General Overview of the Relationship between Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches
paulpeng
In this chapter, apart from the Five Elements of the Heavenly Stems, the main focus is on various relationships among the Earthly Branches. The Heavenly Stems represent a single state of the Five Elements, so the relationships among them are clear-cut in terms of the generation and restriction of the Five Elements, and of course, there are also the relationships of the Five Combinations. The Earthly Branches, on the other hand, represent complex yin and yang qi numbers. Besides the relationships of generation and restriction of the Five Elements arising from the hidden Heavenly Stems within them, due to the differences in yin and yang qi numbers, there are also interwoven and integrated different mutual relationships such as punishment, clash, combination, and harm.
It is worth noting that the relationships such as punishment, clash, combination, and harm among the Earthly Branches are not caused by the relationships of generation and restriction of the Five Elements of the hidden Heavenly Stems within them. Although the two can influence each other, they are not in a causal relationship. When ancient people discussed the Three Punishments and Six Harms, they often examined these special relationships among the Earthly Branches from the perspective of the generation and restriction of the Five Elements of the hidden Heavenly Stems. For example, it was said that "The Vigorous metal in the Chou Earthly Branch takes advantage of its strength to punish the dying fire in the Xu Earthly Branch, so it is called the punishment of taking advantage of strength", "The dying fire in the Xu Earthly Branch harms the yin metal in the You Earthly Branch, so You and Xu harm each other", and so on. Such views are not advisable. Conversely, it is also incorrect to deny a certain special relationship among the Earthly Branches by using the relationships of generation and restriction of the Five Elements of the hidden Heavenly Stems within them. For example, Ren Tieqiao believed that "The meaning of punishment has no merit. Zi punishing Mao and Mao punishing Zi is actually mutual generation. Why is it called punishment? Xu punishing Wei, Wei and Xu punishing Chou are all of the original qi and should not be punished... And the meaning of harm is especially far-fetched. It is always right to discuss their generation and restriction." - This is actually a fallacy. It is precisely because of the existence of relationships such as punishment, clash, combination, and harm among the Earthly Branches that the waxing and waning states and the generation and restriction situations of the Five Elements of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches are greatly affected, thus making the fate chart show capricious changes between good and bad fortune as the years and fortunes change. Why is it that sometimes when the useful god arrives in a certain year, there is still disaster? Why are there great joys and sorrows in some years, with both good and bad fortune? These questions cannot be explained by simply relying on the relationships of generation and restriction of the Five Elements without in-depth analysis of the punishment, clash, combination, and harm among the Earthly Branches. So much so that some scholars of fate divination think that "Sometimes, without involving the favorable and useful gods, one can predict a person's good and bad fortune just by looking at the punishment, clash, breaking, and harm." This statement is not entirely correct, but it is enough to make us reflect on the special influences of non-generation and restriction relationships of the Five Elements among the Earthly Branches - such as punishment, clash, meeting, combination, and harm - on the fate chart.
Strictly speaking, many deities and killers are also certain special relationships among the Earthly Branches. However, their influence on the generation and restriction situations of the Five Elements of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches is not as great as that of punishment, clash, combination, and harm. They can only imply certain specific information, so they are used as deities and killers. In fact, sometimes the Six Clashes, Six Combinations, and Six Harms are also included in the Twelve Pre-horse Deities and Killers, and I won't go into details here.
It is worth noting that the relationships such as punishment, clash, combination, and harm among the Earthly Branches are not caused by the relationships of generation and restriction of the Five Elements of the hidden Heavenly Stems within them. Although the two can influence each other, they are not in a causal relationship. When ancient people discussed the Three Punishments and Six Harms, they often examined these special relationships among the Earthly Branches from the perspective of the generation and restriction of the Five Elements of the hidden Heavenly Stems. For example, it was said that "The Vigorous metal in the Chou Earthly Branch takes advantage of its strength to punish the dying fire in the Xu Earthly Branch, so it is called the punishment of taking advantage of strength", "The dying fire in the Xu Earthly Branch harms the yin metal in the You Earthly Branch, so You and Xu harm each other", and so on. Such views are not advisable. Conversely, it is also incorrect to deny a certain special relationship among the Earthly Branches by using the relationships of generation and restriction of the Five Elements of the hidden Heavenly Stems within them. For example, Ren Tieqiao believed that "The meaning of punishment has no merit. Zi punishing Mao and Mao punishing Zi is actually mutual generation. Why is it called punishment? Xu punishing Wei, Wei and Xu punishing Chou are all of the original qi and should not be punished... And the meaning of harm is especially far-fetched. It is always right to discuss their generation and restriction." - This is actually a fallacy. It is precisely because of the existence of relationships such as punishment, clash, combination, and harm among the Earthly Branches that the waxing and waning states and the generation and restriction situations of the Five Elements of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches are greatly affected, thus making the fate chart show capricious changes between good and bad fortune as the years and fortunes change. Why is it that sometimes when the useful god arrives in a certain year, there is still disaster? Why are there great joys and sorrows in some years, with both good and bad fortune? These questions cannot be explained by simply relying on the relationships of generation and restriction of the Five Elements without in-depth analysis of the punishment, clash, combination, and harm among the Earthly Branches. So much so that some scholars of fate divination think that "Sometimes, without involving the favorable and useful gods, one can predict a person's good and bad fortune just by looking at the punishment, clash, breaking, and harm." This statement is not entirely correct, but it is enough to make us reflect on the special influences of non-generation and restriction relationships of the Five Elements among the Earthly Branches - such as punishment, clash, meeting, combination, and harm - on the fate chart.
Strictly speaking, many deities and killers are also certain special relationships among the Earthly Branches. However, their influence on the generation and restriction situations of the Five Elements of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches is not as great as that of punishment, clash, combination, and harm. They can only imply certain specific information, so they are used as deities and killers. In fact, sometimes the Six Clashes, Six Combinations, and Six Harms are also included in the Twelve Pre-horse Deities and Killers, and I won't go into details here.
