Zi Ping Zhen Quan — On the Nature of the Ten Stems in Combination: Original Text, Translation & Interpretation

The meaning of combination and transformation arises from pairing the yin and yang of the Ten Stems. The numbers of the Hetu pair one, two, three, four, and five with six, seven, eight, and ten; this is the Way of the Former Heaven. Thus it begins with Water as Greater Yin and ends with Earth formed from the intermingling qi (vital breath). This is the sequence of generation when speaking in terms of qi. Before the Five Phases (wuxing, also called the Five Elements) existed, there must first have been yin and yang, the old and the young, and only afterward the intermingling qi; therefore this sequence of generation ends with Earth. Once the Five Phases exist, all things are again born from Earth, and Water, Fire, Wood, and Metal also lodge their substance in it; therefore Earth is placed first.

This passage presents two sequences. In terms of the generation of qi, Earth comes last; in terms of substance, once the Five Phases exist and all things lodge their substance in Earth, Earth comes first. The original uses these two accounts to explain why the next passage begins the Five combinations with Jia (甲) and Ji (己) transforming into Earth. It carries forward the opening chapter’s language of yin and yang, the old and the young, and intermingling qi, and applies that account here to combinations among the Ten Stems.

Xu Lewu offers a different explanation of their origin. He explicitly rejects equating combinations among the Ten Stems with combinations in the Hetu, and instead cites discussions of the Five Movements in the Inner Canon, distinguishing each Stem’s own qi from the Five Movements produced by the Five combinations. This is the commentary’s disagreement with the original’s basis for explanation; the two accounts should not be treated as mutually confirming conclusions about a historically established origin.

Therefore, as the first of the combinations, Jia (甲) and Ji (己) combine and transform into Earth. Earth generates Metal, so next come Yi (乙) and Geng (庚) transforming into Metal; Metal generates Water, so next come Bing (丙) and Xin (辛) transforming into Water; Water generates Wood, so next come Ding (丁) and Ren (壬) transforming into Wood; Wood generates Fire, so next come Wu (戊) and Gui (癸) transforming into Fire. Thus the Five Phases are complete. Earth comes first, and the sequence of generation follows naturally. This is the meaning of the Ten Stem combinations and transformations.

The five pairs listed here are Jia–Ji, Yi–Geng, Bing–Xin, Ding–Ren, and Wu–Gui; the phases they are said to transform into are Earth, Metal, Water, Wood, and Fire, respectively. The author emphasizes how this arrangement follows the sequence of generation. This passage does not specify, pair by pair, the conditions under which a combination or transformation actually takes place.

Xu separates the question into two steps: among the Ten Stems, some can combine and some cannot; once they have combined, some can transform and some cannot. He explicitly says, “This chapter discusses combination alone.” The five pairings and the names of their assigned transformations are one matter; whether a particular pair can combine, and whether it can transform, are separate matters. Thus, later references to a Stem being combined away or losing its function should not automatically be read as its having transformed into another phase.

What is meant by their nature and disposition? Once there is combination, there must be alignment and opposition. For example, if Jia uses Xin as Direct Officer and Bing appears in the Stems to combine with it, Xin no longer serves Jia as its Officer; if Jia uses Gui as Resource and Wu appears in the Stems to combine with it, Gui no longer serves Jia as its Resource; if Jia uses Ji as Wealth and Ji combines with a Jia in another position, Ji no longer serves Jia as its Wealth. For example, with Ji in the year Stem and Jia in the month Stem, the Wealth in the year is combined away by the month, and neither the Day Master Jia nor Yi has a share in it; with Jia in the year Stem and Ji in the month Stem, the Wealth in the month is combined away by the year, and the Day Master Jia or Yi does not participate in it. If Jia uses Bing as Eating God and Bing combines with Xin, Bing no longer serves Jia as its Eating God. These are four favorable gods rendered useless through combination.

“The Officer is no longer that Officer” and “the Resource is no longer that Resource” mean that these no longer perform their original function in relation to the Day Master. Each example in the original begins with the condition “uses a particular god.” The point is whether the Officer, Resource, Wealth, or Eating God on which the chart originally relied can still serve the Day Master within the new pairing. “Nature and disposition” here describes alignment and opposition within a relationship.

Xu adds a condition concerning the positions of the combining Stems: the explanation of lost function here refers to combinations between the year and month Stems, or between the year or month Stem and the hour Stem. If a Stem combines with the Day Master, the same judgment does not apply. For the two examples of Ji in the year with Jia in the month, and Jia in the year with Ji in the month, he also emphasizes their order and says they should not be discussed as jealous or contending combinations.

Xu further adds a condition concerning the Earthly Branches: if the relevant Heavenly Stem is rooted in an Earthly Branch, combination may not make it lose its function, and its favorable or unfavorable role may remain. Therefore, a combination that removes or disables something must be understood together with the positions and roots; seeing two characters that form one of the Five combinations is not by itself enough to conclude that the god relied upon has become useless.

Again, when Jia encounters Geng, it is Seven Killings; if Geng combines with Yi, Geng as Seven Killings no longer attacks the Day Master. When Jia encounters Yi, it is Rob Wealth. When Jia encounters Ding, it is Hurting Officer; if Ding combines with Ren, Ding no longer acts as Hurting Officer. When Jia encounters Ren, it is Indirect Resource; if Ren combines with Ding, Ren no longer suppresses the Eating God. These are four unfavorable gods whose effects turn favorable through combination.

Following the preceding argument, this passage discusses how effects originally regarded as unfavorable may change through combination: Geng as Seven Killings no longer attacks the Day Master, Ding no longer acts as Hurting Officer, and Ren as Indirect Resource no longer suppresses the Eating God. This favorable turn describes a change in effect; it does not itself establish a Five-Phase transformation.

After listing “when Jia encounters Yi, it is Rob Wealth,” the original moves directly to “when Jia encounters Ding, it is Hurting Officer.” It does not go on to say with which Stem Yi combines or how the effect of Rob Wealth changes. Thus, “four unfavorable gods” is the author’s summary, while the specific change in function for Rob Wealth is not developed in this passage.

Xu says that favorable gods losing their favorable effect and unfavorable gods losing their unfavorable effect through combination follow the same principle, but both depend on the Earthly Branches. He specifically points out that when rooted, a Stem may retain its function despite combination, and the favorable or unfavorable effect may remain. This qualifies the favorable turn described in the original; it should not be broadened into a rule that any Seven Killings, Rob Wealth, Hurting Officer, or Indirect Resource necessarily becomes favorable as soon as it meets a combination.

In general, a combination can change what is favored or opposed: what was favorable may no longer act favorably, and what was unfavorable may no longer act unfavorably. To speak in terms of the Six Relations: for a man, Wealth represents his wife; if it is combined away by another Stem, how could the Wealth-wife be close to her husband? For a woman, Officer represents her husband; if it is combined away by another Stem, how could the Officer-husband love his wife? This is what is meant by the nature and disposition of combinations differing according to alignment and opposition.

The chapter centers on how combinations change the relationships among Stems and the functions they previously served. The closing rhetorical questions about husband and wife continue the Six-Relations images “Wealth as wife” and “Officer as husband,” explaining closeness or distance in terms of whether a god aligns with the Day Master. They show how the author extends the logic of alignment and opposition to the Six Relations; they do not provide sufficient grounds to infer actual marital behavior from a single combination.

Xu further stresses the need to distinguish a god essential to the chart’s original use from a protective or supporting factor, and to consider how the other effects change after a combination. He extends this analysis to the luck cycle and says that “whether it is favorable or unfavorable depends entirely on the pairing.” Read together with the earlier conditions concerning position and rooting, the focus is on what the chart originally relied upon and whether it can still perform that function after combination, rather than treating combination itself as invariably favorable or unfavorable.