《集注太玄经(司马光)》Vol. 5

Norms and models: like kinds join together, while thick and thin press and grind against each other. Round things are easily set in motion and unstable, whereas square things contract and become firm and blocked. When qi is exhaled, it flows and takes shape; when it is closed and gathered, it congeals and fixes form. Thus the enclosed compass that Heaven wraps is called yu (space), and the unfolding course through which yu passes is called zhou (time).

Heaven closing forms yu; yu opening forms zhou. One yang and one yin are the transformations of Qian and Kun. The sun and moon come and go, cold and heat alternate; the pitch pipes complete things and the calendar orders time. Pitch pipes and calendar are used together, and the sage plans according to them. Day responds with the favorable, night with the unfavorable. With one day and one night, Yin-Yang are divided and fixed; night reaches the extreme of Yin, day the extreme of Yang. Male and female beings each rectify their kinds, thereby laying out auspicious and inauspicious signs, and the ways of ruler and minister, father and son, husband and wife are thus distinguished.

The sun travels east, Heaven turns west; Heaven and sun intercross, and Yin-Yang alternately make their rounds. Life and death intertwine, and from this the myriad things are bound together. Therefore Xuan (the fundamental cosmological category of the Taixuan) gathers the concordant affairs of the world and links them, joining them by category and divining and verifying according to rule and measure. It is probably only Xuan that makes the confused in the world clear and the darkened bright.

Xuan hides its position and obscures its boundaries; it deepens its height and thickness and makes subtle its root and source; it conceals its traces and its reasons. Thus Xuan reveals to people what is high and distant; its openness makes people broad; its profundity leads people inward; its remoteness makes people transcendent. What silently encompasses all is Xuan; what disperses and manifests it is man. One examines its gate, opens its door, and knocks upon its bolt; only then does it respond—how could it respond if one did not knock and inquire?

Those who cultivate Xuan—the fundamental Dao of the universe as referred to in the Taixuan—may examine and knock at its door from outside, and receive no response; they may open its inner door from within, and still receive no response. Only by secretly tapping its door bolt (jian) does one receive a response—how much less, then, those who do not cultivate it at all? Penetrating deeper and deeper, the more one seeks, the more one feels its subtlety and nearness; thus Xuan resonates with one. This is not Xuan actively responding to the person, but the person’s utmost Jing (essence) communicating with Xuan.

What people delight in yet always find insufficient is good; what people dislike yet always find in excess is evil. The noble person daily strengthens the good that is insufficient in himself and brushes away the evil that is excessive in himself, and so draws near to the Dao of Xuan. Look up, and it is above; look down, and it is below; stand on tiptoe and gaze, and it is ahead; let it go and forget it, and it is behind. One may wish to turn away from it, yet cannot leave it; what can attain its place in silence is Xuan.

Daily strengthening good and brushing away evil only perfects the vessel of one’s De (Virtue/Power). As for Xuan, it must await a silent accord. Good is close to Dao: when insufficient good is filled out, it brings forth auspiciousness; when surplus evil is removed, it no longer obscures; thus one can enter the even and upright realm of Xuan.

This passage regards Xuan (the fundamental cosmological principle set forth in the Taixuan) as that whose function reaches the utmost. To see Xuan and thereby understand is wisdom; to see Xuan and love it is benevolence; to be able to judge and decide is courage; to be able to encompass and broadly employ is fairness; to be able to match all things is penetration; to be without entanglement or obstruction is sagehood; to meet the time or fail to meet the time is fate. Empty and formless (one edition reads “void and formless”), that by which the myriad things pass through and follow, is called Dao; following nature without altering it (one edition reads “following conditions”), grasping the principles of the world, is called De; governing and nurturing the various kinds (one edition reads “blending the multitudes”), loving all things impartially, is called benevolence; weighing what is appropriate in the face of things is called righteousness; holding to Dao, De, benevolence, and righteousness and putting them into practice is called action; displaying Heaven’s achievement and illuminating all things is called Yang; being hidden, formless, and unfathomably deep is called Yin. Yang knows only Yang and does not know Yin; Yin knows only Yin and does not know Yang. To know Yin and Yang at once, to know stopping and acting, to know obscurity and brightness—probably only Xuan can do this.

Unfolding the myriad kinds from the hidden and obscure until they brightly illuminate the world—this is Xuan’s “technique” (its method of operation); from dark profundity until one can know Yin and Yang—this is Xuan’s “Dao” (its fundamental pattern). If a person, in relation to Xuan, can see it and know it, view it and love it, judge it and decide it, comprehensively regulate and broadly employ it, match all things, and be without entanglement, then following time and fate and moving through the world, one can hold to Dao, De, benevolence, and righteousness and apply them to one’s undertakings, and resonate with Heaven above.

Suspending something for weighing depends on the quan (steelyard weight), while leveling it depends on the heng (steelyard beam). The action of Xuan (the Mystery) is likewise like weighing and balancing: it makes the turbid clear and the obstructed level. To depart from true reality is inevitably to fall into falseness; to depart from falseness is inevitably to return to true reality. When true reality and falseness agitate each other, the paths of the noble person and the petty person become clearly manifest. Xuan is the standard by which all things are weighed: it presses down what is high, raises what is low, takes from what is surplus, and gives to what is exhausted; it brings stability to the clear-minded and support to the perplexed. Planning depends on thought, establishment on action, explanation on argumentation, and completion on trustworthiness. This is to say that Xuan’s impartiality can rectify human affairs to such an extent.

Heaven shows people the numinous and wondrous through its luminous images; Earth shows people clarity through its peaceful forms. Heaven and Earth take their positions, and the Qi of spiritual brightness communicates between them; numbers have one, two, and three. Their positions and categories differ, yet they circulate through the nine regions (the Nine Palaces and nine directions); end and beginning are joined, and above and below have no boundary. Observing the patterns of the dragon, tiger, bird, and turtle (the Four Images), moving and transforming the Seven Governors (the sun, moon, and five planets), and pushing to the utmost back to the Great Beginning (Taishi, the primordial beginning), one connects through the governing order of Xuanji (the Northern Dipper) and rectifies the leveling standard of Yuheng (the celestial measuring balance). The round and the square grind against each other; the hard and the soft encroach on each other. When flourishing reaches its peak, it enters decline; when exhaustion reaches its limit, it is reborn. There is solidity and emptiness; flowing and resting have no constant state. This is to say that Xuan harmonizes the Seven Governors and takes its image from Heaven and Earth to such an extent.

Once Heaven and Earth are established, the order of noble and base is thereby determined. The mutual grinding of round and square, the mutual encroachment of hard and soft, the renewal of flourishing and decline, and the flowing and resting of void and solid are all manifestations of Xuan’s regulating the Seven Governors and taking its image from Heaven and Earth.

After Heaven and Earth were established, the order of noble and base was arranged accordingly; as the four seasons move, the principle of father and son succeeding one another becomes manifest; when pitch pipes and calendrical methods are set forth, the norms of ruler and minister governing become clear; when constancy and change interweave, the various things can be distinguished; when substance and adornment take form, being and nonbeing thereby become evident; when good and ill fortune appear, good and evil thereby become conspicuous; when empty and solid agitate each other, the ten thousand things thereby become entangled and interconnected.

When yang qi does not reach its extreme, yin qi will not sprout; when yin qi does not reach its extreme, yang qi will not germinate. Extreme cold gives rise to heat; extreme heat gives rise to cold. The way of stretching straight leads to bending; the way of bending turns into stretching straight. When it moves, each day it creates what did not previously exist, delighting in things newly born; when it rests, each day it diminishes what it does, reducing what has already been completed. Therefore, by means of the clepsydra one calculates and by the sundial one verifies, causing the sequence to cycle repeatedly and to run its course like the turning of a chariot’s crossbar (the rear crossbar of a carriage, by extension the wheel’s rotation). It manifests the form that is not seen, draws out the thread that seems impossible to draw out, and connects with the ten thousand things.

It hangs upward from Heaven and sinks downward into the abyss; in its minuteness it can enter hidden and defiled places, and in its vastness it can encompass a chariot’s crossbar. Its Dao is deep and obscure, yet able to restrain fullness. It causes what survives to survive and what perishes to perish, what is minute to be minute and what is manifest to be manifest, what begins to begin and what ends to end. Whoever draws near to Xuan (Taixuan, Yang Xiong’s concept of the root of the cosmos), Xuan also draws near to him; whoever moves away from Xuan, Xuan also moves away from him.

It is like the blue sky: when one raises one’s head and looks toward the four directions—east, south, west, and north—it is nowhere absent, but when one lowers one’s head one does not see it. Where does Heaven depart from people? It is people themselves who depart from it. After the winter solstice and midnight is the symbol of drawing near to Xuan: advancing but not reaching the extreme, proceeding but not arriving, empty but not full. After the summer solstice and midday is the symbol of moving away from Xuan: advancing to the extreme, then retreating; reaching the end, then returning; already full, then diminishing.

When the sun travels south, the ten thousand things decline and die; when the sun travels north, the ten thousand things grow. When the Northern Dipper points north, the ten thousand things are depleted; when the Northern Dipper points south, the ten thousand things are full. When the sun travels south, it moves right and returns left; when the Northern Dipper travels south, it moves left and returns right. Now left, now right, now death, now life—the divine and numinous together take counsel, and Heaven and Earth thereby unite: Heaven is Shen (spirit), Earth is Ling (numinous).

Such is the function of “Taixuan” (Supreme Mystery): it enables human relations and the transformations of the myriad things all to form a triad with Heaven and Earth, to be harmonious and unified without any gap, and to take Xuan (Taixuan, the root of the universe) as their sovereign. At the summer solstice the sun is in the southern Dongjing (Eastern Well) lunar mansion; at the winter solstice it is in the northern Qianniu (Herd Boy) lunar mansion. The Northern Dipper rectifies the four seasons, its handle pointing to each direction in turn. The sun moves through the western path and turns east; the Dipper moves through the eastern path and turns west. The myriad things are all bound to their movement: fullness foretells death, while emptiness grows anew. Xuan divides into one Yin and one Yang; Yin and Yang move and meet on the left and right, and therefore Shen (spirit) and Ling (numinous) merge and return to the undivided Xuan. The saying “Heaven is Shen and Earth is Ling” means that the two merge without falling into confusion.

The chapter titled “Xuanying” says: When Heaven and Earth first opened, the universe was broad and level (the character “tuo” is read as “shi” in some editions; the Zhang, Lin, and Huang editions read “tuo”). The movement of Tianyuan (Heavenly Origin) takes inches and feet as its steps, and the sun and moon are used to record its numbers. It circulates and revolves, and the calendrical system provides its governing order; among the myriad kinds of things, some are in harmony and some are mutually disordered.

When heaven and earth opened, the cosmos was vast and level. Tianyuan (the primordial beginning of heavenly movement) proceeds by tiny steps, while the sun and moon record the seasons by degrees. The circuit of the heavens and the ordering of the calendar cause the myriad things and kinds to gather or disperse, to be full or deficient. Thus it is said: Great indeed are heaven and earth! They contain and unfold creation; nothing is not embraced within Xuan (the Mystery). The hidden and the bright, endings and beginnings, are displayed in praise of the divine spirits; the sun rides upon yin, and the myriad things are complete, circulating through the nine voids (the nine directions or nine palaces), while misfortune and blessing are attached therein like a net. There are twelve beginnings in all; the myriad things draw out their threads, hence the numbers one, two, and three are used to arrange and govern them—all these are made manifest by the art of Xuan.

The grand root lies in the Five Phases; the nine positions are repeatedly deployed, and above and below depend on one another. Chou (one of the twelve earthly branches) is also among them—the art of Xuan makes this manifest. Heaven is round and earth square; the central pole is set up in the middle. Through movement it passes through stillness; in due time it mounts the twelve celestial branches and establishes the Seven Governors (the sun, moon, and five planets)—the art of Xuan makes this manifest.

The Northern Dipper advances with heaven, while the sun withdraws contrary to heaven. Advancing or withdrawing, they establish the Five Regulators (the order of years, months, days, stars, and calendrical numbers)—the art of Xuan makes this manifest. Setting up the gnomon to measure shadows and the water clock to reckon the marks, and determining the culminating stars at dusk and dawn, those who make the calendar take this as their self-admonition—the art of Xuan makes this manifest.

Using bamboo tubes to observe the qi and reed ash indoors for prognostic observation, they measure the hundred affairs. Once the regulations for the hundred affairs have been established, the people are aided without falling into error—the art of Xuan makes this manifest. East and west form the weft, north and south form the warp; warp and weft interweave, and by this crookedness and uprightness are distinguished, and by this good and ill fortune take shape—the art of Xuan makes this manifest.

Digging wells to obtain water, drilling wood to obtain fire, melting metal and shaping clay, thereby harmonizing the five beneficial materials (the materials of metal, wood, water, fire, earth, and the like); the resources of these five beneficial materials are used to nourish the hundred bodily parts—the art of Xuan makes this manifest. Matching the numbers of odd and even with warp and weft, with good and ill fortune, and with the hundred crafts and the people's use—all are likewise made manifest by the art of Xuan.

Odd numbers are used to count Yang, even numbers to count Yin; by extending odd and even, one calculates the affairs of the world, and in this way the art of the Taixuan becomes clear. The six pitches begin with the six Yang pitch-pipes, and the six intervals are the six Yin pitch-pipes; when the pitches and pitch-pipes are coordinated, the twelve pitches are harmonized, and days and times are also recorded by numbers—in this way the art of the Taixuan becomes clear. Divided by Fang, Zhou, Bu, and Jia (the hierarchical divisions of the Taixuan) into eighty-one shou (heads), and represented by lower, middle, and upper strokes as symbols of the Four Seas—in this way the art of the Taixuan becomes clear. The official system has one sovereign (bi), three dukes, nine ministers, twenty-seven grand officers, and eighty-one yuanshi (principal officers), so that the few command the many and the positionless govern the positioned—in this way the art of the Taixuan becomes clear. The ancients did not rely on the “Ting” sacrifice (also written “Yu”) and the “Yu” sacrifice, nor did they treat thought lightly; they did not use yarrow-stalk divination, so good and bad fortune were mixed and hard to clarify. Therefore the sages made yarrow stalks and tortoise shells (tools of divination), delved into the subtle, relied on Shen (spirit) illumination, and probed calamity and blessing—in this way the art of the Taixuan becomes clear.

Thus, when wishing to know what cannot be known, one uses hexagrams and omens as analogies; when fathoming depths and tracing what is far, one uses thought and reflection to seek it. Are not both probably established through Jing (essence)? When Jing-sincerity is applied to divination, Shen (spirit) illumination sets its transformations in motion; when Jing-sincerity is applied to thought, plans can be fitting; when one establishes uprightness with Jing-sincerity, no one can overturn it; when one guards and maintains with Jing-sincerity, no one can take it away. Therefore, who but Jing-sincerity could draw out the world’s tangled entanglements and disperse the world’s turbidity? “Ying” (luminosity) appears through measures and degrees and illuminates all models, but its fundamental point is to reach utmost Jing and return to the “One.” Could anyone but one of Jing-sincerity have composed the Taixuan and drawn out the world’s tangled entanglements and dispersed the world’s turbidity? “Ying” appears through measures and degrees and illuminates all patterns, while its root must return to utmost Jing and go back to the “One.”

What the author of the Taixuan valued was having something to follow while according with nature. When the principle followed is great, the form is expansive; when it is small, the form is lean; when it is straight, the form is solid; when it is curved, the form is loose. Thus he did not fear what was already present, nor force what was absent. Take the body: add to it and tumors form; cut away from it and it becomes deficient. Therefore the essential frame lies in nature, while ornate embellishment lies in human effort—how could one add or subtract at will? “One-one” is used to model the beginning and gauge what is profound; “three-three” to exhaust the endpoint and reach the sublime; “two-two” to integrate affairs and grasp the middle way. The human way emulates these, valuing actual matters rather than rhetoric, and change rather than ornament. Without concision, the meaning is not fully set forth; without grasping the essential, the response is not broad; without blending, the categories of affairs cannot unfold; without depth, the meaning cannot appear. Thus literary color is used to manifest essence, and words are used to reveal feeling; observe how he chooses his words, and what he intends in his heart becomes visible.

The commentary says: This is how the Taixuan sets forth principles and words. The manifest appraisals have nine degrees, namely one-one, one-two, one-one-two, two-one, two-two, two-three, three-one, three-two, and three-three; one-one represents the beginning, three-three represents the final height, and two-two represents the middle position. This is the natural, unalterable, concise law, taking its image from the numbers of yarrow stalks.

The Great Dao has both following and inheritance and change and transformation. By following and inheriting, one can share in the Dao’s wondrous efficacy; by changing and transforming, one can accord with the times and circumstances. Therefore, if within inheritance there is transformation, the way of Heaven can be grasped; if within transformation there is inheritance, the way of Heaven can proceed smoothly. The myriad things cannot be born without inheritance, and cannot be completed without transformation. If one knows only inheritance and not transformation, the myriad things will lose their norms; if one knows only transformation and not inheritance, the myriad things will lose their balance. If transformation does not accord with the times, the myriad things lose their foundation; if inheritance does not accord with principle, the myriad things lose their governing order. The application of Following and Transformation is the norm and standard of the state’s laws and institutions; the operation of laws and institutions is the evidence of success or failure.

Adaptation is what “Xuan” (the Mystery, as named in Yang Xiong’s Taixuanjing, the Canon of Supreme Mystery) deals with. Following takes its image from Water and Wood; Transformation takes its image from Metal and Fire.

What establishes Heaven’s constant Dao is Yin and Yang; what forms Earth’s warp and weft is vertical and horizontal; what manifests human conduct is obscurity and clarity. Yin and Yang combine and then differentiate; vertical and horizontal interweave and then form warp and weft; obscurity and clarity are distinguished and then material nature appears. Yin and Yang are the comprehensive ultimate; warp and weft are the positions encountered; obscurity and clarity are qualitative nature. Yang without Yin cannot cooperate in transformation; warp without weft cannot achieve its proper meaning; clarity without obscurity cannot distinguish virtue. Yin and Yang are used to probe profound realities; vertical and horizontal are used to clarify order; clarity and obscurity are used to manifest principles. To draw out realities, clarify order, and manifest principles is the Dao of the noble person.

Unfolding so that each accords with its name is the wording of “Xuan.” From the “Zhong” (Center) Head as Yang and the “Zhou” (Circumference) Head as Yin, one thereby exhausts the eighty-one Heads (the names of the eighty-one sections of the Taixuan). The nine positions (the positions of the nine Praises in each Head) reside within them; warp and weft intersect with one another, and temporal things each follow what they encounter—this is the Dao of the noble person.

When the Taixuan Jing unfolds and each item accords with its name, these are the words of Xuan. Counting from the Zhong head as yang to the Zhou head as yin, one exhausts the eighty-one heads. Nine positions lie within them, and warp and weft interweave; whichever position the seasonal ordinances and categories of things encounter, their corresponding meaning manifests there. The properties of the obscure and the bright are simply the principle of day and night.

The comings and goings, manifold and tangled, are the gate of gain and loss. What is gained, and what is lost? What is gained is blessing; what is lost is misfortune. Heaven and Earth take compliance as blessing and opposition as misfortune; mountains and rivers take the low and level as blessing and the high and steep as misfortune; the human way takes uprightness as blessing and crookedness as misfortune. Therefore the noble person is upright within and gentle without, always humble in dealing with others, and so in every action gains blessing and no misfortune. If blessing does not contain within it the cause of ugliness and evil, it will not give rise to misfortune; if misfortune does not contain within it the cause of beauty and good, it cannot turn into blessing. The alternating transformations of beauty and ugliness, good and evil, are precisely where the noble person makes manifest the way of sincerity and rectitude. When the joy of blessing comes to an end, the sorrow of misfortune begins. What Heaven and Earth regard as important is blessing; what ghosts and spirits protect is blessing; what the human way delights in is blessing. What Heaven and Earth, ghosts and spirits, and the human way slight and detest is called misfortune. Therefore, for one who excessively detests blessing, his misfortune becomes all the heavier (kang means high and flourishing). Those who belong to day (yang, brightness) have few misfortunes; those who belong to night (yin, obscurity) have many misfortunes; those in whom day and night are mixed and dispersed have misfortune and blessing mixed as well.

The Ying chapter (ying means brightness) is used to illuminate the principles of things and to make people know where misfortune and blessing tend. Those of the day have few misfortunes because they are purely in brightness; those of the night have many misfortunes because they are purely in obscurity; for those mixed in day and night, misfortune and blessing are mixed, because they are sometimes obscure and sometimes bright, not purely one.

This is the colophon and collation note at the end of juan 7 of the Collected Commentaries on the Taixuan Jing. The commentary on such sections of the Taixuan as “Shou,” “Ce,” “Chong,” “Cuo,” “Chi,” and “Ying” ends with juan 7.

The gist of the collation notes is as follows: First, the Daozang edition of the Collected Commentaries on the Taixuan Jing contains only juan 1–6, consisting of Sima Guang’s (Northern Song scholar) collected commentary; juan 7–10 of this book have been added on the basis of the Taixuan Jing in the Baizi Quanshu edition and contain Xu Han’s (Song scholar) commentary. Second, the character gong was originally missing and has been supplied according to the Shisanjing Zhushu. Third, one character was originally written que and has been corrected according to the main text. Fourth, the character sheng was originally missing and has been supplied according to the Fan edition (Fan Wang’s Commentary on the Taixuan Jing). Fifth through seventh, dang was originally written ti, which is an error. Eighth, you was originally written you you, with one extra character. Ninth, yue was originally written ri and has been corrected according to the Fan edition. Tenth, wei qi jing was originally written jing qi jing and has been corrected according to the Fan edition.

Later, the phrase “This is an error in the Taixuan” appears again, together with items eight through ten; the meaning is still to point out that the Taixuan is erroneous at this point and to repeat several of the above collation notes. What follows is the title of juan 8, “Taixuan shu, juan 8,” with the chapter title “Xuan shu,” that is, the chapter in the Taixuan that discusses numerical principles.

Heaven and Earth are vast and give birth to yarrow, the plant used in divination; it gathers precious, pure Jing (essence) and Qi (vital energy) and is used to calculate numerical patterns. It distributes subtle principles into a “threefold” structure and establishes the hierarchy of “families,” and by comparing them alongside the two modes of Yin-Yang one may observe the patterns of affairs. When divination encounters a time when various factors coalesce, it attaches them to corresponding names in order to investigate fate exhaustively. Sincere devotion accords with the constant Dao, so when there is a matter of doubt one may come to seek verification and correction; the oracle statement says, “Borrow the Taixuan to divine.” The Taixuan is sincere, trustworthy, upright, and correct; thus one inquires of the spirits about what is doubted. If auspicious, one encounters Yang, and star, time, number, and statement all accord harmoniously; if inauspicious, one encounters Yin, and star, time, number, and statement all run counter. In all yarrow-stalk divination there are principles: when the heart is not sincere and pure, do not divine; when there is no doubt, do not divine; when it does not accord with the right Dao, do not divine. To divine without following the divination method is the same as not divining. The revelation of the spirits is lofty and unsurpassed. One calculates with thirty-six yarrow stalks: Heaven takes threefold division as its measure and completes at six, so the heavenly number is eighteen stalks. Since Heaven does not transform alone and Earth does not complete things alone, the number is doubled; the Earth number modestly yields three stalks to match Heaven’s eighteen, together making thirty-six stalks. First take one stalk and hang it between the little finger of the left hand, then split the remaining stalks apart; count them in groups of three, and put the remainder into the “le” (between the fingers). After one le, count the remainder again: a remainder of seven counts as one, eight as two, and nine as three; when the count reaches six, the way of the yarrow stalks is exhausted. The results of divination are divided into three grades, lower, middle, and upper: the lower grade is thought and concern, the middle is blessing, and the upper is misfortune; thought, blessing, and misfortune are each further divided into lower, middle, and upper, using day and night to distinguish auspiciousness from inauspiciousness.

Heaven employs a threefold division, combining one, two, and three into six; multiplying six by three then gives eighteen. Heaven bestows and Earth completes, so doubling yields thirty-six—a numinous, luminous, and extraordinary number. Earth yields three empty positions to receive Heaven, and therefore the Taixuan divination method uses thirty-three stalks. Heaven bestows and Earth completes, and this divides into Si (Thought), Fu (Blessing), and Huo (Misfortune); the middle position is Fu and the upper position is Huo. Si, Fu, and Huo each in turn have lower, middle, and upper positions, and day and night distinguish the auspicious and inauspicious, the fortunate and unfortunate.

In divination, one stalk is set aside to symbolize utmost Jing (essence); the stalks are divided in the middle and then searched three times to symbolize ultimate transformation; the remaining one, two, or three stalks are merged into the le (the place where remainders are gathered), which is called guiqi (returning the remainders). After guiqi, the remaining stalks are counted again, and when seven, eight, or nine are finally obtained, they are matched with the day’s one, two, and three. Heaven is completed by six, so after six calculations the stalk method is exhausted; when number reaches its limit, the image is complete. If Fang is obtained in divination, one seeks Zhou; if Zhou is obtained, one seeks Bu; if Bu is obtained, one seeks Jia. This is called spreading the hidden numbers through three layers and establishing the family, making four levels in all: Fang, Zhou, Bu, and Jia.

When number is pushed so that One reaches its ultimate, it generates Two; when Two reaches its ultimate, it generates Three; when Three reaches its ultimate, it unfolds, and pushing Three produces Yingzan (increased surplus Zan). Yingzan enters the Biao, the Biao enters the Jia, the Jia enters the Bu, the Bu enters the Zhou, and the Zhou enters the Fang (there are textual variants here, sometimes written “Yingzan” or “entering Xuan,” and so on; the general meaning still refers to hierarchical attribution). Numbers issue forth from Xuan (the Mystery), and when unfolded to the ultimate they return again to Xuan. By this the sage shares good and ill fortune with the common people and washes the heart in the subtle and minute; therefore he interweaves it into the divination method. In ancient times, when Great Yu divided the nine provinces, he established tribute and taxes according to the land and presented the Xuan Gui (Dark Jade Tablet) to report his success; this was precisely to use this event as a symbol of this principle.

This passage discusses the Taixuan divination method: it judges auspiciousness and inauspiciousness by the combinations of “cong” (following/compliance) and “wei” (contrary/transgression) in the three positions of beginning, middle, and end. When all three positions are cong, it is called “Great Xiu” (da xiu, great auspiciousness); when all are wei, it is called “Great Jiu” (da jiu, great inauspiciousness). If the beginning and middle are cong but the end is wei, then the beginning and middle are auspicious while the end is inauspicious; if the beginning is cong while the middle and end are wei, then the beginning is auspicious while the middle and end are inauspicious; if the beginning is wei while the middle and end are cong, then the beginning is inauspicious while the middle and end are auspicious; if the beginning and middle are wei while the end is cong, then the beginning and middle are inauspicious while the end is auspicious. Overall, when cong predominates it is xiu, when wei predominates it is jiu, and the final judgment is made by the end position.

Divination has four kinds of corroboration: astral phenomena, time, numbers, and oracle words. Daytime is xiu and auspicious; nighttime is jiu and inauspicious. One then combines the harmony or discord, flourishing or decline, of stars, time, numbers, and words, and correlates them according to category to divine the matter asked. In the morning one uses the “warp” numbers (1, 5, 7); in the evening the “weft” numbers (3, 4, 8); between day and night, two warp and one weft (2, 6, 9). This is called the “Three Indicators” (san biao; the three indicators of Heaven, Earth, and Human). Dawn corresponds to Heaven, dusk to Earth, and the interval to Human. The divination numbers advance in sequence: 1, 5, 6 advance to 7; 3, 4, 7 advance to 8; 2, 6, 8 advance to 9. To observe the beginning and middle and decide by the end is to examine accumulation reaching its extreme and grasp its transformation; hence the “remaining-number” omens include one omen of seven, three omens of eight, and two omens of nine. In divination there are also cases where the end position is originally auspicious but turns inauspicious, or originally inauspicious but turns auspicious; the key lies in examining the matter asked and combining it with stars, time, and numbers. If what is asked is not a matter of loyalty and trustworthiness, even if auspiciousness is obtained it will turn inauspicious; this is a principle of the divination method.

Three and eight belong to Wood and correspond to the east and spring; among the heavenly stems they are Jia and Yi, and among the earthly branches Yin and Mao; among the five tones they are Jue, among the five colors blue-green, among the five flavors sour, and among the five odors rank; in bodily form they manifest as bending and stretching. Wood generates Fire and controls Earth; in seasonal order it governs sprouting and growth, and in the human body it is stored in the spleen (following the correspondence given in the original text).

The lungs are located at the top of the five viscera and cover the kidneys; the kidneys are at the very bottom, while the heart lies hidden in the center, symbolizing the virtue of the ruler; on the left is the spleen and on the right the liver, arranged as supports to determine the positions of the Five Phases. The Yueling (a chapter title in the Liji, recording seasonal ordinances and sacrifices) says: in the spring sacrifice, the spleen is sacrificed to first; in summer, the lungs; in the central sacrifice, the heart; in autumn, the liver; in winter, the kidneys. These are the correspondences of the Taixuan (the system Yang Xiong established in imitation of the Zhouyi). Therefore, in the correlations of the Taixuan, the lungs store Qi (vital energy) and belong to Fire; the kidneys store Jing (essence) and belong to Water; the heart stores Shen (spirit) and belong to Earth; the spleen stores thought and belong to Wood; the liver stores blood and belong to Metal. If one speaks in terms of physical form, then the spleen is Earth, the lungs Metal, the heart Fire, the liver Wood, and the kidneys Water; if one speaks in terms of positional relations, then there are mutually dependent relations such as nurturing, ministerial control, and rearing. Only the “One” can remain unmixed with the myriad things; this is the symbol of mysterious De.

The original small annotation gives pronunciation and variant-text notes for the word cun, while the main text still understands it as jicun (depositing/entrusting) and cunyou (having/abiding). Wood is where zhi is deposited; its function is “establishing.” Metal is where po is deposited; its function is “operating.” Fire is where hun is deposited; its function is “changing.” Water is where Jing is deposited; its function is “hiding.” Earth is where Shen is deposited; its function is “transforming.” Zhi originally belongs to Water but is deposited in Wood; po originally belongs to Earth but is deposited in Metal; hun originally belongs to Wood but is deposited in Fire; Shen originally belongs to Fire but is deposited in Earth. In each case, it relies on the phase that it generates. The Laozi (that is, the Daodejing) says, “Weaken their will, strengthen their bones, empty their hearts, fill their bellies.” This is precisely what is meant. Only when purity and singleness reach the utmost does it form things without dividing into two.

According to the correlations of the Taixuan, its nature is benevolence, its emotion is joy; its affair is appearance, its function is respect, its hui (expression/action) is solemn reverence, and its omen is drought.

The “various verifications” (shuzheng) in the Hongfan discuss celestial verifications such as rain, sunshine, warmth, cold, and wind: rain and sunshine take the “weft” (coordinating lateral correspondence), while warmth, cold, and wind take the “warp” (the constant course). The numerical categories of the Taixuan speak only in terms of positive categories; they do not rely on yin-yang qi clashing and mutually penetrating. The spirit of Taihao—the Green Emperor of the East—is Goumang (the spring god); the lunar mansions each follow their directional positions. Di, Fang, Xin, Wei, and Ji (of the Eastern Azure Dragon’s seven mansions) are located in the yin and mao directions. Its correlated images are scales and shells, thunder, drum, great loud sound, newness, restlessness, door, and window. Jia is imaged as scales: arranged in order and numerous, precisely corresponding to the categories of the yin and mao directions. When a thing reaches its extreme, it shakes and changes into thunder, drum, and great sound; generation and nurturing are “newness,” and breaking through obstruction is “restlessness.” The large makes a door for going out; the small makes a window for passage. All things going out must use the single door; entering must use the double gate; the single door is odd, the double gate is even. The stove warms and nourishes, while moving qi circulates; the central skylight (zhongliu; the center of the room, belonging to Earth) is empty and accommodates heavenly light, receiving the many streams; it is where blessings gather, so the head of the household sacrifices to it. The opening and closing of doors and gates involves change, which is the “weft”; the stove, road, and central skylight have constant courses, which is the “warp.” Therefore the Yueling says: in spring sacrifice to the door, in summer to the stove, at the center to the central skylight, in autumn to the gate, and in winter to the road. Seeking these five sacrificial objects according to their categories, they match the Taixuan.

Zhen is the change of the eldest son, therefore it is continuation of lineage, inheritance, branches and leaves, and remnant; when there are doors and windows, the household is established. Zhen is also pardon, release, and many children. Plants and trees shed their withered shells and sprout—this is the function of Zhen; state affairs take their image from this. Sprouting and growth, conception and birth—at this season the myriad things are flourishing. Zhen is outgoing and giving. The Di comes forth from Zhen, spreads De and bestows benefits; the myriad things take their image from this. Being pardon and release means going out and giving. Zhen is also bamboo, grass, fruit, and seed.

The upright and elegant expression of Wood Qi becomes bamboo; its spreading and prolific expression becomes grass; its gathering and concentrating at the tips of branches becomes fruit. All these are functions of Wood Qi. Fruit is seed and symbolizes that after fruition there will be rebirth. Wood Qi also manifests in fish: scaly creatures born in water are an image of flourishing reproduction; from bamboo and grass to fish, all belong to the category of many offspring and abundant fertility. Wood Qi further manifests in openwork implements (shuqi, implements that are open and permeable). The Yue Ling (a chapter of the Liji) says that in spring implements should be open and penetrating; carving and hollowing them out symbolizes that when Earth Qi arises and grows there is nothing blocked. Openwork implements must be made by human effort in order to accord with seasonal timing. Wood Qi also manifests as fields and the compass. The old commentaries of Xu and Huang interpret “compass” as “field,” while those of Song and Guo interpret “field” as “compass”; both mean that Wood can govern Earth: as field, it is when Wood is in season and the agricultural officers carry out farming; as compass, it symbolizes primal Qi moving to Wood. Earth adhering to Wood symbolizes the exertion of spring to assist Heaven in generating the myriad things. Wood Qi also manifests as the spear: the spear is a weapon for hooking and piercing; it distinguishes the curved and the straight without taking killing as fundamental, and contains a meaning of benevolence and generosity. When Wood Qi is abnormal it manifests as green anomalies: in governing the state one uses the upright Way, in employing troops one uses extraordinary change; when the Five Phases lose their order, anomalies appear through their corresponding categories. When Wood Qi is disordered it also manifests as qiu (pronounced qiu; nasal congestion): when spring carries out the ordinances of autumn, many people have nasal congestion, as Metal Qi injures Wood Qi; it also manifests as madness, caused by lack of respect and solemnity and by excessive agitation.

Four and Nine belong to Metal and correspond to the west and autumn. The heavenly stems are Geng and Xin; the earthly branches are Shen and You. The five tones: Shang; the five colors: white; the five flavors: pungent; the five odors: rank; the five forms: leather/change. Metal generates Water and overcomes Wood. Its season governs austerity and killing; in the human body it stores the liver and houses the Po-soul. Its nature is righteousness; its emotion is anger. In affairs it belongs to speech; its function is compliance; its application is yi (governing, regulating, and cutting). Its omen is rain. Its emperor is Shaohao (the Western Metal Emperor); its spirit is Rushou (the autumn god and Metal god); the stars each follow their respective directions. The lunar mansions Wei, Mao, Bi, Shi, and Shen are located in the Shen and You positions. Metal’s category is the hairy: Metal’s nature is change and transformation; acted on by Fire it contracts, and its Qi disperses, so it manifests as hair/fur. This is the image of Geng-Xin Metal.

The images listed here are: physician, wu invocator, meng (“fierce”; Tang dynasty taboo usage often replaced “tiger” with “meng,” and the commentary suspects this character should originally have been “tiger,” but there is no textual confirmation), old, and sounding.

The physician attacks and removes illness, while the wu invocator (an ancient officiant who presided over prayers) purifies people of inauspicious influences; both are skilled at transforming things. The so-called “meng” probably refers to the tiger, which belongs to the armor-and-fur category; the tiger transforms into a dragon and becomes manifest by relying on its old body. When all things are firm and fully formed, they emit sound, as when a tiger roars and wind arises—this is the grand manifestation of sounding. The physician transforms the diseased body and restores it to normal, while the wu invocator is skilled at praying by means of sound. When a thing has just formed it is called new; when a thing is old and long-standing it is called old. All movement belongs to Wood; all sound belongs to Metal. Moving with decisiveness is impetuosity; sound rising upward is sounding, and sounding further values having measure.

Further images are gate, mountain, limit, border, city wall, bone, and stone. Because it is firm and establishes measures and limits, it is symbolized by gate, mountain, limit, border, and city wall; Metal’s nature is square, upright, and comes to rest. Border refers to the four directions; a city wall is built on four sides as a defensive barrier. Therefore externally the images are limit, border, and city wall; internally the image is bone. Bone arises from hardness and originally belongs to the qi of Wood; but since the hardness of all things is produced by Metal, the substance of Wood is all white. The Metal category is bone; when it develops to its extreme, it is stone.

Further images are ring pendants, head ornaments, precious treasures, da duo (the Ding and Song editions lack this sentence), and kou vessels. Kou is pronounced like kou (“mouth”); it means decorating the rim of a vessel with metal.

When doubt reaches its extreme, joy (with “shuo” interchangeable with “yue”) instead becomes manifest; once plainness is settled, ornamentation arises from it. Ring pendants are ornaments of measure on the body; when made more noble they become head ornaments, and when made more precious still they become weighty treasures. Ring pendants take their image from four, head ornaments take their image from nine, and weighty treasures embody their virtue. According to the Shuowen, “chi” means large; “duo” is the image of the mouth opened, and the Dui trigram symbolizes the mouth. To bind the rim of a vessel with metal (a kouqi, that is, a kou vessel) both pleases the eye and makes it firm.

It can symbolize pounding grain, hammering, exerting force, and hanging (“xian” is the same as “xuan”); it can symbolize the fire-making flint, weapons, and implements; it can also symbolize teeth, animal horns, stings, and poisons.

In government affairs, joy is used to embellish, while minor faults are disciplined. The kou vessel wraps its rim in order to bear what is contained within. Symbolizing pounding, hammering, and force, it prevails through hardness; only when force prevails can external things be subdued. To hang it is to use the weight (steelyard weight) to regulate its changes. Thus metal and fire transform each other to form the fire-making flint, and fire in turn turns metal into weapons; such transformation is the interweaving of the numbers seven and nine. Humans have weapons and implements, animals have teeth, horns, stings, and poisons—all are used to overcome things and establish the self; if establishing the self is excessive, it invites intrusion and seizure, and from this robbers and bandits arise.

It can symbolize the dog, entering, obtaining, and hunting (phonetic gloss “hu zao qie”; one edition reads “lie,” hunting).

It can symbolize robbers, bandits, governance, the carpenter’s square, metalworkers, and the battle-axe (great axe).

This passage classifies and explains the emblematic images (xiang) of Metal and Fire according to the Five Phases. The nature of Metal is like a dog guarding one quarter: intrusions still occur. It governs the intake of sunlight, the gathering in of the year’s ripened harvest, and hunting at the proper times; when taking and hunting become excessive, they turn into banditry and theft, and so judicial officers govern it and establish laws and measures. Thus Metal is also “ordering” and “the square” (norm). Metal can be recast according to a mold, and so it is the metalworker; if it is not recast according to a mold but instead decides and regulates according to righteousness, only killing and attack remain, and so it is the yue, the great axe. Among weapons, the yue belongs precisely to the Metal category and specifically governs killing. After King Wu of Zhou conquered Shang, he carried a yellow battle-axe at his left, showing that the realm was settled and killing would no longer be used. When Metal Qi is abnormal, among things it produces white anomalies, among people it produces muteness, and among states it produces usurpation.

The numbers two and seven belong to Fire and correlate with the south and summer; its heavenly stems are Bing and Ding, its earthly branches Si and Wu; its sound is zhi, its color red, its flavor bitter, its Qi scorched, and its bodily form flames upward. Fire generates Earth and controls Metal; in the seasonal order it governs nourishment and growth; among the viscera it corresponds to the lungs and transmits the hun-soul; its nature is ritual propriety, its emotion is joy; its affair is seeing, its function is brightness, and its manifestation is wisdom; its symptom is heat; its emperor is the Yan Emperor, its spirit Zhurong; the lunar mansions assigned to it each occupy their positions, and the southern mansions Liu, Xing, Zhang, Yi, Zhen, and the others are located at Si and Wu. The category images of Fire are feathers (birds), the stove, silk, nets, cords, and pearls; they are also ornamental color and mottled pattern, and they are seals, ribbons, and documents.

In the image categories of the Tai Xuan, “Feathers” (a category of phenomenal images that appears with the transformations of Qi) can be assigned to the northern “Odd” and the southern “Class.” The Qi of the vast sky steams water with fire and surges upward from north to south; the image of Feathers arises from this. When gathered and nourished, it becomes a stove; when dispersed, it becomes silk; when interlaced, it becomes a net; when twisted, it becomes a rope; when condensed and clear, it becomes a pearl. Its transformations, uneven and intermingled, form patterned brilliance; what is called “mottled” is simply the mutual mixing of the ten thousand things. All of these resemble hot Qi rising upward in a stove. It can also become seals, ribbons, and books; the image of patterned brilliance is thereby determined. All of the above are transformations of “Feathers.”

Feathers also manifest as lightness, height, and terrace; as wine, vomiting, shooting, dagger-axe, armor, and thicket; and can also manifest as pearls. Their transformations, intermingled and uneven, form patterns; “mottled” means things are mixed together; all resemble stove Qi rising upward. Becoming seals, ribbons, and books, the image of pattern is thereby determined. All of these are transformations of Feathers.

The Qi that burns upward, if it disperses without being pent up, becomes lightness, height, and terrace; if it is pent up and then disperses, it becomes wine, vomiting, shooting, dagger-axe, armor, and thicket. Plants and trees all grow by borrowing fire to draw off moisture and by contact with the soil.

Feathers also manifest as the Sima (Minister of War), ritual propriety, rope, the fire-worker (the artisan in charge of fire), and the knife. Shooting, the dagger-axe, armor, and thicket are what the Sima relies on to devote himself to martial and fierce affairs; after succeeding through arms and passing through disorder, one must govern by principle, and so they manifest as ritual propriety. Ritual propriety is used to restrain things and make them turn toward uprightness, and so it manifests as rope. Rope is the use of human effort to assist the Way of Heaven in governing, and so it manifests as the fire-worker. The dagger-axe is a weapon for responding to military affairs and symbolizes the sprouting of the ten thousand things; the knife properly belongs to the fire category and is used to cut and regulate in accordance with what is right.

Feathers also manifest as red anomalies, blindness, and ease. Red anomalies are calamitous prodigies; blindness is the loss of light; ease is comfort that brings blame and harm.

In the correspondences of the Taixuan, “One and Six” are the generation and completion numbers of water; its direction is north, its season winter; its heavenly stems are Ren and Gui, and its earthly branches are Zi and Hai (the received edition has Zi-Hai, while the Song edition has Hai-Zi). Among the Five Tones it is Yu; among the Five Colors it is black; among the Five Flavors it is salty; among the Five Odors it is putrid; in physical form it is characterized by downward moistening and flowing downward. Water can engender Wood and control Fire; in seasonal order it governs closing and storing; in the human body it corresponds to the kidneys, and the kidneys store Jing (essence); its nature is wisdom, its emotion is sorrow; in affairs it governs hearing, its function is acuity, its operation governs strategy, and its omen is cold. The emperor of the north is Zhuanxu, its Shen (spirit) is Xuanming, and the lunar mansions each occupy their places; the northern lunar mansions Nü, Xu, Wei, Shi, Bi, and others are located in the positions of Hai and Zi. Things of the water category are shellfish (Jie), ghosts, shrines, and temples; they are also wells, caves, holes and apertures, mirrors, and jade.

When water is trapped in danger, its image is like shellfish, and also like ghosts, shrines, and temples, indicating that spirits are hidden away; like wells, caves, holes, and apertures, indicating that it is deep and able to penetrate; like a mirror, indicating stillness and brightness; like jade, indicating purity and clarity. These are all images taken from water in its original state.

The images of water in motion also include footwear, distant travel, toil and hardship, blood, and fat. Blood coagulates and moistens, and fat and grease arise from this; things then have something to cling to, and greed arises accordingly. Gathering and seizing is called greed; harboring and concealing without release is called han (containing). Gathering produces cold; when harboring reaches its extreme, it lies hidden, and so it is zhe (hibernation). In terms of the images of things, it is hibernation. It is “fire hunting” (the Song edition has “human hunting”), which carries the meaning of saving people; being closed and stored away, and being a thief, are both images of being in danger. Those who harbor and conceal plot because of fear; the greedy, without limit, seize by force. When greed reaches the extreme of cold, it instead turns into fire hunting. The image of Metal is the bandit, because it is skilled at maiming and killing; the image of Water is the thief, who merely submerges what is not his own.

The Earth phase can take as its images the Sikong (Minister of Works, the ancient official in charge of construction and residents), laws and standards, water levels, waterworks, and the shield. The Sikong settles the people, modeling himself on closing and hiding, on hibernation; he uses strategic strongholds to uphold fairness, so as to prohibit illegal taking and to guard carefully against theft. Waterworks regulate water so that it does not lose its balance; the shield’s function is to guard the upright and prevent trouble. The poem “King Xuan of Zhou’s Southern Expedition” says, “The troops and shields are tested; Fang Shu leads them,” which precisely conveys the idea of defense. Earth’s images can also appear as black and anomalous phenomena, or as deafness and impatience. When a person trusts himself without investigation, his fault lies in impatience; when he cannot listen to words of virtue, he is like a deaf person.

Earth is correlated with the number five-five: it is the center and the four corners (siwei); its heavenly stems are Wu and Ji; its earthly branches are Chen, Wei, Xu, and Chou (a textual note gives Chen, Xu, Chou, and Wei); among the Five Tones it is Gong; among the Five Colors, yellow; among the Five Flavors, sweet; among the Five Smells, fragrant; its bodily form belongs to the plant kind. Earth generates Metal and controls Water. In seasonal terms it encompasses the four seasons; within, it is stored in the heart and preserves Shen (spirit). Its nature is trustworthiness, and its emotion is fear. Benevolence is gentle and loves life, so its emotion is joy; righteousness is firm and accords with timely killing and punishment, so its emotion is anger; propriety meets all things in excellent beauty, so its emotion is pleasure; wisdom alone does not join with external things, yet is good at ceaselessly giving aid, so its emotion is sorrow. The Shangshu says: “The human heart is perilous; the heart of the Dao (the Way) is subtle. Be refined and single-minded; sincerely hold fast to the Mean.” If the Middle Way is not lost, one can stabilize peril; as soon as the Middle Way stirs, it becomes the emotion of fear, as shown by the second and fifth lines of the Zhen hexagram. When the heart is shaken by external things and does not hold fast to the standard, it is not proper emotion.

This section takes “affairs” as its guiding principle: in handling affairs one must deliberate, employ wisdom, spread abroad the sage’s Way, and take wind as the verifying sign. The heavenly deity is the Yellow Emperor; the spirit is Houtu (Sovereign Earth). The lunar mansions each follow their respective positions: the Jiao and Kang mansions occupy the chen position, Kui and Lou the xu position, Dou and Niu the chou position, and Jing and Gui the wei position. Its symbolic correspondences among things include the naked body (a body without hair, feathers, scales, or shell), boundaries, field ridges, jars, palaces and chambers, dwellings, the central skylight (the center of the hall), as well as household affairs, weaving, making clothes, fur garments, silkworm cocoons, silk floss, beds, and mats. It also symbolizes docility (the way of the wife), cherishing (the way of the mother), belly vessels, fat, lacquer, glue, sacks, and bundles.

The commentary says: the naked body has no shell, scales, or feathers; it is merely flesh. The spirit has no fixed place, and the Dao originally has no boundaries; once boundaries exist, divisions of “this territory” and “that territory” arise. Once there are boundaries, one is confined like a jar. A jar is a vessel made by kneading clay; a palace chamber is a dwelling made by cutting into the earth; a residence is a place to live. Between the central skylight of the palace dwelling, there are household affairs. Earth is accumulated yin qi, yet through it achievements bring the myriad things to completion; understanding the rules and the warp and woof, making clothes and making fur garments—these are all household affairs. Naked people wish for warmth, and so they wrap themselves as a silkworm makes a cocoon; this is the psychology of people’s need for clothes and furs. Hiding within clothes and furs is still not enough, and so they further take floss from the cocoon. Placing oneself in the empty space of the central skylight, one takes change and adaptability as one’s function, causing things for use to arise. As for beds and mats, they make the proper position peaceful and secure; they are the expression of stability and thickness carried to the utmost. Docility is the way of the wife; cherishing is the way of the mother. Because it cherishes and nurtures, it is a belly vessel. The qi of centrality and harmony condenses and becomes fat, lacquer, and glue; preserving and gathering cohesion becomes sacks and bundles. This is the principle by which the motherly way brings the myriad things to completion.

This passage uses the image category of “Earth” to explain: Earth can serve as a carriage body or a wheel hub—the carriage body is square and bears loads, while the hub is centered and turns; it can serve as crops and as harvest, as food and as giving; it can serve as a coffin or a casket (the Song edition reads guo, “outer coffin”), symbolizing the great earth’s bearing and turning of the myriad things. The Book of Documents says, “Earth is where sowing and harvesting take place,” meaning that Earth can plant and harvest. Food fills the body and nourishes life, and for this reason it also brings death; the coffin is what a person uses when returning into the earth. The myriad things are all born from Earth and return to Earth, and then are born anew from the movement of the root; coffins and outer coffins belong to this category. Death and life go back and forth like a road; a thoroughfare is a place of convergence and passage, reaching in all four directions while its center becomes a metropolis. Measurements and standards must be carefully attended to, and the earthwork office takes charge of them. In governing a state, when it reaches bows and arrows (armed force), it is already at the limit; hence it is said that the use of the five weapons is the last branch of virtuous government. The myriad things sprout and grow, emerging from concealment and setting the hidden in motion, like an arrow released from a fully drawn bow, yet all of them revolve around the center (Earth).

Earth also manifests as the yellow anomaly, foolishness, and mou (Song commentators hold that mou should be mao, dimness of sight). Anomalies do not arise of themselves; they are summoned by people transgressing virtue. Foolishness is a disease of the mind; mou is interchangeable with meng, referring to the calamity of benightedness and turbidity. The numbers of the Taixuan (Supreme Mystery) deduce the Five Phases (wuxing) and clarify the various categories of phenomena; hence they are arranged according to the order of the Five Phases in the Hongfan (Great Plan). One who deeply understands the workings of the Five Phases can discuss the Dao with him and establish rites with him, and does not merely esteem divination.

Among the Five Phases, the one in season is called “king” (wang, flourishing); what the king produces is “minister” (xiang); what restrains the king is “imprisoned” (qiu); what the king restrains is “dead” (si) (when the seasonal command is excessive, it too turns toward decline and waste). In sounds, Gong is the ruler, Zhi is affairs, Shang is the minister, Jue is the people, and Yu is things; when used for the pitch pipes (lülü), Huangzhong generates Linzhong (one of the mutual generations of the twelve pitches).

When one of the Five Phases holds the season and governs affairs, it is called "wang" (interchangeable with "prosperous"). What the prosperous qi generates is "xiang" (minister/assistant); what generates the prosperous phase is retired and withdraws; what controls the prosperous phase is imprisoned; and what is controlled by the prosperous phase dies. In the realm of sounds, the gong tone symbolizes the ruler, the zhi tone symbolizes affairs, the shang tone symbolizes the assisting minister, the jue tone symbolizes the common people, and the yu tone symbolizes the myriad things. In the lülü (the ancient names of the twelve pitch standards, divided into six yang pitches and six yin pitches), the sequential generation is as follows: Huangzhong generates Linzhong, Linzhong generates Taicu, Taicu generates Nanlü, Nanlü generates Guxi, Guxi generates Yingzhong, Yingzhong generates Ruibin, Ruibin generates Dalü, Dalü generates Yize, Yize generates Jiazhong, Jiazhong generates Wuyi, and Wuyi generates Zhonglü.

Things in their transformations communicate with one another and mutually govern one another; the people’s lives are thereby harmonious, and the myriad things are stored away and brought to transformation. When the ruler keeps wuwei in his heart and holds to the utmost correct Dao, then in all musical sounds the heavy and turbid do not go beyond Gong, and the light and clear do not go beyond Yu. (Gong, Shang, Jue, Zhi, and Yu are the five-note scale.) Taking 81 as the number for Gong, subtracting one part in three gives 54 as Zhi; adding one part in three gives 72 as Shang; subtracting another part gives 48 as Yu; adding another part gives 64 as Jue. This is the method by which the five notes are generated when Huangzhong is Gong. Each of the twelve lü takes its own pitch number as Gong and then, by the three-part gain/loss, generates Zhi, Shang, Yu, and Jue, making sixty sounds in all. The Huangzhong pipe is nine cun long; subtracting one third generates Linzhong downward at six cun. Linzhong, increased by one third, generates Taicu upward at eight cun. Taicu, decreased by one third, generates Nanlü downward at five cun plus one third of a cun. Nanlü, increased, generates Guxi upward at seven cun plus one ninth of a cun. Guxi, decreased, generates Yingzhong downward at four cun plus 20/27 cun. Yingzhong, increased, generates Ruibin upward at six cun plus 26/81 cun. Ruibin again, increased, generates Dalü upward at eight cun plus 104/243 cun. Dalü, decreased, generates Yize downward at five cun plus 451/729 cun. Yize, increased, generates Jiazhong upward at seven cun plus 1,075/2,187 cun. Jiazhong, decreased, generates Wuyi downward at four cun plus 6,524/6,561 cun. Wuyi, increased, generates Zhonglü upward at six cun plus 12,974/19,683 cun. In general, the numbers of decrease and increase do not exceed three, and the numbers taken in generation do not exceed eight. Thus it can harmonize the two poles of Yin-Yang and set the eight winds in motion. The twelve lü are matched to the twelve Earthly Branches. From Zi through Si all belong to the Yang series; among them, Dalü, Jiazhong, and Zhonglü are Yin sounds within Yang. From Wu through Hai all belong to the Yin series; among them, Ruibin, Nanlü, and Yingzhong are Yang sounds within Yin. Therefore the pitches from Zi through Si are each generated downward, and those from Wu through Hai are each generated upward. When music is performed, if Huangzhong is Gong, then Linzhong is Zhi, Taicu is Shang, Nanlü is Yu, and Guxi is Jue; if Linzhong is Gong, then Taicu is Zhi, Nanlü is Shang, Guxi is Yu, and Yingzhong is Jue; if Taicu is Gong, then Nanlü is Zhi, Guxi is Shang, Yingzhong is Yu, and Ruibin is Jue. This is the principle by which the five notes, six lü, and twelve pipes take turns serving as Gong, being adjusted through the three-part gain/loss. This is what the Record calls spreading the Five Phases through the four seasons, so that after harmonization the months are born; the Five Phases take turns to rule and exercise their functions, and when one phase is correct and prevails, it then joins with the others to produce harmony. This is precisely the nature and disposition of “Li Zhen” (beneficial and steadfast) spoken of in the Yi.

The twelve Earthly Branches are assigned numbers according to their relative positions: Zi and Wu are nine; Chou and Wei, eight; Yin and Shen, seven; Mao and You, six; Chen and Xu, five; Si and Hai, four. The numbers of the six yang pitch-standards (Zi–Wu, Yin–Shen, Chen–Xu) total forty-two, while the numbers of the six yin pitch-standards (Chou–Wei, Mao–You, Si–Hai) total thirty-six. When the numbers of the yang and yin pitch-standards are combined, some can return to the number nine and some cannot; the total is seventy-eight, and from this the number of Huangzhong (the first of the twelve pitch-standards) is established. Whenever standards of length (du) are set, they all derive from Huangzhong.

Zi and Wu are the warp and weft through which Heaven and Earth penetrate the Huangji (the highest central and correct standard in the Taixuan system); the number nine is contained within them and decreases step by step down to Si and Hai. The yang pitch-standards, totaling the numbers of Zi–Wu, Yin–Shen, and Chen–Xu, make forty-two; the yin pitch-standards, totaling the numbers of Chou–Wei, Mao–You, and Si–Hai, make thirty-six; together they make seventy-eight. Among the numbers of the pitch-standards, only Huangzhong can still return to nine; none of the other pitches can. Therefore Huangzhong is the ancestor of the pitch-standards. Huangzhong’s original number is eighty-one, but it uses seventy-eight, leaving three numbers empty as the mystery of all wonders; this is the principle of using nine and containing three. The numbers of the twelve chronograms decrease until they stop at four, and on this basis the number for establishing a square is formed. Weights and measures all take Huangzhong as their root: the width of ninety grains of millet laid horizontally determines length; the nine-cun Huangzhong pipe determines capacity; and the weight of one thousand two hundred grains of millet filling the pipe is fixed as twelve zhu, from which the standard of weight (quanheng) arises.

The five combinations of the Heavenly Stems are assigned numbers: Jia and Ji are nine; Yi and Geng, eight; Bing and Xin, seven; Ding and Ren, six; Wu and Gui, five. Sound (the five tones) is born from the Heavenly Stems (days), while pitch is born from the Earthly Branches (chronograms). Sound takes emotional substance as its root, and pitch is used to harmonize sound; when sound and pitch are mutually coordinated, the eight tones (the eight classes of instruments—metal, stone, earth, leather, silk, wood, gourd, and bamboo) arise from this.

The number of Heaven is five, and the number of Earth is also five; the five directions coordinate with one another, and each has its combining transformation. Therefore the ten days (the ten Heavenly Stems) also follow this principle. Yin and Yang between Heaven and Earth unite, as shown in the Zhongfu hexagram, whose image appears in jiazi. Jia is the head of the Heavenly Stems and symbolizes the beginning of the primal One. From one it is extended to three, and from three to nine; when the numerical principle reaches nine, it is exhausted. Thus the number of Jia is nine, and the number of Ji is also nine, because Jia and Ji combine. Jia’s number is nine, descending in order to Yi, Bing, Ding, and Wu; Ji’s number is nine, descending in order to Geng, Xin, Ren, and Gui. When the count reaches five, it reaches its extreme; therefore the days and earthly branches move by mutual opposition. Jia and Yi are paired with the Jue note, Bing and Ding with the Zhi note, Geng and Xin with the Shang note, Ren and Gui with the Yu note, and Wu and Ji with the Gong note. Thus sounds are born from the days and belong to the qi of Heaven; the pitch pipes (lülü) are born from the earthly branches and belong to the norms of Earth. Sound takes genuine feeling and substantial reality as its uprightness; the pitch pipes set it forth through harmonious sound. Thereupon the sounds of the eight materials—metal, stone, silk, bamboo, gourd, earth, leather, and wood—arise, and sounds can be harmonized to form musical compositions. All this is because each day has its own combination.

The Nine Heavens: the first is Zhongtian; the second, Xiantian; the third, Congtian; the fourth, Gengtian; the fifth, Suitian; the sixth, Kuotian; the seventh, Jiantian; the eighth, Shentian; and the ninth, Chengtian.

The Nine Earths: the first is sand and mud; the second, marshes and pools; the third, islets and cliffs; the fourth, lower fields; the fifth, middle fields; the sixth, upper fields; the seventh, lower mountains; the eighth, middle mountains; and the ninth, upper mountains.

The Nine People: the first is the lower people; the second, ordinary people; the third, advancing people; the fourth, lower emolument; the fifth, middle emolument; the sixth, upper emolument; the seventh, lost aspiration; the eighth, illness and stagnation (the Song edition reads “stagnant illness”); and the ninth, the extreme.

This passage of the scripture enumerates the various correspondences in the Taixuan Jing (Classic of Supreme Mystery) that take “nine” as their guiding framework, showing that nature, the human body, kinship, human affairs, and ages can all be arranged according to the number nine.

In terms of operation, the “nine heavens” are divided into beginning, middle, and end; in terms of configuration, the “nine earths” are divided into lower, middle, and upper; and observed in their actions, the “nine kinds of people” are divided into three states: thought, blessing, and misfortune.

The “nine bodily parts” are the nine-level correspondences of parts of the human body: the first is the hands and feet, the second the arms and shins, the third the thighs and upper arms, the fourth the waist, the fifth the abdomen, the sixth the shoulders, the seventh a body part provided with a phonetic gloss (the original annotation gives readings such as “ya,” “ku,” and “hu”), the eighth the face, and the ninth the forehead.

The “nine kinship categories” are nine layers of relatives inferred upward and downward with oneself as the center: great-great-grandson, great-grandson, Rengsun (a distant descendant), son, self, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and great-great-grandfather.

The “nine orifices” are matched according to number: one and six are the front (front yin) and the ears; two and seven are the eyes; three and eight are the nose; four and nine are the mouth; five and five are the rear (rear yin).

By observing the images selected for the nine bodily parts and the nine kinship categories, one can infer the numbers of days and time-markers. Numbers begin from nine and decrease step by step; this is the principle of nature.

The “nine sequences” subdivide each of the three layers Meng, Zhong, and Ji again into Meng, Zhong, and Ji, forming the nine sequences Mengmeng, Mengzhong, Mengji, Zhongmeng, Zhongzhong, Zhongji, Jimeng, Jizhong, and Jiji.

The “nine affairs” are nine types of states in the development of things: first, the initial stage of scale; second, being just obstructed; third, being free and unconstrained; fourth, external alteration; fifth, central harmony; sixth, abundance; seventh, decline; eighth, depletion; ninth, exhaustion and decay.

The “nine years” take ten years as one grade: first, ten years; second, twenty years; third, thirty years; fourth, forty years; fifth, fifty years; sixth, sixty years; seventh, seventy years; eighth, eighty years; ninth, ninety years—indicating the stages of age from youth to old age.

The Taixuan uses the “Nine Categories” (jiushu) to encompass the nine bodies and nine orifices, because the body and its orifices are the basis for establishing the category “human”; it also uses the “Nine Affairs” (jiushi) to encompass the nine sequences and nine years, because sequence and years are what are used to undertake human affairs. The derivation of the sequences takes three years as one round; when the round is complete, it reaches ten.

In the Xuan calculation (xuansuan), the Taixuan counting method: for the jia number, if it is one, set one; if two, set two; if three, set three. For the bu number, if one, there is no increase; if two, add three; if three, add six. For the zhou number, if one, no increase; if two, add nine; if three, add eighteen. For the fang number, if one, no increase; if two, add twenty-seven; if three, add fifty-four.

The Fayan says: the Yi is number, and it can be counted. The Shu is more than half damaged and missing, and those who study it cannot understand it because there is no number to serve as a normative model. The Xuan calculation enables diviners to know the order of the heads (shou), praises (zan), days, and stars, and to use it to weave and order the Way of Heaven and constant principles so that they are not disordered. For example, if one obtains “Xian” (the name of a Taixuan head) with fang one, zhou one, bu one, and jia three, then for the jia number three one sets three, while fang, zhou, and bu do not increase, so the total is only three. This is the sequence of the Xuan head being three; all numbers that are added are accumulated on the basis of the jia number.

To find the praises in the table (the nine praises under each head): first take the Xuan surname of that head (the head’s number or name), subtract it from the Taishi tally-stalk number, subtract one, multiply by nine, and then add the praise number; then, according to the Xuan number, deduct by halving, and one obtains the number of days from that praise to the winter solstice. If the result is even, it is the night of that day; if odd, it is the daytime of that day. The Xu and Huang recensions read it as “bright” (ming), while the Song and Guo recensions read it as “obtain” (de).

First record the ordinal position of the obtained Taixuan head (shou; the “mysterious designation,” xuanxing, here means the name-position of the obtained head). In calculating, one must remove the head itself, that is, subtract one from the head number; then multiply by nine, because each head has nine zan (“zan” are the nine numerical calculation units under each Taixuan head). After subtracting the head itself, add the order of the zan obtained within the head: for the first zan add one, for the second zan add two, for the third zan add three.

When seeking the number of days, halve the total number of zan obtained, because two zan combine to make one day; therefore, if the zan number is even it belongs to night, and if odd it belongs to day. For example, if divination obtains the Ying head, from the Zhong head to the Ying head there are forty-one heads in all. Subtract one from forty-one and multiply by nine, obtaining three hundred sixty; then add the number of the zan obtained. Half of three hundred sixty is one hundred eighty; this is the number of days from the winter solstice. If one is added, the result is three hundred sixty-one, an odd zan, which is the daytime of the one hundred eighty-first day; if two are added, the result is three hundred sixty-two, an even zan, which is the nighttime of the one hundred eighty-first day.

To find the position among the lunar mansions, begin with the Qianniu mansion (the name of a lunar mansion) and subtract the calculated number degree by degree; when it is exhausted, that is the position for that day. On the winter solstice the sun begins at the first degree of Qianniu; moving one degree makes one day, so when the stellar degrees are exhausted, one knows the degree at which the sun is on that day.

The collation note at the end of the section states: several instances of the character ji in the text were in some editions originally miswritten as yi or si; they are now corrected according to the Fan edition and the Heavenly Stems in the main text. Here ends juan eight of Taixuan Shu; the Xuanwen section of juan nine of Taixuan Wen Ni begins.

The Taixuan uses the five stages Wang (Absence), Zhi (Straightness), Meng (Obscurity), Qiu (Maturity), and Ming (Darkness) in correspondence with the five directions and five seasons. Wang corresponds to the north and winter, when the myriad things have not yet taken form. Zhi corresponds to the east and spring, when there is only plain substance and as yet no embellishment. Meng corresponds to the south and summer, when the myriad things grow tall and long and all can be borne. Qiu corresponds to the west and autumn, when the myriad things take shape and are settled and completed. After having form, they again return to formlessness; this is why it is called Ming. Thus the myriad things are Wang in the north, Zhi in the east, Meng in the south, Qiu in the west, and then return to the Ming of the north.

Wang is the dwelling place of things that have form; Zhi is the plain ground of embellishment; Meng is the master of Non-being; Qiu is the storehouse of generation; Ming is the hidden store of light. Wang contains and hides its Qi; Zhi stirs its kind and issues forth; Meng brings long growth to its fullest; Qiu examines its completion; Ming returns to the profound recesses. Wang and Meng reach their extremes in mutual relation; Zhi and Qiu order each other. Emerging from Ming, they again enter Ming; the new and the old alternate. Yin-Yang run in succession; the clear and the turbid replace one another. What is about to come advances; what has already succeeded retreats. What has already been used becomes base; what is in its proper time is noble. Celestial patterns and terrestrial patterns each keep their positions without change.

Speech issues from Wang; action issues from Wang; misfortune and blessing also issue from Wang. The stage of Wang is truly mysterious and wondrous. Action has traces, speech has sound, blessing has concrete manifestation, and misfortune has form; this is called Zhi. Only when there is Zhi can there be Meng; only when there is Meng can there be Qiu; when Qiu is possible, it returns to Ming. Therefore, at the time of Wang, balance can be maintained; the eighty-one families (the eighty-one houses of the Taixuan) all emerge from Wang. The heavenly light, dazzling, emerges from the boundless; glowing, it emerges from the limitless; in the end it returns again to Ming.

This passage of scripture revolves around the cosmology and self-cultivation views of the Taixuan. “Wang” (the name of the first Head of the Taixuan, also carrying the sense of emptiness and vastness) is the root from which all eighty-one Heads—that is, the eighty-one sections of the Taixuan—jointly emerge. Thus it is said that at the stage of “Wang,” things can still be regulated and cut; the eighty-one families all originate from “Wang.” Heaven’s brilliance is dazzling and appears from a place without boundary; the huanghuang (equivalent to “brilliant”) light also issues from the boundless. Therefore the time of “Wang” is truly mysterious and wondrous.

The Way of Heaven stores and gathers all things through emptiness and stillness, reveals all things through movement, shines down on all things through loftiness, regulates all things through severity, and brings all things to completion through profundity and obscurity. It is so deep as to be unfathomable and so radiant as to be unattainable. Therefore the noble person (junzi) hides as deep as an abyss, sufficient to reverently serve the spirits; once activated, sufficient to inspire the multitude; lofty and bright enough to cover and illuminate; majestic and regulating enough to inspire awe; deep and obscure enough to conceal and close off. The junzi can possess these five qualities; hence it says, “Wang, Zhi, Meng, Qiu, Ming” (the five virtues or states of the Xuan in the Taixuan).

Someone asked: The Head statement of the Taixuan says, “Kunlun is vast and broad, obscure.” What does this “obscure” mean? The answer is: The worthy person, like Heaven and Earth, has thoughts that encompass all things; blended and deeply hidden within, not yet revealed outside; when alone, there is joy; when alone in thought, there is sorrow. Joy cannot be borne, and sorrow cannot be withstood; therefore it is called “obscure.” Again, what does “Shen fights in the Xuan” mean? The answer is: The petty person’s mind is chaotic; when it is about to manifest outwardly, he arrays the two sides of Yin-Yang to contend over fortune and misfortune. Yang is used to contend for good fortune, and Yin to contend for misfortune. Seeing the wind, one can recognize the tiger; seeing the clouds, one can know the dragon. When the worthy person arises, the myriad kinds all respond together.

Asked: What does “the dragon emerges from the center” mean? The answer is: The dragon is the image of De beginning to become manifest. Unless Yin reaches its extreme, Yang will not be generated; unless disorder reaches its extreme, De will not appear. The junzi cultivates De and awaits the time; he does not rise before the time, nor does he retreat after the time. In movement and stillness, in the subtle and the manifest, he never loses the proper measure—perhaps only the junzi can do this. Therefore, from beginning to end, it can serve as a constant norm.

Asked: What does “The storehouse is empty and without reliance; one greatly receives nature and life—Pi” mean? The answer is: The petty person cannot dwell below with a heart of emptiness and stillness; though lowly, he cannot occupy the high and look down from above; though empty, he cannot become full; though lacking, he wants to possess; though he has something to rely on, he still acts recklessly. Therefore, although he has greatly received nature and life, he does not open a way through; hence it is “Pi” (blocked and not penetrating).

The sun is exactly at its midday height, symbolizing the noble man who takes advantage of the time and attains his position: like a carriage having its side-rails and a horse having its tail tied, the equipment is complete and one can travel all around the world, so it is beneficial for him to take the lead. He can fully bear nature and life without any avoidance (with “bi” understood as “to avoid”), and thus it presents the image of Pi (Standstill).

The moon wanes and lacks fullness; it is not as bright as the western morning star, symbolizing the petty person’s being full to overflowing. Those who can abide in emptiness and diminution are like still water in a deep abyss, a tree losing its branches, a mountain body pared thin, and marsh water swelling to fullness—the worthy see this, but the common crowd does not know it.

“Qiuqiu zhi Bao” (meaning encompassing and gathering) symbolizes that benevolence detests the unbenevolent and righteousness detests the unrighteous. The noble man’s generosity is sufficient to nourish and nurture the multitude, and his gentleness is sufficient to settle the ten thousand things. Heaven and Earth contain all; what Heaven and Earth do not contain is probably only the unbenevolent and unrighteous. Therefore water can encompass firm correctness.

“Huang bu Huang” (a Tai Xuan head) refers to the petty person’s losing the centrality and correctness of punishment. In number, one is the beginning, three is the end, and two occupies the middle—but can the second be reckoned as the middle? When the noble man is in the Xuan (the correct Way of the Tai Xuan), he keeps to correctness; in fortune, he is modest and humble; in misfortune, he reflects and turns toward correctness. The petty person in the Xuan is perverse and crooked; in fortune, arrogant and self-indulgent; in misfortune, trapped and exhausted. Therefore when the noble man gains his position he flourishes, and when he loses it he can still preserve goodness; when the petty person gains his position he runs amok, and when he loses it he is ruined. Although the eighth position is a gained position, is it still like an autumn ordinance that has become abnormal and covers over things?

“Dian Ling” (a Tai Xuan head) is contrary to Qi and form; it means cutting off and reaching the extreme above. At the extreme above it revolves; when cut off below it inverts. Once the Ling has already inverted, how can Qi and form exist without returning? This is probably the time when the noble man is advanced in years and reaches the extreme of flourishing. When Yang reaches its extreme it goes up; when Yin reaches its extreme it goes down.