Secret Essentials of Liu Ren Destiny Reading

凡論人富貴貧賤壽夭，只看身命，更以干支用神，相生相合則命吉，如克害則命凶也。如身命旺相遇酃神良將生扶合助而不來刑剋害者，必主其人有富貴福壽。若休囚無氣，更遇凶神惡將剋制，必主其人非夭即貧，無造化之人也。

This book uses the Liu Ren lesson form to infer a lifetime's destiny; it is not for asking about a single affair. Whenever one judges a person's wealth or poverty, honor or lowliness, and length of life, one looks only at two places: the natal fate (本命) and the progressed year (行年). The natal fate is the palace where the Earthly Branch of the birth year sits; the progressed year is the palace reached by the year-by-year advance. The two together are called body-and-life (身命). One then takes the useful spirits (用神) on the day stem and day branch as well. If body-and-life and the stem-and-branch useful spirits generate and combine with one another, the fate is auspicious; if they punish, conquer, or injure one another, the fate is inauspicious. If body-and-life sits in a prosperous or emerging place, and further meets auspicious spirits and good heavenly generals (天將) (the original 'Ling spirit' is a corruption of 'auspicious spirits') that generate, support, combine, and assist, with no punishment, clash, conquest, or injury, that person is sure to have wealth, honor, blessing, and long life together. Conversely, if body-and-life falls into rest or imprisonment and is without qi (氣), and further meets baleful spirits and evil generals that restrain it, that person will either die young or be poor—one without a destined lot.

大忌身命空亡及入墓，蓋空亡只主一身作事無成，多謀少遂，難立家計；入墓則主一世昏晦不明，行藏動靜必不亨快；又嫌身命瘦弱無助，蓋無氣遇扶必因人並立；如更遇刑沖剋害則官府欺凌，小人謗毀。若有氣無助必獨立撐持，如更遇生扶合助則貴人提攜。

In judging body-and-life two things are most to be feared: one is that body-and-life falls into decade-void (旬空); the other is that body-and-life enters the tomb (入墓). Those who fall into void go through life without completing what they undertake, planning much and accomplishing little, and find it hard to establish a household. Those who enter the tomb go through life in darkness and obscurity; whether they advance or withdraw, move or rest, nothing is smooth. Next one fears that body-and-life is thin and without support. If it is itself without qi yet fortunately has generation and support, the person must depend on others in order to stand; if it is without qi and also suffers punishment, clash, conquest, or injury, then officials will bully him and petty men slander him. If it has qi of its own yet no one assists, the person can hold up the household alone; if it both has qi and receives generation, support, combination, and assistance, then noble people will lift him up.

又要財福旺相得地，如財無氣又臨死墓絕空而日干又被凶神惡將沖剋，無吉神將救助，此乃至下之命。如子無氣，又臨死墓絕空而日干又被凶神惡將剋制，無吉神將救助，亦為至下之命。蓋子妻空不為黃冠緇衣之僧道，則為乞丐之貧人，又安求其增益也。

One must further see whether the two lines of wife-wealth (妻財) and children (子孫) are prosperous, emerging, and well placed. If the wealth line is without qi, and further falls in a place of death, tomb, or extinction, or falls into void, while the day stem is also clashed and conquered by baleful spirits and evil generals, with no auspicious spirits or good generals coming to the rescue, this is a fate of the lowest grade. Likewise, if the children line is without qi, and further falls in death, tomb, extinction, or void, while the day stem is restrained by baleful spirits and evil generals and has no rescue, this too is a fate of the lowest grade. If both wife-wealth and children are empty, the person, if not a yellow-capped Daoist or a black-robed monk, will sink to being a beggar—what increase can one still hope for?

大抵課命旺不如爻像旺，得課像旺可許其根基壯實；更得爻乘吉臨得力之地扶助身命，乃為十全造化。蓋人之根基繫於課，人之際遇繫於爻，故課命無氣，根基淺薄；爻像得地，際遇興隆。細看三傳吉凶，其榮枯實決於此。

In the main, that the four lessons (四課) and the natal fate are at their peak is still less important than that the line-images of the six relations (六親) are at their peak. If the lesson-images are prosperous, one can only grant that the foundation is solid; there must also be lines riding auspicious generals and falling in a place of strength to support body-and-life before it counts as a complete lot. For a person's foundation is tied to the four lessons, while the encounters of a lifetime are tied to the line-images. If lessons and fate are without qi, the foundation is shallow; if the line-images are well placed, the encounters flourish. Look more finely at the good and ill of the three transmissions (三傳): the glory and withering of a lifetime are in fact decided there.

夫初傳為始，若財旺乘龍臨吉地，早年身必富貴，子旺興隆同傳初年子定軒昂，六合太常臨財為作經商買賣興家，太陰天后見妻財婚姻早娶，白虎乘鬼發用初歲多災，驛馬同虎鬼入傳必定傷災有患，金被火制筋骨癆病，火遭水克眼目昏蒙，土來克水蠱疾多殃，初得吉神臨於生旺，初景清高富貴。若遇凶怒惡煞，初年積害多災疾，疫多興。初年多困，兄弟勞動，早歲貧寒。

The three transmissions govern the three stages of a life. The first transmission (初傳) governs youth. If the wealth line is at its peak and rides the Azure Dragon (青龍), falling in an auspicious place, the household in early years is sure to be wealthy and honored; if the children line is prosperous and travels with the first transmission, sons and daughters in youth are sure to stand out. The Six Harmonies (六合) and the Great Constant (太常) riding the wealth line govern raising a household by trade; Tai Yin (太陰) and the Heavenly Empress (天后) seeing wife-wealth govern early marriage. The White Tiger (白虎) riding official-ghost as the issuing use (發用) means many disasters in childhood; if the post-horse (驛馬) enters the transmissions together with the White Tiger and official-ghost, there is sure to be injury, illness, and calamity. If a metal line is restrained by fire, it governs wasting illness of sinew and bone; if a fire line is conquered by water, it governs dimness of the eyes; if earth comes to conquer water, it governs afflictions such as drum-belly swelling. If the first transmission obtains auspicious spirits and sits in a place of birth or prosperity, the early years are refined, wealthy, and honored; if it meets baleful spirits and evil symbolic stars (神煞), youth accumulates illness and many disasters, epidemics rise often, everything is hard, and one must also toil and run for brothers—poor from early years.

中傳財馬中年立業興家，子乘青龍並立，金玉滿堂餘慶；雀蛇乘旺臨鬼，中年多遭非禍；勾空帶 詞訟有傷；年命日辰有二德皇書恩赦救 解。末見吉神一路春風，若遇凶煞無制老來孤困極窮。又如初傳德合末傳克害，即幼年發福，末年貧寒 ；或初傳刑傷，末傳生比，即主幼年貧困，老境亨通也。

The middle transmission (中傳) governs middle age. If the middle transmission shows a wealth line and the post-horse, it governs establishing an estate and raising a household in middle years; if a children line rides the Azure Dragon and stands together with it, it governs halls full of gold and jade and blessing left over. If the Vermilion Bird (朱雀) and the Soaring Snake (騰蛇) ride prosperity and sit on official-ghost, middle age meets many sudden disasters; Hooked Array (勾陳) and Heavenly Void (天空) carrying a star (here the base text has a lacuna) govern being entangled in lawsuits and suffering injury. Fortunately, if on the progressed year, the natal fate, and the day and hour there are the two virtues of Heavenly Virtue and Lunar Virtue, the Imperial Letter, the Amnesty, and other auspicious spirits, they can rescue and release (here too the base text has a lacuna). The final transmission (末傳) governs old age: if the final transmission shows auspicious spirits, late years are a road of spring wind; if it meets baleful stars with nothing to restrain them, old age is lonely, bitter, and poor. There is also a crossed reading: if the first transmission obtains virtue and combination while the final transmission suffers conquest and injury, one rises in blessing as a child and is poor in old age; if the first transmission suffers punishment and injury while the final transmission obtains generation and comparison, then childhood is poor and old age is smooth.

又看十二宮生扶合助日干本命，即主其宮諸事順利發達，如嘧祿宮得二馬，或儀奇皇恩等吉及龍富貴朱將與本命日干相不人即主得美官；如見以上諸吉，倘若囚死之地則主得微官。尤要日上與命上俱吉，方許得名位。如以上諸吉只見生合，但許游泮而已。如生得旺稍得幫補，或貢監不能大貴也。

Look next at the twelve palaces (十二宮). Whenever a given palace can generate, support, combine, and assist the day stem and the natal fate, the affairs governed by that palace go smoothly and prosper. For example, if the official-salary palace (官祿宮) (the original 'Mi-salary palace' is a corruption of 'official-salary palace') obtains the two horses, the heavenly horse and the post-horse, or the Yi, the Odd, the Imperial Grace, and other auspicious spirits, and if noble generals such as the Azure Dragon and the Vermilion Bird combine with and support the natal fate and the day stem, it governs obtaining a fine office. If the same auspicious spirits are seen but fall in a place of imprisonment or death, one can obtain only a lowly minor post. Especially, both what sits on the day stem and what sits on the natal fate must be auspicious before one grants him name and rank. If these auspicious spirits merely generate and combine with him, that only grants him entry into the prefectural school; if he obtains prosperous qi and a little support, he is still only of the tribute-student or national-academy class, and cannot be greatly honored.

又如財帛宮得吉神良將與命宮無刑沖破害等，與干相生合，即主財帛厚產業興隆。如兄弟宮得吉神良將與命干無刑沖破害等，即主兄弟富貴和睦。如田宅宮得良神吉將與命宮無刑沖剋害等，則田宅增盛利益也。其奴僕男女妻子等宮。皆依此推之。

Again, if the wealth palace obtains auspicious spirits and good generals, and between it and the life palace there is no punishment, clash, break, or harm, and it further generates and combines with the day stem, it governs abundant goods and a flourishing estate. If the siblings palace obtains auspicious spirits and good generals, and between it and the natal fate and day stem there is no punishment, clash, break, or harm, it governs brothers who are wealthy, honored, and also in harmony. If the fields-and-house palace obtains good spirits and auspicious generals, and with the life palace there is no punishment, clash, conquest, or injury, it governs fields and houses increasing day by day and profit growing thicker. The remaining palaces of servants, sons and daughters, wife and concubine, and so on are all inferred by this method. Thus the reading of the twelve palaces has only one standard: whether the spirits and generals riding that palace are auspicious, whether between it and the life palace and day stem there is punishment, clash, break, or harm, and whether they generate and combine or conquer one another—take the three together and you have it.

若看大運流年月令高低，看某運某年某月令與日干生旺比和德合，更有吉神良將即主某運某年某月內有進益之喜，凡事吉利通達。如見刑沖破害等凶神惡煞便知何年月 內不利也。大抵持年稍重些，當與八字參詳看之。

As for judging the height or lowness of a great luck, a progressed year, and a monthly command, the method is this: see whether a given luck, a given year, or a given month's command generates, prospers, compares, or combines by virtue with the day stem; if auspicious spirits and good generals further sit together with it, that luck, that year, or that month has the joy of increase, and all affairs are auspicious and open. If one sees punishment, clash, break, harm, and other baleful spirits and evil stars, one knows that year or that month is unfavorable. In the main the weight of what the progressed year holds should be read a little more heavily, and it should be compared together with the eight characters.

蓋推人之命關乎大造，非可輕斷，必須潛究根原，審察衰旺，生合刑害，年曆家把作得定，方可與人決斷吉凶，剖分得夫。若不細心推究而妄行決斷，富貴窮通成敗利鈍而無差誤者，未有之也。

In sum, to infer a person's fate concerns the great outline of creation and must not be judged lightly. One must sink down and trace the root, examine prosperity and decline, distinguish generation, combination, punishment, and injury, and set the stems and branches of the years and calendars one by one; only then may one decide good and ill for a person and analyze gain and loss. If one does not investigate with care and yet rashly issues a verdict, and still hopes to speak of a person's wealth or poverty, success or failure, profit or bluntness, without the slightest error—that has never happened.

推婦人之命與男命不同，惟取其柔順情正為吉，凡宮中寧夫之於弱不可失之於強，婦命以支上神為最要，支上神吉，其女良；支上神惡，其女悍。以用傳觀其益夫旺子之由，以各宮看其六親完缺之因。

To infer a woman's fate is not the same as inferring a man's. A woman's fate takes only yielding compliance and an upright nature as auspicious. In the force of each palace it is better to err on the side of being somewhat weak than on the side of being too strong (the original 'rather husband' is a corruption of 'rather err'). For a woman's fate the spirit on the day branch is the most important: if the spirit on the branch is auspicious, the woman is sure to be worthy and good; if the spirit on the branch is baleful and fierce, the woman is sure to be violent. Then from the issuing use and the three transmissions one sees whether she can benefit her husband and prosper her children; from the twelve palaces one sees whether her six relations are complete or broken.

女命喜坐克宮，主慎重而有禮；坐小宮恐太過而嬌恣；最不宜沖宮動搖，更有陰合乘之恐別宮無制，則抱琵琶而過別船，不然亦有媒妮之流。坐害宮主不睦而嫉妒，坐刑害多刑傷暴戾；而坐德祿宮作命婦推之。而歷重有福，入空鄉無救作寡婦斷之而孀居無依，坐丁馬更帶神再乘勾京陰合者鞏棄禮義而忻私奔。若坐丁馬乘貴常等吉將，他宮遙制，又當以貴論也。

A woman's fate likes to sit in a palace that receives conquest; this governs a person careful and courteous. Sitting in a palace of small qi, one fears that weakness goes too far and turns into spoiled willfulness. It is most unsuitable to sit in a clashing palace and rock without rest; if further the combining generals of the yin side, such as the Six Harmonies and Tai Yin, ride it, and the other palaces have nothing to restrain it, there is remarriage—what is called carrying the pipa over to another boat; if not that, she is of the matchmaker class. Sitting in a harming palace governs discord in the household and the rise of jealousy; sitting in a place of punishment and harm means much corporal injury and a violent temper. If she sits in a palace of virtue-spirit and salary-spirit, one may infer her as a titled lady, with deep and thick blessing. If she falls into void with no rescue, one judges her a widow, living alone with none to rely on. If she sits on the Ding spirit and the post-horse, further carries a star, and rides Hooked Array, Tai Yin, and the Six Harmonies, there is a matter of casting aside rite and righteousness and gladly eloping. But if she sits on the same Ding and horse yet rides the Noble, the Great Constant, and other auspicious generals, and another palace can restrain them from afar, that again must be read as an honored fate.

至於男命德與學堂並則為官清正，祿與長生並則為人富厚，遇被害為學堂則為術三推之。若婦人值破害為學堂，又決為青樓人矣。值德祿為學堂，又斷為賢德之母也。如是值類而旁通之，其壬書推命之理始可得也。

As for a man's fate: if the virtue-spirit and the School Hall (學堂) share a palace, it governs an official who is pure and upright; if the salary-spirit and Long Life (長生) share a palace, it governs a person of substantial wealth. If the School Hall is instead punished and injured, one must infer him as of the class of technical practitioners (this sentence has corrupt characters in the base text). The same School Hall, if in a woman's fate it meets break and harm, is judged as a woman of the green towers; if it shares a place with virtue and salary, she is judged a worthy and virtuous mother. By touching one such occupying spirit and inferring the rest by kind, the principle of reading destiny in the Liu Ren books is truly in hand.

身命之法即自有五，一根基二妻子三財官四限運五壽數，身命為本體，以財官為用神，推吉旺則福多，究凶衰則禍少，但依此決斷，無紊亂之意。第一節先看日上為主，若見貴人青龍等吉神生旺者，身命有氣為可貴可富之人。若日上見墓絕，身命無氣，雖遇龍堂吉神亦足小可規模，主虛花不實之像。君日干無氣，又臨凶煞，乃下等疾困之輩，若日上有氣，卻臨凶煞，乃修偉榮顯而帶殘疾之人；若凶煞有制，反主假煞為權矣。故以日干為身，以日上神為所作之事而論。

The method of inferring body-and-life has five sections in all: first look at the foundation, second at wife and children, third at wealth and office, fourth at luck-limits, fifth at the span of years. Body-and-life is the substance; the wealth line and the official line are the useful spirits. Infer what is auspicious and at its peak, and blessing is many; examine what is inauspicious and in decline, and disaster is few. Judge only by these five sections and the order will not be confused. In the first section take first as chief the spirit on the day stem: if one sees the Noble, the Azure Dragon, and other auspicious spirits in a place of birth or prosperity, body-and-life has qi, and this person may be honored and may be wealthy. If on the day stem one sees tomb or extinction, body-and-life is without qi; even if one meets auspicious spirits of the Azure Dragon class, it is only a small pattern, an image of empty show without substance. If the day stem itself is without qi and further sits on a baleful star, the person is of the lowest grade, sick and hard-pressed; if the day stem has qi yet sits on a baleful star, the person is of imposing appearance and honored rank yet carries a disability; if the baleful star is separately restrained, it is instead using the star as authority. Therefore this section takes the day stem to stand for the person's body, and the spirit on the day stem to stand for the affairs the person undertakes—this layer is the foundation of destiny-reading in the whole book, and the later four sections all grow from it.

第二節須看辰上神，為妻室子孫，推福德日辰相生相合，夫妻和翕，偕老百年；相剋相沖，夫妻反目，即朝夕不睦。辰上吉神臨之主好妻；若凶神惡煞臨之，其妻必惡；課無妻財主無妻室；或妻爻重見，辰上值空，主妻刑傷。兄弟爻見防有剋制。課中有子必有子孫，若無子爻後無子息，子孫空亡多養少成。

The second section must look at the spirit on the day branch: it stands for wife and children, and from it one infers blessing and virtue. If day and branch generate and combine, husband and wife are in harmony and can grow old together; if day and branch conquer and clash, husband and wife turn against each other and are at odds from morning to night. If an auspicious spirit sits on the day branch, it governs marrying a good wife; if a baleful spirit or evil star sits there, the wife is sure to be fierce. If in the four lessons no wife-wealth line appears, it governs having no wife; if the wife line appears repeatedly and the day branch further falls into void, it governs the wife suffering corporal injury. If a siblings line appears in the lessons, one must guard against its restraining wife-wealth. If there is a children line in the lessons, there are sure to be sons and daughters; if there is no children line at all, there will be no issue later; if the children line falls into void, many are born and few survive.

第三節看財官，若日月有氣，官祿貴馬龍常印綬諸吉生合日干者，乃官貴之命。若子孫妻財青龍常諸吉神臨日合日者，乃富貴之之命也。凡子爻制則有官，如子爻見而無制則官，兄爻見無制則財薄。

The third section looks at the wealth line and the official line. If the day stem and the monthly builder both have qi, and official-salary, the Noble, the post-horse, the Azure Dragon, the Great Constant, and the seal-and-sash—these auspicious spirits—come to generate and combine with the day stem, it is a fate of office and honor. If the children line, the wife-wealth line, and auspicious spirits such as the Azure Dragon and the Great Constant add to the day stem or combine with it, it is a fate of wealth and honor. Whenever the children line is restrained, the official star is not injured and one can obtain office; if the children line appears without restraint, the official star is conquered and official fortune is damaged; if the siblings line appears without restraint, wealth is sure to be thin.

第四節論運限，凡日上旺相遇財官發福增產，遇鬼煞須防媽險，遇兄弟必主破財，若日衰遇官鬼則變官為鬼賊，遇父母則變為艱辛，遇財福稍可發，遇兄弟則必遭禍患，看在何爻便斷何年發作。

The fourth section discusses luck-limits. Whenever the spirit on the day stem is in a prosperous or emerging place, and the running luck meets a wealth line or official line, one rises in blessing and increases property; if it meets official-ghost and baleful stars, one must guard against danger (the original 'mother-danger' is a corruption of 'danger'); if it meets a siblings line, wealth is sure to be broken. If the day stem itself is weak, and the running luck meets official-ghost, the official star turns into a ghost-thief that harms the person; if it meets a parents line, it turns into toil and hardship; if it meets a wealth line or children line, one may still rise a little; if it meets a siblings line, one is sure to meet disaster. See on which line the good or ill falls, and judge that it breaks out in the year corresponding to that line.

第五節論壽數。壽數不可一概而論，若日上無氣，遇官鬼大煞白虎喪門弔客在邪爻作黨者，即知在何運中，遇之即死。日旺勝煞者不過災病，一路平順，一年一位細推詳，夭壽貴賤從此決。

The fifth section discusses the span of years. The span of years cannot be judged all in one way. If the spirit on the day stem is without qi, and further meets official-ghost, a great star, the White Tiger, and the baleful spirits Mourning Gate and Guest of Condolence gathered as a faction on the same line, one can see in which step of luck it answers; the moment it is met there is danger to life. Conversely, if the day stem is prosperous and can overcome the baleful stars, it is only an illness, and thereafter the road is smooth. The method is one year to one position, inferred position by position in detail; early death or long life, honor or lowliness, are all decided from this.

命到財官一徨優，身更入吉又何求？旺相為善休囚惡，德為喜悅刑沖憂。十二宮中仔細看，何宮為劣何宮優。劣則為忌優則吉，妻財子祿辨其由。

This section uses verse to set out the twelve palaces one by one. When the natal fate travels to the wealth palace and the official palace, everything is ample; if the body palace further falls on auspicious spirits, what more is there to seek? Whenever a palace obtains prosperous or emerging qi it is good; if it falls into rest or imprisonment it is bad. If a virtue-spirit comes to meet it, it is to be rejoiced at; if it suffers punishment or clash, it is to be worried over. The twelve palaces must each be looked at with care, to distinguish which palace is inferior and which is superior: the inferior is what one fears, the superior is what is auspicious. The sources of wife, wealth, children, and salary are all distinguished from this.

財帛宮見天中煞，更有比運轉在其家，將來依理推了去，不是寒士即浮誇。兄弟之宮刑煞遇，更有天刑獄而加。凶喪死氣或沖害，若非隻身是仇家。

If the wealth palace sees a Heaven-Center star, and a comparing-robbery luck further turns into that house, then, inferring by this principle, the person is either a poor scholar or a vain and boastful fellow. If the siblings palace meets a punishing star, and further has Heavenly Punishment and the Prison Spirit added, or the spirits of inauspicious mourning and dead qi, or suffers clash or harm, then among brothers one is either alone with none to rely on, or they are as enemies.

田宅宮中是虛抵，天鬼天賊怕相交。旺相吉神日增盛，凶神凶將漸蕭條。男女宮中見吉神，長生為用生氣臨，良將並見多兒女，反此子息無處尋。

The fields-and-house palace most fears falling empty without substance (the original 'empty oppose' should be of the class of 'empty waste'), and still more fears meeting the baleful spirits Heavenly Ghost and Heavenly Thief. If it obtains prosperous or emerging qi sitting with auspicious spirits, fields and houses increase day by day; if baleful spirits and baleful generals are on duty, the estate declines day by day. If in the sons-and-daughters palace one sees auspicious spirits, and further takes Long Life as the useful spirit, with living qi sitting on the palace and good generals seen together, it governs many sons and daughters; the contrary of this, and issue is nowhere to be found.

奴僕宮中何以論？受克為順生不遜。若遇虎勾並厭煞，將來惹禍累主人。妻妾之宮怕刑沖，無刑無劫便為佳。有善逢吉為良德，益夫益子善持家。

How should the servants palace be read? If this palace is conquered, it instead governs servants who are respectful and compliant; if this palace obtains generation, it instead governs servants who are insubordinate—the exact reverse of the other palaces, which like generation and fear conquest. If it meets the White Tiger and Hooked Array together with the Monthly Aversion baleful star, servants will in time bring trouble that implicates the master. The wife-and-concubine palace most fears punishment and clash; only when there is no punishment and no robbery-star is it good. If this palace has a good spirit and further meets an auspicious general, it is a worthy and virtuous wife, able to benefit husband and children and skilled at keeping the house.

疾厄之宮卻喜空，支忌丘墓莫相逢。若遇德神為有救，如遭惡將定主凶。遷移宮內逢二空，空空如也復空空。若遷到處人欽敬，則德祿馬在對宮。

The illness palace, on the contrary, likes to fall empty: falling empty means little illness through life. It only forbids meeting the mound, tomb, and other spirits that the day branch fears. If this palace meets a virtue-spirit, even if there is illness there is rescue; if it meets an evil general, it is sure to govern the inauspicious. If the travel palace meets a double void, it is truly empty upon empty: one moves and moves again and obtains nothing. If one wishes to be respected wherever one moves, the virtue-spirit, the salary-spirit, and the post-horse must fall in its opposite palace to shine upon it.

官祿之鄉所繫重，天驛二馬動人應。若也無馬官不顯，或再無祿官缺俸。學堂龍 德祿官星後作空。若非官職有黜革，便為庸庸世上翁。

The official-salary palace is of the heaviest consequence: there must be the two horses, the heavenly horse and the post-horse, in motion before there is a response in human affairs. If there is no post-horse at all, the office is not eminent; if there is further no salary-spirit, there is office without a real stipend. If after the School Hall, the Azure Dragon, the virtue-spirit, the salary-spirit, and the official star everything falls empty (here the base text has a lacuna), then either the office meets dismissal and removal, or one can only be a commonplace old man in the world, accomplishing nothing.

福德之宮照得寬，遇吉為榮凶則寒。此處逢空遇劫煞，一生坎坷無足言。如有吉神良將會，便得優遊子孫綿。十二相貌看時辰，不正相不真。若帶勾玄並蛇虎，五官有破何須論。貴常龍合旺相吉，相貌魁偉人敬親。以上所說若入空，遇吉不吉凶不凶。此進不可泥而執，大道原來要變通。

The fortune-and-virtue palace has the widest range of influence: meeting auspicious spirits, a lifetime is honored and eminent; meeting baleful spirits, a lifetime is cold and thin. If this palace falls into void and further meets a robbery-star, a lifetime of hardship is not worth mentioning; if auspicious spirits and good generals come to meet it, one can wander at ease and descendants stretch on. The twelfth palace looks at appearance, taken from the hour of birth: if the hour is taken incorrectly, the appearance one judges is not true. If it carries Hooked Array and the Dark Warrior (玄武) together with the Soaring Snake and the White Tiger, the five features are sure to have a defect, and there is no need to say more; if it obtains the Noble, the Great Constant, the Azure Dragon, and the Six Harmonies and is also prosperous and emerging, the appearance is imposing and regular, inspiring respect, affection, and closeness. All of the above, once they fall into void, become a case of meeting the auspicious without seeing its auspiciousness, and meeting the inauspicious without seeing its inauspiciousness. The path here must not be held rigidly without change; the great Way originally values adaptation.

靈轄經曰：欲知貴賤者，子午丑未寅申生人以天罡加本命，卯酉辰辰戌巳亥生人以天魁加本命，視其生月上，見功曹傳送神后勝光大吉小吉，此六神皆主大富貴也。若見天罡或天魁，主貧窮無神。

The Classic of the Numinous Hub says: to know a person's honor or lowliness, use a special method of adding and sitting. For those born in the years Zi, Wu, Chou, Wei, Yin, or Shen, add Chen, Heavenly Gang (天罡), onto the Earthly Branch of the natal fate; for those born in the years Mao, You, Chen, Xu, Si, or Hai, add Xu, Heavenly Kui (天魁), onto the Earthly Branch of the natal fate (in the original 'Mao You Chen Chen Xu Si Hai' the character Chen is repeated—a corruption in the base text). Once the addition is set, look at what spirit falls on the position of the birth month. If it falls on one of these six spirits—Yin, Merit Officer (功曹); Shen, Transmitter (傳送); Zi, Spirit Empress (神後); Wu, Victory Light (勝光); Chou, Great Auspicious (大吉); or Wei, Lesser Auspicious (小吉)—all govern great wealth and great honor. If it falls on Chen, Heavenly Gang, or Xu, Heavenly Kui, it governs poverty with none to rely on.

一曰大吉封侯二千石，見功曹傳送刺史之職，小吉或醫巫之學，大吉登明六百石，勝光神后四百石。又曰，天罡加本命，生月上見登明大貴，大小吉次貴，勝光神后功曹傳送亦貴。見天罡須窮無位，此其大略也。

Another saying grades honor and lowliness by rank. If on the birth month one sees Chou, Great Auspicious, one may be enfeoffed a marquis, at a rank of two thousand piculs; if one sees Yin, Merit Officer, or Shen, Transmitter, it is a post of the regional-inspector class; if one sees Wei, Lesser Auspicious, it is of the class of physicians and shamans; if Great Auspicious further appears together with Hai, Ascending Brightness (登明), it is an official of six hundred piculs; if one sees Wu, Victory Light, or Zi, Spirit Empress, it is an official of four hundred piculs. Another saying adds Chen, Heavenly Gang, onto the natal fate: if on the birth month one sees Hai, Ascending Brightness, it governs great honor; if one sees Chou, Great Auspicious, or Wei, Lesser Auspicious, the next degree of honor; if one sees Wu, Victory Light, Zi, Spirit Empress, Yin, Merit Officer, or Shen, Transmitter, it also governs honor. Only if one sees Chen, Heavenly Gang, does one remain poor to the end of life with no official rank. This is the outline of divining honor and lowliness.

欲知流年吉凶，以太歲加本命視其持年，上見功曹傳送者其利加增官祿，倍獲財利。若見天魁天罡者，其年災害疾病。欲知災事子加本命，魁罡下為厄事也。

To know the good and ill of a given year, add that year's Tai Sui (太歲) onto the Earthly Branch of the natal fate, then look at the position held by the progressed year. If on the progressed year one sees Yin, Merit Officer, or Shen, Transmitter, that year has the benefit of increase of office and salary, and profit is doubled. If one sees Xu, Heavenly Kui, or Chen, Heavenly Gang, that year has disaster, harm, and illness. If one wishes specifically to know matters of disaster, add Zi onto the natal fate and arrange from there; what falls under Kui and Gang is where there is hardship.

又曰陽命以大吉，陰命以小吉加本命，視其行年上見寅卯午巳者，其歲有慶賀之事，非加官則添進人口也。又曰男以功曹，女以傳送加本命，看行年有太歲支德並者，其年福利也，或添進人口田產，增益盛事。若以年上見魁罡者不利。

Another saying: for a person born in a yang year use Chou, Great Auspicious; for a person born in a yin year use Wei, Lesser Auspicious; add it onto the Earthly Branch of the natal fate, then look at the position of the progressed year. If the progressed year falls on Yin, Mao, Si, or Wu, that year has an occasion of celebration—either increase of office or the addition of a person to the household. Yet another saying: for a man use Yin, Merit Officer; for a woman use Shen, Transmitter; add it onto the Earthly Branch of the natal fate, and see whether on the progressed year Tai Sui and Branch Virtue gather together. If they do, that year has blessing and benefit—either added people and fields, or all affairs flourishing and increasing. If on the progressed year one sees Xu, Heavenly Kui, or Chen, Heavenly Gang, that is unfavorable.

欲知月令高低，以小吉加生月，若魁罡臨人年命者此月大凶，或官災病疾喪服也。又曰男以功曹，女以傳送加生月，若行年上見天罡天魁，其年有喪服官災事也。

To know the height or lowness, the smoothness or obstruction, of a given month, add Wei, Lesser Auspicious, onto the birth month and set the arrangement. If Xu, Heavenly Kui, or Chen, Heavenly Gang, sits exactly on this person's progressed year or natal fate, that month is greatly inauspicious, and there may be lawsuits, disaster and illness, or mourning dress. Another saying: for a man use Yin, Merit Officer; for a woman use Shen, Transmitter; add it onto the birth month. If on the progressed year one sees Heavenly Gang or Heavenly Kui, that year has mourning dress and official disaster.

欲知壽夭，專看本命上神，如生旺德合則主延年，如克害刑沖反此。大端長生壽，冠還臨官帝旺俱壯健，可望壽。沐浴好色多病，備氣不足；死墓絕胎養俱主夭。若見生氣者亦上壽也。又四孟作三傳遞生日干本命，主長壽。若從干遞生去者，名根斷源消，必主夭死。若死神帶虎克日，再見空亡者，為黃泉鬼也。

To know the length of life, look only at the spirit on the natal fate. If the spirit on the natal fate sits in a place of birth or prosperity and further has a virtue-spirit and a combining spirit, it governs length of years; if it suffers conquest, injury, punishment, or clash, the result is the reverse. In outline: sitting on Long Life governs longevity; sitting on Capping, Approaching Office, or Imperial Prosperity all govern a strong and healthy body, and long life may be hoped for; sitting on Bathing governs lust and much illness, with original qi insufficient; sitting on Death, Tomb, Extinction, Fetus, or Nurture all govern dying young. If on the natal fate one separately sees living qi, that too is an image of high longevity. Further, if the four Meng spirits of Yin, Shen, Si, and Hai form the three transmissions, and the three transmissions generate the day stem and the natal fate layer by layer, it governs long life; conversely, if generation goes outward in sequence from the day stem, it is called the root cut and the source dried, and it is sure to govern early death. If the Death Spirit brings the White Tiger to conquer the day stem, and void is also seen, that is a ghost already under the Nine Springs.

又曰，日上神生日主壽，辰上神生辰必主壯健，難以長壽言之。四仲作傳不夭不壽數之；四季作三傳則命無壽也。又曰先看四課，次論三傳，若四課中見凶神惡煞來克本命，三傳內若乘白虎有氣，行年上重逢喪吊克本命，此年矣。看命上得何神，便知何年命終。如功曹臨之即壽盡於寅年，太沖臨之即數盡於卯年也。菲日上見吉神良將來救者，立見災危，命不損傷也。當變通以求之也。

Another saying: if the spirit on the day stem generates the day stem, it governs long life; if the spirit on the day branch generates the day branch, it only governs a strong and healthy body, and one cannot yet call it long life. If the four Zhong spirits of Zi, Wu, Mao, and You form the three transmissions, the span of years is neither short nor long; if the four seasonal spirits of Chen, Xu, Chou, and Wei form the three transmissions, then life is not lasting. Yet another saying: first look at the four lessons, then discuss the three transmissions. If among the four lessons there are baleful spirits and evil stars coming to conquer the natal fate, and within the three transmissions the White Tiger further rides prosperity, and on the progressed year one again meets Mourning Gate and Guest of Condolence coming to conquer the natal fate, life answers in that year. As for the year of the end, look at what spirit is obtained on the natal fate: if Yin, Merit Officer, sits there, life ends in a Yin year; if Mao, Great Rush (太沖), sits there, the number ends in a Mao year. If on the day stem there are separately auspicious spirits and good generals coming to the rescue (the original 'fei' is a corruption of 'if'), then though there is danger, life is not injured. Here too one must still seek by adaptation.

數於年月日辰上見吉神良將者，旺相氣用傳始終旺相為積世富貴，；如始衰終旺則遲得名位；若所謂神，雖有旺相氣並用傳皆不與天乙相生者 必失也。

On the numbers of a lifetime: if on Tai Sui, the monthly builder, the day stem, and the day branch one sees auspicious spirits and good generals in all these places, and prosperous, emerging qi runs through the issuing use and the three transmissions, never declining from beginning to end, that is a house of wealth and honor through successive generations. If it is in decline at first and prosperous at the end, name and rank are obtained a step later. As for the so-called auspicious spirits, even if they have prosperous, emerging qi, and the issuing use and the three transmissions are all complete, yet none of them can generate the Tianyi Noble (天乙貴人), then these auspicious spirits are in the end of no use and are sure to be lost (here the base text has a lacuna).

河圖呈像，先後陳爻；二氣生於無窮。一 乃 達於地戶，氣必貫乎天門；蘊鬼戶之女 之妙用。夫人生於世者，有內造外造，理著於 生之克之，或空或通，或夭或左；生剋制化，究至理於無窮；旺相休囚，施妙用於不盡；沖宮識禍福之先後，合鄉呈吉凶之緩急；

The Rhapsody on the Source of Earth says: the River Chart presents its image; the Former Heaven and the Later Heaven array the line positions in order; the two qi of yin and yang generate without cease. That qi runs in one path through to the Earthly Door (地戶) at Si, and is sure to thread through the Heavenly Gate (天門) at Hai, holding within it the wondrous use of the path of the Ghost Door (this passage has lacunae in several places in the base text, left as gaps; we do not presume to fill them). A person born into the world has a distinction between inner creation and outer creation; the principle shows itself in their mutual generation and mutual conquest: either falling empty, or succeeding, or dying young, or going awry. Generation, conquest, restraint, and transformation—their ultimate principle cannot be exhausted by inquiry; prosperity, emergence, rest, and imprisonment—their wondrous use cannot be spent in application. From a clashing palace one can see the order of disaster and blessing; from a combining countryside one can see the urgency or delay of good and ill.

某運凶，某運吉，具爻於沖；此時窮，彼時通，呈像於合；問三合識其要略， 曉其統宗；各宮之神煞，復以生克為用，一生之 還以制化為先，合官吉而終吉，沖宮凶終凶； 運聊知禍福之表裡，依小限極詳吉凶之精粗；

Which step of luck is inauspicious and which is auspicious is all made clear on the clashing lines; poor at this time and open at that time both take form on the combining images. Ask the configuration of the triple combination and one may know the main points; only when the whole situation is understood can one grasp the governing principle. The symbolic stars carried by each palace must still take generation and conquest as their use; the success or failure of a lifetime still takes restraint and transformation as first. A combining palace that is itself auspicious ends auspicious; a clashing palace that is itself inauspicious ends inauspicious. From the great luck one roughly knows the surface and the inside of disaster and blessing; then by the small limit one infers in detail the coarse and the fine of good and ill.

大限小限感要生身生命，本宮對宮俱喜多情多義；沖宮動搖，知無寧日；身坐祿馬，顯耀知有定期；命在沖身在合；看神煞而以資判斷，或命在合身在沖，得生克而知獲全功；干支之神囚為緊要， 之 肱關情。其中之妙理，務在變通，若執一途。

Both the great limit and the small limit should be able to generate the body and generate the life to be good; both the home palace and the opposite palace like to shine upon one another with much feeling and much righteousness. If one falls in a clashing palace and rocks without rest, one knows there will be no day of peace in the lifetime; if the body palace sits on salary and sits on the horse, honor and glory have their appointed time. If the natal fate is in clash and the body palace is in combination, one must consult the symbolic stars to help the judgment; if the natal fate is in combination and the body palace is in clash, one must look from generation and conquest whether the work can be completed. Of the spirits riding the stems and branches, whether they fall into imprisonment is what matters most (after this the base text has a lacuna). The wondrous principle within is entirely a matter of adaptation; if one clings rigidly to a single path (here the base text of this piece is unfinished).

夫無聲無臭者造化體虛之妙，成物成人者陰陽發運之功。欲推身命，先察格局；人有妙局奇格，理宜觸類旁通。勿以有格有局而頓以貴許，無格無局而驟以貧稱；蓋有格有局亦有窮寒士，無格無局亦有富貴賢人；

The Rhapsody on the Mechanism of Creation says: what is without sound and without odor is the wondrousness of creation's substance, empty and numinous; what can complete things and complete persons is the meritorious working of yin and yang as they move and issue. To infer a person's body-and-life, first examine the pattern. In a person's fate each has wondrous patterns and strange configurations; in principle one should touch the kind and infer the rest. Do not, the moment you see that there is a pattern and a configuration, at once grant wealth and honor, nor, the moment you see that there is no pattern and no configuration, at once judge poverty and lowliness. Among those with pattern and configuration there are also poor and cold scholars; among those without pattern and configuration there are also worthy people of wealth and honor.

有格局者宜觀其為成為破，不入格局者宜詳其有情無情；遇破者雖有格而不貴，有情者雖奎無局而不貧。要詳於生旺比合，更究其破害刑剋。雖跨虎騎龍，遇刑剋反斷為尋常之輩；而一氣有刑害豈推作出奇之人。

For those who enter a pattern and a configuration, see whether the pattern is completed or broken; for those who do not enter a pattern, see whether they have feeling for one another or have not. If one meets a broken pattern, even with a pattern one is not honored; if they have feeling for one another, even without a configuration one is not poor. In all, examine in detail generation, prosperity, comparison, and combination, and still more must one investigate break, harm, punishment, and conquest. Even a fine pattern such as 'striding the tiger' or 'riding the dragon,' once it meets punishment and conquest, can only be judged as of the ordinary class; and if a pattern of the three transmissions in one qi carries punishment and harm, how can one infer an extraordinary person?

龍化蛇，虎化狸，失勢必朱門餓莩；蛇化龍，狸化虎，得地為白屋公卿。跨龍跨虎推為常居帝里，乘龍乘御反許其必務農商。陰陽反背最畏孤虛壞格，二龍御命遄忻德祿扶宮。乘龍飛天防中途而遇害，雙騎虎背喜大道為亨。 者喜其明而惡其暗，司天門者憎乎開而管乎閉。何履虎尾人人迴避其危，立虎首個個爭逞其咸地之分嫌守欲拱，朱雀之辨惡束喜騰。鎮居中央 穩坐四維，受其有情無情。 旺而福禍立見；魁甲交貫，參喜忌而成敗立分。至於三合人格無不喜憎，隔角成局亦有公私。

The Azure Dragon transforming into the Soaring Snake, the White Tiger transforming into a civet, is an image of lost force: even one born in a vermilion gate will starve. Conversely, the Soaring Snake transforming into the Azure Dragon, a civet transforming into the White Tiger, is an image of obtaining the ground: even one of cold and plain origin can stand among dukes and ministers. Obtaining the pattern of 'striding the dragon' or 'striding the tiger,' one may infer a person who long resides in the capital; the pattern of riding the dragon and riding the imperial, on the contrary, only grants him farming and trade. When yin and yang are reversed and turned against each other, one most fears further meeting Isolated Void and spoiling the pattern; the pattern of 'two dragons driving the fate' likes a virtue-spirit and a salary-spirit to support the palace. 'Riding the dragon and flying to Heaven' must guard against meeting harm midway; 'double-riding the tiger's back' likes the great Way to be open. Along the path of the Heavenly Gate, one likes it bright and hates it dark: the pattern of presiding over the Heavenly Gate hates opening and has charge of closing. As for 'treading the tiger's tail,' everyone avoids its danger; 'standing at the tiger's head,' everyone contends to display its majesty. One must further distinguish the likes and dislikes of guarding and arching; the Vermilion Bird pattern hates 'bound wings' and likes 'soaring radiance.' Garrisoning the center, sitting firmly in the four corners of Chen, Xu, Chou, and Wei, one must also see whether they have feeling for one another. When symbolic stars are at their peak, disaster and blessing are seen at once; when Kui and Jia thread through to form a pattern, likes and dislikes are compared and success or failure is at once clear. As for a triple combination forming a pattern, each has what it likes and what it hates; a separated-angle forming a configuration also has a distinction of public and private. (This passage has lacunae in several places in the base text, left as gaps.)

蓋庚星呈瑞乃從革之號，祥光來拱是炎上之名；帶德祿位重權高，無破壞喜優財足。帝座淵穆，潤下生身多富貴；青帝施恩，曲直扶命必崢嶸。北斗司權無破，必少登科甲；南極獻圖有成，定早步青雲。

What is called 'the Geng star presenting auspiciousness' is the name of the triple-combination metal configuration of Following Reformation; 'auspicious light coming to arch' is the name of the triple-combination fire configuration of Blazing Upward. If such patterns carry a virtue-spirit and a salary-spirit, they govern a heavy rank and high authority; if there is no breakage, salary and wealth are ample. 'The imperial seat profound and solemn' is the triple-combination water configuration of Moistening Downward; if it can generate the body, there is much wealth and honor. 'The Green Emperor bestowing grace' is the triple-combination wood configuration of Bending and Straightening; if it can support the fate, one is sure to rise outstanding. 'The Northern Dipper holding authority' and not suffering break is sure to mean passing the examinations in youth; 'the Southern Pole presenting a chart' and completing the pattern is sure to mean stepping early onto the blue clouds.

西方專美，喜有氣而得吉助；東海探珠，惡無氣而招凶損。坎離交泰財富優足，震兌投合權位高尊。海雲雙秀，帶未為傷其秀氣；林火揚光，凶將亦損其光明。金含北極，吉集當貴還須八手；火明西嶽，凶散功名到底有成。

The pattern 'the West exclusively beautiful' likes having qi and further obtaining the support of auspicious spirits; the pattern 'seeking a pearl in the Eastern Sea' most forbids being without qi and drawing in inauspicious injury. 'Kan and Li in crossing peace' governs wealth ample and sufficient; 'Zhen and Dui in mutual joining' governs rank and authority high and honored. The pattern 'sea and cloud doubly elegant,' the moment it carries a baleful star, injures its elegance; the pattern 'forest fire raising light,' the moment it sees a baleful general, also injures its brightness. The pattern 'metal holding the Northern Pole,' when auspicious spirits gather, is of itself wealth and honor, yet one must still manage it oneself (the original 'eight hands' is corrupt); the pattern 'fire bright on the Western Peak,' so long as the baleful spirits disperse, rank and name will in the end be achieved.

問天守躔，命局不動而不妨伏吟；任信吉扶，其身亦為亨。總之課體全吉，要詳吉中藏破；月傳枯冷，當審寒谷回春。雖造化之理有反覆之不齊，而推沿之道任後哲之變通。

The pattern 'guarding the circuit of Heaven': the natal fate sits and keeps its home palace without moving, so even if a Crouching Chant (伏吟) lesson is produced it does not hinder; so long as there are auspicious spirits to support, the body also obtains openness. In sum, when the body of the lesson is entirely auspicious, one must still look finely whether breakage is hidden within the auspicious; when the month and the three transmissions are withered, cold, and fallen, one must also examine whether there is a mechanism of spring returning to a cold valley. Though the principle of creation is uneven in its reversals, the Way of inference is left for later men of clear understanding to adapt.