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⁽¹⁾Huangdi asked: Heaven has the Five Phases, controlling the five positions to generate cold, heat, dryness, dampness, and wind. Humans have five organs, transforming five qi, to generate joy, anger, thought, worry, and fear. The discussion says that the Five Evolutive Phases follow one another and all govern them, ending on the final day, cycling and starting anew. I already know this, but I wish to hear how they correspond with the three yin and three yang periods. How do they combine? Guiyuqu bowed twice and replied: What a clear question! The Five Evolutive Phases and yin-yang are the way of heaven and earth, the guiding principles of all things, the parents of change, the origin of life and death, the residence of mental activity. Can one not understand them? Thus, the birth of things is called transformation, the extremity of things is called change, the unpredictability of yin-yang is called spirit ⁽²⁾, the use of spirit without boundaries is called sage. The function of change is, in heaven, mystery; in humans, the way; on earth, transformation. Transformation produces Wuwei, the way produces wisdom, mystery produces spirit. Spirit in heaven is wind, on earth is wood; in heaven is heat, on earth is fire; in heaven is dampness, on earth is soil; in heaven is dryness, on earth is metal; in heaven is cold, on earth is water. Thus, in heaven it is qi, on earth it takes form. Form and qi interact and transform to produce all things. However, heaven and earth are the above and below of all things; left and right are the paths of yin-yang. Water and fire are the signs of yin-yang; metal and wood are the Zhongshi of generation and completion ⁽³⁾. Qi has its quantities, form has its flourishing and decline, above and below summon each other, and thus increase and decrease become clear.

The Emperor said: I wish to hear about the Five Evolutive Phases governing the seasons, how is it? Guiyuqu said: The five qi circulate, each ending its cycle day ⁽⁴⁾, not just governing the seasons.

The Emperor said: Please explain what you mean. Guiyuqu said: I have extensively studied the Taishi Tianyuan Ce text which says: The vast void, beginning the foundation of transformation yuan ⁽⁵⁾, all things begin here, the Five Evolutive Phases end in heaven, spreading qi true spirit, governing the earth yuan, the nine stars ⁽⁶⁾ hang bright, the seven luminaries ⁽⁷⁾ revolve, called yin and yang, called soft and hard ⁽⁸⁾, the hidden and manifest take their positions, cold and heat stretch and contract, life generation and transformation, all things are clearly manifested. I, for ten generations, this is what is meant.

The Emperor said: Good. What is meant by the varying amounts of qi and the flourishing and decline of forms? Guiyuqu said: The qi of yin and yang each has varying amounts, hence the term three yin and three yang. The flourishing and decline of forms refer to the governance of the Five Phases, each having excess and deficiency. Therefore, at the beginning, when there is excess, deficiency follows; when there is deficiency, excess follows. Knowing how to anticipate and follow, the qi can be predicted. Corresponding to heaven is celestial correspondence, aligning with the year is year alignment, and the combination of the three constitutes governance.

The Emperor asked: How do the upper and lower realms summon each other? Guiyuqu replied: Cold, heat, dryness, dampness, wind, and fire are the yin-yang of heaven, and the three yin and three yang above follow them. Wood, fire, earth, metal, water, and fire are the yin-yang of earth, and growth, transformation, and storage below respond to them. Heaven has yin growing while yang generates, and earth has yin concealing while yang declines. Heaven has yin-yang, and earth also has yin-yang. Wood, fire, earth, metal, water, and fire are the yin-yang of earth, and growth, transformation, and storage. Thus, within yang there is yin, and within yin there is yang. Therefore, to understand the yin-yang of heaven and earth, one must respond to the qi of heaven, which moves without ceasing, hence it shifts to the right every five years; and respond to the qi of earth, which remains still and holds its position, hence it cycles every six years. ⁽⁹⁾. Movement and stillness summon each other, upper and lower realms face each other, yin and yang interweave, and thus change is born.

The Emperor asked: The cycles and periods of the upper and lower realms ⁽¹⁰⁾, are there numbers for them? Guiyuqu replied: Heaven takes six as its node, earth takes five as its rule. Those who cycle the qi of heaven, six periods make a preparation, those who end the period of earth, five years make a cycle. Monarch fire is for brightness, ministerial fire is for position ⁽¹¹⁾. Five and six combine to make seven hundred and twenty qi, which is a period, thirty years in all, one thousand four hundred and forty qi, sixty years in all, and that is a cycle, deficiency and excess, all these are seen.

The Emperor said: Your words, ending with the qi of heaven above and completing the period of earth below, can be said to be thorough. I wish to hear and store them, to govern the people above and govern myself below, to make the common people clear, to harmonize and be close above and below, to let virtue and grace flow down, to let descendants be without worry, to pass them on to later generations, without end, can I hear this? Guiyuqu replied: The mechanism of the ultimate numbers ⁽¹²⁾, pressing close and subtle ⁽¹³⁾, their coming can be seen, their going can be pursued, those who respect them prosper, those who neglect them perish, without the way and acting selfishly, one will surely suffer heaven's calamity, carefully follow the way of heaven, please speak the true essentials.

The Emperor said: Those who speak well of the beginning, must meet the end, those who speak well of the near, must know the far, thus the ultimate numbers reach the extreme and the way is not confused, this is called clarity, I wish for you to push and order them, to make them orderly, simple but not lacking, lasting but not ending, easy to use and hard to forget, to make them the guiding principles, the essentials of the ultimate numbers, I wish to hear them all. Guiyuqu replied: How clear is your question, how bright is the way, like the drum responding to the drumstick, the echo responding to the sound. I have heard, in the years of Jia and Ji, earth movement governs. In the years of Yi and Geng, metal movement governs. In the years of Bing and Xin, water movement governs. In the years of Ding and Ren, wood movement governs. In the years of Wu and Gui, fire movement governs.

The Emperor asked: How about their combination with the three yin and three yang? Guiyuqu replied:

• In the years of Zi and Wu, the upper manifestation is shaoyin⁽¹⁴⁾.
• In the years of Chou and Wei, above appears Taiyin.
• In the years of Yin and Shen, above appears Shaoyang.
• In the years of Mao and You, above appears Yangming.
• In the years of Chen and Xu, above appears Taiyang (EX-HN5).
• In the years of Si and Hai, above appears Jueyin.

Shaoyin, so-called the beginning; Jueyin, so-called the end ⁽¹⁵⁾. Jueyin above, wind qi governs it ⁽¹⁶⁾.

• Shaoyin above, heat qi governs it.
• Taiyin above, dampness qi governs it.
• Shaoyang above, ministerial fire governs it.
• Yangming above, dryness qi governs it.
• Taiyang (EX-HN5) above, cold qi governs it.

So-called the root, this refers to the six pathogenic factors ⁽¹⁷⁾. The Emperor said: Bright indeed is the Dao, clear indeed is the discussion, please record it on Yuban, store it in the golden cabinet, titled Tian Yuan Ji.

1. Suwen Now explained: "Heaven refers to the entire universe. Yuan refers to the original, original qi, and encompasses the meaning of infinite vastness. Ji, that is, the law." Zhang Zhi-cong: "This chapter generally discusses the Five Evolutive Phases governing the years, the Six Climatic Factors of celestial control, all based on the transformations of heaven, hence it is called Tianyuanji Da Lun."
2. The Book of Changes, Xici Upper Commentary: "The unpredictability of yin-yang is called spirit."
3. Suwen Now explained: "Metal and wood are the Zhongshi of generation and completion: all things sprout in spring and are harvested in autumn. Spring belongs to wood, autumn to metal, hence metal and wood represent the entire process of growth and harvest of all things."
4. Suwen Now explained: "Ending the cycle day refers to the 365 days of a year. Each ending its cycle day means that among the Five Evolutive Phases, each governs a year."
5. Suwen Now explained: "Zhao, beginning. Ji, foundation. Hua, creation. Yuan, origin."
6. Suwen Now explained: "Nine stars: Tianpeng, Tianrui, Tianchong, Tianfu, Tianqin, Tianxin, Tianren, Tianzhu (BL10), Tianying."
7. Suwen Now explained: "Seven luminaries: Yao, the luminous stars. Seven luminaries, the sun, moon, fire, water, wood, metal, and earth stars, also known as the seven governments."
8. The Shuo Gua: "Establishing the way of heaven, called yin and yang; establishing the way of earth, called soft and hard." Suwen Now explained: "Generally speaking, the original qi of the vast void begins, the nine stars shine, the seven luminaries revolve, thus producing the natural alternation of the four seasons, yin-yang, day and night, cold and heat, as well as the various types of things on earth with different natures of hardness and softness."
9. Suwen Now explained: "Responding to the qi of earth refers to the Six Climatic Factors matching with the earthly branches. The ancients paired the three yin and three yang with the earthly branches of the calendar, completing a cycle every six years, hence it is said 'six years and a cycle is completed.' Stillness, in contrast to movement. Six is more than five, less means faster movement, more means slower movement, hence relatively speaking, heaven is active, earth is still, and the summoning of heaven and earth is ceaseless."
10. Suwen Now explained: "Upper and lower refer to heaven and earth. Cycle, a period, sixty years with 1440 solar terms make a cycle. Period, a mark. Thirty years with 720 solar terms make a period. It means the cyclical changes of fortune between heaven and earth have certain periods and laws."
11. Suwen Now explained: "Among the Five Evolutive Phases responding to heaven, only fire has two: there is a distinction between monarch fire and ministerial fire, and monarch fire governs mental activity, also governs the year's qi, ministerial fire dominates in circuit by element qi and has a position, hence there are five movements and six qi. Hence it is said: 'Monarch fire is for brightness, ministerial fire is for position.'" Zhang Jing-yue: "The monarch is above, the minister is below, yang above is monarch fire, yang below is ministerial fire. Above corresponds to Li, yang is outside, hence monarch fire is for brightness. Below corresponds to Kan, yang is inside, hence ministerial fire is for position. ... Thus monarch fire resides above, as the brightness of the sun, to illuminate the way of heaven, hence in humans it belongs to the heart, and mental activity arises from it. Ministerial fire resides below, as the warmth of the spring, to nurture all things, hence in humans it belongs to the kidneys, and primordial yang is stored there."
12. Suwen Now explained: "Ultimate numbers, the constants of the Five Evolutive Phases and Six Climatic Factors mentioned earlier. Mechanism, the key point, here refers to the laws and essentials."
13. Suwen Now explained: "Pressing close (zé), close to. Subtle, fine. Describing the precision and fineness of the principle."
14. Suwen. Now explained: "The upper refers to the qi of celestial control, which governs the guest qi of the first half of each year. In the years of Zi and Wu, it corresponds to shaoyin celestial control, hence the saying."
15. Suwen now explains: "The beginning, the start. The end, the conclusion. The sixty-year cycle of Yin-Yang begins with Zi and Wu, ending with Si and Hai. In the years of Zi and Wu, Shaoyin celestial control, in the years of Si and Hai, Jueyin celestial control, hence it is said 'Shaoyin is the beginning, Jueyin is the end'."
16. Suwen now explains: "Wind is the original qi of Jueyin, Jueyin is transformed by wind qi, the wind qi in heaven transforms into Jueyin."
17. Suwen now explains: "In heaven, wind-cold summerheat dampness dryness fire the Six Climatic Factors are the root and transform into the three yin and three yang, hence it is said: 'The Six Climatic Factors are the root, the three yin and three yang are the beginning', these six all originate from the transformation of the one qi of heaven."