Yuanhai Ziping · The Deep Sea of Ziping Astrology

Stems, Branches, Day Master and Annual/Luck Cycles

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Basics The five yang stems favor combination. Taking Jia as the example: Jia is Peer: brothers. Yi is Robber of Wealth and Defeating Wealth: it restrains father and wife. Bing is Food Spirit, Heavenly Kitchen and Longevity Star: a son. Ding is Hurting Officer, Receding Wealth and Draining Qi: sons and nephews through sisters. Wu is Indirect Wealth: a secondary wife or concubine; it restrains sons. Ji is Direct Wealth: the principal wife; it restrains the mother and is the combining influence. Geng is Indirect Officer, Seven Killings, Officer Ghost and General Star. Xin is Direct Officer, Emolument and Horse, and the Glory Influence: parents. Ren is Reversed Food, Indirect Resource and Owl: it restrains daughters. Gui is Resource Seal, an upright person and a gentleman: property. The five yin stems favor clash. Taking Yi as the example: Jia is Robber of Wealth and Pursuing Horse: it restrains the wife. Yi is Peer: brothers and friends. Bing is Hurting Officer, a petty person and Stealing Qi: a nephew through a brother. Ding is Food Spirit, Heavenly Kitchen and Longevity Star: descendants. Wu is Direct Wealth and the principal wife: it restrains the mother. Ji is Indirect Wealth, a secondary wife or concubine: it restrains sons. Geng is Direct Officer, Emolument and Horse: it restrains parents. Xin is Indirect Officer, Seven Killings and Officer Ghost: a matchmaker. Ren is Resource Seal, an upright person and a gentleman: it dislikes Killings. Gui is Reversed Food, Indirect Resource and Owl: it restrains the mother. Edition note: this is a translation of the supplied historical astrological text. Its classifications, health and lifespan predictions, character judgments and family or gender assumptions are attributed to that text. Traditional terms, chart examples, numbers and conflicting rules are retained rather than recast as established findings. Food Spirit, Hurting Officer, Direct/Indirect Wealth, Direct/Indirect Officer, Resource, Peer, Robber and Yang Blade name relationships within its chart system. General Verse on the Hidden Contents of Stems and Branches At Beginning of Spring, Bing Fire acts for twenty-three days; in the remaining days Jia Wood flourishes as the governing outline. At Awakening of Insects, Yi Wood has not yet taken command; at Spring Equinox, Yi–Wei is just in accord, as this copy reads. At Clear and Bright, Yi Wood governs ten days; for the following eight days, Gui Water spreads. For three days before Grain Rain, Wu Earth is abundant; Earth's flourishing within this must be examined carefully. At Beginning of Summer, hidden Wu Earth is again selected; after noon at Grain Full, Bing Fire shines. At Grain in Ear, Ji Earth is especially fitting; for seven days in the middle, Earth rises high. At Summer Solstice, yin is born and yang reaches its utmost; Bing and Ding Fire flourish, with Earth also spreading. At Slight Heat, Ding Fire flourishes ten days; for the next three days, Yi Wood is fragrant. Ji Earth's force is strong for three days; at Great Heat, Ji Earth is yellow for ten days. At Beginning of Autumn, Ren Water rises ten days; at End of Heat, Geng Metal is favorable for fifteen days. At White Dew, Geng Metal flourishes seven days; for eight days, Xin alone proceeds. At Cold Dew, Xin Metal governs seven days; for eight days, Ding Fire and then Water descend. At Frost's Descent, Ji Earth governs fifteen days; within it, mixed qi may be selected without obstruction. At Beginning of Winter, Gui Water flourishes seven days; Ren Water flows busily for eight days. At Slight Snow, Ren Water rushes seven days; for eight days, Jia Wood is fragrant again. At Great Snow, Ren Water governs seven days; at Winter Solstice, Gui Water flows more abundantly. At Slight Cold, Gui Water is nourished seven days; for eight days, Xin Metal is stored in Chou's treasury. At Great Cold, Ji Earth prevails for ten days; the practitioner should study these distinctions minutely. The unusual numbers and the supplied Yi–Wei wording are preserved, without replacing this schedule with another edition's calendar. Another Song of the Branches' Hidden Stems Within Zi's palace is Gui Water; Chou holds Gui, Xin Metal and Ji Earth together. Yin's palace holds Jia Wood with Bing and Wu; in Mao's palace, Yi Wood alone is met. Chen stores Yi and Wu, with a share of Gui; in Si, Geng Metal gathers with Bing and Wu. Wu's palace holds Ding Fire and Ji Earth; Wei's palace shares Yi, Ji and Ding. Shen's place holds Geng Metal, Ren Water and Wu; in You's palace, Xin Metal alone is abundant. Xu's palace holds Xin Metal, Ding and Wu; Hai stores Ren and Jia: these are the true traces. Generation, Restraint, Control and Transformation of the Five Phases: examples of what each favors and what harms it. Flourishing Metal needs Fire to become a vessel; flourishing Fire needs Water to achieve mutual aid; flourishing Water needs Earth to become a pond; flourishing Earth needs Wood to be opened; flourishing Wood needs Metal to become a structural beam. Metal relies on Earth for birth, but much Earth buries Metal. Earth relies on Fire, but much Fire scorches Earth. Fire relies on Wood, but much Wood makes Fire blaze. Wood relies on Water, but much Water makes Wood float. Water relies on Metal, but much Metal makes Water turbid. Metal generates Water, but much Water sinks Metal. Water generates Wood, but abundant Wood contracts Water. Wood generates Fire, but much Fire burns Wood. Fire generates Earth, but much Earth buries Fire. Earth generates Metal, but much Metal changes Earth. Metal restrains Wood, but hard Wood chips Metal. Wood restrains Earth, but heavy Earth breaks Wood. Earth restrains Water, but much Water washes Earth away. Water restrains Fire, but much Fire heats Water. Fire restrains Metal, but much Metal extinguishes Fire. Declining Metal meeting Fire must melt. Weak Fire meeting Water must be extinguished. Weak Water meeting Earth must be blocked by silt. Declining Earth meeting Wood must collapse. Weak Wood meeting Metal must be cut and broken. Strong Metal needs Water to blunt its edge. Strong Water needs Wood to discharge its force. Strong Wood needs Fire to transform its stubbornness. Strong Fire needs Earth to stop its flames. Strong Earth needs Metal to control its harmful excess. Taking the Day as Master I have observed that the Tang histories record Li Xuzhong, who used the generation and restraint of the stems and branches of a person's birth year, month, day and hour to discuss rank, lowliness, longevity and early death in detail. Only in the Song did the Ziping teaching appear: it takes the day stem as master, the year as root, month as seedling, day as flower and hour as fruit. Through birth, flourishing, death, extinction, rest, imprisonment, control and transformation, it decides fortune and misfortune. The author declares this principle certain and asks what further doubt there could be. First is Officer, divided by yin and yang into Officer and Killings: Jia and Yi meeting Geng and Xin. Second is Wealth, divided into Direct and Indirect Wealth: Jia and Yi meeting Wu and Ji. Third is the yin and yang of qi that generates self, called Resource Seal and Reversed Food: Jia and Yi meeting Ren and Gui. Fourth is the yin and yang that steals qi, called Food Spirit and Hurting Officer: Jia and Yi meeting Bing and Ding. Fifth is the yin and yang of one's own kind, called Robber of Wealth and Yang Blade: Jia and Yi meeting Jia and Yi. Rank, lowliness, longevity, early death, death and life generally do not go beyond these five. Arbitrarily invented patterns, merely listed by name without practical use, include Flying-to-Heaven Emolument and Horse, Reverse Clash, and Well-Rail Fork: these are Hurting Officer divided into separate names. From this one example the rest may be understood. Take the day as master, the year as foundation, the month as governing outline and the hour as assistant. The essential point in taking the day as master is to see the position upon which it rests: is self flourishing or weak? Then examine the branch patterns and the distribution of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth. Next see which phase flourishes in the month's command, and which flourishes in the annual and luck-cycle influences; then scrutinize what lies beneath the day. This is no teaching confined rigidly to one corner. For example, someone born on a Jiazi day with Shen in the Four Pillars requires Zi and Chen to form a Water frame. Then examine how the remaining factors add or detract. Which characters in the Four Pillars damage the refined qi of the Jiazi day master? If something damages the month's influence, control that thing separately rather than strengthening it. Those discussing charts must not be rigid: investigate the month's command in detail. This is why the point is set out explicitly. The Month's Command If the year is the foundation and carries Officer or Resource Seal, office in early life comes through the ancestors. The month is the governing outline. With Officer or Resource Seal, the person is generous and intelligent, with understanding above others. The hour is the assistant and concerns conduct throughout life. If favorable influences occur in the year, month and day, the hour should bring them to birth and flourishing. Unfavorable influences should return in the hour to a place of control and subduing. For favorable and unfavorable influences in the hour, the year, month and day should generate the favorable and control the unfavorable. A useful influence in the month's command gives assistance from parents. A useful influence in the year gives assistance from ancestors; one in the hour gives assistance from descendants. The reverse brings no such assistance. Good and Ill of the Grand Year The Grand Year, Taisui, is the sovereign within the year and must not be offended; offense brings ill fortune. The classic says: 'When the day offends the annual sovereign, disaster must be heavy. If the five phases provide rescue, that year may instead bring Wealth.' For example, on a Jia day in a Wu year, Wu is the Grand Year, and severe restraint brings death. If Jia or Yi has Yin, Mao, Hai or Wei in day and hour, it offends and restrains the annual sovereign; the text calls death certain unless rescue is present. Rescue is the Metal frame of Geng, Xin, Si, You and Chou in the Eight Characters. The classic says: 'Wu and Ji dread meeting Jia and Yi; Geng and Xin are needed among the exposed stems.' Alternatively a Bing-Ding Fire frame burns Wood, preventing blame for disaster; infer other cases from this. Ji combining with Jia also resolves it. In general, do not injure the Grand Year. Mutual generation is favorable; rescue among the five phases may instead turn the year into Wealth. Offending the annual sovereign is said to bring mourning, harm to wife or concubine, financial loss, disputes and regret from offending superiors. With Hooking and Entangling, Void, Salty Pool, Dwelling Tomb, Illness Talisman, Death Talisman, White Tiger, Yang Blade and other harmful influences arriving together, troubles multiply. Judge their severity according to the symbolic influences present. Even if the day stem does not restrain the year, the luck cycle may restrain the annual sovereign. Added clashes and punishments between year and cycle, or Yang Blade clashes and combinations, signify loss, waste and funerals. Nobleman, Emolument or Horse may provide partial relief; rescue within the Eight Characters removes concern. Thus it is said: 'The Grand Year rules the many harmful influences. Entering a chart need not itself bring disaster, but meeting a place of battle must signify punishment to the natal chart.' Contending with the Grand Year Contending means battle: like a minister affronting his ruler, it means the lower offending the higher. The day stem and branch clashing with or restraining the Grand Year is called contending. The luck-cycle stem and branch injuring or clashing with the Grand Year is also contending, as is the Grand Year's stem and branch clashing with those of the day. Examine whether the Eight Characters contain rescue and assistance. The author claims that careful examination never misses. The day stem and branch combining with the Grand Year's stem and branch is called obscuration; a cycle combining with the year's stem is likewise. This signifies an obscured year of reversals, in which haste fails to achieve the goal. Example: Yichou · Yihai · Renshen · Yisi, traveling through the Xinwei cycle in a Bingyin year. Ren of the day stem restrains Bing of the Grand Year; Shen-Geng of the day branch restrains Yin-Jia of the Grand Year. There is also the disliked sequence Yin punishing Si, Si punishing Shen, and Shen punishing Yin. The Xinwei cycle combines into the Grand Year's Wood frame as Hurting Officer: none of this is favorable. In that year's Jiawu month, Fire flourishes, battling and restraining Ji Earth, while Yi Wood generates what engages in battle. The concluding mechanical clause is obscure in this wording; the text concludes that the person therefore met an unnatural death. Major Luck Cycles Major luck cycles are called the Five Movements in terms of heavenly stems and Six Qi in terms of earthly branches; hence the text calls them fanqi, patterned qi. In the Ziping method, examine branches for major cycles and stems for the annual sovereign. Entering a new cycle resembles grafting wood. Why? The two characters of stem and branch belong to the sixty Jiazi combinations, expressed through the image of flowering. When stem and branch obtain their proper season, flowers and fruit naturally flourish. The month's command is the Heavenly Prime, and cycles begin from the month. A tree is recognized by its seedling; a pattern is recognized by the month's useful influence. Thus cycle transition resembles grafting wood. The chart's root, seedling, flower and fruit fit precisely this meaning. Leaving Gui and entering Jia is like a person whose sweat returns. The example Jiaxu connecting to Guihai is called grafting between stem and branch. A Chou cycle entering Yin, Chen entering Si, Wei entering Shen, or Xu entering Hai is called turning a corner in grafting. Turning the corners between east, south, west and north is called grafting. An unfavorable pattern brings death; a favorable pattern still brings disaster. Yin-Mao-Chen form one qi, Shen-You-Xu one qi, and Hai-Zi-Chou one qi. Connected qi of these kinds does not belong to the grafting description. For Jia and Yi, Yin and Mao cycles are called Robber of Wealth and Defeating Wealth, signifying harm to parents and wife, financial loss and conflict. Bing, Ding, Si and Wu cycles are called Hurting Officer, signifying harm to children, lawsuits and imprisonment. Geng, Xin, Shen and You are Seven Killings and Officer territory, signifying reputation; excessive development brings calamity and severe illness. Ren, Gui, Hai and Zi are generating qi and Resource Seal cycles, signifying good fortune and increased property. Chen, Xu, Chou, Wei, Wu and Ji are Wealth cycles, signifying success in reputation and profit. These are rigid illustrative rules: apply the preferences and aversions of each pattern rather than clinging to one formula. Subtlety lies in recognizing change and adaptation; even plain explanations then seem remarkable. A flourishing stem suits a declining cycle; a weak stem suits a flourishing one. Weak stems seek support from abundant qi, while surplus requires management through insufficiency. Adapt the rule. Also consider Solitary Harm, Void, Hooking and Entangling, Mourning Gate, Funeral Guest, Dwelling Tomb, Illness, Death, Official Talisman, White Tiger and other harmful influences; the text claims remarkable verification. Another method calls Yang Blade, Peach Blossom, Repeated Chant, Reverse Chant, Rest, Imprisonment, Death, Extinction, Decline and Defeat unfavorable. Imperial Flourishing, Assuming Office, Emolument and Horse, Nobleman, Birth, Nurture, Cap and Belt, and Treasury are favorable. Encountering Void is unfavorable; the text then says the voided unfavorable becomes favorable and the favorable becomes unfavorable. These compact, differing statements are retained. A major cycle should not restrain or clash with the Grand Year: this is unfavorable. Added punishment, clash and mutual restraint are also disliked. The year clashing with or restraining the cycle is favorable; the cycle restraining the year is unfavorable, and an unfavorable pattern brings death. Mutual generation between year and cycle is favorable, as are exchanges and combinations involving Emolument, Horse and Nobleman. Examine carefully; the author declares that none of these correspondences fails.

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