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Sanming Tonghui · A Comprehensive Account of the Three Destinies
On the Images Chosen for Nayin
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In antiquity, the Yellow Emperor distinguished lighter and heavier stem-branch pairs and combined them into sixty, called the Flowering Stem-Branch Cycle. The word flowering is truly subtle: sages borrow images to convey meaning, and one must not fix upon them rigidly. Each of the twelve palaces from Zi through Hai has an affiliation with Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, or Earth. They begin at Zi as one yang and end at Hai as six yin. Their five-phase affiliations are the five planets in heaven, the five sacred mountains on earth, the five constant virtues in virtue, and the five viscera in a person; in a fate they are the five phases. Thus the stem-branch categories correspond to a person's fate, and fate concerns the affairs of an entire life. The sages' images for stem-branch Nayin are therefore like the events of a human lifetime. How so? At Zi and Chou, yin and yang first conceive: a person is in the womb, things are hidden at their roots, and no boundary has yet appeared. At Yin and Mao, yin and yang gradually open: a person grows, things split their seed coats, and flowers gradually unfold, like someone about to establish a place in life. At Chen and Si, yin and yang energies are abundant and things display flowers and beauty, like a person of thirty or forty who has a place to stand and first shows signs of advancement. At Wu and Wei, yin and yang are manifest and things have completed their form. A person reaches fifty or sixty: wealth, rank, poverty, and low status can be known, and all flourishing and decline seen. At Shen and You, yin and yang become austere and cutting: things have been harvested, and people have drawn inward, each obtaining quiet. At Xu and Hai, yin and yang close: things' energies return to their roots, people should rest, and each has a destination. Examine the sequence of these twelve positions, and the sixty stem-branch pairs can be understood in order.
Why do Jiazi and Yichou take the image Metal in the Sea? Their energy is contained and concealed, named but without visible form, like a person in the mother's womb. Renyin and Guimao retain Metal in the ground of Extinction; its energy is still soft and weak, thin as fine silk, so it is called Metal Foil. Gengchen and Xinsi place Metal in the region of Fire and Earth. Energy has begun to issue, but Metal remains in ore, lodging its form in a region of generation and nurture and receiving the west's proper color: thus White-Wax Metal. With Jiawu and Yiwei, energy is complete and substance firm, mixed with sand yet distinguished from it, dwelling in Fire and refined by Fire: thus Metal in Sand. At Renshen and Guiyou, energy flourishes and substance reaches its utmost, ready to perform the work of gathering and restraint as a keen-edged blade. Shen and You are Metal's proper positions; with Ren and Gui as stems, Metal is quenched and sharpened by Water. Thus the image is Sword-Edge Metal, and Metal's usefulness reaches its utmost. At Xu and Hai, Metal energy lies hidden and its body is already diminished. Forged into ornaments, it has attained its form, is stored in the inner chamber, and has no further task. Metal's work is finished: hence Gengxu and Xinhai are Hairpin-and-Bracelet Metal. Why do Renzi and Guichou take the image Mulberry-and-Zhe Wood? The energy is coiled and bent and its form not extended. In a Water region and the months when silkworm activity declines, mulberry and zhe receive energy; the image takes their seasonal generation. At Gengyin and Xinmao, energy rides upon yang and gains the force of cultivation. Yet it dwells beneath Metal: Metal and frost are both firm, and Wood beneath them obtains their strength, withering late in the cold. Its firmness is the basis for Pine-and-Cypress Wood. At Wuchen and Jisi, energy is beyond measure and things are timely, branches and leaves flourishing densely into a forest: its abundance gives Great-Forest Wood. With Renwu and Guiwei, Wood reaches Death at Wu and Tomb at Wei. Thus poplars and willows lose leaves in high summer, with weak branches and trunks; their softness gives Poplar-and-Willow Wood. Gengshen and Xinyou belong to Metal in the five phases but Wood in Nayin: the image comes through conquest. Among woods, pomegranate alone is pungent. At Shen and You, energy returns to quiet austerity and things gradually form fruit. Wood in Metal's region acquires a pungent flavor: thus Pomegranate Wood. Other woods reach Death at Wu, but this alone flourishes there; the image takes its exceptional nature. At Wuxu and Jihai, energy returns to concealment and yin and yang close; Wood energy returns to the roots and lies hidden in Earth: thus Level-Ground Wood. Why do Bingzi and Dingchou take the image Water Beneath a Ravine? Energy has not yet passed through and joined. High ground is not where Water flows; low dampness is where it goes. Moving through the earth, it is called Water Beneath a Ravine. With Jiayin and Yimao, energy emerges into yang brightness, and Water relies on its source, surging eastward with increasing force: thus Great-Stream Water. With Renchen and Guisi, the force reaches the southeast and energy borders the Li palace. Fire is bright and strong, while Water returns to its storehouse, filling hollows before advancing: thus Long-Flowing Water. With Bingwu and Dingwei, energy is rising and descending in the high, bright position of Fire. Abundant Water makes sustained rain, relieving Water amid Fire; only heaven has such Water: thus Heavenly-River Water. With Jiashen and Yiyou, energy is peaceful and mother and child share a position. It issues without end and is drawn without exhaustion: thus Well-and-Spring Water. With Renxu and Guihai, in the region of Heaven's Gate, energy returns to closure. Water has traversed everywhere and no longer rushes onward; its force returns to quiet, arriving without end and received without overflow: thus Great-Sea Water. Why do Wuzi and Jichou take the image Thunderbolt Fire? Energy is at one yang and form occupies Water's position. Fire within Water exists only with a numinous dragon: thus Thunderbolt Fire. With Bingyin and Dingmao, energy gradually shines, becoming visible through fuel. Yin and yang govern, heaven and earth form a furnace: thus Fire in the Furnace. With Jiachen and Yisi, energy and form are abundant, their force set on high ridges, transmitting brightness and succeeding darkness, mother and child continuing one another: thus Covered-Lamp Fire. With Wuwu and Jiwei, energy passes through the yang palace and doubled Li meets, numinous brightness interweaving and shining upward: thus Fire in Heaven. With Bingshen and Dingyou, energy rests and form hides, force conceals its light and withdraws into Dui. Strength is slight and substance weak, its light unable to reach far: thus Fire Below the Mountain. Jiaxu and Yihai are called Fire on the Mountain because the mountain conceals form and its summit casts light. Bright within and dark without, hidden rather than manifest, it sends flying light toward Qian and returns to rest: thus Fire on the Mountain. Why do Gengzi and Xinchou take the image Earth on a Wall? Energy is closed and things still contained, their form covered and bodies screened, with no exchange between inside and outside: thus Earth on a Wall. With Wuyin and Jimao, energy can complete things, its work nurturing them, issuing at the roots and strengthening calyx and blossom: thus Earth on the City Wall. With Bingchen and Dingsi, energy receives yang; issuing and generation have passed, but completion is yet to come: thus Earth in Sand. With Gengwu and Xinwei, energy receives form, and things are manifest along the road: there is form to substantiate and matter to display, hence Roadside Earth. With Wushen and Jiyou, energy returns to rest and things gather, withdrawing into leisure, fine and without activity: thus Great-Post-Station Earth. With Bingxu and Dinghai, energy completes the storehouse of things and affairs are beautifully rounded. Yin and yang have traversed their course and their force finds its place: thus Earth on the Roof.
I see Roadside Earth sowing and growing the hundred grains: is not the region of Wu and Wei the time of abundant summer nurture? Great-Post-Station Earth communicates in all four directions: does not the region of Shen and You embody obtaining companions and beneficial passage? Earth on the City Wall takes the work of embankments and defenses; the five dukes rely upon it to establish the state and protect the people. Earth on a Wall displays the use of plaster and decoration; ministers and commoners rely on it to dwell and reside. Earth in Sand is the moistest Earth; moisture generates life, so it is useful though completion is still to come. Earth on the Roof is Earth whose work is finished. What is finished is still; therefore it remains fixed without moving. Dwelling among the five phases, Earth carries the command to support and the authority to nurture. Neither the Three Powers nor the five phases can do without it. High or low, it attains its position; in all four seasons it has achievement. Metal obtaining it is keen, forceful, and hard; Fire obtaining it shines brightly; Wood obtaining it displays exceptional blossom; Water obtaining it does not let its waves overflow; Earth obtaining it makes cultivation more abundant. Gathered without dispersal, it must form mountains, which are high. Dispersed without gathering, it must form land, which is level. Its use is inexhaustible and its generation boundless. Great indeed is Earth's work!
The images of the five phases all distinguish yin and yang through opposing pairs and clarify transformation through beginning and end. Jiazi and Yichou oppose Jiawu and Yiwei: Sea and Sand distinguish Water and Earth and divide yin and yang. Renyin and Guimao oppose Renshen and Guiyou: Metal Foil and Sword Edge distinguish Metal and Wood, hardness and softness. Gengchen and Xinsi oppose Gengxu and Xinhai: White Wax and Hairpin-and-Bracelet, in the different directions Qian and Xun, each fully display form and color. The printed Renzi and Guiyou oppose Renwu and Guiwei: Mulberry-and-Zhe and Poplar-and-Willow, one bent and one soft, differ greatly in form and substance. Gengyin and Xinmao oppose Gengshen and Xinyou: Pine-and-Cypress and Pomegranate, one firm and one pungent, are far apart in nature and flavor. Wuchen and Jisi oppose Wuxu and Jihai: Great Forest and Level Ground, one flourishing and one declining, occupy the different directions Xun and Qian. Wuzi and Jichou oppose Wuwu and Jiwei: Thunderbolt and Heaven, thunder wielding a whip while sun and moon shine together. Bingyin and Dingmao oppose Bingshen and Dingyou: Furnace and Mountain Below, Fire flourishing and burning Wood, Metal flourishing and extinguishing Fire. Jiachen and Yisi oppose Jiaxu and Yihai: Covered Lamp and Mountain Summit, containing light and fearing wind, casting light and stopping at Gen. Gengzi and Xinchou oppose Gengwu and Xinwei: Wall and Roadside, forms divided between gathering and dispersal, categories differing in Death and Birth. Wuyin and Jimao oppose Wushen and Jiyou: City Wall and Great Post Station, southeast and northwest, Kun and Gen in their proper positions. Bingchen and Dingsi oppose Bingxu and Dinghai: Sand and Roof, dryness and moisture functioning through one another, transformation from beginning to end.
Look in the round or look by the square: nothing lies outside Flourishing, Support, Death, and Rest. Take the distant from the near: nothing escapes Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth. Assign the five phases through stems and branches; discuss yin and yang to make beginnings and endings clear. Heavenly completion and human effort combine, with Birth, Flourishing, Death, and Extinction grouped alike. Ah! For the sixty stem-branch pairs, sages merely borrowed images to clarify principles. Yet the five phases' dispositions, materials, forms, colors, and functions are all fully expressed, leaving no hidden workings of creation unshown.
Translator's note: All thirty Nayin images and their stem-branch pairs are retained. The supplied White-Wax spelling, its botanical claims, the five dukes, and the pairing Renzi–Guiyou in the comparison paragraph are not silently corrected. The earlier explanatory paragraph has Renzi–Guichou. Qian, Kun, Li, Dui, Gen, and Xun are trigram names; Nayin labels are rendered consistently within this chapter. The cosmological and life-stage analogies are the author's explanations.
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