Friday, January 17, 2014

BaZi: 月令 Month command

Yue Ling


The term YueLing 月令 is made of 2 words, Yue 月 which means month and Ling 令, which means command. Historically, YueLing refers to the different proceedings of the government for different months through the year. Such was recorded in 礼记,The book of rites written around 200 BC. 令 'command' refers to the command from the government to the pheasants to carry out certain activities such as sowing, harvesting, repairing castle wall etc etc.

In Bazi, YueLing refers to the month commander, the entity that takes charge during a certain period of the month. There are 12 months in Bazi, beginning with Yin, which also marks the beginning of spring to Chou, which marks the end of the year. From Yin to Chou, the Yin and Yang of the 5 elements take turns in ruling the month.

SMTH writes:

轻清者为十干,主禄,谓之天元,
The ones that are light and pure are the 10 stems, they represent 'fortune', named as Heavenly Origin

重浊者为十二支,主身,谓之地元,
The ones that are heavy and mixed are the 12 branches, they represent 'body', named as Earthly Origin

天地多正其位,成才于两间者,乃所谓人也。
The ones that reside and work between heaven and earth are human.

故支吕所藏者主命,谓之人元,名为司事之神,以命术言之为月令
Thus, the ones stored inside the branches are called Human Origin, its name is the God that takes charge, from the art of life perspective, the name is Month Command.

Solar Terms


To understand the concept of YueLing, knowledge about the 24 Solar Terms is necessary. Solar Terms were used by the ancient Chinese to mark certain astronomical or natural event that happens through the year. A year is divided into 4 seasons 季,each season is divided into 6 terms 节 and each term is further divided into 3 pentads 候。Briefly, there are 4 seasons, 24 terms and 72 pentads in a year.

The table below shows the name of the 24 solar terms and the date they happen. (from wikipedia)

Longi-
tude
Usual
translation
Chinese
name ¹
Japanese
name
Korean
name ²
Vietnamese
name
Date ³Remark
315°start of spring立春
lìchūn
立春
risshun
입춘 (立春)
ipchun
Lập xuânFeb 4
330°rain water雨水
yǔshuǐ
雨水
usui
우수 (雨水)
usu
Vũ thủyFeb 19more rain than snow
345°awakening of insects驚蟄 (惊蛰)
jīngzhé
啓蟄
keichitsu
경칩 (驚蟄)
gyeongchip
Kinh trậpMar 6lit. awakening of hibernating insects. See the note at Chinese calendar#Solar term.
vernal equinox春分
chūnfēn
春分
shunbun
춘분 (春分)
chunbun
Xuân phânMar 21lit. spring division (or center)
15°clear and bright清明
qīngmíng
清明
seimei
청명 (清明)
cheongmyeong
Thanh minhApr 5time for tending graves
30°grain rain穀雨 (谷雨)
gǔyǔ
穀雨
kokuu
곡우 (穀雨)
gogu
Cốc vũApr 20lit. grain rain: rain helps grain grow
45°start of summer立夏
lìxià
立夏
rikka
입하 (立夏)
ipha
Lập hạMay 6
60°grain full小滿 (小满)
xiǎomǎn
小満
shōman
소만 (小滿)
soman
Tiểu mãnMay 21grains are plump
75°grain in ear芒種 (芒种)
mángzhòng
芒種
bōshu
망종 (芒種)
mangjong
Mang chủngJun 6lit. awns (beard of grain) grow
90°summer solstice夏至
xiàzhì
夏至
geshi
하지 (夏至)
haji
Hạ chíJun 21lit. summer extreme (of sun's height)
105°minor heat小暑
xiǎoshǔ
小暑
shōsho
소서 (小暑)
soseo
Tiểu thửJul 7
120°major heat大暑
dàshǔ
大暑
taisho
대서 (大暑)
daeseo
Đại thửJul 23
135°start of autumn立秋
lìqiū
立秋
risshū
입추 (立秋)
ipchu
Lập thuAug 8
150°limit of heat處暑 (处暑)
chǔshǔ
処暑
shosho
처서 (處暑)
cheoseo
Xử thửAug 23lit. dwell in heat
165°white dew白露
báilù
白露
hakuro
백로 (白露)
baekro
Bạch lộSep 8condensed moisture makes dew white
180°autumnal equinox秋分
qiūfēn
秋分
shūbun
추분 (秋分)
chubun
Thu phânSep 23lit. autumn division (or center)
195°cold dew寒露
hánlù
寒露
kanro
한로 (寒露)
hanlo
Hàn lộOct 8
210°frost descent霜降
shuāngjiàng
霜降
sōkō
상강 (霜降)
sanggang
Sương giángOct 23appearance of frost and descent of temperature
225°start of winter立冬
lìdōng
立冬
rittō
입동 (立冬)
ipdong
Lập đôngNov 7
240°minor snow小雪
xiǎoxuě
小雪
shōsetsu
소설 (小雪)
soseol
Tiểu tuyếtNov 22
255°major snow大雪
dàxuě
大雪
taisetsu
대설 (大雪)
daeseol
Đại tuyếtDec 7
270°winter solstice冬至
dōngzhì
冬至
tōji
동지 (冬至)
dongji
Đông chíDec 22lit. winter extreme (of sun's height)
285°minor cold小寒
xiǎohán
小寒
shōkan
소한 (小寒)
sohan
Tiểu hànJan 6
300°major cold大寒
dàhán
大寒
daikan
대한 (大寒)
daehan
Đại hànJan 20

From the beginning of spring 立春 to the great cold 大寒。Each of the solar terms has about 15 days more or less. Due to the speed of the earth along the ecliptic (黄道)varies depending on its distance from the sun (because of Earth's orbital eccentricity), some solar terms are longer than the others.

Solar Term and Month Command.


Month command is determined by the day in the Solar Terms when a person is born. This poem from YHZP tells which element has the command by referring to the Solar Terms.

立春念三丙火用,餘日甲木旺提纲。
Lichun, twenty three Bing fire is used, the rest of the days Jia wood is prosperous and the key factor.

惊蛰乙木未用事,春分乙木正相当。
Jing Zhe, Yi wood yet to take command, ChunFen, Yi wood is rightly taking charge.

清明乙木十日管,后来八日癸水洋;穀雨前三戊土盛,其中土旺要消详。
QingMing, Yi wood takes charge for 10 days, after that Gui water becomes ocean for 8 days; GuYu first three Wu earth is prosperous, the things inside the prosperous has to be analyzed.

立夏又伏戊土取;小满过午丙火光。
LiXia, again is taken by Wu earth; XiaoMan after Wu (horse) Bing fire shines.

芒种己土相当好,中停七日土高张;夏至阴生阳极利,丙丁火旺有土张。
MangZhong, Ji earth is really good, stops at the middle 7 days earth rises and expands; XiaZhi is when Yin is born and Yang is at its extreme, Bing and Ding fire are prosperous and earth expands.

小暑十日丁火旺,后来三日乙木芳,己土三日威风盛;大暑己土十日黄。
XiaoShu, ten days Ding fire is prosperous, after that for 3 days Yi wood is frangrant, Ji earth for 3 days is impressively prosperous; DaShu Ji earth is 10 days yellow.

立秋十日壬水涨;处暑十五庚金良。
LiQiu, 10 days Ren water rises; ChuShu, 15 Geng metal is good.

白露七日庚金旺,八日辛兮祇独行。
BaiLu, 7 days Geng metal prospers, 8 days Xin only walks alone.

寒露七日辛金管,八日丁火又水降;霜降己土十五日,其中杂气取无妨。
HanLu, 7 days Xin metal take charge, 8 days Ding fire and water surrenders; ShuangJiang, Ji earth fifteen days, the mixed Qi inside might as well be taken.

立冬七日癸水旺,壬水八日更流忙;小雪七日壬水急,八日甲木又芬芳。
LiDong 7 days Gui water prospers, Ren water 8 days gets busy flowing; XiaoXue 7 days Ren water is in hurry, 8 days Jia becomes fragrant again.

大雪七日壬水管;冬至癸水更潺汪。
DaXue 7 days Ren water takes charge; DongZhi Gui water's sounds of flowing accumulate.

小寒七日癸水养,八日辛金丑库藏;大寒十日己土胜,术者精研仔细详。
XiaoHan 7 days Gui water nourishes, 8 days Xin metal is stored inside storage; DaHan 10 days Ji earth wins, those who practice the art should research in great detail.

There are other versions of this poem. I do not know how they are derived and which is more accurate. At the moment I'm using this YHZP version and it seems pretty accurate to me.

Transformation and change of month command


In Bazi, one should know that HS and EB are made of Qi, Heaven has a focused Qi that is moving 动 and EB is majorly mixed Qi which are still (stationary) 静. When the Qi moves, it takes precedence over 'still' Qi. There are 2 ways for month EB Qi to move.

1. Protrudes in Heaven.
2. Interaction between the branches.

If there are 2 moving Qi from a particular Month EB, one chart will have 2 Commanders. Whether this is auspicious or not will be analyzed from the basics of Follow Use  顺用  or Against Use 逆用.

When there's no change or transformation involved, the original commander dictates by the solar terms remains the commander.

Month command is the YongShen


The final month commander (after transformation or the original) is the YongShen 用神 (refer ZPZQ), which is an abbreviation of the term 用事之神 YongShiZhiShen (refer DTS)  - The God that takes command. The literal translation by modern English bazi 'Masters' - Useful God is misleading because it does not reflect the true identity of this entity.

However, according to the theories in ZPZQPZ written by Master Xu LeWu who distorted Master Shen XiaoZan works - ZPZQ, YongShen is defined as the most needed entity in a chart. Master Xu's works  then give rise to contemporary / modern Bazi which deviates quite a distance from the classics (in my opinion), especially on subject of YongShen.

The use of Month Command, aka YongShen


BaZi is made of layers, each of the layers is analyzed according to the concept of TiYong 体用 - Form and Use.

The first layer takes DM as the Form, and month commander as Use.

The second layer takes the month commander Ti - Form, and then seek for the Yong - Use, according to the concept of ShunYong 'Follow Use' or NiYong 'Against Use'. and the Minister God could be found and the structure can be established.

The third layer takes the structure that is made of DM, Month command and Minister God as Form, other entities in the chart to use.

The fourth layer takes the chart as a whole as the Form, DaYun etc as Use.

In summary, determining the correct Month command is arguably the most important step in analyzing Bazi, which is why the month command is often called 提纲 - the Key Point in almost all literature. It is the focal point of classical Bazi analysis.

Reference:
1. SMTH -论人元司事 Discuss Human Origin taking charge
2. DTS -月令 Month Command
3. ZPZQ - A few chapters about Yong Shen
4. SFTK - 静动说 The saying about movement and stillness
5. The book of rites 礼记 - Month Command
6. Wikipedia - Solar Terms
7. YHZP - the poem about month command.
8. DTS - 体用 Form and Use

For those who are interested to read more about YueLing on LiJi, here's the link

Note: Thanks to duesouth for pointing out the correct name - The book of rites. 

12 comments:

  1. Clap clap clap!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh dear! What happened to FB???

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hey Kitty,

    Something bad is happening, I'm going incognito for a few months, so I have to stay away from FB. LOL

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi trey, can I repost this article in fivearts.info ? Quality article should be shared by a lot of people.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi George,

    Yes, you may post the article anywhere you like

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi trey,

    Keeping on reading Useful God topic, I have some question related to this Month Command. To keep my question short, may I ask if Ren-DM born in Xu month but during HanLu solar period?, and how much strength would it get from this period of birth?

    In Xu month of Earth, water is normally dead but based on 12 Qi-phase, it was born in GuanDai meaning "active". With this 24 Solar Period, in HanLu, Xin-Metal takes charge. How should we consider support from this timing for the Water DM.

    In case DM turns to be Gui-Water, its 12 Qi phase would be Shuai or Declining so it would not be strengthed by this Qi phase.

    Please help....

    decha_woo

    Ps. Does this concept relate to the method of "Changing DHHS", right? If we use Fixed DHHS, this solar period of several elements taking charge of month command would not be used, I guess....

    ReplyDelete
  7. sawadeekap

    For elemental Qi, we don't really look at the 24 Solar Terms, although Xin being in charge does help with Ren, but that does not add to the strength of the DM. The Qi of metal belongs to metal. The Qi of water belongs to water.

    If Ren DM is weak while metal is taking charge, this is a sign of affection 有情. That is a beneficial Direct Seal.

    GuanDai does not mean 'active'. 冠带 means 'hat and belt'. It's a celebration when a teenager is going into adulthood. 'Attire' could be a good translation but 'Active' isn't.

    In case if DM is Gui water, Xin (The Owl) is taking charge and inside Xu is Ding Fire (Wealth). Wealth puts the Owl under control and it becomes Indirect Seal. This is also a sign of affection.

    Classical BaZi does not talk much about strength of the DM. It mostly is concerned with 'Affection'. Strength comes after Affection. If both criteria are satisfied, the BaZi is seen as high grade good BaZi.

    The modern concepts are really not relevant to classical views. Although both MangPai and modern BaZi are rooted in the classics, they have both evolved to be completely different systems. The concept of month command has been used for BaZi analysis since its inception about a thousand years ago. It has been largely disregarded since strength-based system became the more popular method.

    Fixed DHHS or Changing DHHS both have their own uses. Regardless, month command is always the focus of analysis.

    Regards



    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi trey,

      I would like to say greeting in your language for some time but not sure wheter "Selamat Datang" is the proper word for "Hello or Hi", or not? :)

      I have to confess that I, at first, thought that I have already understood concept of "Affection", but reading more and more of your articles and replies, I become less certain...

      So may I, again, ask a blunt question of what "Affection" means?

      In your explanation of "If Ren DM is weak while metal is taking charge, this is a sign of affection 有情. That is a beneficial Direct Seal. ", If Ren-Water and Metal do not give and take support from each other, what do they do to each other?

      This "Affection" concept looks very abstract to me.... :(

      Please help.....or just give some hints if it is already somewhere in your blog....

      decha_woo

      Delete
    2. Hi decha_woo

      Selamat datang means 'Welcome' as in 'Welcome to Malaysia' in Malay. My native language is Hokkien Chinese, which is similar to Taiwanese. In greeting people, we usually say 'Chiak pa buei' which literally means 'have you eaten?' like 'Kin leu mai krap?'. I don't think there's words for 'Hi' or 'Hello' in Chinese.

      Affection in BaZi is when the gods are correctly 'used'.

      For example,

      1. Officer structure with a strong DM and strong Officer seeing Wealth is affectionate.

      2. Officer structure with a weak DM seeing Seal is affectionate.

      3. Wealth structure with strong DM and weak Wealth sees outputs as affectionate.

      4. Hurting Officer structure seeing Wealth is affectionate

      5. 7K structure seeing Seal is affectionate.

      What is not affectionate? It's when the gods are not correctly used.

      1. Officer structure seeing Hurting Officer is not affectionate.

      2. Wealth structure seeing Rob Wealth

      3. Eating God structure sees the Owl

      4. 7K structure sees Wealth

      etc etc.

      The concept of affection is not abstract at all.

      You first need to know how to look for the God in charge, then look for his assistant, then establish a chart structure. Then from that you can analyze if the chart is affectionate or not.

      To understand that, you need to read through all the Useful Gods chapters.

      Regards

      Trey




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    3. Hi trey,

      So I think "Hi" would remain the most appropriate... :) as it's been well understood among us all....

      Thank you very much for you help, trey....

      At first I thought your suggestion of "reading the Useful Gods chapters" just means reading it.... For now I understand that it really means "finishing" it..

      In that case, I would not be able bother you with questions until the next few months.... :)

      decha_woo

      Delete