《黄帝授三子玄女经》

The position occupied by Tianyi (the name of a Shen, or spirit, in the divinatory arts) is assigned according to the heavenly stems as follows: on Jia and Wu days, morning corresponds to Daji and evening to Xiaoji; on Yi and Si days, daytime corresponds to Shenhou and nighttime to Chuansong; on Bing and Ding days, morning corresponds to Dengming and dusk to Congkui; on the six Xin days, daytime corresponds to Shengxian and nighttime to Gongcao; on Ren and Gui days, daytime corresponds to Taiyi and nighttime to Taichong.

When divining about an agreed meeting with someone, if Tiangang (a spirit-name in the divinatory arts) falls upon the richen (the stem and branch of the day of the inquiry), the other party will arrive before the appointed hour, which means the appointed time has already passed; if they arrive after it, the time has not yet come. If the Shen comes to the gate, the person who set out has not yet arrived; if the host has traveled only a short way, the person is outside and has already arrived; if the host has traveled far, the person has not yet arrived. When Tiangang is set upon Meng, the Shen is inside the house; when set upon Zhong, the Shen is beside the gate; when set upon Ji, the Shen is outside the house. When Tiangang and Daji fall upon the Wu and Wei hours, the person being called will certainly come; if this condition is not met, the sign is inauspicious. If the time of divination shows wangxiang (a state of vigor in the divinatory arts), the person will certainly come; if it is overcome or lacks Qi (vital energy), the person will come as well.

When divining about searching for an object, if Tiangang is set upon Meng, it will not fall on the Zhong position, and only half can be recovered; if set upon Ji, the whole can be recovered. When divining about when a traveler will arrive, if one judges that he set out on a Jia or Yi day, he will arrive on a Bing or Ding day; if he has still not arrived on the Bing or Ding day, one calculates again from the Jia and Yi days. Other cases are treated in the same way.

Whenever a daughter is given in marriage or a wife is taken, one must record the richen of the day on which the match was first accepted, and use it as the basis. For the wedding one must choose with care, so that the stem and branch of the wedding day do not clash with the day the marriage was promised. A clash of day stems will harm the jiu, and a clash of day branches will harm the gu; here “jiu” and “gu” refer to the husband’s parents. If both the day stem and the day branch clash, it is held to be unfavorable for the whole family.

For example, if the marriage was accepted on a Jiazi day, presenting the nacai (the betrothal gifts delivered at engagement) on a Geng day or a Xin day counts in either case as a clash of day stems; presenting the nacai on a Wu day or a Ji day counts as a clash of day branches.

If a bride is taken—that is, a new wife is welcomed—on a Xinwei day, that day is one of mutual overcoming; Chen days, Wushen days, Jiyou days, and the like are the same. One must also examine the Yin-Yang relationship of the day-branch (richen) and the transmission (chuan) in the divinatory configuration, that is, the chain of relations obtained by calculation. If among these there is Tianhou, the spirit-general symbolizing women, but no Tengshe, one of the spirit-generals, and Baihu, likewise one of the spirit-generals, stands in mutual overcoming, such a day and hour is called the “neifu shi,” the hour for taking a wife into the household, and it is auspicious. Even if the day and hour are auspicious, the direction of the husband’s family’s gate must not clash with and injure the wife’s year-fate (nianming); otherwise the wife will suffer calamity.

For example, at the Si hour of a Yiwei day in the second month, Tiangang, one of the Twelve Heavenly Generals, overlies the Si position, and the wife’s year-fate is at Chen. If Congkui, one of the Twelve Heavenly Generals, overlies the position, the husband’s family gate is at Zi; if Taiyi overlies it, the husband’s family gate is at Chou; and if Shengxian overlies it, these likewise all count as the husband’s gate position clashing with and injuring the wife’s year-fate. This is because the fire spirit at the husband’s family gate overcomes the metal spirit at the wife’s family gate.

Or again, the husband’s family gate is at You, and Gongcao overlies You. The wife comes from Mao in the east to You in the west and enters the place over which Gongcao presides; this indicates that the wife will suffer calamity. Other cases follow by the same reasoning. Conversely, the spirit-general overlying the wife’s year-fate must not be allowed to clash with and injure the husband’s family gate; otherwise the husband’s family will suffer calamity.

For example, when the wife’s year-fate is at Chen and Congkui overlies it, the husband’s gate is at You; when Gongcao overlies the gate, the husband’s gate is at Xu; and when Taichong overlies the gate—all these are cases in which the spirit overlying the wife’s year-fate clashes with and injures the husband’s family gate, indicating calamity for the husband’s family.

The “gate” spoken of here is the earthly-branch direction corresponding to going out and coming in. Receiving a wife is called ruwan, “entering wan”; sending a daughter out in marriage is called chuwan, “going out in wan.” In directional terminology, to enter the “circle” (yuan) from the “square” (fang) is called ruwan; to go out from the “square” to the “circle” is called chuwan. In addition, the spirit-generals overlying the directions of exit and entry must not clash with and injure the day-branch, or the woman will readily come to harm; nor may they clash with and injure the day-stem (rigan), or this will harm her father-in-law. The phrase “spirit and general jointly injuring the day” means that the spirit and the general together overcome and injure the day-branch.

For example, on a Gengzi day in the first month, when Kuigang overlies Chou, Taiyi overlies the Geng position, and the spirit-general borne upon it is Zhuque, the Vermilion Bird. That is, when Xiaoji, acting as Tianyi, overlies Xu, Taiyi is in front, and the two overlie the Geng position. This is a case in which the spirit and the general together overcome and injure the day-branch, bringing harm to the father-in-law’s household (jiujia). If the day-branch in turn overcomes and injures the spirit-generals, that likewise brings misfortune.

Suppose that on the gui-chou day of the second month, at the si hour, Shengxian (a spirit name in the divination method) overlies the gui position, and the general-spirit paired with it is Tengshe. This indicates that the day stem and the day branch harm each other, and the general that overlies them will also harm the husband. If a faint Qi (vital energy) still remains in the chen position and fosters this harm, one judges that the husband will die.

Suppose that on the jia-xu day of the second month, at the chen hour, Chuansong (a spirit name in the divination method) overlies the jia position. Jia belongs to Wood, and Chuansong belongs to Metal, so Metal overcomes Wood. The day stem and the day branch harm each other, and the general that overlies them will also harm the husband. If a further faint Qi in the chen position comes forward to foster the harm, one judges that the husband will die.

Likewise, on the jia-xu day of the second month at the chen hour, Chuansong overlies the jia position: jia belongs to Wood, Chuansong belongs to Metal, and Metal overcomes Wood. If the Metal Qi in the xu position in turn comes to foster the harm, one judges that the husband will die. What is meant here by “harming chen is the wife” is that the spirit and the general together harm the chen position.

Suppose that on the geng-shen day of the second month, Kui (a spirit name in the divination method) overlies the chou position, that is, the chou hour; Taiyi (a spirit name in the divination method) overlies the shen position, and the general paired with it is Zhuque. This indicates that the spirit and the general together harm the chen position.

Suppose that on the ren-zi day of the second month, Kui overlies the chen position, and Shengxian overlies the zi position as the yongshen (the indicative spirit), with Tengshe as the paired general. This indicates that the day and the chen together harm the spirit and the general. Injury to the chen position, however, represents injury to the wife; that is, the chen position has harmed the spirit and the general that represent Yang. If a faint Qi still comes from within to foster the harm, one judges that the wife will die.

Suppose that on the ding-si day of the second month, Kui overlies the mao position, and Shenhou (a spirit name in the divination method) overlies the si position. Si belongs to Fire, and Shenhou belongs to Water, so Water overcomes Fire. Furthermore, because ding combines with ren, and si clashes with hai, ding-si is here regarded as the wife-position of ren. If Qi again comes to foster the harm, one judges that the wife will die; the particular form or circumstance in which this is manifested is to be read from the general that overlies it.

Suppose that on the jia-xu day of the second month, Kui overlies the chen position, and Chuansong, serving as Qinglong (the general-spirit assigned in the divination method), overlies the jia position; one then judges that both husband and wife will die. The cause of death corresponds to matters of wine and food at a send-off.