt fear of lost Emolument and wasted Wealth.
A Geng day completing Flowing Downward then fears injury from Gui, Ren, Si, and Wu. Zi or Shen at the hour halves the blessings, and success in reputation and achievement will not last.
Translator's note: The final warnings about Ren, Gui, Zi, and Shen differ from earlier descriptions of the required Water configuration. The wording about filled positions and Emolument is also retained without reconstruction.
Verses on Returning Emolument
Returning Emolument meeting Wealth gives both reputation and profit. An exposed Wealth source in the stems is not feared. A strong, unbroken self enjoys a favorable life, but Peer cycles are especially unfavorable.
Day Emolument returning to the hour needs a flourishing palace. Food Spirit is welcome; punishment and clash are feared. Hurting Officer dislikes cycles that injure Wealth, leaving neither high office nor abundant riches.
Day Emolument returning to the hour gives a fine configuration. It fears Officer, dislikes Killings, and welcomes a strong self. Peer dividing and robbing Emolument, together with punishment, clash, breakage, and harm, is difficult to withstand.
Returning Emolument at the hour opens a lofty path and can make a chart noble and exceptional. Without clashes in the Four Pillars or Officer arriving, an easy ascent can come in youth.
Verses on the Six Yin Facing the Sun
A Xin day meeting a single Wuzi forms the noble Six Yin configuration that likes Facing the Sun. Bing, Ding, Si, and Wu should not fill its invited positions; assess their annual and cycle arrival by the same principle.
Southern territory is ordinary and the north most disliked. The west ranks first, the east second. If the Zi character does not meet it, the verse promises a fragrant name at court.
A Xin daymaster meeting a Wuzi hour has yin and yang facing the proper position and exceptional rank. Officer and Seven Killings should not appear. Si, Horse, and southern Li are unwelcome within the configuration.
If year or month contains Wealth, seek another configuration. Chou entangling Xin makes this one inauthentic. The verse assigns the chief minister's office and western cycles assisting court service.
Xin meeting Wuzi is especially suitable for promotion, reputation, and examination laurels. A birth in the four seasonal Earth periods or autumn without Hai has exceptional honor, wealth, rank, and enterprise.
Six Yin cycles favor the west, while the east is also auspicious. The north is harmful and feared; southern Li clashing and breaking the configuration brings calamity.
Translator's note: The second stanza's absence-of-Zi wording is retained even though Wuzi is the required hour. The west/east ranking and southern qualifications also remain as given.
Verses on Arching Emolument and Arching Nobility
Arching Emolument and Arching Nobility are rare. Examine the month's command and branch outline first. If the governing outline already has an operative influence, give it priority; only when the month lacks Officer is this exceptional method employed.
These rare configurations are assigned a golden belt and purple robes. Punishment, clash, control, and breakage are feared; Seven Killings in month and year are unwelcome.
The arched position fears being filled. Hurting Officer in the month branch and repeated Yang Blade can also break the configuration. Without such breakage, rank is promised.
A Gui day and Gui hour with Hai and Chou are called Arching Emolument, with repeated blessings. Without Officer or Killings clashing and damaging the arrangement, examination success becomes possible.
The two entangling positions do not themselves constitute the self; one hidden, arched position is favorable in vacancy. Filling it with an Officer star is unsuitable; Officer being controlled or broken is also especially unfavorable.
Jiayin and Jiazi arch Xin Officer. Renchen and Renyin arch Nobility. A Jiashen day with a Jiaxu hour, and Wushen with Wuwu, are assigned fragrant examination laurels.
Xinchou with Xinmao, and Yiwei with Yiyou, form elevated configurations. Avoid punishment, clash, filling, breakage, and harm; the verse promises golden belts, purple robes, and an imperial livelihood.
Translator's note: The terse stanza about the two entangling positions is retained without an invented technical explanation. The named day-hour pairs and their differing descriptions are not replaced from another version.
Verses on the Six Jia Days Hastening to Qian
A Jia day meeting a Hai hour particularly suits Jia Hastening to Qian. If annual and cycle influences encounter flourishing Wealth territory, the verse predicts official trouble and calamity together.
Verses on the Six Ren Days Hastening to Gen
A Ren day with a Yin hour forms a noble configuration called Hastening to Gen, with exceptional blessings. Punishment, clash, control, and breakage are especially feared; meeting them in annual and cycle influences brings great calamity.
Ren likes Yin, and Geng likes Chen. Cloud Dragon and Wind Tiger gain still greater vitality. Repeated branch positions without clash or battle are assigned a livelihood in honorable government service.
Verses on Gouchen Gaining Its Position
A Wu or Ji day stem seated on Wealth and Officer is called Gouchen Gaining Its Position. Substantial Wealth distributing auspicious qi gives the chart a place among court officials.
Gouchen Gaining Its Position meets Wealth and Officer. Without breakage or clash, the allotted course is peaceful. Shen and Zi in the north, and eastern Mao and Wei, are assigned ceremonial ornaments and service at the imperial palace.
Verses on Black Warrior Holding Authority
Black Warrior Holding Authority is described as profoundly subtle: Ren or Gui as day stem sits on Wealth. If Officer also occupies the gateway, an unbroken chart can produce someone capable of important service.
Ren and Gui are called Black Warrior spirits. Both Wealth and Officer must appear to make the configuration genuine. Without clash or breakage, it is clear and noble, assigned to a senior minister assisting the imperial house.
Verses on Flowing Downward
Ren and Gui in the stems like a winter birth, especially with Shen and Chen completing the configuration. Alternatively, complete Hai-Zi-Chou can bring an easy ascent to high position.
Ren or Gui born within a Water configuration forms a vast gathering flowing eastward. Without embankment Earth, the verse assigns golden and purple insignia and office as high as a duke.
Verses on Sowing and Reaping
Wu and Ji born in the four seasonal Earth periods require Chen, Xu, Chou, and Wei complete. Wealth territory is welcome, Officer and Killings unwelcome; eastern cycles bring harm.
Wu and Ji repeatedly encountering the mixed-qi seasons, with much Earth, are assessed through a complete Earth arrangement. Wealth can bring blessings, while arriving Officer and Killings bring entangling calamity.
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