素问：天元纪大论篇第六十六

Suwen: Chapter 66, Great Treatise on the Origins of Heaven's Mandate

Overall Paraphrase

The Yellow Emperor asked: Heaven has the five elements of Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water, which govern the five directions of East, South, Center, West, and North, thereby transforming into the five climates of Cold, Heat, Dryness, Dampness, and Wind. The human body has the five viscera—Heart, Liver, Spleen, Lungs, and Kidneys—which transform the five visceral qi, thereby giving rise to the five emotions of Joy, Anger, Reflection, Worry, and Fear. In the medical treatises it is said that the Five Movements (the qi of the five movements—Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water) succeed one another in turn, each governing a fixed period, and after a full year they circulate anew. This I already know. Now I wish to ask: How should the Five Movements correspond with the Three Yin and Three Yang (Taiyin, Shaoyin, Jueyin, Taiyang, Shaoyang, and Yangming)?

Gui Yuqu bowed twice and replied: Your question is truly penetrating. The Five Movements and Yin-Yang are the fundamental principle of Heaven and Earth's operation, the guiding thread of all things, the source of transformation, the starting point of growth and killing, and the abode of spirit illumination. How could one not understand this? Therefore, the initial arising of all things is called "transformation", the development to the extreme is called "change", that which is difficult to fathom in the transformations of Yin and Yang is called "spirit", and the marvelous function without a fixed place is called "sage". The function of change is manifested in Heaven as profundity and mystery, in humans as principle, and in Earth as transformation; transformation generates the five flavors, principle generates wisdom, and profundity generates spirit illumination. Spirit illumination is in Heaven the Wind, and on Earth Wood; in Heaven Heat, and on Earth Fire; in Heaven Dampness, and on Earth Earth; in Heaven Dryness, and on Earth Metal; in Heaven Cold, and on Earth Water. Thus in Heaven are formless qi, and on Earth are formed substances; form and qi respond to each other, and thereby all things are transformed and born. Heaven and Earth are the upper and lower support of all things; Left and Right are the pathways of the movement of Yin and Yang; Water and Fire are the signs of Yin and Yang; Metal and Wood mark the beginning and end of growth and storage. Qi has differences of more and less, form has differences of flourishing and decline, and upper and lower respond to each other, whereby loss and gain become manifest.

The Yellow Emperor asked: I wish to understand how the Five Movements govern the seasons. Gui Yuqu replied: The qi of the Five Movements circulates, each completing its own full year, and does not govern merely one season alone. The Yellow Emperor said: Please explain in detail. Gui Yuqu said: Your servant has long studied the Taishi Tianyuan Ce, which states: The vast and boundless void is the origin of transformation, from which all things begin. The Five Movements circulate without rest in the heavens, spreading forth true numinous qi, taking charge of the foundation of creation on Earth. The Nine Stars shine brightly above, the Seven Luminaries (Sun, Moon, and the five planets—Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth) revolve in succession. There is Yin and Yang, there is soft and hard, darkness and brightness each take their place, cold and heat alternate with relaxation and tension, and through birth and transformation, all things manifest their forms. My family has transmitted this for ten generations—this is what it contains.

The Yellow Emperor said: Good. What is meant by "qi has more and less, form has flourishing and decline"? Gui Yuqu replied: The qi of Yin and Yang each have differences of more and less, and so are divided into Three Yin and Three Yang. "Form has flourishing and decline" means that the governing of the Five Elements each has its excess and deficiency. Therefore, at the beginning, if there is excess, what follows is often deficiency; when deficiency passes away, excess may again follow. Knowing the coming and going of qi, the climate can be anticipated. What corresponds to the Heavenly season is called "Tianfu" (Heavenly Correspondent); what corresponds to the year's qi is called "Suizhi" (Yearly Direct, also called "Suihui"); when the three are combined, it is a year of balance.

The Yellow Emperor asked: How do the upper and lower respond to each other? Gui Yuqu replied: Cold, Heat, Dryness, Dampness, Wind, and Fire are the Yin-Yang of Heaven, which the Three Yin and Three Yang serve in devotion above. Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water are the Yin-Yang of Earth, to which growth, transformation, ripening, storage, and hiding respond below. Heaven uses Yang to give birth and Yin to mature; Earth uses Yang to kill and Yin to store. Heaven has Yin and Yang, and Earth also has Yin and Yang. Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water are the Yin-Yang of Earth, corresponding to growth, transformation, ripening, storage, and hiding. Thus within Yang there is Yin, and within Yin there is Yang. Therefore, to know the principle of Heaven and Earth's Yin-Yang, the qi that corresponds to Heaven moves without rest, and so every five years it shifts one step to the right; the qi that corresponds to Earth is still and guards its position, and so every six years it completes one cycle. Movement and stillness respond to each other, upper and lower face each other, Yin and Yang interlace, and from this change arises.

The Yellow Emperor asked: Does the counting of upper and lower cycles have fixed numbers? Gui Yuqu replied: Heaven uses six as its rhythm, Earth uses five as its measure. When Heaven's qi revolves, six years complete one cycle; when Earth's count ends, five years complete one round. Sovereign Fire governs spirit illumination, Ministerial Fire governs position. When five and six combine, there are seven hundred and twenty solar terms, making one epoch of thirty years; one thousand four hundred and forty solar terms, sixty years in total, make one full cycle. Excess and deficiency can both be made manifest.

The Yellow Emperor said: What you, sir, have spoken reaches up to exhaust the qi of Heaven and down to the full measure of Earth—it may be said to be most complete. I wish to hear it and treasure it, so that above I may govern the people and below nurture my own body, causing the people to understand, unite in harmony above and below, with virtue flowing downward, descendants free from anxiety, transmitted to later generations without end. May I hear it again? Gui Yuqu replied: The essentials of these profound numerical principles are most close and subtle. When they come, they can be observed; when they have passed, they can be traced. Those who revere them prosper; those who slight them perish. To turn against the Way of Heaven and follow one's own private intentions will surely invite heavenly disaster. Reverently following the Way of Heaven, allow me to expound the true essentials.

The Yellow Emperor said: One who is good at discussing beginnings must be able to connect with endings; one who is good at discussing what is near must be able to know what is far. Thus, when the profound numerical principles are exhausted, the principle is clear and without confusion—this is called "illumination." I wish you, sir, to arrange and lay out these principles in an orderly manner, concise yet not deficient, enduring yet not interrupted, easy to apply yet not easily forgotten, to serve as a guiding framework. The essentials of the supreme numbers—I wish to hear them all. Gui Yuqu said: What a noble question! How clear the principle! Just as when a drumstick strikes a drum, the sound responds, so too does the echo follow the voice. Your servant has heard: In the years of Jia and Ji, the Earth movement governs; in the years of Yi and Geng, the Metal movement governs; in the years of Bing and Xin, the Water movement governs; in the years of Ding and Ren, the Wood movement governs; in the years of Wu and Gui, the Fire movement governs.

The Yellow Emperor asked: How do the Five Movements correspond with the Three Yin and Three Yang? Gui Yuqu replied: In the years of Zi and Wu, the controlling Heaven qi is Shaoyin; in the years of Chou and Wei, the controlling Heaven qi is Taiyin; in the years of Yin and Shen, the controlling Heaven qi is Shaoyang; in the years of Mao and You, the controlling Heaven qi is Yangming; in the years of Chen and Xu, the controlling Heaven qi is Taiyang; in the years of Si and Hai, the controlling Heaven qi is Jueyin. (In the original text "Ji Hai" should be "Si Hai," due to similar characters and potential confusion.) Shaoyin marks the beginning, Jueyin marks the end. Above Jueyin, Wind qi presides; above Shaoyin, Heat qi presides; above Taiyin, Dampness qi presides; above Shaoyang, Ministerial Fire presides; above Yangming, Dryness qi presides; above Taiyang, Cold qi presides. These are the "root," and are called the Six Origins. The Yellow Emperor said: How brilliant! How clear! Let this be engraved on jade tablets, stored in a golden casket, and titled Origins of Heaven's Mandate.

🧠 Deep Understanding

Core Principles 💡

• General Framework of the Five Movements and Six Qi: This chapter serves as the opening and general outline of the “doctrine of yun qi” (five movements and six climates) in Traditional Chinese Medicine. It employs the Heavenly Stems to transform into the Five Movements and the Earthly Branches to transform into the Six Qi, projecting periodic changes in climate and life through the combination of five and six. The Five Movements govern the years, while the Six Qi preside over Heaven, and their overlap forms cycles of thirty years per epoch and sixty years per full cycle.
• Correspondence between Three Yin–Three Yang and the Six Qi: Jueyin—Wind, Shaoyin—Heat (Sovereign Fire), Taiyin—Dampness, Shaoyang—Ministerial Fire, Yangming—Dryness, Taiyang—Cold. Within the Five Elements, "Fire" is divided into Sovereign Fire and Ministerial Fire, enabling the transformation of the Five Elements into the Six Qi corresponding to the Three Yin and Three Yang.
• Mutual Responsiveness of Form and Qi, Mutual Concealment of Yin and Yang: The qi of Heaven and the form of Earth resonate and give birth to the myriad things. Yang harbors Yin within itself, and Yin harbors Yang within itself, indicating that Yin and Yang are not sharply opposed but mutually contain and transform each other. This dynamic holism is the basic mode by which TCM understands nature and the human body.
• Excess, Deficiency, Tianfu, and Suizhi: Climatic changes manifest in an alternation of surplus and insufficiency. When the year's movement corresponds to the qi presiding over Heaven, it is called "Tianfu"; when it corresponds to the branch's inherent element, it is called "Suizhi/Suihui"; when all three align, the year tends toward balance. This reflects ancient empirical summarisations of patterns of climatic fluctuation.

Modern Perspectives 🌟

• The Five Movements and Six Qi constitute an ancient Chinese climatic–medical model using the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches as symbols. It seeks to project, through cyclical inference, the relationship between climate change and human health, reflecting a long tradition of observing natural rhythms and abstracting them into a system.
• Modern chronomedicine and biometeorology recognise that seasons, climates, and circadian rhythms do affect human health. Nevertheless, the specific stem–branch projections in the Five Movements and Six Qi lack rigorous scientific validation and cannot serve as a reliable basis for forecasting disease or dictating clinical practice.
• The terms "Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches," "Yin-Yang," and "Five Elements" should be understood as philosophical and calendrical symbols of antiquity, distinct from the "Eight Characters" (BaZi) used in later fortune-telling. When studying them, what is to be taken is the idea of conforming to natural rhythms and attending to climate–bodily relations, setting aside mechanical or mystical methods of calculation.

Health Insights ⚡

• Follow the Seasons: Guard against wind in spring, heat in summer, dampness in late summer, dryness in autumn, and cold in winter, adjusting rest and daily activities according to the changes of the seasons.
• Keep the Emotions Balanced: The five emotions of anger, joy, reflection, worry, and fear relate to the five viscera; avoid extremes in daily life and maintain a stable emotional state.
• Moderate Diet: Ensure food is neither too cold nor too hot, and avoid a partiality for any single flavor (sour, bitter, sweet, pungent, salty), maintaining dietary balance.
• Regular Rhythm of Activity and Rest: Follow the natural cycle of day and night, avoid staying up late and overexertion, thereby supporting the body's normal rhythms.

The above are general health insights and are not addressed to any specific disease.

📚 Related Knowledge

• Related Concepts: Five Movements, Six Qi, Three Yin and Three Yang, presiding Heaven and residing Earth, Tianfu, Suizhi (Suihui), excess and deficiency, Six Origins, root and midst, Sovereign Fire and Ministerial Fire.
• Further Reading: The seven treatises on yun qi in the Huangdi Neijing·Suwen: Great Treatise on the Movements of the Five [Movements], Great Treatise on the Subtle Essentials of the Six [Qi], Great Treatise on the Transformations of the Interaction of Qi, Great Treatise on the Regular Governance of the Five [Movements], Great Treatise on the Orthodox Origins of the Six Qi, Great Treatise on the Supreme Truth and Essentials; also consult Suwen·Chapter 69 (Six Epochs and Signs of the Viscera, Liu Jie Cang Xiang Lun).

Transformation of the Heavenly Stems into the Five Movements (as recorded in this chapter):

Transformation of the Earthly Branches into the Six Qi presiding over Heaven (as recorded in this chapter):

This content is based on classical Chinese medical texts, provided purely for the study of traditional culture and literature, and does not constitute any form of medical diagnosis, prescription, or treatment recommendation. If you feel unwell, please seek medical attention promptly.