The Luo Yi Fu
Overall Paraphrased Translation
Explore the profound mysteries of heaven and earth 🌌, measure the subtle changes of creation 🔍. Determine the nobility or baseness of life through the rules of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, and infer the mysteries of auspiciousness and inauspiciousness, gain and loss in life and death. The Day Stem represents oneself and requires careful analysis of its strength or weakness; the Year Pillar symbolizes the foundation and should be scrutinized in detail.
The Year Stem corresponds to the father, the Year Branch to the mother; the Day Stem represents oneself, the Day Branch represents the wife. The Month Stem is the elder brother, the Month Branch is the younger brother; the Hour Branch is the daughter, the Hour Stem is the son. If a rear-positioned Killing Star harms the Year Pillar, parents may pass away early; if a front-positioned Killing Star harms the rear, offspring are easily harmed. The Horse Star (Yi Ma) entering the wife's palace indicates marrying a capable and diligent wife; a Killing Star in the son's position may result in a rebellious son. The Prosperity Star entering the wife's palace brings blessings from the wife; the Seal Star in the son's position brings honor through children. The Owl God occupying the Year position may damage the ancestral foundation; a strong Wealth Star in the Month Pillar indicates receiving support from the father. Avoid the Wealth Star harming the Prosperity Star, which leads to thin fortune, and fear the Ghost Killing Star (Seven Killings) being strong while oneself is weak. Essentially, what overcomes the other is wealth, and what generates oneself is the seal. The hidden appearance of the Eating God indicates a plump and wealthy person; repeated appearance of the Owl Seal suggests ancestral property is easily lost or scattered.
Wealth generates office, office generates seal, seal generates oneself, forming a pattern of both wealth and nobility 🔥; the Hurting Officer gathers wealth, wealth gathers killings, killings attack the body, leading to danger and poverty pressing in from both sides 🌪. The Horse Star falling into empty waste signifies a life of frequent moves and漂泊; the Prosperity position being broken suggests easily leaving one's homeland. Wealth and nobility generating oneself can dissolve evil forces and leave a lasting reputation. It is better to have more nobility and less prosperity. Only by eliminating worries and forgetting thoughts can one judge without error.
🧠 In-Depth Understanding
Core Concepts 💡
The core of this text lies in analyzing life trajectories through the generation and restriction relationships of the Five Elements in the Stems and Branches 🌊🔥🌳⛰️, including kinship, wealth and poverty, and auspicious or ominous events. It emphasizes the decisive role of "Day Master strength" and "Ten God configurations" (such as wealth, office, seal, and killings) and highlights the philosophy of "balance" and "transformation through generation and restriction"—for example, the mutual generation of wealth, office, and seal is auspicious, while killings attacking the body is ominous.
Modern Interpretation 🌟
In contemporary society, this can be understood as a tool for analyzing life systems:
- Kinship mapping: The Year, Month, Day, and Hour Pillars correspond to family roles (parents, spouse, siblings, children), reflecting ancient family structures. Modern interpretations can extend this to an individual's responsibilities and influence within the family and society.
- Judging auspiciousness and inauspiciousness: For example, "killings in the son's position" may correspond to modern challenges in education or parent-child relationships (e.g., rebellious children), while "Horse Star in the wife's palace" can be interpreted as a capable and supportive spouse.
- Decision-making reference: Emphasis on "balance of strength and weakness"—for instance, when oneself is weak, avoid pressure (excessive killings with weak self); when strong, take risks (wealth and nobility generating oneself). This applies to modern career planning, financial management, and interpersonal relationships.
- Moving beyond superstition: Rather than predicting fate, it provides a framework for assessing risks and advantages through Five Elements generation and restriction (e.g., wealth generating office → resources bringing opportunities), encouraging self-reflection rather than blind adherence.
Practical Value ⚡
- Self-awareness: Through Eight Characters analysis (e.g., Day Master strength), identify personal strengths (e.g., strong Seal Star indicates aptitude for learning) and weaknesses (e.g., strong killings suggest susceptibility to stress), useful for career choices or psychological adjustment.
- Family planning: Understanding "restriction" relationships (e.g., rear killings restricting the Year) can serve as a reminder to pay attention to parental health or improve family dynamics through Five Elements harmony (e.g., strengthening the Seal Star).
- Life decisions: For example, "Horse Star falling into empty waste"暗示 frequent changes, which in modern terms could mean frequent job changes or moves, suggesting the need for stability planning; "Prosperity position broken" reminds one to backup resources to prevent unexpected events.
- Modern application: Integrating psychology (e.g., stress management) and economics (resource allocation), translate the generation and restriction of "wealth, office, seal" into practical strategies—e.g., "wealth generating office" can be seen as investing to enhance social status.
Philosophical Reflection 🤔
This text is deeply rooted in the Eastern philosophy of harmony between heaven and humanity and dynamic balance:
- Causality and interaction: Life's auspicious and ominous events are not isolated but the result of Stem and Branch interactions (e.g., "Hurting Officer gathering wealth" leading to danger and poverty), emphasizing mutual influences between elements, similar to modern systems thinking.
- Freedom and necessity: The implication of fate constraints in "judging nobility and baseness" is balanced by the advocacy of a detached mindset in "eliminating worries and forgetting thoughts," suggesting that one can partially alter their trajectory by understanding patterns (e.g., Five Elements balance), echoing modern "positive psychology."
- Simplicity and depth: Using Stems and Branches to summarize complex lives reflects the high level of abstraction in ancient wisdom—encouraging modern individuals to return to essential thinking in the data age.
📚 Related Knowledge
- Related concepts:
- Ten Gods: Wealth, office, seal, Eating God, Hurting Officer,比肩,劫财,七杀 (killings),正印,偏印 (Owl God), defining interpersonal and situational relationships.
- Five Elements generation and restriction: Wood, fire, earth, metal, water—mutual generation (e.g., wood generates fire) and restriction (e.g., metal restricts wood), based on natural philosophy.
- Empty waste and Horse Star: Empty waste signifies void and change; Horse Star signifies奔波 and migration, often used in modern analysis of travel or career changes.
- Further reading:
- Yuan Hai Zi Ping: In-depth analysis of Ten Gods and patterns.
- San Ming Tong Hui: A comprehensive system of the Eight Characters, suitable for further study of Stem and Branch rules.
- The divination section of the I Ching: For example, "Observing the Plum Blossoms," to understand the philosophy of change.
- Modern research:
- Scholars like Liang Xiangrun integrate the Eight Characters with psychology, exploring fate theory as a tool for self-awareness.
- Contemporary I Ching studies tend toward empirical analysis, such as statistical correlations between Eight Characters elements and life events, but should be viewed rationally.
