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Chapter 10 of 11
Li Xuzhong’s Book of Destiny
Three Primes and Nine Limits is a crucial concept in fate theory concerning the cycles of destiny. 🌪️ Three Primes refer to major and minor cycles, representing the fluctuations of fortune in different stages of life; Nine Limits describe the process of prosperity and decline of the three cycles (possibly referring to heaven, earth, and human cycles).
The calculation method is based on the birthdate: males born in yang years and females born in yin years have their fortunes calculated in a forward direction; males born in yin years and females born in yang years have their fortunes calculated in a reverse direction. 🔁 "Forward" indicates future fortune, while "backward" indicates past fortune. The ten heavenly stems are divided into months, with three days representing one year. The forward and backward relationships must be accurately calculated. If there are no specific days in the future, the solar term of the day is used as the starting point, and it is virtually treated as one year. The same applies to reverse calculations.
When the fortune cycles reach the Four Pillars (year, month, day, hour), the auspicious or inauspicious outcomes naturally manifest. Minor cycles follow a similar path as major cycles, but the principles of prosperity and decline differ. (In minor cycles, the relationships of Fu Yin, Fan Yin, and the interactions of generation and conquest affect outcomes. Minor cycles in the same year may yield different results due to variations in the Four Pillars.)
The states of Fu Yin (stagnation, movement upon conjunction) and Fan Yin (turmoil, stillness upon conjunction) determine disasters or blessings. It is essential to first distinguish the nature of the individual (noble or commoner) before analyzing the changes in fortune. 👑 The starting method for minor cycles: heaven moves left, earth moves right. Males start at age one from Yin, females start at age one from Shen. (Yin represents the growth of three yang 🔥, Shen represents the withering of three yin ❄️. For example, a male born in the Jiazi year starts his minor cycle from Bingyin, while a female starts from Renshen.)
The outcomes are judged based on the Five Elements of the minor cycle’s founding element, assisting the major cycle and Tai Sui (Jupiter) in determining auspicious or inauspicious events. (The minor cycle uses the Five Elements of the year’s concealed month to determine generation and conquest, assisting the major cycle and Tai Sui in producing effects.) Encountering inauspicious signs such as Fan Yin, break, conflict, or isolation may conceal blessings within misfortunes. The minor cycles of Yin and Shen do not act independently. (Fan Yin clash, Fu Yin harm, and isolation, though primarily inauspicious, may contain auspicious signs. When minor cycles experience Fu Yin or Fan Yin, they do not solely rely on Tai Sui.)
Minor cycles shift once a year, cycling endlessly. (They cycle annually without considering energy cycles. Males reach a node at age thirty, females at twenty. Yang starts from Wuzi, Yin starts from Gengzi. Males proceed forward for ten months to Bingyin, females reverse for ten months to Renyin.)
Qi refers to the hour. Before birth, Qi is undetermined; after birth, Qi is complete. The use of Na Yin Five Elements is because the body attains Qi. (Qi cycles are determined by the growth and decline states of the Na Yin Five Elements of the birth hour.)
Body is the foundation of the Three Primes, and Qi is the foundation of the body. A forward cycle may have reverse Qi, and a reverse cycle may have forward Qi. Starting from the birth hour, it shifts year by year, distinguishing auspicious and inauspicious events through major and minor cycles, but it is not absolute destiny. (Cycles like Jiaji earth, Yigeng metal, etc., belong to the fortune of the nation and the way of heaven, not individual fate.)
When both Qi and cycles are exhausted, danger arises: Tai Sui is like the emperor 👑, the major cycle is like the marshal ⚔️, Qi cycles are like officials 📜, and minor cycles are like messengers. If the marshal is inauspicious, the officials can hardly be auspicious. (If both Qi and cycles are exhausted, death may occur; Tai Sui governs the spirit, and if the major cycle and Qi are not exhausted, one may thrive; the major cycle governs life and death, and officials cannot defy it.)
Auspicious and inauspicious events converge at the prosperous, thriving, or storage points of the Three Primes or at the flourishing locations of Lu and Ma (status and mobility), which are auspicious; encountering Lu and Ma at bathing, decline, sickness, death, or exhaustion points, where they act as ghosts without harmony, is inauspicious. If the overall configuration is exhausted, minor configurations will bring disasters. The body and cycles interact: if the Four Pillars assist the cycle, inauspiciousness may turn auspicious; if the Four Pillars hinder the cycle, auspiciousness may turn inauspicious. Encountering Ma (travel star) in timing brings swift manifestation of auspicious or inauspicious events. One auspicious event can attract hundreds of auspicious events; one inauspicious event can summon numerous misfortunes. (If Tai Sui initiates the major cycle and the host is honored, great danger arises; minor cycles are useful but bring disasters where they harm. The body and cycle must align with support to be auspicious; the pillars are the host, the cycle is the guest, and if the guest harms the host, it is inevitably inauspicious. The auspicious or inauspicious effects of Ma require detailed analysis of the Three Primes and Four Pillars.)
If auspiciousness overcomes inauspiciousness, misfortune is hidden within blessings; if inauspiciousness overcomes auspiciousness, blessings are concealed within misfortunes. (Auspicious and inauspicious events are interconnected, as Ji Zhu said: "Extreme auspiciousness combined brings calamity.")
Specific Types of Nine Limits:
The Three Primes and Nine Limits are the benefits of a person, while the Four Pillars and Three Talents are the foundation of a person. If the foundation is light, benefits are small, leading to poverty and lack of fortune, leaving one anxious and helpless; if the foundation is strong, even small benefits bring no harm, and great benefits bring official status and honor; if the foundation is light, small benefits bring blessings, but great auspiciousness must be guarded against extreme harm. Small benefits are like things awaiting their time 🌱; when the time comes, all things grow. Without a foundation, it is like a broken branch hanging in the air; when Qi passes, flowers and fruits wither. Thus, wood born in Zhen, approaching Li or Dui, often faces disasters; fire going southeast to Tian Men lacks status; metal from Qian to Zhen and north encountering Kun loses status; water long encountering fire or wood flourishing must return to Qian to retreat. Five earths avoid true defeat, detailed according to Qi cycles. Earth has no fixed position; it follows true cycles to defeat: Jiaji earth defeats You, Yigeng metal defeats Wu, Bingxin water defeats You, Dingren wood defeats Zi, Wugui fire defeats Mao, matched with the ten stems.
The Three Primes and Nine Limits system reveals the dynamic cyclical nature of destiny, emphasizing the interaction of Qi and cycles and the relationship between body and cycles. The core idea is that destiny is not fixed but the result of the interplay of major and minor cycles, the Four Pillars, hour Na Yin, and other elements. Comprehensive judgment of auspicious and inauspicious events is required, where the "foundation" (Four Pillars and Three Talents) is paramount, and "benefits" (Three Primes and Nine Limits) are supplementary, reflecting the traditional philosophy of harmony between heaven and humanity.
In modern society, this can be understood as life rhythm and resource management:
The Three Primes and Nine Limits are deeply rooted in Yin-Yang and Five Elements philosophy, reflecting change and balance: