《天原发微(鲍云龙)》Vol. 2

The Huai and Ji serve as outer and inner to each other (the graph zi is suspected to be an error for Ji, indicating that the Huai and Ji rivers interlace and echo each other as outer and inner). The Jiangyuan says: the Southern River runs north from Nanji (the ancient starting point of the southern mountains) to Huayang, where it meets the veins of the earth; at Jingshan it divides and flows east, forming outer-inner correspondences with the Han, Huai, and Ji rivers. By observing the configurations of these two rivers and comparing them with the starting and ending course of the Milky Way in the heavens, the field allocations of each region can be inferred.

The two demarcations, north and south, are the barriers by which Heaven delimits the land of the Central Hua. The two rivers, Northern and Southern, intersect vertically and horizontally with the mountain ranges of the two demarcations and coordinate with them. The regions between them where civil governance and military achievement flourish and where products and goods are abundant are all meant to nourish the people, complete the creative transformation of Heaven and Earth, and establish in China the relations of ruler and minister, father and son, and the order of benevolence, righteousness, ritual, and music. Nothing under Heaven is greater than Heaven, thicker than Earth, or more abundant than water. The Jing and Qi of water rise upward to become the Milky Way and flow downward to become rivers and streams; moonlight reflects on mountains and rivers, and water mirrors the patterns of the stars—all issue from the same original Qi. Once one clearly recognizes how the veins of mountains and rivers run between the two demarcations, one can identify the rising and descending changes of the Northern Dipper in the four quarters. Referring further to the Han dynasty’s division into commanderies and principalities, each region’s correspondence to the astral fields becomes clear at a glance; this is the grand configuration of mountains and rivers.

Inferring from celestial patterns: the northern demarcation corresponds to Ximu (one of the ancient twelve Jupiter stations, denoting the Yan region in the northeast), and the southern demarcation corresponds to Xingji (one of the twelve stations, denoting the Wu-Yue area in the southeast). As for Chunshou (one of the twelve stations, denoting the Qin and Long area in the northwest), the starting point of the mountains and rivers of the two demarcations lies precisely here. Only by absorbing the pure, upright, and beautiful Qi of the Central Plains, grasping the talismanic mandate of the Heavenly Net and Earthly Cords held by the Five Emperors, and presiding over the constant Dao can a ruler accomplish this.

The Milky Way extends from Kun (southwest) to Gen (northeast) and constitutes the Earthly Cords; the Northern Dipper extends from Qian (northwest) to Xun (southeast) and constitutes the Heavenly Net. Their field allocations correspond to the regions governed by the Five Emperors.

Kun is Earth, and the Milky Way is the Qi of Earth; Qian is Heaven, and the Northern Dipper is Heaven’s pole.

The Division of Heaven, Earth, and the Five Emperors

Kun symbolizes Earth and is the Jingqi (essence-qi) of the earth beneath the Milky Way; Qian symbolizes Heaven, and the Northern Dipper is the pivot of Heaven. Each of the Five Emperors takes one De (Virtue/Power) among the Five Phases as its foundation: the Shaohao clan belongs to the De of Metal, the Zhuanxu clan to the De of Water, Taihao (Fuxi) to the De of Wood, the Lieshan clan (Shennong) to the De of Fire, and Xuanyuan Huangdi (the Youxiong clan) to the De of Earth. Each of the Five Emperors guards one direction, and their order is related to the movement of the sun as it sets into Xianchi.

At the Qian position, the inner star is Jianglou, corresponding to Shaohao, and its field-allocation lies in the celestial region of the Northern Palace; the outer star is Zouzi, corresponding to Zhuanxu, and its field-allocation lies in the celestial region of Sheti. At the Xun position, the inner star is Shouxing, corresponding to Taihao, and its field-allocation lies in the celestial region of Taiwei; the outer star is Chunwei, corresponding to the Lieshan clan, and its field-allocation extends throughout the Four Seas.

Dwelling in the center and receiving the position of the Great Stair is Xuanyuan, that is, the Youxiong clan; its field-allocation is the place pointed to by the handle of the Dipper, and it governs the outer realm. Chunwei lies in the south; it is a state with its back to the sea and belongs to the Lieshan clan. The bowl of the Dipper governs the inner realm. Zouzi corresponds to the Central Regions, a state beset on all four sides. Among the remaining mansions, eight lie on the yin side of the Milky Way and correspond to states with their backs to the sea; four lie on the yang side and correspond to states beset on all four sides.

The Mountains of the World and Their Correspondence with the Twenty-Eight Mansions

The mountains of the world are divided into four ranges, which correspond above to the Twenty-Eight Mansions.

The eastern range includes Yanqi, Jingshan, Hukou, Leishou, Taiyue, and Dizhu, and corresponds to the eastern mansions. Next are Jianglou and Xuanxiao, two lunar lodges, with their backs to the Eastern Sea. Its presiding deity is Mount Dai, corresponding to Suixing (Jupiter).

The northern range includes Xicheng, Wangwu, Taihang, Hengshan, Jieshi, Xiqing, and Zhuyu, and corresponds to the northern mansions. Next are Daliang and Ximu, two lunar lodges, with their backs to the Northern Sea. Its presiding deity is Mount Heng, corresponding to Chenxing (Mercury).

The western range includes Wushu, Taihua, Xiong’er, Waifang, Tongbai, Zhongshan, and Peiwei, and corresponds to the western mansions. Next are Chunshou and Shishen, two lunar lodges, with their backs to the Western Sea. Its presiding deity is Mount Hua, corresponding to Taibai (Venus).

This passage is an excerpt from the ancients’ doctrine of “fenye” (field allocation). The ancients matched the celestial lunar mansions one by one with the provinces and states on earth, believing that changes in astral phenomena would manifest in the corresponding regions. In the text, “shen” refers to the presiding mountain deity of each place; Taibai is Venus, Yinghuo is Mars, and Zhenxing is Saturn.

In the south, southern mountains and rivers such as Mount Jing, Mount Heng, and the Nine Rivers correspond to the southern lunar mansions and are paired with star stations such as Xingji and Chunwei. In the west, Mount Hua is the presiding deity, and the star it governs is Taibai (Venus). In the South Sea region, another account takes the South Sea as the corresponding area, with Mount Heng as the presiding deity and Yinghuo (Mars) as the governing star. In the Central Plains, Zhongzhou occupies the center of the world and corresponds to star stations such as Chunhuo, Dahuo, Shouxing, and Shiwei; Mount Song is the presiding deity, and the star it governs is Zhenxing (Saturn).

As for geographical configuration, a place that is strategically secured and advantageous for military operations is called a “land that relies on natural defenses and uses arms”; one exposed to attack on four sides and emphasizing ritual, music, and moral instruction is called a “land of four-sided warfare that uses the civil arts”; and one bordering the sea and prospering through trade and commerce is called a “land backed by the sea where goods multiply and wealth abounds.”

In specific regions, the area east of Shan—the Sanchuan and Zhongyue region—was Chengzhou (around present-day Luoyang); from the west reaching Waifang and Daren, north across the Nanhuai, and east to Juye were Song, Zheng, Chen, and Cai; Henei and the north bank of the Ji River were Yu, Wei, and Dian; and the area east bordering the Huai River was Shen and Sui.

The ancients matched the celestial lodges above with the divisions of provinces and states below, calling this “fenye” (field allocation). In the north, the Xingji stretches from the east all the way to the North River (the name of a star) and corresponds to the northern states of Xing and Zhao; in the south, the Xingji stretches from the east to the South River and corresponds to the southern states of Jing and Chu. From the North River downward, the area south to Mount Tai (Daishan) is Sanqi (the old territory of Qi), while to its right around Jieshi is Northern Yan. From the South River downward, the area north to Mount Tai is Zou and Lu; south across the Yangtze and Huai are Wu and Yue. All these are states bordering the sea. The rest—such as the strategic dangers of the Nine Passes, the windings of the Nine Rivers, Sanwei, and the nine bends of the Wenjiang—are likewise terrains that correspond to the arrayed celestial lodges.

The He-Luo chapter says: the central star at the celestial pole corresponds to the ruins of Mount Kunlun, while Heaven’s Gate and the Bright Hall correspond to the essence-qi of Mount Tai. Zhang Heng said: above, the heavens form celestial patterns; below, the earth forms mountains and rivers. Heaven has nine directions, earth has nine regions; heaven has the Three Luminaries (sun, moon, and stars), earth has three configurations of terrain—all can be specified one by one.

If one pushes the investigation to its limit, the distance between the eight extremities—the diameter—is about 200,022,300 li. Its north-south length is roughly a thousand li, while east-west it is slightly wider by a thousand li. The distance from the ground to the zenith is half the span of the eight extremities, and the depth of the earth is roughly the same. Taken together and calculated, using the methods of “double difference” and “gougu” (right-triangle measurement) to reckon the sun’s shadow above and terrestrial measurements below, when the discrepancy is a thousand li the error is only one cun. Beyond this range, it cannot be known. What is called “cannot be known” refers precisely to the cosmos. Outside Yu (space) there is no boundary; the beginning of Zhou (time) has no end; it cannot be fully investigated.

I have examined the regions above and below and cross-checked ancient records. Limiting myself for now to the lands reached by the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, these were the extent paced out by Dazhang and Shuhai (legendary figures skilled in pacing out distances, who measured the earth by imperial command). Confucius described it as reaching north to Youling, south to Jiaozhi (in what is now northern Vietnam), west to tread the Flowing Sands, and east to Panmu. Heaven and earth were harmonious; refined and beautiful numinous qi gathered in abundance. The Yellow River displayed a prodigy, and so the Hetu (Yellow River Diagram) and Luoshu (Luo River Chart) emerged.

Thus the finest essence among people became sages. The Duke of Zhou and Confucius arose and became the leading figures of China’s ritual and music institutions (Zhou-Kong), inheriting the charge of the sages of successive generations since Fuxi (Xihuang). Zou and Lu (the homelands of Confucius and Mencius) were rich in refined scholars; Yan and Zhao (present-day Hebei and Shanxi) were rich in heroic figures; east and west of Mount Xiao produced many generals and ministers—all of them together governed and managed China.

Yu the Great inherited the flourishing age of Yao and Shun, brought order to the Nine Provinces, and the lords of the ten thousand states came to court holding jade and silk (ceremonial objects of ancient audience, symbolizing submission), and the world was at peace. The arable land was 9,108,024 qing. The outflowing waterways were eight thousand li, and the inflowing waterways were also eight thousand li. There were 5,350 famous mountains, and the mountain ranges stretched across a total of 64,050 li. There were 467 copper-producing mountains and 3,609 iron-producing mountains.

The common people traded and did business; men plowed and women wove; they used the people’s labor without missing the farming seasons, thereby supplying financial needs. With frugality there was surplus; with extravagance there was insufficiency. The state storehouses could hold thirty years’ provisions, and private households had reserves of nine years. By the prosperous age of Chengzhou, the population was 22,704,923, which was 161,000 more than in Yu the Great’s time.

Thereafter, through Qin, Han, Sui, and Tang, waxing and waning, abundance and scarcity changed without constancy. Only today, with the realm unified, has it surpassed the age when primal chaos first opened (Hongmeng) and merged with the realm of the mysterious and formless (Xiyi); from the highest heavens to the utmost limits of earth, none fail to revere and cleave to it, and it can follow in the flourishing ages of the Three August Ones and Five Emperors (Sanwu).

Master Zhu said: The Hetu (River Chart, a legendary diagram) states that Kunlun (a great mountain in myth) is the center of the earth. Beneath the earth are eight pillars that restrain one another, and the subterranean cavities of famous mountains and great rivers communicate with one another.

The commentary to the Biography of Sima Xiangru says that the Kunlun Mountains lie 50,000 li from the Central Plains; the mountain body is 10,000 li broad and 80,000 ren high (in antiquity, seven or eight chi made one ren). The mountain is divided into nine tiers, and each tier has nine wells on its four sides. The well curbs are built of jade, and beside them are five gates. It is the capital of the Heavenly Emperor in the lower world. The Shuijing (Classic of Waterways), an ancient geographical work describing river systems, also says that the Kunlun Mountains are 50,000 li from the Central Plains and 11,000 li high.

Hu Yongzhi asked about conditions in the region of Tianzhu (ancient India), and whether it produced many extraordinary people. Zhu Xi replied that from the Central Plains to Khotan (an ancient state of the Western Regions, in the present-day Hotan area of Xinjiang) was about 20,000 li, and from Khotan to Kunlun was another 30,000 li. The Wenchang Zalu records that when an envoy from Khotan came to present tribute, he said that 1,300-odd li west of his country was the Kunlun Mountains.

On this reckoning, the Central Plains lie southeast of Kunlun, the various countries of Tianzhu lie due south of Kunlun, and the Yellow River rises southeast of Kunlun and flows into the Central Plains. In this way, Kunlun is located to the southwest and is close to Tianzhu.

The Qianshu says that Mount Aru is Kunlun. At the summit there is a great pool called Aru Pool, whose waters divide and flow to the four directions. The one flowing east into the Central Plains is the Yellow River, which finally empties into the East Sea; the other three sides flow respectively into the South Sea, West Sea, and North Sea. Rivers such as the Ruo and Hei all originate from here. Broadly speaking, the shape of the earth is like a steamed bun, and the protruding tip at its top is Kunlun.

The terrain of the Central Plains is upright and perfectly round, and the people born there are likewise upright and complete. The Central Plains receives the harmonious and balanced Qi of Heaven and Earth; the terrains of other worlds are all slanted, pointed, and deficient, encircling it on the outer periphery and failing to obtain the upright Qi of Heaven and Earth, so the people born there are mostly not upright. This is the so-called Gaitian (canopy-heaven) theory (the original text has Yitian, which is a mistake for Gai). Zhang Zai (style name Hengqu, a Northern Song Neo-Confucian scholar) also upheld this view.

Ancient geographical gazetteers say that the northwest has many mountains, that Kunlun is the ancestor and foundation of all mountains, and that its mountain ranges run through the world, with the Five Peaks and three perilous routes stretching and interlocking. They also say that the Yellow River originates at Kunlun, where the terrain is highest. To the north is sandy land, with no strategic terrain to block it; once the river waters spread westward, they easily breach their banks and drift about. Only after Yu the Great dredged the Nine Rivers were its terrifying waves subdued.

It is further said: Mount Song is not the center of heaven but the center of earth. Both the ecliptic (the path of the sun’s apparent motion) and the celestial equator lie north of Mount Song. The south and north celestial poles are the pivots of heaven; only these two places do not move, like the central axle of a millstone. This is where the center of heaven truly lies.

A note: Shaozi (Shao Yong, the Northern Song Neo-Confucian) said that the root of heaven and earth perhaps begins from “center.” Where is the center of heaven? At Chenji (the north celestial pole, that is, near the Pole Star). Where is the center of earth? At Mount Song. Heaven takes Chenji as its center, and so it can be used to arrange calendrical calculations and to infer the solar terms and seasonal phenomena. Earth takes Mount Song as its center, and so it can be used to determine directions and to equalize road distances among the regions. Ziwu (the north-south direction) is perhaps the central axis of heaven and earth.

At the winter solstice, yang qi arises from the zi position; at midnight the sun travels to the zi position. Therefore Qian (symbolizing heaven and yang) begins at Kan (north, belonging to water) and ends at Li (south, belonging to fire). This shows that the south and north celestial poles alone serve as heaven’s pivots and do not move. At the summer solstice, yin qi arises from the wu position; at noon the sun is directly overhead. Therefore Kun (symbolizing earth and yin) begins at Li and ends at Kan. This shows that the ecliptic and the celestial equator are also both north of Mount Song, without deviation. The position of the center of heaven and earth is fixed and immutable; this is why the sage appears. The sage observes the Northern Dipper (Jixuan) to examine heavenly motion and establishes the huiyao (the essentials of celestial patterns and calendrical systems) to infer the future—all of this is derived from the same principle.

Someone said to me: Can the Xuanhun Zhang that you composed exhaust the laws of heaven and earth? I replied: No. For discussing astronomy, there are the official astronomers who oversee celestial matters; for discussing geography, there is the Zhizhang tu (Map in the Palm); for discussing the Milky Way and field allocation (fenye), there was Yi Xing of the Tang; for discussing the bends of waterways, there was Li Daoyuan (a Northern Wei geographer and author of the Commentary on the Water Classic). Yet all of them expounded according to established theories and did not exhaust the subtleties involved. Yang Xiong’s Taixuan says: “Following the mysterious principle of the encompassing heavens, moving without end and conforming to celestial phenomena—its wonders can no longer be fully expressed in words.”

This passage is the end of juan 3 of Tianyuan Fawei and the heading of juan 4, followed by the collator’s textual notes made against the Siku Quanshu edition. Tianyuan Fawei is a work by Bao Yunlong of the Yuan dynasty, a scholar of astronomy, calendrical science, and Yixue. The Siku Quanshu is a large collectanea compiled during the Qianlong reign of the Qing dynasty; its editions are often used as a reference for collation.

The collation notes fall roughly into three categories. The first is correction of erroneous characters: characters that were wrong in the original and have been corrected according to the Siku Quanshu edition, such as xi, originally written si; Congling, originally written Ciling; Hao, originally written Shi; Yu, originally written Wan; and gan, originally written qian. Congling refers to the mountain ranges in the Pamir Plateau region. The second is listing variant readings: cases where the original and the Siku Quanshu edition differ in wording but it cannot be determined which is correct, so only the variant is noted, such as kong written for hu, ji written for shu, and da written for tai. The third is suspected omission or error: for example, in item 7 the three characters weiquju are suspected to involve an omission; the collator recorded the doubt without rashly changing the text.

At the end of the juan, the heading juan zhi si indicates that the main text of the next juan begins here.

The Tang-dynasty Master Kong explained: “Yin” means “shade,” referring to Yin Qi (vital energy) hidden within and sheltering the myriad things; “Yang” means “raising,” referring to Yang Qi dispersing and rising outward. Yang is the odd number and belongs to Qi; Qi is undifferentiated and chaotic, fusing into a single body. Yang also represents the sun, whose body is constantly bright and has no distinction of fullness or waning. Yin is the even number and belongs to form; form has distinctions of this and that. Yin also represents the moon, which has the changes of the dark and new moon (no light at the beginning of the month and fullness at mid-month).

Fuxi (the legendary sage king of high antiquity) observed the numerical patterns of Yin-Yang and drew one long stroke (an odd number) to symbolize Yang and two broken short strokes (an even number) to symbolize Yin. Yang is “one,” responsible for unfolding generation; Yin is “two,” responsible for receiving and responding; originally they are the same Qi. When Qi grows, it is Yang; when it disperses, it is Yin—the two are in fact only two sides of one Qi. When Yang Qi arrives, the myriad things are born; when Yang Qi departs, the myriad things die. The life and death of the myriad things all depend on Yang, and so they can be reduced to the same “one.”

Heaven and Earth were formed by the condensation of Yin-Yang Qi at the beginning of creation. The largest portion of it was established as the dominant one and became a plain, undifferentiated “embryonic simplicity” (an undifferentiated primordial embryonic state). Thereafter it differentiated into father and mother, which gave birth to humans and the myriad things; all their countless transformations and complexities do not go beyond the scope of Yin-Yang. Therefore, what fills the universe is nothing other than Yin-Yang Qi, and the myriad things cannot be separated from these two. At the beginning of creation, Qi took form, and so Yin-Yang gave birth to Heaven and Earth; form in turn contains Qi, and so the movement of Heaven and Earth cannot depart from Yin-Yang either.

Dong Zhongshu of the Han dynasty (a great Confucian of the Western Han) began to elaborate the doctrine of Yin-Yang and became a master of the Confucian school; therefore Confucians cannot fail to understand Yin-Yang.

Zhou Dunyi (Master Zhou) said: Water belongs to Yin, yet it takes Yang as its root; fire belongs to Yang, yet it takes Yin as its root.

Water belongs to Yin, yet is generated by “One” (Yang), so its root lies in Yang; fire belongs to Yang, yet is generated by “Two” (Yin), so its root lies in Yin. Therefore Master Zhang (Zhang Zai of the Northern Song) said: the essences of the two Qi (vital energy) of Yin and Yang are mutually concealed within each other. Master Zhu (Zhu Xi) said: Master Zhou’s (Zhou Dunyi’s) writings do not go beyond the two ends of Yin and Yang. When things begin, there is the principle of ceaseless generation; after they end, there is the principle of what has become fixed. At the beginning one may speak of “life”; at what has become fixed one may speak of “death.” Before Taiji (the Supreme Ultimate, the fundamental state of all things in the universe) has differentiated, Yin contains Yang; after Taiji differentiates, Yang separates out Yin. When Yang sinks into Yin, it becomes water; when Yin sinks into Yang, it becomes fire.

Master Zhang said: Qi fills Taixu (the vast, boundless void), rising and falling, flying and soaring, never stopping. The pivot of empty and solid, movement and stillness, and the beginnings of Yin and Yang, hard and soft, all lie here. Of it, what floats and rises upward is the essence of Yang; what sinks and descends downward is the turbid substance of Yin. They sense and meet each other, gather and congeal, and become wind and rain, frost and snow. The coalescing of mountains and rivers, as well as dregs and ashes, are all manifestations of principle. The wandering Qi stirs in confusion, gathers and forms tangible substance, and thus gives rise to the myriad differences among things; the two ends of Yin and Yang cycle back and forth without ever ceasing, and thus the fundamental great meaning of Heaven and Earth is established.

Master Zhu said: Wandering Qi is Qi viewed horizontally; Yin and Yang are principle viewed vertically. Yin and Yang are like a fan, and wandering Qi is like the wind fanned by it; Yin and Yang are like a millstone, and wandering Qi is like the flour ground from it; Yin and Yang are like a tree’s roots, and wandering Qi is like the tree’s flowering and fruiting. Wandering Qi has no separate source outside Yin and Yang. The void is itself Qi; it can rise and fall, fly and soar, and thereby generate the myriad things—only people cannot see it. Just as the cloud Qi seen by those who observe Qi displays the five colors: when Qi is emitted, some of it is pure and refined, and some is mixed and impure; therefore humans and the myriad things differ as biased or upright, clear or turbid.

In this passage from Tianyuan Fawu, the discussion concerns how the two qi of Yin-Yang transform and generate the myriad things. In the opening phrase “contact, encounter, gathering, and coalescence,” the preceding text speaks of the two qi of Yin-Yang, while the following text speaks of wandering qi (qi that drifts unsettled). The word “beginning” merely refers to the fundamental root of the generation of the myriad things. All subtle and refined things arise from the growth and decline, the waxing and waning, of Yin-Yang. The workings of Yin-Yang are nothing other than the principle of the Dao of Heaven, and so they are called the “highest teaching” (zhijiao). The two qi circulate spontaneously between Heaven and Earth, and unknowingly produce many things. Each thing receives a nature and a life (its living nature), and each has a bodily form; all are formed by the coalescence of this qi.

It further says: among all the myriad things formed by the creative process, no two are exactly the same. Thus, although the myriad things are many, each thing in fact contains both Yin and Yang. From this we can know that the transformations of Heaven and Earth are simply the two ends of Yin and Yang.

By looking at sun and moon, male and female, the female and male animals, and similar pairs, one can realize that no thing lacks Yin and Yang. Even the most minute thing has obverse and reverse sides; but if one looks at where it operates, then a single qi penetrates through it. Therefore Zhu Xi said: “Solitary Yang does not generate; solitary Yin does not complete.” The circular flow and operation of creative transformation must use Yin and Yang together. It is like east, west, south, and north standing together, each occupying its position and facing its opposite; movement and stillness, contraction and extension, one and two, Dao and vessels—all are relationships of this kind. The myriad things have backs and fronts, above and below, inner and outer; there is no thing that does not have its opposite. Where there is form there is shadow; where there is sound there is echo.

Cai Yuan (a Southern Song scholar of the Yijing) says: when the myriad things are generated, Yin is stillness and Yang is movement. The still often remains fixed in one place, while the moving constantly comes and goes. “Coming” refers to growth and belongs to Yang; “going” refers to decline—when Yang declines, Yin grows. In the midst of this waxing and waning, according to the differing proportions of Yin and Yang...

Cai Yuan (a Southern Song scholar of the Changes and son of Cai Yuanding) said: When the myriad things are generated, Yin is associated with stillness and Yang with movement. The still remains permanently at rest and does not move, while the moving comes and goes without cease. “Coming” is growth and increase and belongs to Yang; “going” is decline and decrease and belongs to Yin. As Yang wanes, Yin grows; between waning and growing, arising and resting, things constantly change according to the relative abundance of Yin and Yang—this is Yin-Yang in flowing operation.

After things have taken form, there are also such mutually opposed and co-standing things as Heaven and Earth, sun and moon, men and women, and male and female creatures; this is Yin-Yang in opposition. Flowing Yin-Yang takes Yang as its principal function, while in oppositional Yin-Yang the two sides, Yin and Yang, have equivalent functions. Both can be called “Yin-Yang,” but the “Yin” here is no longer the Yin of flowing operation. That is why minute things such as grasses, trees, insects, and fish can grow and breathe; their Yin too must rely on Yang to be completed. Only withered wood and dead ashes are purely Yin.

Cai Yuan also said: If Yin and Yang cannot stand side by side, then “the One” (the unified ground) has no way to manifest; if “the One” cannot manifest, the functions of the two cease as well. He also said: Because there is “the One,” there is unfathomable mystery; because there is “the Two,” there is inexhaustible transformation. What is called “the Two” is just the waxing and waning, advance and retreat, of Yin and Yang.

Zhu Xi (Zhu Zi) said: Zhang Zai’s (Hengqu) statement, “Withered wood and dead ashes are simply Yin,” is precisely this meaning.

It is also said: If the two cannot stand together, then the “one” has no way to manifest; if the “one” does not manifest, the function of the “two” also comes to rest. It is also said: It is precisely because there is the “one” that it is mysterious and unfathomable; it is precisely because there is the “two” that transformation and generation occur. What is called the “two” is the growth and decline, advance and retreat, of Yin-Yang.

Zhu Zi (Zhu Xi) said: This passage by Hengqu (Zhang Zai) is extremely precise. Without the “one,” Yin-Yang would have no way to grow and decline, nor any way to manifest; without the growth and decline of Yin-Yang, the “one” could not be seen either. Yang cannot establish itself alone; it must rely on Yin in order to stand. Yin also cannot manifest itself by itself; it must wait for Yang in order to manifest. Therefore Yang takes Yin as its foundation, and Yin takes Yang as its counterpart. Each movement and stillness, each going and coming, each cold and heat, are all functions of the alternation of Yin-Yang. It is not that some ruler deliberately arranges them, nor is there any principle of Yin-Yang standing side by side. Either Yin prevails over Yang or Yang prevails over Yin; this is so for the myriad things and at all times. Yin-Yang are in fact only a single “xiaoxi” (the tendency of waxing and waning, fullness and emptiness): advancing forward is called Yang, receding and diminishing is called Yin. When Yang retreats, it is precisely Yin being born; it is not that after Yang retreats another Yin emerges separately.

Yin-Yang can be viewed as joined into one body, and can also be divided into two. Broadly speaking, the arising of the myriad things is all the working of one Yang: when Yang increases by one part, the Yin below is born accordingly by one part; it is not that another Yin is sought to replace the place where Yang diminishes. Therefore the return of Yang Qi—that is, Fu (the Return hexagram, the rebirth of Yang Qi)—is a matter of what is original; the first birth of Yin Qi—that is, Gou (the sign of Yin Qi beginning to arise)—is an accidental encounter. Yin-Yang are the Yin-Yang within Yang, spoken of in terms of Qi; the firm and the yielding are the Yin-Yang within Yin, spoken of in terms of substance. Only when there is a concrete thing can one see which is firm and which is yielding.

Cheng Zi (Cheng Yi) said: Between the growth and decline of Yin-Yang there is no absolute boundary, but the general distinction between rising and falling, generating and killing cannot be dispensed with. He also said: The movement of Yin-Yang—rising and falling, filling and contracting—has never ceased. Yang is always full, Yin is always deficient. Once they become uneven, the myriad transformations arise from this. This is like a millstone turning: if its teeth are not even, all kinds of changes are produced.

Zhu Xi said: Yin and Yang are the root of Heaven and Earth’s creation and transformation; the two cannot lack each other. The waxing and waning of Yin and Yang follows a definite pattern, and human power can neither increase nor decrease it. Yet Yang governs birth and growth, while Yin governs withering and killing. It is like a millstone turning: its cogs cannot mesh perfectly evenly, and from this unevenness of Yin and Yang arise countless transformations.

Zhu Xi also said: Since Yin and Yang cannot do without each other, and their waxing and waning has a regular pattern, the categories to which they belong are divided into good and evil (shu is good, te is evil). Therefore, when the sage composed the Zhouyi, he clarified the principle that Yin and Yang cannot do without each other through concepts such as Qian’s vigor, Kun’s compliance, benevolence, and righteousness, without favoring either side. As for the alternation of Yin and Yang in waxing and waning, and the distinction between good and evil, the sage never failed to express the intent of “supporting Yang and suppressing Yin.” Viewed as the natural Qi of Heaven and Earth, neither Yin nor Yang can be missing; viewed as symbols of the noble person and the petty person, the sage never failed to wish that all under Heaven would become noble persons, with not a single petty person.

If we discuss it in terms of good and evil, the line in the Zhouyi, “Treading on frost, solid ice arrives,” means: as soon as Yin Qi first arises, it is like a bandit beginning to sprout. Yang is good and Yin is evil; the noble person and the petty person, Heavenly Principle and human desire, each wax and wane and win or lose against one another.

Zhu Xi also said: Yin is compared to the petty person; looking only at the surface, it seems not good. But if we speak by category, Yin is merely bad on the outside, while inwardly it is good.

Yichuan (Cheng Yi) said: The tenth month is called the “Yang month,” and people therefore suspect that this month has no Yang Qi; then by the same principle there should also be a Yin month, but the sage did not explicitly say so. Cai Jitong (Cai Yuanding) held that this was not so. Zhu Xi said: Yin cannot contend with Yang, just as Earth cannot match Heaven. The sage’s not speaking of Yin is precisely the Way of “assisting in transformation and bringing things to completion.” From suppressing Yin and exalting Yang, increasing good and eliminating evil, employing noble persons and retiring petty persons, this principle can be seen.

When Yang qi transforms into Yin qi, it is like a slow fading and concealing that leaves no trace; hence it is said, “Yang transforms into Yin.” When Yin qi gradually grows and displays clear traces, this is “Yin changes into Yang”; at this point the force of Yin goes from small to great and gradually becomes equal to Yang. Qi (vital energy), principle, and number all operate in accordance with this: sometimes the whole is used, sometimes only half, and thus differences arise.

Master Shao (Shao Yong, a Northern Song Neo-Confucian philosopher, known as Shao Kangjie) says: Yang is the function of Dao (the Way), and Yin is the substance of Dao. Yang and Yin are mutually substance and function: if Yang is taken as function, Yin is honored; if Yin is taken as function, Yang is honored.

“The Zhang view differs” is a subheading in the quotation, indicating that Zhang’s opinion below is different. (The original does not give Zhang’s name.) Zhang says: Yang governs movement and Yin governs stillness; Yang is honored and Yin is lowly; in the end Yin cannot be discussed on a par with Yang. But when it comes to changing with time and alternating transformation, Yang contains Yin and Yin contains Yang; the two take turns functioning.

When Yang qi is exhausted and becomes pure Yin, Kun (Earth, mother) predominates; when Yin qi is exhausted and becomes pure Yang, Qian (Heaven, father) predominates. Author’s note: The zi month (eleventh lunar month) and si month (fourth lunar month) are times of Yang flourishing, so Yang should be honored; the wu month (fifth lunar month) and hai month (tenth lunar month) are times of Yin flourishing, so Yin should be honored. In terms of status, Qian is honored and Kun is lowly; the two cannot be placed on the same level. This is like a family: although father and mother are both honored, the mother ultimately cannot be equally honored with the father, because “there cannot be two supreme objects of honor.”

Master Cai (name not given in the original; a Song dynasty Confucian) says: Without Yin, Yang cannot be completed; without Yang, Yin cannot be generated; Yin and Yang depend on each other and mutually function. However, with respect to Qi, Yang is function, and therefore Yang moves while Yin is still; with respect to form, Yin is function, and therefore Yin contracts and is hurried, while Yang expands and is slow.

Zhu Xi (Zhuzi) said: Taiji (the Supreme Ultimate), the primordial and undifferentiated source of the universe, divides into two, namely the two aspects of Yin-Yang; all things in the world can be encompassed by them. The Yijing (Book of Changes) cannot be separated from Yin-Yang; although its transformations are of a thousand kinds and ten thousand sorts, in the final analysis they are only these two. As Yin Qi flows, it becomes Yang; as Yang Qi flows, it becomes Yin. It is precisely the waxing and waning, advance and retreat of this one Qi (vital energy) that gives rise to the endless things between heaven and earth from ancient times to the present.

For example, day and night, cold and heat—one is horizontal, the other vertical. Viewed horizontally, the principle is the same; viewed vertically, the principle is also the same; in both horizontal and vertical directions the pattern can be seen. Viewed horizontally, left is Yang and right is Yin, front is Yang and back is Yin, the back is Yang and the face is Yin, advance is Yang and retreat is Yin, movement is Yang and stillness is Yin, southeast is Yang and northwest is Yin, spring and summer are Yang and autumn and winter are Yin—all follow the same principle. Viewed vertically, above is Yang and below is Yin, facing upward is Yang and facing downward is Yin, rising is Yang and descending is Yin, clear is Yang and turbid is Yin, and even the great is Yang and the small is Yin, the high is Yang and the low is Yin, the beautiful is Yang and the ugly is Yin. By analogy, all things are like this, and at all times it is so.

The more one analyzes, the finer it becomes; the more one investigates, the deeper it becomes. The essences of Yin and Yang are stored within each other; the Qi of Yin and Yang circulates and returns, coming in alternation. The essential nature of Yin and Yang extends vertically and horizontally, bends and straightens; no one can drive it, and no one can stop it. In heaven, Yin and Yang form the various celestial phenomena; on earth, they form the material properties of hardness and softness; in human beings, they form virtues such as benevolence and righteousness. There is nothing that is not transformed by Yin and Yang.

Shao Yong (Shaozi) said: Yin takes Yang as its root, and Yang takes Yin as its root; the two rely on each other and cannot be separated.

Interpretation

Yang Qi can gather and take form only with the help of Yin Qi; emptiness can stand only by relying on the solid. Yin Qi can manifest only when it awaits the activation of Yang Qi, and the solid also arises from emptiness.

Yin Qi becomes solid only when it reaches Kun; the twelve yang lines of Qian attach to it, and so it is said that yang takes yin as its body. Beginning with the birth of one yang from Kun, after thirty-one transformations it reaches the center where Yang Qi is abundant, and then spring and summer appear; at this point yin in turn takes yang as its function. Yang Qi becomes solid only when it reaches Qian; the twelve yin lines of Kun attach to it, and so it is said that yin takes yang as its body. Beginning with the birth of one yin from Qian (that is, Gou), after thirty-one transformations it reaches the time of stripping away, and then autumn and winter appear; at this point yang in turn takes yin as its function.

Thus in heaven, when yang moves it diminishes yin; on earth, when yin moves it diminishes yang.

(Note: Qian and Kun are the two trigrams of pure yang and pure yin among the Bagua (Eight Trigrams), symbolizing heaven and earth respectively. Fu, Gou, and Bo are hexagram names among the sixty-four hexagrams, representing respectively the first birth of one yang, the first birth of one yin, and five yin stripping away yang. The character “shen” in the original text should be a scribal error for “gou.”)

When Yin Qi reaches its extreme, Kun still retains twelve yang lines; these yang lines will ultimately become Qian, totaling thirty-six yang. When Yang Qi reaches its extreme, Qian still retains twelve yin lines; these yin lines will ultimately become Kun, totaling thirty-six yin.

The Yang Qi of Kun produces the three trigrams Zhen, Kan, and Gen, with a total of twenty yang; the Yin Qi of Qian produces the three trigrams Xun, Li, and Dui, with a total of twenty yin. One divides into three; this is the beginning of transformation and generation. Combined they make thirty-two, with yin and yang each obtaining half of the Bagua. The twenty-eight yang of the three trigrams Xun, Li, and Dui further produce the thirty-six yang of Qian; the twenty-eight yin of the three trigrams Zhen, Kan, and Gen further produce the thirty-six yin of Kun. The three combine into one; this is the ultimate of transformation and generation. Combined they make sixty-four, with yin and yang each obtaining the entirety of the Bagua.

Therefore, from the Beginning of Spring to the Beginning of Autumn, the yang numbers always sum to sixty-four and the yin numbers always to thirty-two; from the Beginning of Autumn to the Beginning of Spring, the yin numbers always sum to sixty-four and the yang numbers always to thirty-two. Four times eight gives thirty-two, the totality of four hexagrams; eight times eight gives sixty-four, the totality of eight hexagrams. In the diagram, the thirty-two yang on the left and the thirty-two yin on the right respectively represent the original substance of heaven and earth; combined they are the sixty-four hexagrams. This shows that when yang reaches its extreme there is no yin, and when yin reaches its extreme there is no yang.

Shaozi (Shao Yong) says: Li is located in the east and Kan in the west; they occupy the middle position between Yin and Yang and are the gateway of the spring and autumn equinoxes and of the equal division of day and night. (Li and Kan are two of the Bagua (Eight Trigrams): Li represents fire and Kan represents water. In the Former Heaven Bagua arrangement, Li is in the east and Kan in the west.)

He also says: Yang Qi encroaches on Yin, and Yin Qi encroaches on Yang; thus Kan and Li are precisely in the middle of the alternation between Yin and Yang.

This passage uses the waxing and waning of Yin-Yang to explain the directions of the Bagua: as Yin and Yang wax and wane, Li and Kan occupy the center and become the boundary between the two. The two Qi of Yin and Yang differentiate to form the bodies of heaven and earth, and when paired in combinations they yield the sixty-four hexagrams. When Yang Qi reaches its utmost flourishing, there is no longer any Yin; when Yin Qi reaches its utmost flourishing, there is no longer any Yang. Therefore Yin and Yang are always in the process of mutual transformation.

The qi of the Pre-Heaven (Xiantian) Sixty-Four Hexagrams is in every case positioned by pairing the Bagua (Eight Trigrams) with the Twelve Earthly Branches, taking zi, wu, mao, and you as the four cardinal positions. Qian faces wu, Kun faces zi, Li faces mao, and Kan faces you; hence it is said that “Qian and Kun establish the positions above and below, while Kan and Li are arrayed as the gates of left and right.” This is the proper positioning of the hexagrams. The hexagrams of the four corners are distributed among the branch positions chen, si, chou, yin, wei, shen, xu, and hai.

Shao Yong (Shaozi) also said: “Kan and Li are the boundaries of Yin-Yang. Li faces yin, and Kan faces shen.” In calculation, whatever exceeds the constant is the overflow of Yin-Yang. The general idea is that the numbers used in calculation do not go beyond the midpoint; yin, shen, si, and hai occupy the heads of the four meng, the first months of the four seasons. Qian faces si and is born at si; Kun faces hai and is born at hai. Li faces yin and is limited by half of the three yang; Kan faces shen and is limited by half of the three yin. Beyond the midpoint is to exceed the boundary and overflow. In addition, in the calendrical system there is “qi surplus and new-moon deficiency”—the surplus of solar terms and the deficiency of the new moon—and the remaining hexagrams each also have the number six. The Yi says: “When the sun reaches its zenith it declines westward; when the moon is full it wanes.” Shaozi takes the meaning of decline after culmination and places them one position back, so that mao, chen, and Dui; zi, chou, and Zhen; wu, wei, and Xun; and you, xu, and Gen are all in positions where the number falls short of the midpoint and does not exceed it. Thus half of Kan and Li corresponds to half of Yin-Yang. If Kun is taken as half of zi, then in calculation mao and you occupy the center. Therefore mao is the Sun Gate, located on the left, the place where the Great Yang is born; you is the Moon Gate, located on the right, the place where the Great Yin is born. As the gate of spring and autumn and of day and night: at the spring equinox the yang qi is centered, and at the autumnal equinox the yin qi is centered; hence it is said, “midday and midnight, day and night are equally divided,” and it is not like the long day at the summer solstice or the long night at the winter solstice. The rising and setting of the sun and moon enter and exit through this gate, and the life and death of the ten thousand things are also within this gate.

Mr. Weng says: Although Heaven and Earth begin at yin, when mao arrives and things open, the gate gradually opens; although they begin at xu, when you arrives and things close, the gate closes. A year is divided into spring, summer, autumn, and winter; a month into the first quarter, full moon, dark moon, and new moon; a day into dawn, day, dusk, and night. Although all these are the work of Kan and Li, the sun and moon, none of them operates without passing through the left and right of the gate.

Mr. Zhang says: Li faces mao and ends at shen, which is the division of day; Kan faces you and ends at yin, which is the division of night. He also says: Li faces yin, and by mao it is already light; Kan faces shen, and at si and you it is not yet dark. Heaven overcomes Earth and has a surplus fraction, so daytime is always five ke longer than night; this is Li-yang invading Kan-yin, the yang of day invading the yin of night.

The author Bao Yunlong comments: In terms of the great numbers, the beginning of opening things is after the solar term “Luandian” (probably an error for Jingzhe, Awakening of Insects), and the closing of things is before Lidong (Beginning of Winter); Yin and Yang invade each other. Therefore Qian is used completely, Kun is not used at all, and Kan and Li use only half. The two hexagrams Kan and Li are precisely the exchange of the middle lines of Qian and Kun. In the Pre-Heaven order, Kan and Li occupy mao and you and are taken as sun and moon; in the Post-Heaven (Houtian) order, they occupy zi and wu and are taken as water and fire. Only these four positions are the most subtle: yang within yin and yin within yang; these are all the profound intentions of Fuxi and King Wen. Other hexagrams, unless they lean toward one extreme, fall into disorder.

Zhu Xi said: The Five Phases combine with one another and are divided into Yin-Yang, and each phase can itself be further divided into Yin-Yang; within yin there is yin, within yin there is yang. These are all profound meanings from the time when Fuxi and King Wen drew the hexagrams. If the other hexagrams did not each have their own emphasis, they would become confused and disordered.

Zhu Xi also said: The Five Phases combine with one another and are divided into Yin-Yang, and each phase is itself also divided into Yin-Yang. Taking the four seasons, spring is lesser yang, summer is greater yang, autumn is lesser yin, and winter is greater yin. (The ancients divided yin and yang each into flourishing and declining phases: when yang Qi first arises it is lesser yang; when yang Qi is at its height it is greater yang; when yin Qi first arises it is lesser yin; when yin Qi is at its height it is greater yin.)

This is with respect to the succession of the four seasons. If we consider a year, the first six months belong to yang and the latter six to yin. Considering a day, daylight belongs to yang and night to yin; before noon belongs to yang and after noon to yin. Considering a month, before the full-moon day (the fifteenth) belongs to yang and after it to yin. Considering the sixty jiazi, jiazi belongs to yang and yichou to yin; viewed separately, jia is yang and zi is yin.

From antiquity to the present, yin and yang have only been coming and going, waxing and waning, bending and stretching, pushing each other onward, cycling without cease. What makes them so? Heaven and Earth are themselves one great yin-yang, and year, month, day, and hour all flow out from it.

Furthermore, spring is the beginning of yang Qi, summer the utmost of yang Qi; autumn is the beginning of yin Qi, winter the utmost of yin Qi. When yang Qi first rises it is mild, and when yang Qi reaches its utmost it is hot; when yin Qi first rises it is cool, and when yin Qi reaches its utmost it is cold. Mildness makes the myriad things grow, heat makes them flourish; coolness makes them contract, cold makes them wither and die. All this is caused by the transformations of the same Qi. Yang Qi goes from below upward, and so it advances and generates things; yin Qi goes from above downward, and so it retreats and completes things. Yang occupies the southeast and governs the generation of spring and summer; yin occupies the northwest and governs the austerity of autumn and winter. This is the general outline.

Shao Yong said: The Greater Yang is the sun, the Greater Yin is the moon, the Lesser Yang is the stars, and the Lesser Yin is the asterisms (stars and constellations). Their changes manifest as heat and cold, day and night, as well as rain, wind, dew, and thunder.

Question: How are thunder, wind and rain, snow and frost, clouds and dew formed? Zhang Zai replied: When yin Qi coalesces, yang Qi is trapped inside and cannot emerge, so it struggles and strikes out forcefully, forming thunder. When yang Qi is outside and cannot enter, it swirls and flows without cease, forming wind. The gathering and dispersing changes of the two Qi of yin and yang manifest as heat and cold, day and night, rain and wind, dew and thunder, and similar phenomena.

Another question: Where do thunder, wind and rain, snow and frost, clouds and dew come from? Zhang Zai answered: When yin Qi coalesces and yang Qi is trapped inside and cannot emerge, it struggles and strikes out to form thunder. When yang Qi is outside and cannot enter, it swirls ceaselessly and forms wind. When yin and yang gather, there are differences of far and near, substantial and insubstantial, so wind and thunder differ in size and in speed. When yin and yang disperse gently and harmoniously, they transform into snow and frost, rain and dew; when yin and yang disperse in disharmony, they transform into malevolent Qi (evil Qi) and dark haze (gloomy mist and haze). Yin Qi often disperses and receives the blending of yang Qi; then wind and rain are harmonious, and cold and heat are normal.

Zhang Zai also said: When yang Qi is dragged down by yin Qi and the two hold each other in stalemate, rain is formed. When yin Qi descends and transforms into yang, if it receives the assistance of yang Qi, it flutters upward and becomes clouds. Therefore cloud Qi spreading throughout the Great Void (the sky) is the result of yin Qi being driven by wind, gathered but not yet dispersed.

Someone else asked Shao Yong about the causes of rain, wind, clouds, and thunder. Shao Yong answered: When yang Qi receives yin Qi, it becomes rain; when yin Qi receives yang Qi, it becomes wind. When the firm (yang) receives the yielding (yin), it becomes clouds; when the yielding receives the firm, it becomes thunder. Without yin Qi there can be no rain; without yang Qi there can be no thunder. Rain belongs to the yielding yin and must wait for yang Qi to push it before it can arise; thunder belongs to the firm yang and must wait for yin Qi to cooperate before it can be set in motion.

Zhang Zai explained this: When yang Qi leads and yin Qi follows it in flowing, rain is formed; when yin Qi is obstructed by yang Qi, pressed close and then disperses, wind is formed. When firm Qi leads and yielding Qi follows it in rising vapor, clouds are formed; when yielding Qi accumulates and firm Qi stirs it, thunder is formed. Here there are differences of host and guest, prior and posterior, and of yin and yang in direct or reverse movement. Wind and rain descend from heaven, so they are spoken of as yin and yang; clouds and thunder rise from earth, so they are spoken of as yielding and firm. Heaven belongs to yang; without yin Qi it cannot produce rain. Earth belongs to yin; without yang Qi it cannot produce thunder. The yin-yielding form of rain originates in the yang within heavenly Qi; the firm-fierce sound of thunder comes from the yin within the substance of earth. Yin and yang thus make use of each other.

Someone else asked Cai Jiezhai about the images of the Bagua (Eight Trigrams). Cai Jiezhai answered: The yin aspect of the Kan trigram, when obtained by yang Qi, rises to become clouds; if the yang Qi is shallow, it becomes mist. The yang aspect of the Kan trigram, when burdened by yin Qi, descends to become rain; if the yin Qi is shallow, it becomes dew. When yin Qi is outside and yang Qi cannot emerge, thunder is formed; when the yin Qi is solid, it causes the earth to shake—this is the Zhen trigram. When yin Qi is inside and yang Qi cannot enter, wind is formed; when the yin Qi is solid, it becomes a violent wind—this is the Xun trigram. When yang Qi wraps around yin Qi, which is the Li trigram, it becomes graupel (small snow pellets); when yang Qi harmonizes yin Qi, it becomes snow—this is the interaction of Li and Kan. When yin Qi wraps around yang Qi, which is the Kan trigram, it becomes thunder; when yin Qi enters into yang, it becomes frost—this is the interaction of Kan and Li. The essential Qi of yin and yang mutually stores itself in the other’s dwelling: Li is the sun and Kan is the moon. When yin and yang strike each other, lightning is formed; when yin and yang lose their respective positions, ni (rainbow-like arcs such as the secondary rainbow) is formed.

The Qi between Heaven and Earth rises from Zi to Wu and descends from Wu to Zi. From Zi to Yin, the yang Qi in the earth rises to the ground; from Mao to Si, the Qi in the earth rises into the sky. From Wu to Shen, the Qi in the sky descends to the ground; from You to Hai, the Qi of the ground descends into the earth. (Zi, Yin, Mao, Si, Wu, Shen, You, and Hai are Earthly Branch terms; here they are used to indicate time periods, months, and directions.)

The author’s note says: Zi and Wu each contain six stages, and in the space between Heaven and Earth, the earth serves as the boundary. Yang Qi arises at Zi; passing from Zi to Yin, that is, from the eleventh lunar month to the first lunar month, the yang Qi rises to the ground. At this point the yang number is seven; it belongs to yang within yin and is called Lesser Yang. From Mao to Si, that is, from the second to the fourth month, the Qi in the earth rises into the sky. At this point the yang number is nine; it belongs to yang within yang and is called Old Yang.

Yin Qi arises at Wu; passing from Wu to Shen, that is, from the fifth to the seventh month, the yin Qi descends from the sky to the ground. At this point the yin number is eight; it belongs to yin within yang and is called Lesser Yin. From You to Hai, that is, from the eighth to the tenth month, the Qi of the ground descends into the earth. At this point the yin number is six; it belongs to yin within yin and is called Old Yin. The changes within a day and the changes within a year follow the same principle.

Broadly speaking, Yin, Shen, Si, and Hai lie precisely at the transitions between Qian and Kun and between Tai and Pi; the three yang and the three yin are all workings of the Dao of Heaven. The Zhen trigram is yang; when it develops to Qian, it becomes Old Yang. The Xun trigram is yin; when it develops to Kun, it becomes Old Yin. The Kan and Li trigrams, through the four yin and four yang within them, transform and give birth to the ten thousand things. The three yin and three yang correspond to Tai and Pi; the six yin and six yang correspond to Qian and Kun.

For example, the number of water is six, like the six petals of a snowflake. Six is not something made by humans; the generation and transformation of the ten thousand things are all like this, and from this one can see the wonder of Yin-Yang change.

It also says: the softest among things belonging to yin is water, and the hardest among things belonging to yang is fire; the somewhat softer is earth, and the somewhat harder is stone. They transform into one another and thereby produce beasts, birds, plants, and all kinds of colors, sounds, and smells.

Yang Qi engenders animals; Yin Qi engenders plants. Zhu Xi said: Yin and Yang are fundamentally one and the same principle; only because the myriad things undergo changes of decrease and increase, fullness and emptiness, do Yin and Yang become differentiated. Even in the most minute particulars, plants, trees, birds, and beasts all follow this principle. For example, the carp has thirty-six scales, which belong to the Yin number; the dragon’s back has eighty-one scales, which belong to the Yang number. The center of a turtle’s carapace is divided into five sections, corresponding to the Five Phases (Wuxing); four sections on each side correspond to the Bagua (Eight Trigrams); and twenty-four sections around the outer edge correspond to the twenty-four solar terms. Plants and trees, female and male, ginkgo, paulownia, paper mulberry, the male and female of species, hemp, and bamboo are all like this.

Zhang Zai said: Even dregs and ashes are not without instruction—that is, all things can manifest the Heavenly Principle (tianli). The author once used Shao Yong’s method to make calculations—Shao Yong was the author of the Huangji Jingshi shu, a work that deduces cosmic change through image and number (xiangshu)—and held that the myriad things can be divided into several categories: there are “flying-flying” things, namely the flying within the flying class; there are also flying-wood, flying-grass, and flying-walking things; there are walking-flying, walking-wood, walking-grass, and walking-walking things; further, there are wood-flying, wood-walking, wood-grass, and wood-wood things; and there are grass-flying, grass-walking, grass-wood, and grass-grass things. If one further divides them by Yin-Yang, then the flying belongs to Yang and the walking to Yin; the moving belongs to Yang and the plants to Yin; the horse belongs to Yang and the ox to Yin; horns belong to Yang and tails to Yin—none falls outside the scope of Yin-Yang.

Broadly speaking, color, sound, Qi, and flavor, as well as the eye, ear, nose, and mouth, are all possessed by the myriad things. It is only that some are partial and deficient, not complete, while others are complete yet limited—just as a person may have especially acute hearing; each has its own strength.

Cheng Yi (Chengzi) said: If one takes examples from the body, all kinds of principles are present. The breath of bending and stretching, coming and going, can be grasped simply by observing the breathing through the nose.

The nostrils are the Heavenly Gate; breath enters and exits through them. Zhu Zi said: In terms of qi, exhaling belongs to yang and is dispersing; inhaling belongs to yin and is gathering. It is like nasal breathing: at every moment there is one inhalation and one exhalation. When the exhalation is exhausted, inhalation arises; when the inhalation is exhausted, exhalation arises. Hu Wending Gong said: A person breathes 13,560 times in a day and a night. Zhang Zi of Hengqu said: Hun and po souls intermingle and produce dreams; the hundred sensations are confused and manifold. This is said in relation to waking life and is the day and night of the body. Climatically, spring generates and unfolds, and the myriad things interweave and mingle; this is said in relation to autumn and is the day and night of heaven and earth.

Zhu Zi took Taiji as nature and movement and rest, yin and yang, as mind. Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth correspond to benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trust. The human body, flesh, and blood are thus formed from the Five Phases. Therefore, when the eyes open, it is either yin or yang, either benevolence or righteousness. Advancing is yang; retreating is yin. Dealing with oneself is yin; responding to the myriad affairs is yang. He also said: Matters not yet settled belong to yang; matters already settled belong to yin.

Shao Zi said: Heaven has four seasons, earth has four directions, and humans have four limbs. The finger joints can be used to observe celestial patterns, and the palm lines can be used to examine the earth. The principles of heaven and earth are all complete within the palm. A commentator said: When the palm is upturned, it is rooted in heaven and draws close to what is above; when the sole is turned down, it relies on earth and draws close to what is below. Hands can turn over, but feet cannot. Yang can encompass yin, but yin cannot encompass yang. The back of the hand is high and the palm is low; the southeast has more water, and the northwest has more mountains. Water gathers to form streams and marshes; the lines in the palm resemble the forms of rivers.

From the wrist and elbow to the shoulder, and from the toes to the knee and hip, each is divided into three sections, corresponding to the twelve celestial stations above, that is, the twelve celestial regions. The four limbs correspond to heaven’s four seasons and earth’s four directions. The four fingers each have three joints, corresponding to the twelve earthly branches; together they correspond to the twenty-four solar terms. The thumb has three joints, two of which are yin and yang. What is hidden and unmanifest is Taiji, concealed within this great thing, the palm. The two hands together make thirty-two, corresponding to the heavenly gua; adding the hands and feet gives sixty-four in total, also including the earthly gua. The numbers of earth culminate at sixteen. One hand has sixteen numbers, but only fifteen manifest; the one hidden between them is Taiji.

Each of the four limbs has one vessel, corresponding to the four seasons. One vessel divides into three regions, corresponding to the three months of a season. One region divides into three hou, corresponding to the three ten-day periods of a month. This is precisely the manifestation of the numerical scheme of the Qian stalks. The Suwen says that the twelve solar terms all communicate with heaven’s qi, and that the twelve solar terms also correspond to the human twelve meridians, that is, the hands and feet each have three yin and three yang. Within the three hou of each meridian, there are further yin-yang changes of the deep, floating, and middle regions, along with distinctions of excess and deficiency.

Heaven and Earth are fundamentally one and the same primordial Qi (vital energy). When primordial Qi divides into Yin and Yang, they become two kinds of things. Yang governs benevolence; Yin governs righteousness. Yin and Yang each further divide into two: the first stirring of Yang Qi is Wood and spring, corresponding to benevolence; the flourishing of Yang Qi is Fire and summer, corresponding to propriety; the first stirring of Yin Qi is Metal and autumn, corresponding to righteousness; the extreme of Yin Qi is Water and winter, corresponding to wisdom. This is the principle of matching the Four Images—Wood, Fire, Metal, and Water—with benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom, and it accords with what the Shuogua of the Zhouyi calls “combining the Three Powers and doubling them” (Heaven, Earth, and Humanity, the Three Powers, each divide into Yin and Yang and are doubled in pairs).

Yin and Yang can be regarded as one Qi, as two Qi, and can also be viewed separately as occasion requires. In the large there are great closings and openings (he means closing, pi means opening) and waxing and waning (the changes of growth and decline, flourishing and decay); in the small there are also small closings and openings and waxing and waning. From as large as 129,600 years (one “yuan” as Shao Yong called it) down to a year, a month, a day, or a double-hour, all are like this. Although within them there are myriad transformations, each different, their principle remains always fixed and unchanging. Therefore the Xici of the Zhouyi says: “The alternation of one Yin and one Yang is called the Dao (the Way). What continues it is goodness; what completes it is nature.” Scholars should delve deeply into this.

At the end of volume four of Tianyuan Fawu there is a set of collation notes listing twelve textual variants. Most follow the Siku Quanshu edition in correcting erroneous characters from the original printing, such as changing "yong yang" to "dai yin," "zhi" (branch/support) to "zhi" (limb), and "fu" to "tian." The notes also mention that the character "yao" is suspected of being a superfluous interpolation, and they append one variant reading. These contents involve terms from Yijing cosmology such as yin-yang, one yang, substance and function, and Shaozi (Shao Yong); the changes are all at the level of characters and phrases.

At the beginning of volume five, the author is given as Luzhai Bao Yunlong Jingxiang, and the collator as Xugu Fang Hui Wanli. The two characters "yan wu" at the end do not form a coherent meaning and should be residual marks left from plate layout or transcription.

An Interpretation of Bao Yunlong's Tianyuan Fawei (Subtle Exposition of the Origins of Heaven)

Master Zheng cites the Baihu Tong: in the Five Phases, "phase" (xing) is the Qi of Heaven's movement. The character "water" is glossed as "level" or "standard": water dwells in the Yellow Springs beneath the earth (the deep underground source), nourishing the myriad things with balance and measure. "Fire" is glossed as "transformation": when Yang Qi holds sway, the myriad things change accordingly. "Metal" is glossed as "prohibition": in autumn Yin Qi contracts and turns austere and killing, and the myriad things are stored away accordingly. "Wood" is glossed as "contact": Yang Qi stirs and leaps, breaks through the soil, and grows. "Earth" is glossed as "to spit" or "to emit": Earth occupies the center and, through giving out and taking in, brings forth the myriad things.

That which generates and nurtures the myriad things is Wood and Fire, corresponding to the numbers seven and eight; that which brings the myriad things to form is Metal and Water, corresponding to the numbers nine and six. The Zhouyi says, "Jing and Qi become things; wandering souls become transformations." Commentators correlate seven and eight with "Jing and Qi," and nine and six with "wandering souls."

Zhu Xi says: beneath Taiji, the Five Phases are placed after Yin-Yang. The Five Constant Virtues (benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness) belong to "principle" (li), while Yin-Yang belongs to "Qi." If there were only principle and no Qi, principle would have no place to stand; therefore the Five Phases come after Yin-Yang. He also says: righteousness and wisdom belong to Yin; benevolence and propriety belong to Yang. Yin-Yang is Qi; the Five Phases are substance. Only with this substance, together with the Qi of the Five Phases, can the myriad things be produced.

Bao Yunlong says modestly: the Five Phases belong to postnatal things (after form has appeared). If one seeks to inquire into the prenatal state (before images and forms existed), that state of "not yet one" is Taiji. From Taiji, the "one" divides into "two," and thus Yin-Yang comes into being. Yin-Yang is the Qi of the Five Phases; the Five Phases are the substantial material of Yin-Yang.

The odd numbers one, three, five, seven, and nine are the Five Phases of Heaven; the even numbers two, four, six, eight, and ten are the Five Phases of Earth. Two and five combine to form ten; when Yin and Yang unite as one, they can generate the myriad things. Therefore it is said that "one" already contains the Five Phases, and within the one there is also two.

Among the Heavenly Stems, Jia is Yang Wood and Yi is Yin Wood; Bing is Yang Fire and Ding is Yin Fire; Wu is Yang Earth and Ji is Yin Earth; Geng is Yang Metal and Xin is Yin Metal; Ren is Yang Water and Gui is Yin Water—these are the correspondences of Heaven. Among the Earthly Branches, Hai and Zi belong to the north, Yin and Mao to the east, Si and Wu to the south, Shen and You to the west, and Chen, Xu, Chou, and Wei to the Yin-Yang center—these are the correspondences of Earth.

The spirit of Wood governs benevolence, the spirit of Metal governs righteousness, the spirit of Fire governs propriety, the spirit of Water governs wisdom, and the spirit of Earth governs trustworthiness; these are the correspondences of the five virtues in the human person.

The conclusion of this passage is: Heaven, Earth, and Humanity—the Three Powers—penetrate and unite as one body. As Qi operates, principle operates along with it.

Zhou Dunyi said: When Yang Qi moves and changes, Yin Qi joins with it, and thus the five elements—Water, Fire, Wood, Metal, and Earth—are produced; these are the Five Phases.

Zhu Xi explained: The material basis of the Five Phases is fully present on earth, while their Qi operates in the sky. If one speaks from the perspective of matter and of the order of their production, it is Water, Fire, Wood, Metal, and Earth; among these, Water and Wood belong to Yang, while Fire and Metal belong to Yin. If one speaks from the perspective of Qi and of the order of their operation, it is Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water; among these, Wood and Fire belong to Yang, while Metal and Water belong to Yin. The transformations of the Five Phases are inexhaustible, and nowhere is there not the Dao of Yin-Yang.

Zhu Xi also said: Water is Yin yet rooted in Yang; Fire is Yang yet rooted in Yin. The two interweave and combine to generate the ten thousand things. When it comes to their operation, Water generates Wood, Wood generates Fire, Fire generates Earth, Earth generates Metal, Metal generates Water, and Water again generates Wood; thus they cycle endlessly, flourishing in succession. Jia, yi, bing, ding, wu, ji, geng, xin, ren, and gui (the Heavenly Stems) all follow this same principle.

Huang Gan (style name Mianzhai) said: The Explanation of the Taiji Diagram says that “Water is the flourishing of Yin, Fire is the flourishing of Yang”; this refers to the order of the operation of the Five Phases, not the order of their generation. If one considers the month of Zi (the eleventh month of the Xia calendar, the month when Yang Qi first arises), then Water and Wood belong to Yang, and Fire and Metal belong to Yin; this is precisely the order of generation.

Zhu Xi also said: There is one point in the Taiji Diagram that is worthy of doubt. In the diagram, “Water is the flourishing of Yin” is placed on the right, and “Fire is the flourishing of Yang” is placed on the left; Metal is the beginning of Yin, so it is placed after Water; Wood is the beginning of Yang, so it is placed after Fire. This refers to the order of generation. But the following text says that “Water and Wood belong to Yang, Fire and Metal belong to Yin,” again treating Water as Yang and Fire as Yin, which is inconsistent. If we discuss the first arising of the ten thousand things, they are originally tender and weak: the first arising of Yang Qi is Water, which is still soft and weak, and only when Wood is generated does it become strong; the first arising of Yin Qi is Fire, which is still faint and weak, and only when Metal is generated does it become substantial. Seen in this way, Water is the beginning of Yang, and Wood is the culmination of Yang; Fire is the beginning of Yin, and Metal is the culmination of Yin.

Zhu Xi also said: In the generation of the Five Phases, each has its own nature.

As for their material endowment: Water is cold in nature, Fire is hot, Wood is mild, Metal is cold and hard, and Earth is central and harmonious. When people are born, they also differ according to the material endowment they receive. The final sentence, “and Metal is the flourishing of Yin,” continues the preceding discussion of the rise and decline of Yin and Yang; it means that Metal belongs to Yin, and Yin Qi reaches its fullest here.

It is also said: in the generation of the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water), each has its own nature.

In terms of Qi (vital energy) and material constitution, water is cold by nature, fire is hot, wood is warm and mild, metal is hard, and earth is central and harmonizing. Human birth also receives different Qi constitutions, and thus there are differences in intelligence and foolishness, strength and weakness. But if we trace back to the root, each person has their own original nature. The so-called undifferentiated Taiji (Supreme Ultimate)—the whole before the cosmos divided—is completely contained within each and every thing. Humans alone receive the most refined and outstanding portion of the Five Phases, and therefore the mind is the most spiritually luminous.

Cheng Yi (Chengzi) says: Kan is water (one of the Bagua, or Eight Trigrams, representing water). One yang first arises in its middle; this is what first appears among the myriad things.

Heaven One generates water (Tianyi sheng shui), and therefore water occupies the first place among the Five Phases. (Tianyi refers to the heavenly number one in the Hetu, corresponding to the water of the north and being the beginning of yang.) When the myriad things have just come into being, their bodily forms all take on a water-like appearance. Water is one root of the myriad things; all are rooted in the creation and transformation of Tianyi. Just as when metal and stone first form in ore, they are also a milky liquid.

The Qi of one yang corresponds to the zi hour in a day (midnight), the eleventh month in a year (the month of the winter solstice); the winter solstice begins at the zi position. Zi is the northern water position. Water is generated by yang Qi, yet it congeals and takes form in yin time. When yang Qi first stirs, generation occurs; when Qi gathers and comes to rest, it becomes water; breathe on it, and water vapor becomes visible. At the initial generation of water, its number is one, hence it is subtle; when water is formed, its number is six.

Someone asked: Is there a concrete example to verify that Heaven One generates water? The answer: the human body itself provides verification. After eating and drinking, when the mind stirs, saliva and fluids are generated; in grief, when the mind stirs, tears are generated; in shame, when the mind stirs, sweat is generated; when desire stirs the mind, Jing (essence) is generated. When the mind is utterly still and unmoved, it is Taiji; once this mind moves, Taiji moves and generates yang. Therefore, when the mind moves and water is generated, this can serve as proof that Heaven One generates water. Shen (spirit) is the master of Qi; when Shen moves, Qi follows and moves; Qi is the mother of water; when Qi gathers, water is generated.

Zhu Xi said: In the order of the Five Phases, Wood is the beginning, Water is the end, and Earth occupies the middle. If we look at the numbers in the Hetu and Luoshu (tradition holds that the Hetu was a diagram borne out by a dragon-horse in Fuxi’s time, and the Luoshu a diagram borne out by a divine turtle in Yu the Great’s time; both correlate numbers with the directions of the Five Phases), water is one, wood is three, and earth is five. These three are all odd numbers and belong to Yang; they are the fundamental numbers that generate the myriad things and cannot be changed. Therefore the Five Phases fundamentally consist in mutual alternation and cyclical flow, and this becomes the general framework of the Five Phases.

Bao Yunlong further said: Spring begins with Wood in the east (the original text’s “Shufang” means “east”), and winter ends with Water in the north; Earth in the center harmonizes and governs the movement. These three—beginning, middle, and end—are the order in which the Five Phases operate. The Five Phases take alternation and flow as their root, and this is precisely the general framework of the Five Phases.

Among the Five Phases, in the seasonal order spring begins with Wood in the east, and winter ends with Water in the north; Earth at the center harmonizes them. This is the arrangement of the Five Phases in time: it begins with Wood, ends with Water, and has Earth at the center. As for the order in which the Five Phases are generated, all of them issue from Heaven.

Water can moisten the myriad things and is generated by Heaven-One (the first generative number spoken of in the Yizhuan, that is, “Heaven One generates Water”). The nature of Water is steadfast and quiet; outwardly soft and still, inwardly firm and powerful, it lies hidden in winter. Wood can warm and nurture the myriad things and is generated by Heaven-Three. Wood has a generative nature; its vitality is abundant and hard to resist, and it spreads and unfolds smoothly in spring. Earth can bear the myriad things and is generated by Heaven-Five. Earth is the mother body that contains and nurtures the myriad things; upright and square, generous and centered, it governs the four directions. Water, Wood, and Earth are all generated by Heaven, and they also generate ceaselessly; each occupies its position and cannot be changed. From this one can see Heaven’s fondness for life: the source is already correct, and the nature is also good—all are naturally generated.

Fire and Metal are different. They are the two phases among the Five Phases that assist one another, bring about transformation, and are indispensable even for a single day, yet they are generated by Earth. Fire is generated by Earth-Two; its nature is hot and upward, and it either returns from being to nonbeing or arises from nonbeing into being, so its position may be in the south or in the west. Metal is generated by Earth-Four; its nature can comply and transform—square can become round, and round can become square—so its position may be in the west or in the south. Therefore, in the Hetu and Luoshu there is the theory that the positions of Fire and Metal interchange (the Hetu and Luoshu are two diagrams in ancient legend, used to represent the numbers and directions of Heaven and Earth), unlike Water, Wood, and Earth, which each have a fixed position.

Nevertheless, within the fixed order, the Five Phases generate ceaselessly and penetrate one another, so although the order is fixed, the movement of qi has never failed to be interconnected. Thus Zhu Xi said: “(The Five Phases) take alternation as primary and serve as the guideline of the Five Phases.” He also said: “Wood can encompass the Five Phases because it flows through and penetrates them, being present everywhere.”

Rao Shuangfeng said: The movement of the Qi (vital energy) of Heaven takes “generation” as its root. This is why Zhu Xi regarded spring as the head of the four seasons, running through summer, autumn, and winter. In the human person, the heart of compassion (the feeling of sympathy and pity) is the head of the Four Beginnings (siduan—the sprouts of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom as described by Mencius), running through the hearts of shame and dislike, deference and compliance, and right and wrong. This is because spring can generate and nourish the myriad things, and the heart of compassion can encompass all kinds of good conduct.

Master An said: When the character for “one” is placed below the character for “wood,” it forms the character for “root,” referring to returning to the root and recovering one’s mandate (guigen fuming), in accord with the Five Phases (wuxing); when “one” is placed above “wood,” it forms the character for “tip” or “end,” referring to branches and leaves spreading out and dispersing among the myriad things. From this one can know the myriad through the one. Heaven’s One generates Water, and advancing, it transforms into Wood—all by the same principle.

He also said: Water contains the Five Phases because, when the Five Phases return to the root and recover their mandate, they are all stored within water. Without water, Wood withers, Fire becomes dry, and Metal sinks into silence. When water encompasses the Five Phases, Qi flows through the four seasons and animates the myriad things. After its work is accomplished, water retreats and hides within the two Yin, lying concealed at the bottom of the Yellow Springs (deep underground), and so it can return to the root and recover its mandate. When it comes forth again, this is “Originating and Penetrating” (yuan er heng—the virtue of growth and unimpeded flow spoken of in the Qian hexagram of the Zhouyi), like thunder stirring within the realm and rain falling over the world. In the human person, it is stored as the Jing (essence) of the kidneys, and all the hundred bones of the body receive its moistening.

He also said: Earth is the lodging of Water and Fire and that on which Metal and Wood rely. It dwells in the center and corresponds to the four directions, bearing the myriad kinds as a single body.

Rao Shuangfeng said: Material things receive their endowment from Earth and take nurturing as their primary function. Therefore Earth occupies the center of the Five Phases and governs Water, Fire, Wood, and Metal. In the human person, the spleen occupies the center of the five viscera and governs the heart, liver, lungs, and kidneys. This is because Earth can nurture the myriad things, and the spleen can nurture the physical body. The two characters for “summer season” at the end connect here and continue the preceding idea of matching the Five Phases with the four seasons.

First Paragraph

Rao of Shuangfeng (Rao Lu, a Southern Song Neo-Confucian known by this name because he lived at Shuangfeng) held that Earth’s nature lies in supporting and nourishing the myriad things, so “nourishing” is its fundamental function. Therefore, among the Five Phases (Wuxing: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water), Earth occupies the center and governs Water, Fire, Wood, and Metal. Applied to the human body, the spleen occupies the center of the five viscera and governs the heart, liver, lungs, and kidneys, precisely because the spleen can nourish every part of the body, corresponding to Earth’s ability to nourish the myriad things.

In the last month of summer (the Wei month, the sixth lunar month), Earth Qi (vital energy) is at its strongest, and so it can generate the Metal of autumn. Earth also “lodges its sovereignty” in the four seasons, that is, it attaches itself to the end of each season, for eighteen days per season, totaling seventy-two days. The remaining four phases each govern one season and also each receive seventy-two days; together they make exactly three hundred sixty days.

Mr. Weng (whose biographical details are unknown) said: If the Five Phases were separated from Earth, they could not each take form. Adding five to one gives six, completing Water; adding five to two gives seven, completing Fire; adding five to three gives eight, completing Wood; adding five to four gives nine, completing Metal; adding five to five gives ten, completing Earth. Five occupies the center; therefore, when one through five are each combined with five, one respectively obtains Water, Fire, Wood, Metal, and Earth—that is, six, seven, eight, nine, and ten.

Second Paragraph

Another explanation says: Heaven and Earth are fixed forms established by the mutual opposition of Yin-Yang; the arrangement from one to ten is the order of Yin-Yang movement. If there is only opposition and no movement, things cannot change; if there is only movement and no opposition, things cannot operate by themselves. It is precisely through ceaseless circulation between Heaven and Earth that the Five Phases exert their functions.

Specifically, one and six combine and transform into Water; two and seven combine into Fire; three and eight combine into Wood; four and nine combine into Metal; five, however, can move by itself and need not be paired with another number. In this way the Five Phases circulate between Heaven and Earth, each managing its own function.

One changes into six and transforms to form Water; two changes into seven and transforms to form Fire; three changes into eight and transforms to form Wood; four changes into nine and transforms to form Metal; five changes into ten and transforms to form Earth. (These are the Hetu’s numbers of generation and completion: one and six both belong to Water of the north; two and seven to Fire of the south; three and eight to Wood of the east; four and nine to Metal of the west; five and ten to Earth of the center.) Heaven and Earth are the greatest pair of opposites. The remaining Five Phases also each form pairs: Fire and Water are opposed; Metal and Wood are opposed. In opposition they become two, each with a fixed bodily form—this is the Yi (Changes) in the sense of “exchange” (jiaoyi). As for “phase” (xing), it means flowing and penetrating; flowing and penetrating, they return to a single body—this is the Yi in the sense of “transformation” (bianyi).

The order of mutual generation among the Five Phases is: Water generates Wood, Wood generates Fire, Fire generates Earth, Earth generates Metal, and Metal in turn generates Water. The two that stand in opposition each obtain only half a body; those that circulate each possess the whole body. Opposition (duidai) and circulation (liuxing) each have their own order.

In terms of the one Qi, when the breath reaches its extreme it disperses; when dispersal reaches its extreme, it generates breath again. In terms of the two Qi of Yin-Yang, when Yang reaches its extreme it produces Yin; when Yin reaches its extreme it produces Yang.

In terms of the four seasons, the mutual overcoming relation is that of husband and wife, and the mutual generation relation is that of mother and child. When a husband takes a wife, the husband’s blood and Qi are gradually depleted, and so summer transforms into autumn; when a mother gives birth to a child, the child’s blood and Qi gradually become abundant, and so winter transforms into spring.

Furthermore, in the correspondences of the Five Phases: the two Heavenly Stems Wu and Ji belong to Earth, corresponding to the ten Heavenly Stems (Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, Wu, Ji, Geng, Xin, Ren, Gui); the four Earthly Branches Chen, Xu, Chou, and Wei belong to Earth, corresponding to the twelve Earthly Branches; Earth occupies the center, interspersed among the four directions. The Kun trigram is located in the southwest, between Li (the south, which belongs to Fire) and Dui (the west, which belongs to Metal), just as in the sequential relation of Fire generating Earth and Earth generating Metal. (Citing the view of Master Cheng.)

Zhu Xi said: When yang Qi stirs and yin Qi joins with it, water and fire are produced first. Water and fire both belong to Qi; they flow and flicker, their substance is still very tenuous and ethereal, and their form is not yet fixed. Next metal and wood are produced, and they then have definite bodily form. In the transformation of Heaven and Earth that gives birth to the myriad things, the light and clear is produced first, and the heavy and turbid afterward. Among the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water), water and fire are the lightest and clearest, metal and wood come next, and earth is the heaviest and most turbid.

Zhang Zai (Zhang Hengqu, a Northern Song Neo-Confucian scholar) says: Water and Fire are both manifestations of Qi. Thus Fire flames upward and Water moistens downward; the two correspond to the ascent and descent of Yin-Yang, and Earth cannot restrain them. A substance such as Wood, when soaked by Water, can generate Fire, yet Wood is not separate from Water and Fire. This shows that the floating, flowering Qi of Earth is precisely present at the meeting point of Water and Fire.

Zhu Xi (Zhu Zi, a Southern Song Neo-Confucian scholar) says: The Zhengmeng (written by Zhang Zai) only says that the substance of Metal and Wood belongs to Earth, while Water and Fire do not belong to Earth. Someone asked: Fire relies on Water and is generated, so does it also belong to Earth? Zhu Xi replied: Fire is something in the void. He asked again: Is it only warm Qi that is Fire? The answer: Yes. The empty darkness within Fire is the Yin within the Li trigram (one of the Bagua, representing Fire); the empty brightness within Water is the Yang within the Kan trigram (one of the Bagua, representing Water). There is black within Fire: this is Yang containing Yin. Water is black outside and bright within: this is Yin containing Yang. Therefore, to call Water Yang and Fire Yin is also plausible.

Zhang Zai also says: When Yang sinks into Yin, it becomes Water; when Yang attaches to Yin, it becomes Fire. Wood and Metal are the “flower and fruit” produced by Earth, that is, Earth’s essence and substance, and their natures are mixed with the natures of Water and Fire. Therefore, when Wood is soaked by Water it generates Fire, and Wood is not separate from Fire; this precisely shows that the floating flowering of Earth resides at the junction of Water and Fire. Metal obtains the essence of Fire and thus comes from the dry fierceness of Earth; it obtains the essence of Water and thus comes from the moistening of Water. Water and Fire sustain each other without harming each other; Metal, though smelted, is not consumed. This shows that the refined solidity of Earth exists between Water and Fire.

Master Huang of Mianzhai (Huang Gan, a disciple of Zhu Xi) says: This can be verified by the initial birth of humans and the myriad things. “Heaven first generates Water” (the numbers of generation and completion in the Hetu [Yellow River Diagram], referring to the primordial order of Heaven and Earth), and Water then has bodily form. Humans form their bodies through the union of Jing (essence) and blood, which is likewise like Water within the creative transformations (the natural generation and nurturing of Heaven and Earth). “Earth second generates Fire,” and Fire then has Qi. Once humans possess this bodily form, they can emit sound. Sound is emitted by Qi, which is likewise like Fire within the creative transformations. Water belongs to Yin and Fire to Yang; therefore bodily appearance belongs to Yin and speech to Yang. Although Water and Fire have form and substance, they are generated and transformed by the primal Qi of creation.

Although water and fire already possess form and substance, they still stand at the earliest stage of creation—the generation of the myriad things by Heaven and Earth—so their nature remains light and clear. Water can only moisten, while fire can only dry and heat form. Only when “Heaven Three generates wood, Earth Four generates metal” do form and substance become fully complete, just as when a person’s ears and eyes are complete, the human form is considered fully established. Wood belongs to Yang, metal belongs to Yin; this is also like sight belonging to Yang and hearing belonging to Yin.

At the beginning of creation, Heaven One generates water, Heaven Three generates wood; Earth Two generates fire, Earth Four generates metal. (The ancients called one through ten the “numbers of generation and completion”: odd numbers belong to Heaven, even numbers belong to Earth.) Heaven receives an odd number and generates water; the culminating number of one is three, hence three generates wood. Earth receives an even number and generates fire; the culminating number of two is four, hence four generates metal.

Six completes water, and its shape is like the Kan trigram (☵, one Yang in the center, symbolizing water); this is the result of “Heaven One generates water,” with Earth Six enclosing it on the outside. With less Yang and more Yin, water then begins to become abundant and take form. Seven completes fire, and its shape is like the Li trigram (☲, one Yin in the center, symbolizing fire); this is the result of “Earth Two generates fire,” with Heaven Seven enclosing it on the outside. With less Yin and more Yang, fire then begins to become abundant and take form.

Could one say that when One generates water, water has not yet taken form, and when Two generates fire, fire has not yet taken form, and that only after all Five Phases are present do Six and Seven bring water and fire to completion? If so, there would be no creation at all. The Qi of water and fire are respectively moist and dry: when water’s moisture reaches its utmost, wood is generated; when fire’s dryness reaches its utmost, metal is generated.

The initial generation of humans and the myriad things is also formed by the convergence of Jing (essence) and Qi (vital energy). Jing is moist and Qi is dry; Jing sinks and Qi floats. Therefore Jing manifests as countenance, and Qi manifests as speech. When Jing is abundant, it is moisture at its utmost, so it corresponds to the eyes, the liver, and sight; when Qi is abundant, it is dryness at its utmost, so it corresponds to metal, the lungs, and hearing. Broadly speaking, countenance and sight belong to Jing, so when Jing declines, the eyes grow dim; speech and hearing belong to Qi, so when Qi is blocked, the ears cannot hear. This principle is very clear and easy to see. Physicians assign the ear to the kidney and the lung to metal, which differs from the correspondence given here. Master Liu of Yunzhuang said: “Yin and Yang are each other’s root.”

Water occupies the Zi position, the position of utmost Yin, yet Yang Qi (vital energy) has already sprouted within the Zi position. Fire occupies the Wu position, the position of utmost Yang, yet Yin Qi has already sprouted within the Wu position. Wood is generated by Heaven Three (Heaven Three is the heavenly number three and belongs to Yang), so its movement in spring is also Yang. Metal is generated by Earth Four (Earth Four is the earthly number four and belongs to Yin), so its movement in autumn is also Yin. (“Heaven Three generates Wood, Earth Four generates Metal” comes from the generation numbers of the Hetu (Yellow River Chart); the ancients took odd numbers as Heaven and even numbers as Earth.)

The above passage is repeated once in the original; here it is interpreted in combined form.

Water, Fire, Wood, and Metal cannot simply be correlated with one another through Yin-Yang, because Water and Fire still belong to the level of Qi. At the initial union of Yin and Yang, Qi inherently possesses the wondrous function of each serving as the other’s root. Wood is the burgeoning of Yang Qi, Metal is the contraction of Yin Qi; the two each have a fixed nature. This is why Wood and Metal differ from Water and Fire.

Zhu Xi (Zhuzi) said: The order of the five tones as stated in the Record of Music is Earth, Metal, Wood, Water, Fire; the order of the Five Phases as stated in the “Hong Fan” chapter of the Book of Documents is Water, Fire, Wood, Metal, Earth.

The Record of Music distinguishes the five tones and correlates them with ten, nine, eight, seven, and six. The Hong Fan divides the four directions and correlates the Five Phases with one, two, three, four, and five. He also said: The Hong Fan speaks only of one through five and does not extend to six through ten; the Monthly Ordinances speaks of eight, seven, five, nine, and six, but does not extend to one through four and ten; the Taixuan lists three, eight, four, nine, two, seven, one, six, five, five, yet does not mention ten.

The Hong Fan takes Water, Fire, Wood, Metal, Earth as its order; the order transmitted by Yu the Great is Water, Fire, Metal, Wood, Earth; Liu Xiang and Ban Gu take Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water as their order; Fan Ye, historian of the Liu-Song of the Southern Dynasties, takes Wood, Metal, Fire, Earth, Water as his order.

He also said: The “substance” of the Five Phases is present on earth, while their “Qi” circulates in heaven.

Cai Jiufeng (Cai Yuanding, sobriquet Jiufeng, a Southern Song Neo-Confucian) said: When the Five Phases circulate and spread in heaven throughout the four seasons, they are called the Five Phases.

He also said: The “substance” of the Five Phases is present on earth, while their “Qi” circulates in heaven.

The Five Phases (Wuxing) circulate in heaven through the four seasons; when they descend to earth, they become the five materials that people take and use.

Kong Yingda (Master Kong) of the Tang dynasty said that the Five Phases are arranged in an order from the hidden and subtle to the manifest: water is the most subtle and is placed first; fire gradually becomes manifest and is placed second; wood has a visible form and is placed third; metal is solid and firm and is placed fourth; earth is thick, heavy, broad, and great and is placed fifth. The following inquiry follows the “Hong Fan” chapter of the Book of Documents. Cai Jiufeng (Cai Chen, sobriquet Jiufeng, a disciple of Zhu Xi and author of the Shujizhuan, Collected Commentaries on the Book of Documents) said: “Soaking downward,” “flaming upward,” “bending and straightening,” and “following and changing” describe the natures of the Five Phases; “sowing and reaping” describes their virtue. Water is moist and flows downward; fire is hot and flames upward; wood bends and can also straighten; metal can follow and can also change; earth encompasses the four directions and possesses the virtue of nurturing the myriad things. Therefore, among the Five Phases the most essential is “sowing and reaping,” and this is where the principle that the common people regard food and drink as heaven lies.

Master Feng explained that jia refers to the seedlings that grow after sowing, while se refers to the ears of grain that are harvested. Cai’s Commentary speaks of both jia and se in order to express unceasing generation and endless cyclical recurrence.

It further says that salty, bitter, sour, pungent, and sweet are the five flavors of the Five Phases. The Five Phases originally possess sound, color, Qi (vital energy), and flavor; here only flavor is mentioned because flavor is most intimately connected with the common people’s daily food and drink. Among the five flavors, the five grains are again the mainstay.

Reckoned according to the “Yueling” (Monthly Ordinances) chapter of the Book of Rites, the correspondences between the five grains and the Five Phases are: wheat belongs to Wood, broomcorn millet to Fire, millet to Earth, hemp to Metal, and beans to Water. Among the five domestic animals, the chicken belongs to Wood, the sheep to Fire, the ox to Earth, the dog to Metal, and the pig to Water. Among the five fruits, the plum belongs to Wood, the apricot to Fire, the jujube to Earth, the peach to Metal, and the chestnut to Water. All these are concrete things that grow from the earth; they are closely bound up with the nourishment of the common people and cannot be dispensed with for a single day. Their Qi manifests in heaven as the Five Phases, and the substance they condense into on earth is the five materials.

Heaven has the sun, and therefore earth has fire; heaven has the moon, and therefore earth has water; heaven has rain, clearing, cold, warmth, and wind, and therefore earth has water, fire, wood, metal, and earth. The movements within heaven are reflected on earth, and the myriad things on earth respond in accord with heaven; filling the cosmos, there is nothing that is not the Five Phases. How much more is this so for human beings, who are born by receiving the most refined Qi among the Five Phases—who could sustain life without relying on the Five Phases?

Shao Yong (courtesy name Yaofu, known as Shaozi) said: Fire is born from non-being, water from being. Fire is dark within and bright without, and so in the Li trigram (which represents fire) the yang line is on the outside. The function of fire lies in manifesting outwardly. Water is dark without and bright within, and so in the Kan trigram (which represents water) the yang line is on the inside. The function of water lies in storing inwardly.

Fire is chiefly characterized by outward function and corresponds to the eyes; water is chiefly characterized by inward function and corresponds to the ears. The inner is substance and the outer is function; for water, the outer is substance and the inner is function. Yang is precisely function.

Zhu Xi (Zhuzi) said: Yin takes Yang as its fundamental substance.

When the function of fire is outward, the eyes correspond to water; when its function is inward, the ears correspond to fire. The internal is substance; the external is function. Water takes the external as substance and the internal as function. Yang pertains to function.

Zhu Xi (Master Zhu) said: Yin takes Yang as its substance, and Yang takes Yin as its substance. Water is bright within and dark without; fire is dark within and bright without. The essences of Yin and Yang are concealed each within the other.

Master Zhen of Xishan (Zhen Dexiu) said: “The sun and fire are outer radiance; metal and water are inner radiance.” This statement is based on the Huainanzi. What is clearer and brighter is the inner radiance of metal and water; what is more turbid is the outer radiance of the sun and fire. Others say: The sun and fire send their light outward, and so the sun can be eclipsed and fire can be extinguished; metal and water hide their light within, and so they can endure without exhaustion. Accordingly, to withdraw one’s gaze, turn one’s hearing back, and guard within, hiding the Shen (spirit) and not letting it show outwardly—this principle is very subtle and can be used to nourish life. But it has no direct bearing on the way of governing the world; how could it compare with our Confucian teaching? Confucianism holds that in times of brightness one should be bright and advancing, like the Li and Jin hexagrams; in times of darkness one should conceal one’s brilliance and nurture one’s obscurity, like the Mingyi hexagram.

It is also said: The outer light of the sun and fire can be directly emitted, and the things to which it responds are inexhaustible; the inner light of metal and water can be withdrawn and received, and each, according to its own endowment, obtains the corresponding Shen and form. This is probably the way of Heaven and Earth.

Master Zhang said: Fire relies on wood; wood generates water; Shen (spirit) relies on Qi (vital energy) and generates Jing (essence). In the pre-heaven condition, Shen generates Jing, which is one generating two; in the post-heaven condition, Jing gathers Shen, which is two generating one.

I once extended this idea: Water pertains to Yin but takes Yang as its root, and therefore is Lesser Yang; from spring to summer it wanes. Fire pertains to Yang but takes Yin as its root, and therefore is Lesser Yin; from autumn to winter it wanes. Qian and Kun each contain the substance of Kan and Li: Qian takes its nine in the second line and exchanges it with Kun, thereby forming Kan; the one Yang born in the middle of Kan is True Water, the true Yang within Yin. Kun takes its six in the second line and exchanges it with Qian, thereby forming Li; the one Yin born in the middle of Li is True Fire, the true Yin within Yang. Of the two, the many form one side and the few form the other; Kan is one Yang in the center, Li is one Yin in the center. The few is taken as master, the many as function. Because the few is master, Kan belongs to winter; in the years, months, days, and hours it generates, from Zi to Si, the six time-branches are all Yang. Because the many is function, Li belongs to summer; in the years, months, days, and hours it generates, from Wu to Hai, the six time-branches are all Yin. Between Heaven and Earth, whether in coming and going or in transformation, there is nothing that is not the working of water and fire. Therefore Qian and Kun entrust their correct nature to Kan and Li, and Kan and Li are precisely the function of Qian and Kun.

It is also said that clouds have four different natures—water, fire, earth, and stone—and that the categories of the earth are likewise so.

Master Zhang said: Water, fire, earth, and stone are the substance of the earth and belong to Yin. Between heaven and earth, wherever one goes, one cannot do without the function of water and fire. Therefore Qian and Kun entrust their nature to Kan and Li; Kan and Li are the functions of Qian and Kun. (Qian and Kun are the two trigrams in the Yi that represent heaven and earth; Kan is water and Li is fire.)

Master Zhang also said: Water, fire, earth, and stone are the substance of the earth, and all things possess this substance of the earth. The Master said: Rain from water clouds is soaking rain; from fire clouds, dew; from earth clouds, meng rain (fine drizzle); from stone clouds, hail. Water wind is cool, fire wind hot, earth wind mild, and stone wind piercingly cold. Water clouds are black, fire clouds red, earth clouds yellow, and stone clouds white. Water thunder is deep, dark, and distant; fire thunder is fierce; earth thunder rolls continuously; stone thunder is a crashing peal. Thus a single entity can penetrate all Four Images. Heaven has sun, moon, stars, and constellations; the earthly realm has water, fire, earth, and stone. The human head has eyes, ears, mouth, and nose; the body has bones, flesh, blood, and marrow. Marrow belongs to fire, blood to water, flesh to earth, and bones to stone—these are the Four Images of animals. Body fluids belong to water, essence to fire, branches and trunks to earth, and roots to stone—these are the Four Images of plants. Human breaths such as chui (blowing), pen (spraying), xu (sighing), he (ha-ing), and hu (exhaling) correspond to heaven’s wind, rain, clouds, mist, and thunder.

In the Yi there is the teaching of yang zhen and yin zhen. Zhu Hanshang (Zhu Zhen) said: The Qian trigram is activated in the eleventh month (the Zi month), moves to the left, and takes six in yang periods; yin zhen is activated in the sixth month (the Wei month), moves to the right, and takes six in yin periods. (Zhen refers to the season when the trigram qi is activated; “leftward movement” and “rightward movement” refer to the direction of movement.)

Yang zhen takes the yang trigrams: Qian gives birth to three yang sons, namely Zhen, Kan, and Gen. Yin zhen takes the yin trigrams and corresponds to yin images such as rain, clouds, mist, and thunder.

Yang is governed by the Yang trigrams, and Yin by the Yin trigrams. Qian is pure Yang and gives birth to the three Yang-trigram sons: Zhen, Kan, and Gen; Kun is pure Yin and gives birth to the three Yin-trigram daughters: Xun, Li, and Dui.

The single Yang of the Qian trigram is born at the Zi position (north, the eleventh month). It begins at the Kan position and, when it reaches the Li position (south, the Wu position), the Qi of the Qian trigram comes to an end. The single Yin of the Kun trigram is born at the Wu position, but Yin does not dare to occupy the proper position of Wu, so it retreats by one earthly branch and takes the Wei position as its proper position; when it reaches the Kan position, the Qi of the Kun trigram comes to an end.

Yang Qi moves from the left and is used to determine the six Yang branches; Yin Qi moves from the right and, alternating, is used to determine the six Yin branches. The two together complete the course of a year in sequence. Only after the two proper positions of Yin and Yang are established can the solar terms of the four seasons be calculated from them.

The author examines Kong Yingda’s commentary and subcommentary and holds that numbers originate in Yin and Yang, while the waxing and waning, coming and going of Yin and Yang follow the path of the sun (the solar path). At the winter solstice the sun reaches its southernmost point; Yang Qi comes and Yin Qi departs. Winter belongs to the Water position; one Yang generates Water, and the number of Water is one. Therefore the Qian trigram is fixed at the Zi position of the eleventh month and moves from the left. At the summer solstice the sun reaches its northernmost point; Yin advances and Yang retreats. Summer belongs to the Fire position. Because Yin does not take odd numbers, even numbers are used to count Yin; in the sixth month two Yin generate Fire, and the number of Fire is two. Therefore the Kun trigram is fixed at the Wei position and moves from the right. From the winter solstice to the summer solstice is the stage in which Yang Qi gradually advances; therefore the first month is established at Yin, three Yang generate Wood, and the number of Wood is three. From the summer solstice to the winter solstice is the stage in which Yin Qi gradually advances; therefore the eighth month is established at You, four Yin generate Metal, and the number of Metal is four. The third month is established at Chen, occupying the head of the four seasons and belonging to the Earth position; five Yang generate Earth, and the number of Earth is five.

Water occupies the north and receives the Qi of flourishing Yin, so its nature is moistening and downward and it belongs to Yin; Fire occupies the south and receives the Qi of flourishing Yang, so its nature is flaming upward and it belongs to Yang. Wood occupies the east and Metal the west, with Yin and Yang each half; the nature of Wood is soft and can be bent or straightened, while the nature of Metal is hard and can be changed. Earth can contain and nurture the myriad things, and therefore it is the master of the Five Phases.

Zhu Xi (a Southern Song Neo-Confucian scholar) said: these contents were deduced by the Western Han Yijing scholar Jing Fang through divination.

Zhu Xi said: Jing Fang used the methods of divination and yarrow-stalk consultation to derive many principles.

Jing Fang (a Western Han Yijing scholar) held that in the statement “the number of the Great Expansion is fifty” in the Xici (Appended Phrases), one number is not used, symbolizing Heaven’s generative Qi. This is to use the empty One to fill the myriad things, so in practice only forty-nine are used. If one looks at it from the perspective of celestial phenomena and calendrical numbers, the ten days (the Heavenly Stems), twelve chronograms (the Earthly Branches), and twenty-eight lunar mansions (the twenty-eight constellations of Heaven) together make exactly fifty; the unused One is here explained only in the sense of “generative Qi.”

Bao Yunlong (the author) says: in the numbers of Heaven, five is not used because the One issues forth from within the Five. The unused “One” in the Great Expansion number is the wondrous mystery of Heaven. When the One enters the North, Kun changes into Kan and transforms to generate Water; its number is one. When the One enters the South, Qian changes into Li and transforms to generate Fire; its number is two. When the One enters the East, Heaven begins to interact with Earth, transforms to generate Wood, and forms Zhen; its number is three. When the One enters the West, Yin rejoices in Yang, transforms to generate Metal, and forms Dui; its number is four. At the end, the One returns and hides within the Five, becoming the root of the transformations of the myriad things. To preserve this unused One is “generative Qi,” the very beginning of Qi at the Great Beginning.

In the number fifty-five, five is retained as the root of the Five Phases; in the Great Expansion’s fifty, the One is again retained as the root of Taiji (the Supreme Ultimate, the source of all things in the universe). From Taiji the Five Phases are generated: one divides into five, and five divides into ten. The forty-nine within this are in turn the detailed numbers of the Five Phases. Fifty is five times ten; ten is two fives multiplied together; the two fives in union are One, and One is Water. The beginning of the Five Phases is the issuing forth of generative Qi; ten is Earth, and the end of the Five Phases is the drawing in of generative Qi. Therefore the ten days, twelve chronograms, and twenty-eight lunar mansions are spread across Heaven; the three hundred sixty degrees are distributed over Earth; and 11,520 is the full number of the myriad things. The unused One is what withdraws the yearly number and hides it in a secret place. Thus when Wood flourishes, Water recedes; when Fire flourishes, Wood recedes; when Earth flourishes, Fire recedes; when Metal flourishes, Earth recedes; when Water flourishes, Metal recedes. Removing five from fifty-five is to take away the full number within the Expansion numbers; removing the unused One from fifty is to leave vacant the root number of the Expansion numbers. Therefore it is said: “Restraining fullness and emptiness, the One is fundamentally rooted in Five, and Five is rooted in One; the fullness and emptiness of Heaven and Earth ebb and flow with time.” Heaven changes through the One into Four; the Four have bodily form, while the One has no bodily form.

This One is the heart-mind in the human body, benevolence in virtue, Qian in the Yi, and spring in the seasons; there is nowhere it is not Heaven’s generative Qi. How could it be only the forty-nine yarrow stalks (the stalks used in divination) that rely on it to appear wondrous? Heaven, Earth, and the myriad things all rely on it to establish their destiny and secure their place. Therefore it is said: “The unused One is that to which all uses are ultimately anchored.”

Zhu Xi said: The Bagua (Eight Trigrams) contain metal, wood, water, fire, and earth; the Five Phases also contain metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. The Qian trigram belongs to metal: it is the metal among the Yi trigrams; the Dui trigram belongs to metal: it is the metal among the Five Phases. The Xun trigram belongs to wood, taking its meaning from the trigram image; the Zhen trigram belongs to wood, being assigned by direction to the wood of the east. Earth lodges its flourishing in the four seasons (that is, it is distributed over the last eighteen days of each season and does not occupy a season on its own), which is why the Bagua speak only of four seasons.

Kong Yingda of the Tang dynasty said: If earth is removed, the Five Phases may also be called the “Four Images,” namely metal, wood, water, and fire. Zhen is wood, Li is fire, Dui is metal, and Kan is water, each governing one season. Then add Xun, which is wood like Zhen, and Qian, which is metal like Dui, and add Kun as earth; this gives the so-called numbers “seven, eight, nine, and six” in the Yi.

The same thing can be divided into wood, fire, metal, and water; in human beings, they are benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom; in directions, they are east, west, south, and north; in the Yi, they are yuan, heng, li, and zhen; in astral imagery, they are dragon, tiger, quail (Vermilion Bird), and turtle (Dark Warrior), the divine names of the Four Images; in lunar phases, they are quarter, full moon, dark moon, and new moon; within a single day, they are divided into day, daytime, dusk, and night; in the head and face, they are eyes, ears, nose, and mouth; in the body, they are bones, flesh, blood, and marrow. From the standpoint of principle there are these four stages, and from the standpoint of Qi (vital energy) there are also these four stages; no thing or matter can be separated from the others.

Zi, Chou, and Yin belong to spring and are Lesser Yang; Mao, Chen, and Si belong to summer and are Greater Yang; Wu, Wei, and Shen belong to autumn and are Lesser Yin; You, Xu, and Hai belong to winter and are Greater Yin.

Shao Bowen said: Water, fire, earth, and stone are the substance of things, and the Five Phases are contained within them. Metal, wood, water, fire, and earth are the level at which the substance exerts its function, and the Five Materials arise from this. Metal comes from stone, so only after there is stone is there metal; wood grows from earth, so only after there is earth is there wood. The Four Images and the four bodies belong to the pre-heaven (referring to the inherent principle before traces have appeared), while the Five Phases belong to the post-heaven (referring to movement and change after traces exist).

The principles of the world, in the final analysis, come down to just “the one generates the two.” The Zhouyi speaks only up to eight; the Hongfan speaks only up to ten. There are eight trigrams, yet number can be extended to ten: eight is the number of Yin-Yang union, while ten is the number of the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water). One Yin and one Yang combine to form two; two times two gives four; four times four gives eight. The Five Phases are originally only five, yet they are spoken of as ten because each phase contains two aspects: Wood includes Jia and Yi; Fire includes Bing and Ding; Earth includes Wu and Ji; Metal includes Geng and Xin; Water includes Ren and Gui. Jia and Yi are both Wood; Bing and Ding are both Fire; Wu and Ji are both Earth; and the same is true of Metal and Water. Dividing each of the Three Powers—Heaven, Earth, and Humanity—into Yin and Yang aspects is precisely the principle of mutual generation and mutual overcoming among Yin-Yang and the Five Phases. Mutual overcoming can, on the contrary, bring about mutual completion; the same holds for the virtues of the Five Constant Virtues.

The greatest virtue is benevolence (ren), which belongs to Wood. If benevolence degenerates into weakness, righteousness is used to cut and decide it. Righteousness belongs to Metal. If righteousness degenerates into rigidity, ritual propriety is used to regulate it. Ritual propriety belongs to Fire. If ritual propriety degenerates into inflexibility, wisdom is used to open it up. Wisdom belongs to Water. If wisdom degenerates into deceit, trustworthiness is used to rectify it. These virtues of the Five Constants exactly accord with the principle of mutual overcoming among the Five Phases. Su Laoquan (referring to Su Xun of the Northern Song, whose style name was Laoquan) was correct: Metal overcomes Wood, meaning that hardness can overcome softness; Water overcomes Fire, meaning that softness can overcome hardness.

It is also said that among principles there are places where they mutually elucidate and corroborate one another.

Wang says: Water’s nature is to moisten; where water is present, fire is dry. Earth can receive Wood’s expansion and Metal’s contraction, and from this one may infer the rest by analogy. Fire’s nature is hot; where fire is present, water is cold, and Earth changes accordingly. Fire can vaporize Wood Qi (vital energy) and make it mild, and smelt Metal and make it clear; from this too one may infer by analogy. Water’s nature tends downward and Fire’s upward, from which the directions of the Five Phases may be known: Wood is east (left), Metal west (right), and Earth occupies the center. Wood’s nature is “bending and straightening” (able to bend and to be straight); from this one knows that Earth can be round or square, Metal can be square and upright, Fire can be sharp, and Water can be level and gentle. Metal’s nature is “following transformation” (yielding to change); from this one knows that Wood can change, Earth can transform and nurture, and Water changes because of Fire. Earth’s nature is “sowing and reaping”; from this one knows that wells, canals, ditches, and drainage channels, stove fires and cooking, and wooden and metal implements are all related to Earth.

Then what does “Wood changes” mean? Wood can burn and turn into Fire, and rot and turn into Earth. What does “Earth transforms” mean? Earth can be dry and can also be moist; it can expand and can also contract. What does “Water follows” mean? Water changes according to whatever it meets: meeting sweetness it becomes sweet, meeting bitterness it becomes bitter, meeting blue-green it becomes blue-green, meeting white it becomes white. What does “Fire transforms” mean? Fire can turn raw things into cooked things, and can make the soft hard and the hard soft. Metal can also change: it can be round, level, sharp, bent, or straightened. If Metal does not undergo Fire’s transformation, it cannot change by itself; therefore it is called “following transformation.”

It also says: Those who obtain the refined and outstanding Qi of the Five Phases are human beings. Here only the Five Phases are discussed and Yin-Yang is not, because the formation of a human being requires all Five Phases complete before it can be accomplished. Yet the Five Phases themselves contain Yin-Yang; apart from the Five Phases there is nowhere to seek Yin-Yang—for example, Jia is yang Wood and Yi is yin Wood, and so on.

Zhu Xi said, “Numbers are simply the seasonal nodes by which the cycles of qi are calculated; their general purport is nothing more than the two qi of Yin-Yang.” Yin-Yang transforms and produces the Five Phases, and each of the Five Phases in turn divides into Yin and Yang. Jia and Yi belong to Wood, Bing and Ding to Fire; spring belongs to Wood, summer to Fire; year, month, day, and hour are all nothing but the qi of the Five Phases. Jia, Yi, Bing, and Ding each further divide into Yin and Yang—that is, combinations of Yin-Yang with the qi of the Five Phases.

When people are born, they happen to receive a certain qi, and what each person obtains is uneven; therefore nobility and baseness, longevity and early death also differ. When sages and worthies occupy high positions, their qi is balanced and harmonious; otherwise their qi becomes biased. Those who receive the clear qi of the Five Phases are intelligent but lack fortune and rank; those who receive turbid qi have fortune and rank but lack wisdom—all this is determined by the numbers of qi. Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang, Wen, Wu, the Duke of Zhou, and the Duke of Shao received its upright qi; Confucius, Mencius, and others, as well as figures from the Qi (northern present-day Shandong) and Lu (southern present-day Shandong) regions, received its biased qi. The Five Dynasties (the five regimes from the late Tang to the early Northern Song), despite extreme chaos, produced many sages and worthies, just as in the time of the Song ancestors (the founding emperors). It is like a deep sleep after which one awakens all the more full of energy.

The principles, qi, and numbers of the Five Phases operate within the ten Heavenly Stems (Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, and the rest) and the twelve Earthly Branches (Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, and the rest), and can be calculated. Heavenly One and Earthly Six combine and generate Water, located in the North: Zi is numbered one, Hai is numbered six; Ren is yang Water (number one), and Gui is yin Water (number six). Earthly Two and Heavenly Seven combine and generate Fire, located in the South: Si is numbered two, Wu is numbered seven; Bing is yang Fire, and Ding is yin Fire. Heavenly Three and Earthly Eight combine and generate Wood, located in the East: Yin is numbered three, Mao is numbered eight; Jia is yang Wood, and Yi is yin Wood. Earth occupies the Center; Five and Ten combine and generate Earth: Wu together with Chen and Xu are assigned to Ten and are yang; Ji together with Chou and Wei are assigned to Ten and are yin. The West belongs to Metal: Geng and Shen both have the number nine and belong to yang; Xin and You have the number four and belong to yin.

Zhu Xi also said, “That which is one Yin and one Yang is called the Dao.” Without borrowing numbers, the Dao cannot operate; without relying on the Dao, numbers cannot be established. The arrangement of the Heavenly Stems is like this, and the arrangement of the Earthly Branches is likewise. Within Yin there is Yang, within Yang there is Yin; within the odd there is the even, within the even there is the odd. From the blue heaven above to the Yellow Springs below, from the vast that encompasses primordial qi to the subtle that is without form or substance, none can escape this number.

Among the Six Confucian Classics, those that discuss the Five Phases are these: the “Monthly Ordinances” in the Book of Rites records according to the four seasons and speaks of the numbers of mutual generation among the Five Phases; the “Book of Yu” in the Book of Documents discusses the governance of the Six Storehouses (Water, Fire, Metal, Wood, Earth, and Grain) and speaks of the numbers of mutual overcoming among the Five Phases. As for the numbers by which Heaven and Earth generate things, only the Zhouyi and the “Great Plan” chapter of the Book of Documents discuss them. The Nine Categories of the Great Plan set forth by Jizi all inherited the transmission of the Hetu (Yellow River Chart) and Luoshu (Luo River Square).

Collation Notes to Volume Five

The following is an account of variant readings between this edition and the Siku Quanshu edition. Entries 1, 3, 5, and 6 point out differences in wording between the two editions, such as shang (“up”) appearing as zhi (“stop”), and wang (“prosperous”) as wang (“king”); entry 2 explains that the original omitted the three characters shu tu fou (“whether it belongs to Earth”), which have been supplied from the Siku Quanshu edition; entry 5 considers the character tu (“earth”) suspect as a superfluous character, since in the Siku edition this sentence reads, “Water is said to moisten; fire is said to dry.” The text of entry 4 is damaged and cannot be determined.

Volume Six

Tianyuan Fawei, Volume Six, compiled by Bao Yunlong of Luzhai (a Yuan-dynasty scholar, courtesy name Jingxiang) and collated by Fang Hui of Xugu (a Yuan-dynasty poet and scholar, courtesy name Wanli).

Observing the Images

The Zhouyi says, “The Two Modes produce the Four Images.” It also says, “The Four Images are what it uses to display.” From Wang Bi (a Three Kingdoms-era Yijing scholar, courtesy name Fusi) down to Cheng Yi (a Northern Song Neo-Confucian, style name Yichuan), the explanations of the various schools differ considerably. Only the Prior Heaven learning transmitted by Shao Yong (a Northern Song Yijing scholar, commonly called Shaozi) can, once seen, be understood in its proper order and can resolve doubts of a thousand years. Zhu Xi’s Zhouyi Qimeng explains the principles very thoroughly. Some may not yet fully comprehend it, but the author holds that if one can understand the eight characters in it, this entire volume is merely a tool for grasping the meaning and forgetting the words (quan-ti, i.e., fish traps and rabbit snares, implements used for catching fish and rabbits, a metaphor for the means one relies on); why say more? Those who understand will naturally understand.

The Zhouyi says: the number of Heaven is five, and the number of Earth is also five. One number is retained as the root, and four numbers are used for change. In yarrow-stalk divination, these are the four numbers seven, eight, nine, and six (representing young yang, young yin, old yang, and old yin, respectively); applied to the earth, they are water, fire, earth, and stone (as in the original); used to observe celestial phenomena, they are the sun, moon, stars, and constellations; in hexagram images, they are divided into the Bagua (Eight Trigrams). Although these statements refer to different levels, their principles are interconnected.

Surviving Fragment

The sentence introduced by “Shaozi says” survives only in its opening; what can be seen are the two characters wu zhi (“of things”). From the context, it is related to the preceding line of thought, in which numbers and images are used to explain heaven, earth, and hexagram images separately, but its specific content cannot be determined from the extant text.

The opening of Tianyuan Fawei cites the words of Shao Yong, Cheng Yi, and Zhu Xi to expound the relationship between the Dao of heaven and earth and Yin-Yang, hardness and softness, and the Four Images. The following is a vernacular interpretation.

Master Shao (Shao Yong) said: Among the myriad things, none is greater than heaven and earth. The greatness of heaven can be fully accounted for by Yin-Yang; the greatness of earth can be fully accounted for by hardness and softness. When Yin and Yang are both complete, the four seasons are formed; when hardness and softness are both complete, the Four Wei (the supports of the four directions) are established.

Heaven and earth are, after all, only the greatest among the myriad things. Qian is the thing of Yang; Kun is the thing of Yin. Heaven is nothing more than the waxing and waning of one Yin and one Yang, the alternation of one cold and one heat; thus the four seasons are formed—this is the Dao of heaven. Earth is nothing more than the intertwining of one hard and one soft, the changes of one flat and one steep; thus the Four Wei are established—this is the principle of earth. When the images of heaven and earth manifest in heaven, they are the Four Images; when arranged in the seasons, they are the four seasons; when embodied in the earth, they are the four bodies; when distributed in the four directions, they are the Four Wei. All these are brought to completion by the two things Qian (Yang) and Kun (Yin).

Master Cheng (Cheng Yi) said: The Four Images refer to Yin-Yang and hardness-softness. Yin-Yang generate heaven; hardness-softness generate earth.

Master Zhu (Zhu Xi) said: Master Shao’s discussion of number also begins from one Yin and one Yang. The Four Images within Yin-Yang belong to heaven; the Four Images within hardness-softness belong to earth. Yin interacting with Yang and Yang interacting with Yin further produce the Four Images of heaven. As for the so-called Four Images: heaven has Yin and Yang, and within them are further distinguished Greater Yang, Greater Yin, Lesser Yang, and Lesser Yin—namely the sun, moon, stars, and constellations. Earth has hardness and softness, and within them are further distinguished Greater Hardness, Greater Softness, Lesser Hardness, and Lesser Softness—namely water, fire, earth, and stone. In reality, originally there was only one Taiji; it divided into two, the two into four, and the four into eight. Heaven receives one four and earth receives one four; each has a Taiji operating within it. This is simply doubling the number of the Five Phases.

The sun and moon form the Yi. The character yi has an upper part derived from ri (sun), indicating Yang, and a lower part derived from yue (moon), indicating Yin. Therefore Zhuangzi said, “The Yi expounds Yin and Yang.”

Notes on terms:

Shaozi: Shao Yong, a Northern Song Neo-Confucian philosopher, styled Kangjie, author of Huangji Jingshi, who used image-number speculation to deduce the cosmos.

Four Images: A Zhouyi term referring to Greater Yang, Greater Yin, Lesser Yang, and Lesser Yin; here it designates the four basic categories of images contained respectively in heaven and earth.

Four Wei: In antiquity this referred to the supports binding the four directions—namely the southeast, southwest, northwest, and northeast corners—or, broadly, the order of the four directions of the earth.

Taiji: The original state of the cosmos before differentiation, from which the myriad things divide forth.

Qian and Kun: Two of the Bagua (Eight Trigrams) in the Zhouyi. Qian is pure Yang and represents heaven; Kun is pure Yin and represents earth.

Shao Yong (Master Shao) said: Greater Yang is the sun, Greater Yin the moon, Lesser Yang the stars, and Lesser Yin the chen (referring to celestial phenomena such as lunar mansions and constellations). When the sun, moon, stars, and chen intersect and combine with one another, the physical form of Heaven is complete. Greater Softness transforms into water, Greater Hardness into fire, Lesser Softness into earth, and Lesser Hardness into stone. When water, fire, earth, and stone intersect and combine with one another, the physical form of Earth is complete.

Shao Bowen (Shao Yong’s son) asked: Why does the Huangji Jingshi discard metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, and instead use water, fire, earth, and stone? The answer here is the same as the preceding one: the sun, moon, stars, and chen are the Four Images of Heaven; water, fire, earth, and stone are the Four Images of Earth. When the two sets intersect, the forms of Heaven and Earth are both complete.

Shao Bowen asked: Why does the Huangji Jingshi discard metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, and instead use water, fire, soil, and stone? The answer: The sun, moon, stars, and Chen are the four manifestations of heaven; water, fire, soil, and stone are the four bodies of earth. Metal, wood, water, fire, and earth are collectively called the Five Phases. The Four Images and Four Bodies belong to Xiantian (Prior Heaven), the primordial order embodied in Shao Yong’s Xiantian Diagram; the Five Phases belong to Houtian (Posterior Heaven), the operative order after the generation of the myriad things. Xiantian is the source of Houtian, and water, fire, soil, and stone are in turn the source of the Five Phases: metal emerges from stone, wood grows from soil, and as the Five Phases operate between heaven and earth, water, fire, soil, and stone are already contained within them. Therefore the Huangji Jingshi uses water, fire, soil, and stone because it takes their original substance; the Hongfan (Great Plan) uses water, fire, wood, metal, and earth because it takes their practical application.

The sun is the essence of yang; in the Xiantian Diagram the Qian trigram represents the sun, and Qian’s position is due south. The moon is the essence of yin; in the Xiantian Diagram the Dui trigram represents the moon, and Dui’s position is southeast. The image of Lesser Yang is stars, belonging to the Li trigram and located due east; the image of Lesser Yin is Chen, belonging to the Zhen trigram and located northeast. The image of Greater Soft is water and the moon; in the Xiantian Diagram Kun is the position of water, due north. The image of Greater Firm is fire and the sun; in the Xiantian Diagram Gen is the position of fire, northwest. The image of Lesser Soft is soil and Chen; in the Xiantian Diagram Kan is the position of soil, due west. The image of Lesser Firm is stone and stars; in the Xiantian Diagram Xun is the position of stone, southwest.

The sun is yang and the moon is yin; stars are firm and Chen is soft. This shows the correspondence of earth within heaven. Water is yin and fire is yang; soil is soft and stone is firm. This shows the correspondence of heaven within earth.

In heaven it forms the image of the sun; on earth it forms the body of fire. Fire and the sun are originally one body, so by using a yangsui (concave bronze mirror) to concentrate sunlight, one can produce fire. In heaven it forms the image of the moon; on earth it forms the body of water. Water and the moon are originally one body, so by using a fangzhu (a bronze vessel for collecting dew) to receive moonlight, one can obtain water. In heaven it forms the image of stars; on earth it forms the body of stone. Stone and stars are originally one body, so ancient books say that when stars fall they become stones. In heaven it forms the image of Chen; on earth it forms the body of soil. Chen and soil are originally one body, so beyond the sun, moon, stars, and Chen, all that is high, distant, and azure is Chen; beyond water, fire, soil, and stone, all that is vast and boundless is soil.

The sun, moon, stars, and Chen are like a person’s ears, eyes, mouth, and nose; water, fire, soil, and stone are like a person’s blood, qi, bones, and flesh. Therefore they are called the bodies of heaven and earth. Yin-Yang and firm-soft are like a person’s spirit; they are the root that generates the ears, eyes, mouth, and nose, and the blood, qi, bones, and flesh.

The sun transforms into heat, the moon into cold, the stars into daylight, and chen (the time periods, that is, the divisions of temporal order) into night. Heat and cold, day and night, interweave with one another, and thus all the transformations of Heaven are fully displayed. Water transforms into rain, fire into wind, earth into dew, and stone into thunder. Rain, wind, dew, and thunder converge with one another, and thus all the transformations of Earth are fully accomplished. Heat alters the nature of all things, cold alters their disposition, day alters their outward form, and night alters their bodily substance. Nature, disposition, form, and body interweave with one another, and thus all the responses of animals and plants are fully accomplished. Rain nourishes the creatures that walk on the earth, wind nourishes birds, dew nourishes grasses, and thunder nourishes trees. Beasts, birds, grasses, and trees converge with one another, and thus all the correspondences between animals and plants are fully accomplished.

The movement of the sun, moon, and stars brings about the changes of heat and cold, day and night; the interaction of water, fire, earth, and stone generates rain, wind, dew, and thunder. Heat and cold, day and night are Heaven in transformation, and Earth responds accordingly; rain, wind, dew, and thunder are Earth in transformation, and Heaven responds accordingly. Heaven sings and Earth harmonizes, and only then do the myriad things grow.

Heat and cold, day and night alter the nature and form of the myriad things; rain, wind, dew, and thunder nurture birds and beasts, grasses and trees. Nature and form are rooted in Heaven, yet they can respond to Earth; beasts, birds, grasses, and trees are rooted in Earth, yet they can resonate with Heaven. With one stimulus and one response, the myriad things take form. Heaven sings and Earth harmonizes, Heaven stimulates and Earth responds: this is the law by which Heaven and Earth operate, and it is also the condition of the myriad things.

Heaven belongs to Yang, Earth to Yin. Yang governs movement; Yin governs stillness and gives rise to plant life. Yang within Yang becomes birds, which dwell on high; Yang within Yin becomes beasts, which cling to the ground.

Heaven has the purest Qi, and Earth has the finest Jing (essence). Because of this, humans attain intelligence and penetrating understanding; among birds there are the Luanfeng (auspicious mythical birds), among beasts the Qilin (benevolent mythical beast), among shelled creatures the turtle and dragon, among grasses the lingzhi and orchid, among trees the pine and cypress, and among stones metal and jade. Heaven also has perverse Qi, and Earth also has obscure substance. Humans may become monstrous anomalies; birds may become owls and the zhen (legendary poisonous bird); beasts may become tigers and wolves; shelled creatures may become venomous snakes and lizards; grasses may become poisonous plants; trees may become baleful trees; and stones may become coarse, hard stuff.

Once there is qi-number, there is a thing; when the qi-number is exhausted, the thing is exhausted with it. Once there is a thing, it has its qi-number; when the thing’s nature is exhausted, its qi-number also comes to an end. Heaven and Earth generate the myriad things, whose kinds differ in countless ways; therefore stimulus and response interlace, and change arises from this.

Shao Yong (a Northern Song Neo-Confucian philosopher) said: the sun begins at one, the moon begins at two, the year begins at three, and the double-hour begins at four. “One” refers to one yuan (a great cycle of Heaven and Earth); “two” refers to the twelve hui (the twelve stages of a yuan); “three” refers to the 360 days (the number of days in a year); and “four” refers to 4,320 shi (the number of double-hours in a year). This is said by taking one year as the example.

He also said: the sun revolves with Heaven, the moon moves with the sun, and the stars appear with the moon. Therefore the stars model the moon, the moon models the sun, and the sun models Heaven. Heaven is half bright and half dark; the sun has fullness and waning; the moon’s half-full state corresponds, within a year, to 120 shi. This too is said by taking one year as the example.

Heaven revolves together with the sun, moon, and stars. The sun and moon each have their own course, and the stars appear in accordance with the moon’s movement. Thus the stars model the moon, the moon models the sun, and the sun models Heaven. Heaven is half bright and half dark; the sun sometimes waxes to fullness and sometimes wanes; the moon sometimes waxes and sometimes wanes; the stars sometimes move and sometimes rest. These are all principles of Yin-Yang opposition.

Although the sun travels rightward, it nevertheless revolves leftward with Heaven. Although the moon moves swiftly, whenever it meets the sun, it always falls behind the sun. The stars move with the moon and can be seen only at night.

“One Yin and one Yang are called the Dao.” Heaven models the Dao, and so is half bright and half dark; the sun models Heaven, and so is half waxing and half waning; the moon models the sun, and so is half full and half deficient; the stars model the moon, and so are half moving and half still. When things have one, they then have two; solitary Yin or solitary Yang cannot complete themselves.

The so-called “half waxing and half waning” means that in a Yang position it waxes, and in a Yin position it wanes. The so-called “half moving and half still” means that with respect to the wei stars (the moving planets) there is motion, while with respect to the jing stars (the fixed, immobile stars) there is stillness. Master Cai says: “Sun” refers to the principal degree along which the sun’s movement proceeds (its position on the ecliptic); “moon” refers to determining the dark and new moon (the beginning and end of the lunar phases); “stars” refers to the jing stars and wei stars. “Chen” refers to the twelve stations where the sun and moon meet (the twelve divisions of the ecliptic).

It is also said: the celestial bodies are visible both day and night. The sun is visible by day, the moon by night, and each is invisible for half the time. The stars, for their part, are half visible at night. This manifests the hierarchy of noble and base, high and low.

Although Heaven is half dark and half bright, it is visible both day and night. The sun appears in the sky by day, the moon appears at night, while by day the moon is not seen. Only half of the stars can be seen at night, and they are less conspicuous than the moon: this is the distinction between noble and base. Those above can accommodate those below; the great can contain the small. That half of the stars are visible is because the five wei (the five planets) and the Twenty-Eight Mansions appear in turn.

It is also said: the moon is visible by day as well, and so is Yin within Yang; the stars are visible at night, and so are Yang within Yin.

The Former Heaven Bagua (the trigram sequence transmitted by Fuxi) pairs the sun, moon, stars, and chen with the four trigrams Qian, Dui, Li, and Zhen. The sun is Yang within Yang, the moon is Yin within Yang, the stars are Yang within Yin, and chen, being visible, is therefore Yin within Yang.

The Pre-Heaven Bagua (Xiantian Bagua) associates the sun, moon, stars, and Chen with the four trigrams Qian, Dui, Li, and Zhen respectively. The sun is yang within yang; the moon is yin within yang; the stars are yang within yin; Chen is yin within yin.

The criterion for this distinction is whether they can be seen. The moon can also be seen in daytime, so it belongs to yin within yang; the stars become visible only at night, so they belong to yang within yin. The stars also move along with the moon, and thus the two interlace and mutually function. Chen is invisible both day and night, so it is yin within yin.

Although Chen cannot be seen, it is the very substance of Heaven, and the sun, moon, and stars all rely on it. Heaven itself can be perceived both day and night, hence the saying, “Although Chen is invisible, Heaven is visible day and night.” This unseen Chen is precisely the root on which all depends and to which all is oriented.

Zhu Xi says: The Two Modes (Liangyi, yin and yang) initially begin with a single stroke, and from this are differentiated yin and yang and the Four Images (Sixiang); next, with two strokes, the distinctions of Greater and Lesser [Yin and Yang] are separated out. Here “zhou” (day) is interchangeable with “hua” (stroke), referring to a single stroke of a hexagram line; this speaks of the sequence by which the gua images are gradually generated from the simple to the complex.

The Two Modes (Liangyi) are simply Yin and Yang: one line is Yin, one line is Yang. To each line add a Yang (odd) line and a Yin (even) line, and two-line combinations are formed; these are the Four Images (Sixiang)—Greater Yang (Taiyang), Lesser Yin (Shaoyin), Lesser Yang (Shaoyang), and Greater Yin (Taiyin), the four basic images. The sequence of the Four Images is Greater Yang first, Lesser Yin second, Lesser Yang third, and Greater Yin fourth; their corresponding numbers are Greater Yang nine, Lesser Yin eight, Lesser Yang seven, and Greater Yin six. Thus 1, 2, 3, and 4 can encompass 9, 8, 7, and 6.

Calculated according to the Hetu (Yellow River Diagram), six is obtained by adding one to five, seven by adding two to five, eight by adding three to five, and nine by adding four to five. Calculated according to the Luoshu (an ancient legendary numerical diagram), nine is what remains when one is subtracted from ten, eight what remains when two is subtracted from ten, and six what remains when four is subtracted from ten. What Master Zhou (Zhou Dunyi) called “water, fire, wood, and metal,” and what Master Shao (Shao Yong) called “two divided into four,” both discuss this same principle.

Above the Four Images, each again generates one odd and one even line, making eight trigrams of three lines; thus the Three Powers (Sancai: Heaven, Earth, and Humanity) roughly acquire the names of the Bagua (Eight Trigrams). The sequence of the Bagua is: Qian first, Dui second, Li third, Zhen fourth, Xun fifth, Kan sixth, Gen seventh, and Kun eighth.

Some doubt whether the Zhouyi (Changes of Zhou) actually contains the Four Images. Kong Yingda of the Tang dynasty held that the Four Images refer to metal, wood, water, and fire; Mr. Zhuang held that there are substantial images, meaning images, and functional images; others hold that 7, 8, 9, and 6 do not denote old and young Yin and Yang. Zhang Zai spoke of “dragon, tiger, quail, and tortoise,” and also thought they corresponded to Qian’s four virtues and the four seasons; Zhu Zifa (Zhu Zhen) spoke of “the four directions and four corners”; none of these scholars regarded such things as the Four Images of Heaven. The view here seems to differ from the order in which Master Zhu drew the trigrams.

The author holds that Master Zhu’s theory is rooted in Master Shao’s Xiantian (Prior Heaven) learning—the image-number learning transmitted by Shao Yong—only earlier Confucians had not discussed it. Prior Heaven learning encompasses all things, and the Four Images are everywhere. In the Yi (Changes), the Four Images are 7, 8, 9, and 6; in the heavens, they are the sun, moon, stars, and asterisms. Old Yin changes into Lesser Yang, and Old Yang changes into Lesser Yin; Lesser Yin and Lesser Yang do not themselves change, and only when Old Yin and Old Yang are set in motion do they change. Extending this to past events, one can know the signs of auspiciousness and misfortune, remorse and regret, advance and retreat, survival and ruin.

The sun is Greater Yang, hence the changes of cold and heat, day and night; the stars are Lesser Yang, sharing the sunlight and having no changing forms. The moon is Greater Yin, hence the changes of dark, new, quarter, and full; Chen (fixed stars and other celestial bodies) is Lesser Yin, the substance of Heaven, without transformation of form. The celestial phenomena in the heavens are clearly visible line images; the hexagram and line figures in the Yi are hidden, unmanifest celestial phenomena. Fuxi looked up and observed the celestial images and drew the Bagua; Confucius looked up and observed the heavenly patterns and could know the principle of the hidden and the manifest, threading it all together with a single principle. Who says that those who divine with the Yi cannot divine Heaven?

The Sun

The Shuogua says, “Li is the sun and is fire.” Kong Yingda of the Tang dynasty explained that the sun occupies the south and, through its movement, gives light. Yang Qi (vital energy) accumulates and generates heat; the purest part of the hot Qi becomes fire, and the Jing (essence) of fire transforms into the sun. Fire itself has no fixed form and must attach to objects before it can manifest a shape. It is born from the earth and is most flourishing in the south (“Er Wang” refers to the season in which Fire is flourishing in the south among the Five Phases). Thus, in heaven it is the sun, and on earth it is fire; the two share the same source.

Master Hu further says that the substance of the Li trigram belongs to Yin, while its function belongs to Yang. Because Li’s substance is Yin, the sun moves gently; because its function is Yang, it shines brightly in the daytime.

The Shangshu, “Canon of Yao,” says, “The day is centered; the day is long; the night is centered; the day is short.” This uses the dates of the four mids (the middle month of each season) to explain changes in the sun’s movement: at the spring equinox day and night are equal in length; at the summer solstice the day is longest; at the autumn equinox day and night are equal; and at the winter solstice the day is shortest.

The Liji, “Monthly Ordinances,” by contrast lists the heavenly-stem days of each season by season: Jia-Yi, Bing-Ding, Wu-Ji, Geng-Xin, and Ren-Gui, corresponding respectively to the Five Phases of Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water, and uses them to explain the succession of the four seasons of the year.