Zi Ping Zhen Quan — On Yin–Yang Birth and Death: Original Text, Translation & Interpretation

The account of the Five Phases and the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches has already been discussed in detail in the chapter on the Stems and Branches. The Stems move and never cease; the Branches are still and have a constant order. As each Stem circulates through the months represented by the twelve Branches, its stages of Birth, Peak, Grave, and Extinction are established.

This passage carries forward the distinction in the opening chapter: the qi represented by the Heavenly Stems circulates, while the Earthly Branches provide a stable sequence of month positions. The chapter now explains how that circulating qi is assigned different stages at those positions.

Xu Lewu connects Birth, Peak, Grave, and Extinction with the seasonal sequence of waxing and waning among the Five Phases. The original here says that each Stem circulates through the months of the twelve Branches, setting up its account of the yang-forward and yin-reverse sequence. In the following section, Xu explicitly argues that these stages should be discussed in terms of the Five Phases as a whole. The two accounts should be read on their own terms.

Yang is characterized by gathering and develops by advancing, so it proceeds in the forward order. Yin is characterized by dispersal and develops by retreating, so it proceeds in reverse. This is why the stages such as Birth and Bathing differ between yang moving forward and yin moving in reverse. In the course of the four seasons, what has completed its work departs, and what awaits its turn to be used advances. Thus, as each Stem circulates through the months of the twelve Branches, Birth, Peak, Grave, and Extinction each have a fixed position. Where yang is born is precisely where yin dies: they exchange places, as the natural course proceeds.

The original first uses gathering and dispersal, advance and retreat, to explain the directions in which the stages are arranged. It then describes their succession through “what has completed its work departs, and what awaits its turn to be used advances.” “Yang moves forward, yin in reverse” describes the ordering of these stages; it does not prescribe whether a person should advance or yield. “Where yang is born is precisely where yin dies” likewise describes corresponding positions within this system.

Xu takes a different position on how the stages are applied: Jia and Yi are both Wood, so Birth, Peak, Grave, and Extinction should in actual use be discussed by the Five Phases rather than by assigning yin Stems separate positions for Birth, the Lu stage, Peak, and Grave. He accepts that the alternation of yin and yang can describe waxing and waning, but does not accept that this distinction should directly determine actual strength and weakness. The original’s separate forward and reverse arrangements and Xu’s Five-Phase basis for practical use cannot be collapsed into one conclusion.

Take Jia and Yi as examples. Jia is the yang aspect of Wood. The branches and leaves of trees receive Heaven’s life-generating qi; this qi has been stored up in full, ready for subsequent growth and outward expression. This is why Jia is born in Hai (亥). When Wood is in the month of Wu (午), it is precisely the season when branches and leaves flourish. Why, then, is Jia said to die? It is because, although it flourishes outwardly, the life-generating qi within has been entirely discharged; this is why Jia dies in Wu. Yi Wood is the reverse: when branches and leaves flourish in the month of Wu, this is its birth; when they fall away in the month of Hai, this is its death. Considered in terms of substance, it is naturally different from qi. Taking Jia and Yi as examples, the rest can be understood.

For Jia, the passage emphasizes the storage and discharge of inner life-generating qi in explaining Birth in Hai and Death in Wu. For Yi, it emphasizes the flourishing and falling of branches and leaves as substance: flourishing in Wu is called birth, and falling away in Hai is called death. Thus, Hai’s stored qi and Wu’s outward flourishing receive different stage names for Jia and Yi. This is the original’s example for explaining the yang-forward and yin-reverse sequence.

The wording here does not fully follow the qi-and-substance contrast in the opening chapter. There, it says “Jia is the qi of Yi; Yi is the substance of Jia,” and places the actual “branches and leaves” within its finer account of Yi. Yet this passage also mentions the “branches and leaves of trees” while describing Jia. In its discussion of Hai and Wu, it then emphasizes Jia’s inner qi and Yi’s outward substance. Its focus here is the inner qi of Jia and the outward substance of Yi; the literal mention of branches and leaves alone should not be used to distinguish Jia from Yi.

Xu rejects the idea that Jia and Yi each have a separate set of actual Birth, Peak, and Grave positions, arguing that “Jia and Yi are one Wood.” The original’s qi-and-substance analogy explains why it arranges the stages this way; Xu’s objection concerns whether that arrangement should be used to judge actual root qi. Preserve these as distinct positions.

There are twelve months represented by the Branches; therefore, for each Stem, the stages from Birth through Embryo and Nourishment are also divided into twelve positions. Qi passes from flourishing to decline, and from decline to flourishing again; when each transition is subdivided, the result is twelve stages. Names such as Birth and Bathing are borrowed words used as descriptions. Birth is like a person’s first arrival in the world. Bathing is like washing away grime after birth; it is also like a seed kernel that has become a sprout, its earlier green shell washed away. Robing is the gradual growth of form and qi, like a person reaching the age to put on cap and robes. Appointment is growth into maturity, like a person able to enter service. Peak is flourishing at its utmost, like being able to assist the emperor and accomplish great things. Decline is the beginning of change in things after their flourishing has reached its height.

The original explicitly calls these “borrowed words used as descriptions,” then gives a series of analogies. Birth, bathing, robing, entering service, and assisting the emperor help readers recognize the sequence from beginning to full flourishing and then decline. The label Appointment does not mean that encountering this stage guarantees an official post; Peak does not promise status or achievement.

Xu further relates these stages to seasonal qi and the Stems stored in the Branches. For example, he explains Peak through Mao as the place where spring Wood reaches its peak. His focus is the qi of the Five Phases in the seasons and the Stems stored in the Branches. He also says that naming a yin Stem’s stage Birth does not add to or diminish what a Branch stores. This is a different scope from the original’s account of assigning twelve positions to each Stem.

Sickness is a more advanced state of decline. Death is when qi has been exhausted, with nothing left. The Grave is where the transforming process stores things away, like a person buried in the earth. Extinction is when the qi that came before has ended and the qi that follows is about to continue. Embryo is when the qi that follows continues and gathers into an embryo. Nourishment is like a person being nourished in the womb. From this point onward, Birth circulates without end.

“Sickness,” “Death,” and “Grave” continue the preceding definition of these labels as descriptive analogies: they describe qi’s decline, exhaustion, and storage. “Extinction” is not a permanent end; the original immediately says that the qi that follows will continue, followed by Embryo, Nourishment, and Birth. These names belong to the complete cycle and should not be read as predictions of an individual’s illness, death, or lifespan.

Xu explains flourishing and Grave through Five-Phase seasons and the Stems stored in Branches, and in his final section connects storehouses with rooting. Here we first identify “Grave” as storage. Whether it constitutes a root, and how yin and yang Stems are judged, remain specific questions on which the original and Xu later disagree; the word “Grave” alone does not settle whether something is rooted.

A person’s Day Master need not be born in a month corresponding to the Lu position (禄, here the Appointment stage) or Peak. Even if the month command is in a state of rest or constraint, if it obtains Birth, the Lu position, or Peak among the year, day, and hour Branches, it is then not weak; even if it encounters a storehouse, it also has a root. Claiming that entering a storehouse always requires a clash to open it is an error found in popular manuals.

This passage considers both whether the Day Master is seasonally supported by the month command and whether it has roots in the other Branches. The original does not favor looking only at a month command in a state of rest or constraint while ignoring Birth, the Lu position, Peak, and storehouses in the year, day, and hour Branches. Its claim that the Day Master is “not weak” depends on obtaining one of these positions; a month command in a weakened state does not by itself mean that strength is unaffected.

Xu agrees that analysis should not be limited to the month command and also rejects the rule that every storehouse must be clashed open. He further explains rooting by reference to the Stems stored in a Branch, and includes Birth, residual qi, and storehouses among possible roots. For example, in his account Jia or Yi Wood can be rooted in Hai, Chen, or Wei. The relevant condition is that a related hidden Stem can actually support it; encountering any storehouse is not automatically the same kind of root, and a clash is not a required step.

Xu also says that receiving the month command’s qi is the strongest position. Having a root in another Branch and receiving the month’s seasonal support are not the same thing. Both conditions must remain distinct when reading this passage.

Birth is powerful for yang Stems, while for yin Stems, the Birth stage is less powerful, yet is not itself weak. At a storehouse, yang Stems have roots, while a storehouse provides no useful support for yin Stems. This is because yang is great and yin small: yang can encompass yin, while yin cannot encompass yang. Such is the natural principle.

The original explicitly distinguishes two effects here: Birth for yin Stems is less powerful than Birth for yang Stems, yet the original still calls this stage “not weak”; at a storehouse, yang Stems are said to have roots, while the storehouse provides no useful support for yin Stems. In the original’s account, Birth for yin Stems and support from a storehouse for yin Stems have different effects. Xu judges them differently, as discussed below. “Yang is great and yin small” is the passage’s explanation for this distinction; it supplies no ratio for calculating strength.

Xu directly objects. He argues that a storehouse should be discussed by the Five Phases, without dividing by yin and yang, and that when the relevant hidden Stem appears in the Heavenly Stems, its use can be discussed on the same basis. He then criticizes the original as unable to reconcile saying that the Birth stage for yin Stems is not weak with saying that a storehouse provides them no useful support. In his account, Jia and Yi are both Wood, and both can be rooted in Hai, Chen, or Wei; a Stem’s yin polarity does not automatically cancel a root in a storehouse.

The original and Xu share some points and disagree on others. Both say that roots in other Branches must be considered even when the month command is in a state of rest or constraint, and both reject the claim that every storehouse must be clashed open. They disagree on whether yin and yang should have separate Birth, Peak, and Grave positions, and on how those labels affect actual root qi. Their grounds should be compared separately rather than combined into an uncontested rule.