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The Hidden Stems Lorraine Wilcox, L.Ac. August 1999 The The Hidden Hidde n Stems (Cang2 Gan1) are an extremely important aspect of o f Zi Ping Ba B a Zi, also known as the Four Pillars. Explanation of why each branch contains particular stems often does doe s not receive recei ve much discussion in many Four Pillars books boo ks in i n English. This This discourse disc ourse will outline outline and explain the importance of the Hidden Stems i n the the interpretation of the Four Pillars. Pi llars. The stems are the heaven level. The branches are the earth level. The Hidden Stems are the man level. Each of the branches has one or more of the heavenly stems hidden i nside. Every branch has has a stem with its own element and up to two other stems within. This This gives the branch additional addi tional elemental relationships to other stem/branch combinations. The Hidden Stems are as follows: The Th e Hidden Hidd en Stems Bran Br anch ch Hidd idden en St Stem ems s Zi
Gui
Chou
Ji, Gui, Xin
Yin
Jia, Bing, Wu
Mao
Yi
Chen
Wu, Yi, Gui
Si
Bing, Wu, Geng
Wu
Ding, Ji
Wei
Ji, Ding, Yi
Sh
You
Xin
Xu
Wu, Xin, Ding
Hai
Ren, Jia
The Hidden Stems are derived from the branch relationships such as the Three Meetings (San1 Hui4), the Three Unities (San1 He2), and, to a lesser degree, the Six Unities (Liu4 He2). There are other factors involved such as whether the branch is one of the Four Directions, the Four Corners, or the Four Earths. The Three Meetings are a strong relationship among Branches.
year. Hai, Zi and Chou belong to winter and relate to water. Yin, Mao and Chen belong to spring and relate to wood . Si, Wu and Wei belong to summer and relate to fire. Shen, You and Xu belong to autumn and relate to metal. The Three Meetings Branches Hai, Zi, Chou
Create Seasons Water
Winter
Yin, Mao, Chen Wood
Spring
Si, Wu, Wei
Fire
Summer
Shen, You, Xu
Metal
Autumn
Examine the following diagram of the Hidden Stems. The Element given on the outside of the diagram is the element of the Three Meetings, or the seasonal energy.
First notice that the branches in each of the four groups of the Three Meetings contain a stem that has the same element as the group i t is in. For example, Yin, Mao and Chen are grouped together as they are the spring months and they relate to the wood Element. These three branches each contain Jia or Yi, the wood stems. The Four Directions The Four Directions are Zi (North), Mao (East), Wu (South), and You (West). Between them each of the five yin stems is hidden once as follows: The Four Directions (whether yin or yang branches) each have the yin stem of their own element hidden i nside.
Zi (yang water) has Gui (yin water) Mao (yin wood) has Yi (yin wood) Wu (yang fire) has Ding (yin fire) You (yin metal) has Xin (yin metal) Wu is the only branch of the Four Directions to have a second Hidden Stem in addition to the above. It contains Ji (yin earth) as well as Ding. The explanation is as follows: All the yin stems are assigned to one of the Four Directions except Ji. Wu branch is able to contain Ji as fire easily feeds earth. This earth also appears due to Wu�s relationship with Wei. A ccording to the Si x Unities (Liu4 He2). Wu and Wei tog ether transform to earth. The Four Corners The Four Corners all hide yang branches because the Four Corners signify activity. They all contain the yang stem of their own element.
Hai ( yin water) contains Ren (yang water) Yin (yang wood) contains Jia (yang wood) Si (yin fire) contains Bing (yang fire) Shen (yang metal) contains Geng (yang metal) They also contain the yang stem of the next element of the four seasonal elements (assoc iated with the Three Meetings). In most cases this i s the generated element, but since earth is considered center and not one of the four seasons, Si (yin fire) contains Geng (yang metal).
Hai (yin water) contains Jia (yang wood) Yin (yang wood) contains B ing (yang fire) Si (yin fire) contains Geng (yang metal) Shen (yang metal) contains Ren (yang water) Since the Four Corners are active and yang they move forward clockwise toward the generated element. The Four Corners also all contain Wu (yang earth stem) except Hai. Pe rhaps they need earth to stabilize excessive activity, except Hai (yin water), which being fairly yin is not as active. Or, perhaps it is earth left over from the prior branch: Chou leaks into Yin, Chen leaks into Si, and Wei leaks into Shen. However, Xu cannot leak into Hai as X u is dry earth and Hai is water. The Four Earths The Four Earths hide the earth stem with the same nature inside them.
Chen and Xu (yang earth) hold Wu (Yang earth) Chou and Wei (yin earth) hold Ji (yin earth) They also hold the yin stem of their own season as defined i n the Three Meetings.
Chou (yin earth in the winter) holds Gui (yin water) Chen (yang earth in the spring) holds Yi (yin wood) Wei (yin earth in the summer) holds Ding (yin fire) Xu (yang earth in the autumn) holds Xin (yin metal) The Four Earths also hold the yin stem of the previous element of the four seasonal elements. This i s also the same element as the associ ated Three Unities (see below). In most cases this is the element that generates the season, but since earth is considered center and not one of the four seasons, Xu (yang earth) contains Ding (yin fire).
Chou (yin earth in the winter) holds Xin (yin metal) (Chen (yang earth in the spring) holds Gui (yin water)
Xu (yang earth in the autumn) holds Ding (yin fire) The Four Earths are more yin and heavy in nature. This is why they move backwards, counter-clockwise toward their generating element. The Three Unities (San 1 He2) This is the second strongest branch combining relationship.
The Three Unities are found by making four equilateral triangles when the branches are placed in a ci rcle like the face of a clock. There are two methods of calculation. The Western method of calculation counts to the branch four posi tions away. For example, if you start with Zi then Chou is one position away, Yin is two, Mao is three, and Chen is four. The Chinese method of calculation counts five positions
But, regardless of the method employed, Zi and Chen, two branches in one group of the Three Unities, are related by the Three Unities. If two or three of a group of the Three Unities are found together they may combine and transform into another element as listed in the table below. This element is the same as the element of the branch belonging to the Four Di rections. The Three Unities Branches
Create Direction
Shen, Zi , Chen Water
North
Si, You, Chou
Metal
West
Yin, Wu, Xu
Fire
South
Hai, Mao, Wei
Wood
East
Notice that the first branch in each group in the table above is one of the Four Corners. The second is one of the Four Directions (which defines the element of the combi nation), and the third is one of the Four Earths. Notice also that the element of the corner branch feeds the element of the direction branch (if you discount earth as in the Three Meetings or the four seasons). The cycle begins with the Four Corners as they represent movement. They also feed the related d irection branch from an elemental point of view. This is the low part of the cycle, but rising. The direction branch is the high part of the cycle and also the defining part as far as e lement is concerned. The earth branch is the low part again, but the low part due to decline. It is said to be the �grave� or the �bank� of this relationship. [The Chinese term is Mu4, which means grave or tomb. However, this is not necessarily a negative term, as the Chinese traditionally believed that the proper burial of an ancestor could bring great benefit for the next three generations]. From the above table you can see that Chen would be the water bank, Chou the metal bank, Xu the fire bank, and Wei the wood bank. This is also reflected in the Hidden Stems (as we have seen). This affects the quality of each of the earth branches and helps to explain why Chou and Wei have quite different characteristics, even though both are yin earth branches. From the above discussion we can revise the Three Unities table above to:
The Three Unities Revision Generator Peak Bank Holds Shen
Zi
Chen Water
Si
You
Chou Metal
Yin
Wu
Xu
Fire
Hai
Mao
Wei
Wood
The Four Earth Branches are Wet or Dry The following table is a summary of the branch relationships, transformations, and hidden stems of the earth branches. This supplies new information as to whether an earth branch is wet or dry. The Three Unities Revisio n The Four Earths Yin / Yang Hidden Stems Grave or Bank Season Wet or Dry Chou
Yin
Ji, Xin, Gui
Metal
Winter
Wet
Chen
Yang
Wu, Yi, Gui
Water
Spring
Wet
Wei
Yin
Ji, Ding, Yi
Wood
Summer
Dry
Xu
Yang
Wu, Xin, Ding
Fire
Autumn
Dry
Chou and Chen are both wet as they either bank water or belong to the winter, the water season. The hidden stems for bo th also have water. Chou is cold and wet as it belongs to the winter. Chen is �thin� as it is related to the spring and wood. Wood dominates this earth, making it thin. Wei and Xu are considered dry, as there is no water to be found in any of their columns in the above table. In fact, both have fire element from their hidden stems, bank, and/or season. Both of these are strong earths as both contain the fire element, which generates more earth. Lorraine Wilcox, � 1999, All Rights Reserved
[Editors Note: Lorraine Wilcox is a Licensed Acupuncturist and an instructor of Xuan Kong Feng Shui and Zi Wei D ou Shu Astrology. For further information, Lorraine welcomes contact at
[email protected] or at
[email protected] in affiliation with The American Feng Shui Institute as Assistant to Master Larry Sang.]
