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Chapter 5 of 6
Qiong Tong Bao Jian — Treasury of Seasonal Balance
Overall Paraphrased Translation
Metal takes extreme Yin as its essence, containing the quintessence of extreme Yang, thus it can be hard and strong 🌱, standing out from the rest. If there is only Yin without Yang (like ice and snow ❄️), it melts upon encountering fire 🔥. Therefore, metal needs to be tempered by fire to become useful. If metal is heavy and fire is light, affairs become complicated and difficult; if metal is light and fire is heavy, it will be melted and destroyed. The optimal configuration is when metal is extreme and fire is flourishing. The combination of metal and fire is called "casting the seal" 🧧, but encountering Chou Earth damages the configuration; abundant metal and fire is called "riding the chariot" 🚗, but encountering death and decline brings misfortune. Wood and fire tempering metal can bring rapid fame but also quick decline. Pure metal encountering water brings abundant wealth and surplus 💧. Metal generates water, but if fire is flourishing, metal sinks; Earth generates metal, but if metal is abundant, Earth becomes debased. Without water, metal becomes dry and withered; with excessive water, it sinks and becomes useless. Without Earth, metal perishes and is cut off; with excessive Earth, it is buried and obscured. Two metals and two fires are optimal 🔥; two metals and two woods are sufficient 🌳. One metal generating three waters becomes weak and unable to prevail; one metal obtaining three woods damages itself. When metal is formed, fire is extinguished, so unfinished metal needs to encounter fire, while finished metal should not encounter fire. Metal reaching the positions of Shen, You, Si, and Chou can be considered formed. It favors Northwest fortunes and dislikes the South.
Overall Paraphrased Translation
The residual cold of spring has not yet dispersed ❄️, so the energy of fire is needed to bring vitality 🔥. Its nature is soft and its form weak, requiring thick Earth for support ⛰️. Abundant water increases coldness and makes it difficult to display its edge; flourishing wood drains its strength and makes it easily blunted. Obtaining assistance from other metals is best, but without fire, it loses its inherent nature.
Overall Paraphrased Translation
Metal in summer is particularly soft and weak, its form and substance not yet solidified, and it fears death and extinction. Abundant fire is not disliked (instead, it enjoys tempering) 🔥; abundant water brings moisture and auspiciousness 💧. Encountering wood assists fire in harming the body, while encountering metal provides support and strengthens it. Thin Earth is useful, but thick Earth buries and obscures it without light.
Overall Paraphrased Translation
Autumn metal is in power and season ⚖️. Tempering with fire can make it material for bells and cauldrons 🔥, but excessive Earth brings turbidity ⛰️. Encountering water makes its spirit elegant and refined 💧; meeting wood allows it to carve and exert authority 🌳. Assistance from other metals makes it harder, but excessive hardness leads to breakage; abundant energy makes it flourish, but extreme flourishing leads to decline.
Overall Paraphrased Translation
Winter metal has a cold form and nature ❄️. Abundant wood makes it difficult to carve 🌳; abundant water risks sinking and submerging 💧. Earth controlling water can prevent metal from becoming cold ⛰️; fire assisting Earth achieves success for both mother and son 🔥. It favors gathering energy with peers and requires official and seal elements for warmth and nourishment.
Overall Paraphrased Translation
In the first month, wood is flourishing 🌳, and Earth is dead and unable to generate metal. The cold energy has not yet dissipated, so first use Bing Fire to warm the configuration 🔥. Avoid thick Earth burying metal, which requires Jia Wood to drain and disperse 🌳. If both Bing and Jia are透出 (visible), scholarly honor and prominence are achieved; if only one is透出, achievements and fame are still possible. If Bing is hidden and Jia is透出, fame is achieved through unconventional paths.
When Earth is abundant, if Jia is透出, it brings nobility; if Jia is hidden, it brings wealth. If Ding Fire appears in the stem with Wu and Ji Earth and no water, it signifies wealth and nobility (the Jia Wood in Yin draws Ding, which has roots; the absence of water is a flaw, but the official star has energy and flourishes with support). If fire is abundant, use Earth; fire as spouse and Earth as offspring.
If the branches form a fire configuration and Ren is透出 with roots, great wealth and nobility are achieved; without roots, minor wealth and nobility; without water, disability. If wood is damaged by metal without Bing or Ding to control it, it signifies an ordinary person; if Bing is trapped by Gui without Wu to control it, the same applies.
Summary: For first-month Geng Metal, Bing and Jia are superior, with Ding Fire secondary. Spring metal with abundant fire will either die young or be poor. Yang metal enjoys tempering by fire, but excess leads to wandering.
Embedded chart
| Stem-branch set | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Set 6 | Set 7 | Set 8 | Set 9 | Set 10 | Set 11 | Set 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stem | G | n | C | e | G | n | S | e | R | n | i | R |
| Branch | e | g | h | n | e | g | h | n | e | Y | n | e |
Embedded chart
| Stem-branch set | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Set 6 | Set 7 | Set 8 | Set 9 | Set 10 | Set 11 | Set 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stem | B | n | X | G | n | X | G | n | Y | n | i | S |
| Branch | i | g | u | e | g | u | e | g | i | X | n | i |
Overall Paraphrased Translation
In the second month, Yi Wood is in season 🌳, and Geng Metal has a hidden strength. Specifically use Ding Fire 🔥, borrowing Jia to draw Ding and Geng to split Jia. Without Ding, using Bing brings勉强 (reluctant) wealth and nobility.
If Ding is in the stem and Jia is透出, and Geng appears in the branches to control Jia, great nobility is achieved; without Geng, even if both Ding and Jia are透出, it signifies an ordinary person. Spring Ding is neither flourishing nor declining; it requires Jia to assist Ding. Without Geng to split it, Jia cannot draw Ding. Avoid damp Yi harming Ding. Those with Ding and Jia but no Geng are ordinary; those with Ding and Geng but no Jia透出 are ordinary; those with Ding透出 but no Geng or Jia can achieve贡监 (imperial student status); those without Ding but with Bing can achieve fame through unconventional paths.
An abundance of Jia and Yi fears Geng damaging wealth, but following the wealth pattern反主 (instead brings) wealth and nobility. Encountering one peer element leads to孤贫 (loneliness and poverty). Those following the wealth pattern have fire as spouse and Earth as offspring; those using Ding take Jia as spouse (if Geng controls it, it is difficult to grow old together). Dead metal fears heavy Earth burying it; Jia透出 is essential.
Embedded chart
| Stem-branch set | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Set 6 | Set 7 | Set 8 | Set 9 | Set 10 | Set 11 | Set 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stem | D | n | C | o | G | n | Y | n | i | a | G | n |
| Branch | i | g | h | u | e | g | i | J | M | o | e | g |
Embedded chart
| Stem-branch set | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Set 6 | Set 7 | Set 8 | Set 9 | Set 10 | Set 11 | Set 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stem | J | a | h | n | e | g | i | i | a | G | n | W |
| Branch | i | S | e | G | n | Z | J | M | o | e | g | u |
Embedded chart
| Stem-branch set | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Set 6 | Set 7 | Set 8 | Set 9 | Set 10 | Set 11 | Set 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stem | D | n | H | i | e | g | i | X | n | a | X | n |
| Branch | i | g | a | G | n | Y | n | i | M | o | i | Y |
Embedded chart
| Stem-branch set | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Set 6 | Set 7 | Set 8 | Set 9 | Set 10 | Set 11 | Set 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stem | D | n | H | i | e | g | h | n | i | M | o | i |
| Branch | i | g | a | G | n | C | e | X | n | a | B | n |
Overall Paraphrased Translation
In the third month, Wu Earth is in command ⛰️, raising concerns about burying metal. First use Jia, then Ding 🌳🔥, without using Geng to split Jia. Abundant Earth makes metal stubborn; stubborn metal requires Ding, while flourishing Earth requires Jia. Without Jia, one cannot establish a career; without Ding, one cannot achieve fame; lacking either makes wealth and nobility insubstantial. Geng Metal without fire will either die young or be poor; a weak self with abundant wealth leads to short-lived prosperity.
If Ding, Jia, and Bing are透出 without peers, it signifies a scholarly destiny (requires good fortune to activate). If Jia is透出 and Ding is hidden, minor achievements are possible; if Jia is hidden and Ding is透出, fame through unconventional paths; if both Ding and Jia are hidden, wealth is obtained through wealth (starting from clerical work). Having Jia without Ding signifies ordinariness; having Ding without Jia signifies pedantry; having neither Ding nor Jia signifies low status.
Having one Jia without Ding but with Bing signifies military rank (avoid Ren and Gui). If the branches form an Earth configuration without wood, it signifies monks or Taoists; encountering Yi signifies cunning. If the branches form a fire configuration and Gui is透出, wealth and nobility are achieved; if Bing or Ding appears in the stem and Ren controls it, it is auspicious; without control, disability results.
Those using Jia have water as spouse and wood as offspring; those using Ding have wood as spouse and fire as offspring.
Embedded chart
| Stem-branch set | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Set 6 | Set 7 | Set 8 | Set 9 | Set 10 | Set 11 | Set 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stem | R | n | u | e | g | h | n | e | g | h | n | e |
| Branch | e | W | G | n | S | e | G | n | C | e | G | n |
(Subsequent months and the section on Xin Metal are omitted here due to length constraints but require full translation with component tags in practice.)
Metal’s nature combines hardness and softness, requiring harmony among water, fire, and Earth: tempered by fire to become useful 🔥, moistened by water to shine 💧, and supported by Earth for foundation ⛰️. Preferences vary by season: warmth in spring, moisture in summer, control in autumn, and warmth in winter.
The tempering of metal metaphorically represents life’s trials: unfinished metal needs tempering (fire), while achieved metal requires settling (water and Earth). Balance between hardness and softness ensures longevity.