Chapter 105 of 135
星平会海
After the division of qi, heaven and earth were formed🌌. With the establishment of the three powers—heaven, earth, and humanity—yin and yang came into being🌗. Then, the creative transformations of the five elements (🔥fire, 🌊water, 🌳wood, ⛰earth, ⚔️metal) began to move, and the climates of the four seasons followed in succession🌦️. The divine turtle emerged from the Luo River, and the dragon-horse arose from the Yellow River. The eight trigrams revealed the symbols and numbers of the Great Change, while the nine categories illuminated the chapters of the Great Plan📜. Thus, the sages observed the patterns of heaven above and examined the principles of earth below, drawing analogies to understand the nature of all things and comprehend the will of the divine. They distinguished the climates of the four seasons, regulating them with musical pitches; they drew upon the creative transformations of the five elements to conduct divination and prediction🔮. Then, they used the celestial stems to represent heaven, matching them with earth; and the earthly branches to represent earth, connecting them to what lies below. Earth, being passive, supports all things; heaven, being active, rotates and operates🔄. Below corresponds to the scenery of the five elements, while above corresponds to the cosmic trajectories of the five positions. Though the sun and moon are bright, they cannot illuminate the subtlest details; though ghosts and spirits are mysterious, they cannot perceive the profound and hidden mysteries. Yet, they accomplish the myriad affairs of the world and bring order to the continuous flow of human events📅.
Therefore, there are reasons for transformation without transformation, meanings for gathering without gathering, types of union without union, and natures of excellence without excellence. Those who gather without gathering will lose wealth; those who transform without transformation will harm their nobility; those who unite without union will inevitably experience opposition in the three pillars (year, month, and day pillars); those who excel without excellence—how can their lives proceed smoothly? Conversely, there is also stability in not transforming yet transforming, evidence of not gathering yet gathering, function in not excelling yet excelling, and occurrences of not uniting yet uniting. Those who do not gather yet gather will ultimately attain wealth; those who do not transform yet transform are destined for authority; those who do not unite yet unite will surely establish official positions; those who do not excel yet excel must enjoy emolument and status🍀.
One must determine whether the four seasons are already flourishing or not yet flourishing; observe whether the five elements have qi or lack qi—there are hidden and visible aspects, rest and imprisonment, advance and retreat, obstruction and peace, smoothness and hardship, impurity and purity, changing with circumstances and seeking categories based on categories. As for the five matters (affairs related to the five elements), all should be self-flourishing; not a single element should be excessively harmed. If water cannot overcome fire, one will wander and drift; if fire cannot overcome metal, one will face difficulties and confusion. Having excellence but no official position, one can only display talent in arts and skills; seeing wealth but having no support, though still beneficial for commerce. Three Xins meeting Bing: wealth will be scattered and lost; Ren approaching Ding: the family’s fortunes will flourish. If earth overpowers water, the stomach will be weak and the complexion dark; if wood restrains earth, the spleen will decline and the face turn yellow. A nature displaying intelligence arises from the excellence of the water element; the ability to make decisive judgments stems from the firmness of the metal element. If the Year Pillar and the life pillar are not harmonious, there will be calamity without blessing; if the four pillars and the life pillar are each flourishing, there will be blessing without calamity. A man encountering two wives must take a concubine; a woman devoid of the qi of a true husband will surely become a prostitute. Those with blazing fire and parched water often suffer inwardly; those with flourishing wood and bright fire will have auspicious celebrations. If Jia wood is in the direction of metal transformation, it will be constrained by round earth; if Wu earth resides in the trend of water’s moisture, it will drift like duckweed in foreign lands🌍.
Furthermore, as yang dies, yin is born; as yin dies, yang is born. This is due to the transformations of the five elements and the storage of the five qi. Externally, they correspond to the five constants (benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and faithfulness), responding to movement and stillness; internally, they align with the five luminaries (celestial bodies), connecting the surface and the depths. If all are flourishing, they are driven by the profound; if all are declining, they transform into objects. Losing luck, nothing goes right; transforming into objects, nine out of ten face death. If the husband flourishes, the wife must follow the husband and transform; if the wife flourishes, the husband will also follow the wife and be born. One restraint may not overcome two officials; one emolument cannot withstand two ghosts. Damage to the head or face occurs when Shen breaks Jia and Yi (due to the metal in Shen overcoming Jia wood); eye ailments arise when Bing sinks in Hai and Zi (due to the water in Hai and Zi overcoming Bing fire). A love for benevolence and righteousness: the day and hour pillars are imprisoned or flourishing in Geng and Xin; abundant faithfulness and benevolence: the foundational positions specialize in Wu and Ji. Those with beautiful features are born in spring and summer, like wood; those lacking insight are troubled by Chou and Wei, like water. Firm wood leads to a straightforward heart and benevolent actions; flourishing fire results in an impatient nature and a love for propriety. If the qi of the five elements is sufficient, the body will surely be robust; if the four pillars are excessive, the nature will inherently become stubborn and crude💢.
Generally, the original position is the host, while the secondary positions are the guests. Yang stems proceed sequentially; yin stems proceed in reverse. If qi lacks a root to return to, where will one end up in life? If things have something to rely on, one will depend on others for a lifetime. Those with hidden unions will hold official positions of the highest rank; those encountering noble emoluments will occupy positions beyond the ordinary. If the ten stems approach death, extinction, sickness, or decline, one will reside in the dust; if the five elements enter birth, flourishing, storage, or tomb, one will be honored with official headwear👑. Yi, Geng, Bing, and Xin: virtue and excellence reside in Si, You, Chou, and Shen; Ding, Ren, Jia, and Yi: virtue and excellence reside in Hai, Mao, Wei, and Yin. Yin, Wu, Xu, and Si: virtue in Bing and Ding, excellence in Wu and Gui; Shen, Zi, Chen, and Hai: virtue in Ren and Gui, excellence in Bing and Xin. If the five elements fall into their native land, one will be noble if not wealthy; if the four qi approach broken positions, one will be both lowly and poor. It can be said that birth and flourishing are superior, while virtue and excellence are extraordinary. If the body sits in the school of learning, literary talent enters a pattern of purity and nobility; if life approaches ghostly misfortune, the dangers of theft, death, exile, or penal servitude arise. Hidden harm within the emolument leads to military service in garrisons; excellence with ghostly restraint leads to holding official positions in government offices. If the mother is flourishing and the ghost is resting, sheep, horses, and servants will be abundant; if the mother is declining and the ghost is flourishing, fathers, sons, and brothers will scatter and part. With both official and seal stars present, one will bear arms and hold military office; with both virtue and excellence combined, one will pass examinations and enter civil service. If two are in the ghostly land and encounter reverse nourishment, one will surely become a servant; if one returns to having qi but encounters a tomb month, one will certainly face isolation and poverty.
This is how heaven and earth interact, with above and below responding to each other. When qi flows smoothly, there is harmony; when qi flows contrary, there is disorder. If not in its proper position, it is deviant; if in its proper position, it is upright. And as there is mutual generation, mutual restraint, and mutual overcoming, it weaves through the principles of heaven and earth and encompasses the destinies of people. Delving into the profound and hidden to see what is concealed, exhausting principles and nature to understand its essence. It cannot be viewed from a single principle, nor can it be determined by a single path. If one can reach the utmost in profound mechanics, it becomes a mirror for fortune, misfortune, and auspiciousness🐢. Earth, being passive and turbid, can nurture things; heaven, being active and light, can generate things. Heaven and earth interact to generate things, hence humanity is considered the ancestor of all things. The five matters are the five elements; they should flourish, for if one element is excessively harmed, it becomes unfavorable. "Life" refers to the stems and branches of the birth year; "Great Year" refers to the current year’s Great Year. For example, if one’s life pillar is Bing and the Great Year is Zi, they are not harmonious. "Shen breaks Jia and Yi" refers to the presence of Geng metal in Shen; since Jia represents the head, Shen breaking it leads to head or face disasters. This section discusses the traces of virtue and excellence.
The core of this rhapsody expounds a cosmological view of heaven, earth, yin, yang, and the five elements, emphasizing the understanding of human destiny through observing natural laws (such as the climates of the four seasons and the creative transformations of the five elements). Key concepts include: the coordination of celestial stems and earthly branches, the generation and restraint of the five elements, changes in qi (such as flourishing, decline, rest, and imprisonment), and phenomena of destiny (such as transformation, gathering, union, and excellence). It proposes that destiny is influenced by the qi of the five elements: smooth qi brings good fortune, while contrary qi brings misfortune, and it also involves predictions about health, character, and wealth or poverty.
In a modern context, this rhapsody can be seen as a systematic thinking model, using the five elements to analogize various aspects of life (such as health, career, and interpersonal relationships). For example:
This rhapsody is deeply rooted in the philosophy of the unity of heaven and humanity, viewing human destiny as a microcosm of the universe. It emphasizes:
