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Chapter 11 of 11
御定奇门宝鉴
Heaven and Earth have their fixed positions; the vital energy of mountains and marshes interpenetrates; thunder and wind mutually agitate each other; water and fire complement one another. These principles are modeled upon the heavens above, with yin and yang each returning to their proper places. When the ten Heavenly Stems are paired two by two in mixture, good and ill fortune each find their respective attribution.
Six Jia encountering Jia: The Azure Dragon emerging from the earth 🌱—glad tidings are certain to arrive. If the Gate and the Configuration are in harmony, it is an auspicious matter; if the Gate is blocked and the Star shows ominous signs, then although wealth may come, it will come to naught.
Six Jia encountering Yi: The Azure Dragon entering the clouds ☁️—when the Three Wonders and the Gate interlock in harmony, it portends the birth of a noble son. If the Star and Stem are unfavorable, only empty fame is obtained.
Six Jia encountering Bing: The Azure Dragon turning its head 🔄—all affairs proceed smoothly and can endure long. But if the Gate and the儀 are not in harmony, achievement remains difficult.
Six Jia encountering Ding: The Azure Dragon shining brilliantly ✨—when the Three Gates combine auspiciously, it is fitting to visit noble personages, to seek official promotion and transfer, gaining great renown. If the talisman matters portend misfortune, litigation and punishment will soon follow.
Six Jia encountering Ji: The Azure Dragon gathering the numinous 🐉—an auspicious Star brings wealth; an auspicious Gate brings success in affairs. If Star and Gate are discordant, effort is wasted in vain.
Six Jia encountering Geng: The Azure Dragon Talisman Configuration—calamity arises and misfortune eventuates; disaster issues from the unforeseen. Even with an auspicious Star and smooth Gate, one should remain silent and guard what has been achieved.
Six Jia encountering Xin: The Azure Dragon losing its composure ⚡—when the Gate achieves harmony, all affairs proceed according to the heart's desire. If an ominous Star stands above, wealth and profit are lost and overturned.
Six Jia encountering Ren: The Azure Dragon ensnared in the net 🕸️—for yin persons who employ this, calamities multiply; for yang persons, treachery and discord prevail.
Six Jia encountering Gui: The Azure Dragon's floral canopy 🏛️—when the Gate harmonizes with an auspicious Star, there shall be no disaster for eternity. If it harms the Gate of Death, it portends depraved yin-yang convergence.
Six Yi encountering Jia: Yin returning to yang within 🔄—an ominous Star causes wealth to break and people to suffer injury. Only fitting for yin persons; yang persons are thrown into consternation.
Six Yi encountering Yi: The Sun Wonder suffering punishment ⚖️—when a noble person inquires, it portends loss of reputation. If the Gate harmonizes, matters may be renewed; if the Gate is inverted, funerals and mourning are halted.
Six Yi encountering Bing: The Wonder and the Configuration in smooth order—when an auspicious Star presides, one receives office and promotion. But when a husband divines concerning his wife, separation is certain.
Six Yi encountering Ding: The Vermilion Bird entering the tomb 🪦—documents enter the official registry and are shelved and retained. If Star and Gate are auspicious and tranquil, literary compositions find their path.
Six Yi encountering Ji: The Sun Wonder entering the mist 🌫️—earth and wood commingle; rain interplays. What is sought yields very little; if the Gate is ridden by inauspicious forces, error is certain.
Six Yi encountering Geng: The Sun Wonder self-punishing ⚔️—strife arises over disputes of wealth and must enter the litigious court. If Star and Stem are inauspicious, it portends extramarital affairs between husband and wife.
Six Yi encountering Xin: The Azure Dragon fleeing 🏃—loss of wealth and flight; both matters are ugly. To forcibly establish and forcibly act ensures no lasting result.
Six Yi encountering Ren: The Azure Dragon obtaining clouds ☁️—for yang persons, loss is indicated; the affliction lies with yin persons.
Six Yi encountering Gui: The Sun entering the heavenly net 🕸️—for yin persons awaiting news, calamity and illness appear forthwith. Official matters bring loss of wealth; all affairs are vain and illusory.
Six Bing encountering Jia: The flying bird entering its nest 🐦—one gains audience with the heavenly countenance and receives glorious promotion beyond rank. All schemes and designs reach complete通透.
Six Bing encountering Yi: The Moon Wonder floating among clouds ☁️—for noble persons, seals and credentials may be presented and proclaimed. Both public and private affairs prosper; all matters fulfill the heart's desire.
Six Bing encountering Bing: The Moon Wonder in the Bo Configuration—twofold documents both encounter obstruction. If the Gate is inverted, wealth is lost; even if the Gate is smooth, there is vain pressure.
Six Bing encountering Ding: The Wonder entering the Vermilion Bird 🐦🔥—documents proceed smoothly; noble persons gain authority and wield power. For common people who obtain this, clothing and provisions are stripped away.
Six Bing encountering Ji: Fire and comet entering punishment 🔥—documents do not arrive; there is a person in prison. If the Star is auspicious and the Gate smooth, it is but empty detention and vain reputation; if the Star rides with the Gate inverted, caning and penal servitude result.
Six Bing encountering Geng: The radiance entering the Great White 💥—family affairs are in torment, and thieves are encountered. If the Gate harmonizes and the Star is auspicious, the thief is captured among the people; if Star and Gate abandon each other, disaster arises from guests.
Six Bing encountering Xin: The Moon essence uniting in protection 🌙—for those long ill, the physician-pharmacist comes to rescue. Documents presented to the authorities may also achieve success.
Six Bing encountering Ren: The comet-star's chaos approaching—literary disputes reach the court, originating from lascivious women. Common people become displaced; noble persons lose their reputations.
Six Bing encountering Gui: The Floral Canopy comet-master 🏛️—for yin persons employing this, calamities follow in succession. It necessarily arises from litigation, but afterwards there will be no deficit.
Six Ding encountering Jia: The Azure Dragon obtaining radiance ✨—noble persons receive promotion; common people gain what is good. Where the Talisman and Star accord, joy and beauty are extraordinary.
Six Ding encountering Yi: The Configuration called Human Concealment 🧘—joy is obtained beyond the ordinary; noble persons recommend and discuss; emoluments are altered and authority received—truly vast in operation.
Six Ding encountering Bing: The configuration of regaining the Wonder within addition—many disputes of the tongue arise; affairs produce irregularities. Noble persons attract official emolument; common people suffer punishment.
Six Ding encountering Ding: The Wonder entering the Supreme Yin 🌑—expecting documents to arrive, with renown vast and deep in the distance. Double layers of meaning; all affairs accord with the heart's desire. If one acts upon near-at-hand indications, this is called the Prostrate Yin.
Six Ding encountering Ji: Fire entering the Hooking Spirit 🔥—documents and pleadings portend misfortune; wickedness arises through women. Within privacy, further privacy; proceeding brings punishment and condemnation.
Six Ding encounteringGeng: The Weaving Maiden seeking the Ox 🐂—if not for illicit passion, then one surely encounters enmity. Yin persons are unreasonable; punishment and imprisonment bind them.
Six Ding encountering Xin: The Vermilion Bird entering prison ⛓️—officials suffer imprisonment and also experience demotion. Common people bear cangues and fetters but are released after a hundred days.
Six Ding encountering Ren: The five persons harmonized—Ding and Ren transform into Wood 🌱—wealth and profit are obtained abundantly. Noble persons receive emolument from the sovereign; documents and pleadings are amicable.
Six Ding encountering Gui: The Vermilion Bird sinking into the river 🌊—women with the authorities will surely dispute in pairs. Public and private interests are discordant; both sides suffer injury.
Six Ji encountering Jia: The Prostrate Configuration of the Azure Dragon 🐉—when the Gate harmonizes with an auspicious Star, wealth and profit flourish. If the Gate is inverted and the Star ominous, all undertakings come to emptiness.
Six Ji encountering Yi: Entering the tomb without clarity 🪦—when Star and Gate harmonize with auspiciousness, moderate joy prevails. If they do not harmonize but invert, no undertaking is completed.
Six Ji encountering Bing: The Configuration called Comet-Master—for yang persons, sovereign conferral and noble rewards; rank and emolument added. For yin persons, great taboo; depravity, disorder, and transgression.
Six Ji encountering Ding: The Configuration named Wonder entering the Tomb 📜—documents must be pleaded. When the Gate harmonizes with auspicious spirits, one first gains the argument, but afterward faces punishment when confronted.
Six Ji encountering Ji: The Earth Gate encountering demons 👻—yin persons awaiting news, the letter is difficult to entrust. Where the Talisman and Gate accord, both near and far arrivals come.
Six Ji encountering Geng: The name of Punishment Configuration—when yin persons activate its use, they will certainly obtain yang persons. Yang persons should remain silent and still; yin persons preside over private affairs.
Six Ji encountering Xin: The spirit-soul entering the tomb 🪦—in the household there is a yin person; ghost-demons alarm the door. Where the Talisman and Gate harmonize, young children encounter calamity.
Six Ji encountering Ren: The Punishment Net stretched high 🕸️—yin persons are wicked and vile; yang persons suffer injury. If the Gate constrains and the Star is ominous, both persons perish.
Six Ji encountering Gui: Earth Punishment with the Dark Warrior—yin persons groan in melancholy; calamity and illness render them speechless. If the Gate harmonizes and the Star supports, illness and suffering take form.
Six Geng encountering Jia: The Configuration of Punishing the Azure Dragon ⚖️—wealth and profit bring much glory when the Star and Gate follow the pattern. If they do not harmonize, misfortune ensues; if they harmonize, disaster is avoided.
Six Geng encountering Yi: The Configuration of the Sun combining with the Six—all affairs are peaceful; one should particularly remain silent. If Star and Gate ride with ominous forces, official matters bring punishment and coercion.
Six Geng encountering Bing: The Great White entering the Radiance 💥—lost objects are stolen and difficult to recover or locate. If the Gate harmonizes and the Star is auspicious, the whereabouts of the stolen goods become known; if Talisman and Gate are inauspicious, official troubles arrive.
Six Geng encountering Ding: Named the Configuration of Tingting—documents and pleadings are contentious; hidden and concealed circumstances are involved. If the Talisman and Gate are inverted and opposed, litigation is difficult to accomplish.
Six Geng encountering Ji: The Punishment Configuration of ominous denial ⚖️—prisoners and the incarcerated find it difficult to obtain vindication.
Six Geng encountering Geng: The name of Great White—official matters erupt simultaneously; law-abiding citizens are imprisoned. An ominous period of a hundred days, after which some relief of feeling arrives.
Six Geng encountering Xin: The Configuration of the Stem with the White Tiger 🐯—on the road, injury and death; one must lose one's companion. If there are affairs that are difficult to conclude, the roles of guest and host will certainly be fixed.
Six Geng encountering Ren: The name of the Serpent Configuration 🐍—yin and yang forecasting news; one loses the way without tidings. The Door of Injury indicates calamity; the Door of Death indicates halted funerals.
Six Geng encountering Gui: The Configuration of the Great Punishment ⚖️—seeking distant travels; yin persons suffer affliction and illness. When ghosts and bandits mutually assist, separation inevitably ensues.
Six Xin encountering Jia: The Dragon entrapped and wounded 🐉—involvement with officials over disputes of wealth. Yin persons are unaffected; yang persons have calamity. If the Gate advances smoothly, good fortune and prosperity.
Six Xin encountering Yi: The White虎 raging wildly 🐯—loss of wealth and ruin of family; deaths among the population. Distant travel breaks faith; household affairs are fraught with anxiety.
Six Xin encountering Bing: The Stem uniting with the Mars-Fire 🔥—documents are vain and false words; contending over wealth and property. If Star and Gate do not harmonize, obscurity and屈subjugation result.
Six Xin encountering Ding: The Prison Spirit entering the Wonder ⛓️—distant travel and mercantile enterprise; profit doubles but arrives late. If Star and Gate are inauspicious, husband and wife are separated.
Six Xin encountering Ji: The Configuration of punishment and imprisonment ⚖️—servants deceive their masters, first punishing and overcoming themselves. If the Gate is auspicious and the Star strong, vain consequences accumulate and entangle.
Six Xin encountering Geng: The White Tiger injuring Configuration 🐯—two women contending for one man, all arising from wine and lust. If the Star harmonizes but the Gate is ominous, ugly repute is difficult to suppress.
Six Xin encountering Xin: The prison entering self-punishment ⛓️—seeking wealth with joyful conjunction; favorable for yin persons. If yang persons employ it, disaster and affliction come at frequent intervals.
Six Xin encountering Ren: The serpent entering prison-punishment 🐍—two men contending for one woman; litigation presses without ceasing. If Gate and Talisman harmonize with auspiciousness, the initiator suffers tattooing.
Six Xin encountering Gui: The Configuration of the Direct Floral Canopy 🏛️—for yin persons employing this, there is no calamity and no harm. With auspicious Gate and auspicious Star, yang persons gain wealth, along with wine and feasting; celebratory joy arrives on all fronts.
Six Ren encountering Jia: The serpent transforming into a dragon 🐉—for yin persons conducting affairs, celebrations and festive events multiply. When yang persons seek affairs, they end as they began, without completion.
Six Ren encountering Yi: The Configuration named Lesser Serpent 🐍—yin persons harbor calamity; yang persons sigh in grief. Pregnancy produces a noble son; emolument and horses shine gloriously.
Six Ren encountering Bing: The serpent entering the smelting furnace 🔥—disputes and litigations; empty affairs without plan. If punishment and prohibition are encountered, exile results.
Six Ren encountering Ding: The Stem uniting with serpent punishment—documents bring wealth and joy; most favorable for yin persons. Noble persons gain official emolument; common people remain mediocre.
Six Ren encountering Ji: The serpent's ominous entrance into prison ⛓️—a great calamity is about to take form; husband and wife are discordant. If guilt incurs punishment, gold and silver amply suffice.
Six Ren encountering Geng: The Great White riding the serpent 🐍—judicial punishment is just and clear; good at distinguishing right from wrong. If the Doors of Injury or Death are encountered, execution and punishment are without error.
Six Ren encountering Xin: The Python-Serpent Stem Configuration 🐍—even if the Talisman and Gate are auspicious, one cannot be at ease. All schemes and stratagems harbor inner deceit and concealment.
Six Ren encountering Ren: The net-ropes entangling oneself 🕸️—favorable for yin persons to employ; yang persons should not proceed. When the Three Auspicious do not enter, all affairs lack connection.
Six Ren encountering Gui: The python-serpent flying in the void 🐍—the household is not harmonious; the unmarried daughter engages in secret relations. When Star and Gate are both auspicious, news and tidings come rolling in vigorously.
Six Gui encountering Jia: The net-rope covering the Azure Dragon 🕸️—wealth, joy, and marriage alliances; one will surely encounter an auspicious person. If Star and Gate do not harmonize, yang persons face litigation and punishment.
Six Gui encountering Yi: The Floral Canopy meeting the Star 🏛️—noble persons receive favor and emolument; authority and position are seemingly light. Common people encounter strange occurrences and disputes of the tongue.
Six Gui encountering Bing: The Canopy meeting the Comet-Master—noble persons receive office; petty persons gain reliance. If one divines concerning documents, one will surely gain the gate's approbation.
Six Gui encountering Ding: The python-serpent lofting and soaring 🐍—for yin persons, documents and writings are omens of misfortune. Loss of wealth and attraction of punishment; repeated alterations are inadvisable.
Six Gui encountering Ji: The Floral Canopy at the Earth Gate 🏛️—yin persons inquire about their husbands, seeking to arrive at a dwelling place. If the Gate advances smoothly, entry into the chamber; if the Gate is inverted, the husband is in peril.
Six Gui encountering Geng: The Configuration of the Great Flying Name—only fitting for ascending to office, grasping authority with a commanding voice. Official matters are delayed; wealth brings contention.
Six Gui encountering Xin: The prison entering the heavenly dungeon ⛓️—military officers are apprehended; guilt will be difficult to escape. If the Gate is auspicious and the Star propitious, vain imprisonment without hardship.
Six Gui encountering Ren: The python-serpent seen again 🐍—yin persons are cut off from offspring and again leave the household. If matters proceed properly afterwards, remarriage occurs, though years remain uncertain.
Six Gui encountering Gui: The heavenly net stretched high 🕸️—travelers break their appointments journeying to all four directions. Where they harmonize, mutual accord; where they go against, mutual injury yields.
In ancient times the compendium numbered one hundred stems in total, with the ten stems of Jia stored with Wu for shared placement. Observe the intentions of people arriving from the eight directions; on the Nine Palaces ascertain the hour-stem position. If one resides within the palace, the arriving person's hour is thus indicated. Chosen divinations examine the opposing palace from the intersection viewpoint; the profound and mysterious classic contains one key principle for myriad applications. Should one not be a person of aspiration, by no means let them gaze upon this; heaven's mechanisms are deeply treasured, with wisdom residing in magnanimous forbearance.
The Hundred Spirits Mixture is a systematic principle of auspicious and inauspicious judgment within the Dun Jia art, comprising all hundred combinations formed by pairing the ten Heavenly Stems two by two. Its core ideas include:
The Principle of Yin-Yang Interaction: The essence of Heavenly Stem pairings is the mode of conjunction between yin and yang vital forces. As stated: "Heaven and Earth fix their positions, mountains and marshes interpenetrate their breath, thunder and wind mutually agitate, water and fire complement one another." Each combination reflects a specific configuration of energy fields.
The System of Ten Stem Spirit-Beings: Each Heavenly Stem in particular combinations is embodied as different "spirits"—Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, Dark Warrior, Python-Serpent, and so forth—each carrying specific attributes of good or ill fortune.
The Dual Verification of "Gate-Harmony" and "Star-Auspiciousness": The auspiciousness or inauspiciousness of the hundred stem combinations is never absolute. It must be comprehensively judged in conjunction with the Gates (Eight Gates) and the Stars (Nine Stars). When the Gate harmonizes, good fortune; when the Gate is inverted, misfortune; when the Star is auspicious, smoothness prevails; when the Star is ominous, disaster threatens.
Differentiation Between Yin and Yang Persons: Numerous combinations distinguish between differing manifestations for "yin persons" and "yang persons," reflecting an ancient sensitivity to gender-based differences in energetic response.
Decision Matrix Thinking: The hundred stem combinations fundamentally constitute a multi-dimensional decision matrix that cross-analyzes Heavenly Stem energetic states with Gate and Star conditions—similar to the SWOT analysis in modern management. Each combination possesses its threshold conditions for "strengths" (auspicious Gates and Stars) and "weaknesses" (ominous Gates and Stars).
Contextual Judgment Framework: The original text repeatedly emphasizes conditional judgments—"when the Gate harmonizes it is beautiful," "when the Star and Stem are unfavorable," "when the Talisman and Gate are inauspicious"—reflecting situational thinking rather than mechanical determination. This parallels the "conditional probability" approach in modern risk management: identical events in different environmental conditions yield entirely different outcomes.
Energetic Awareness of Gender Differences: The numerous distinctions between "when yin persons employ this" and "when yang persons employ this" in their varying manifestations, although arising from ancient gender constructs, can be abstracted as: the same energy combination produces different effects on different subjects. This logic remains applicable in modern individualized management approaches.
The Wisdom of the "Silence" Strategy: Statements such as "Six Jia encountering Geng... even with auspicious star and smooth gate, one should remain silent and guard" and "Six Geng encountering Yi... one should particularly maintain silence" convey a profound strategic principle: under certain Energy configurations, non-action is the optimal action. This accords remarkably with the strategy of "waiting for the optimal moment" in modern game theory.
A Risk Anticipation Tool: Transform the hundred stem combinations into a "risk checklist" for everyday decision-making. For example, "Six Geng encountering Bing—the Great White entering the Radiance" portends lost objects being difficult to recover and thieves hard to apprehend—corresponding in modern contexts to loss of property, data breaches, or losses that are difficult to trace, signaling the need for strengthened preventive awareness.
Document and Contract Decision-Making: Numerous combinations address "documents," "litigation," and "official matters," such as "Six Bing encountering Ding—documents flow smoothly" and "Six Ji encountering Ting—one first gains the argument but later faces punishment when confronted." These lend themselves to timing assessment frameworks for modern contract signing, litigation, and legal decision-making: proceed when the document palace displays auspicious signs, and defer when ominous signs appear.
Interpersonal Relationship Diagnostics: The numerous verdicts in the combinations such as "extramarital affairs between spouses," "two women competing for one man," and "servants bullying their masters" can be transformed into a framework for identifying relationship conflict patterns. For example, "Yi (乙) above Geng (庚)"—the sun-oddity self-punishment, indicating disputes over money leading to litigation and extramarital affairs, suggests that extra caution is needed in situations where finances and emotions are intertwined.
Travel and Relocation Decisions: "Gui (癸) above Gui (癸)—the heavenly net stretched high, travel appointments broken, wandering to all four directions," indicates that certain periods are inauspicious for long-distance travel or for signing and fulfilling contracts. This can be transformed into a temporal reference guide for modern business travel arrangements and contract performance.
The Dialectics of "Harmony" and "Contrariety": The underlying logic of the One Hundred Stems system is "harmony brings good fortune, contrariety brings misfortune." But what constitutes "harmony"? It is not simply mutual generation and alignment, but rather the dynamic coordination among heavenly stems, doors, and stars. This reveals the wisdom of "timeliness" (时中) in Chinese philosophy—fortune and misfortune do not reside in things themselves, but in the degree of fit between things and their environment.
The Semiotic Significance of "Spirit Beings" (Shensha): The names of spirit beings such as Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Flying Serpent are essentially a symbolic coding system. They compress complex astronomical, geographical, and human affairs into concrete pictorial language, making abstract energetic relationships perceptible, memorable, and transmissible. This is analogous to "models" and "metaphors" in modern science.
The Systemic Completeness of the "One Hundred Stems": The pairing of the ten stems in all combinations, exhausting one hundred possibilities, reflects the pursuit of completeness in the Chinese numerological system. This exhaustive enumeration approach shares a common spirit with the "taxonomic" tradition in Western science—both attempt to capture infinite reality with finite structures.
The Ethical View of "Deeply Cherishing Heavenly Secrets": The concluding line of the chapter—"Unless one is a person of noble aspiration, never show this to them; the heavenly secrets are deeply cherished"—conveys an ethics of knowledge: profound wisdom should not be lightly imparted to those without virtue. This resonates with modern knowledge management's protection of core intellectual property, as well as ethical concerns about technological misuse.
| Concept | Description |
|---|---|
| Three Marvels (Sanqi) | Yi (乙, Sun Marvel), Bing (丙, Moon Marvel), Ding (丁, Star Marvel), auspicious divinities in Qimen Dunjia |
| Six Instruments (Liuyi) | Wu (戊), Ji (己), Geng (庚), Xin (辛), Ren (壬), Gui (癸), ceremonial guards paired with the Six Jia leaders |
| Eight Doors (Bamen) | Xiu (Rest), Sheng (Birth), Shang (Injury), Du (Blockade), Jing (Scenery), Si (Death), Jing (Startle), Kai (Opening), each governing fortune or misfortune |
| Nine Stars (Jiuxing) | Tianpeng, Tianrui, Tianchong, Tianfu, Tianqin, Tianxin, Tianzhu, Tianren, Tianying |
| Fuyin (Repeated Yin) | When the celestial plate and terrestrial plate are identical, indicating stagnation of matters |
| Fanyin (Opposed Yin) | When the celestial plate and terrestrial plate are opposite, indicating recurrence or reversal of matters |