Chapter 9: Information Capacity from the Viewpoint of the Heavenly Way

Section 1: The "Great Information Capacity" of the Heavenly Way

Chapter 25 of the Laozi states:

"There exists a thing, undifferentiated, born before Heaven and Earth. Silent! Empty! It stands alone and does not change; it circulates eternally and is never exhausted. It can be the mother of all under Heaven. I do not know its name; I style it the Dao. If I am forced to name it, I call it the Great (Dà). Great implies passing; passing implies distance; distance implies returning." (Yǒu wù hùnchéng, xiān tiāndì shēng. Jì xī liáo xī, dúlì ér bù gǎi, zhōuxíng ér bù dài, kěyǐ wéi tiānxià mǔ. Wú bùzhī qí míng, zì zhī dào, qiǎng wéi zhī míng yuē dà. Dà yuē shì, shì yuē yuǎn, yuǎn yuē fǎn.)

The Dao is "Great" (Dà); the meaning of "Great" lies not just in magnitude, but in the infinity of its information. "Stands alone and does not change"—the information of the Dao is constant, incompressible; "circulates eternally and is never exhausted"—the information of the Dao is cyclical and endless.

All arcane arts—Bazi, Qimen Dunjia, Liuren, Taiyi...—are partial extractions and encodings of the Dao's information. They extract from different "angles," with different "precisions," and cover different "ranges," but none can exhaust the entire information of the Dao.

Chapter 1 of the Laozi states:

"The Dao that can be told is not the eternal Dao. The name that can be named is not the eternal Name. Nameless is the beginning of Heaven and Earth; named is the Mother of the myriad things." (Dào kě dào, fēi cháng dào. Míng kě míng, fēi cháng míng. Wú míng tiāndì zhī shǐ, yǒumíng wànwù zhī mǔ.)

The Dao that "can be told" is not the "eternal Dao." Any arcane art is a "tellable Dao"—a finite information encoding system—not the entirety of the "eternal Dao."

Therefore, from the perspective of the Heavenly Way, the comparison between Bazi and Qimen Dunjia is like comparing a dipper and a bushel in measuring the ocean—both are finite.

But even within the finite, there are differences in size. Our comparison aims to distinguish this difference in "finitude."

Section 2: Temporality and Spatiality of the Heavenly Way

The operation of the Heavenly Way includes both temporality and spatiality.

Temporality—the "Movement" (Xíng) of the Heavenly Way:

The Book of Changes, Qian Trigram, Image Commentary states:

"The movement of Heaven is vigorous; the superior man strives ceaselessly." (Tiānxíng jiàn, jūnzǐ yǐ zìqiángbùxī.)

"Heaven's movement" (Tiān xíng)—the ceaseless circulation of Heaven, which is the passage of time.

The "Canon of Yao" (Yao Dian) in the Book of Documents—"calculate the ephemerides of the sun, moon, and stars, and diligently present the proper times to the people"—the essence of the calendar is the encoding of the temporal information of the Heavenly Way.

Spatiality—the "Position" (Wèi) of the Heavenly Way:

The Book of Changes, Kun Trigram, Image Commentary states:

"The disposition of Earth is yielding; the superior man supports all things with deep virtue." (Dì shì kūn, jūnzǐ yǐ hòudé zài wù.)

"Disposition of Earth" (Dì shì)—the configuration of the Earth, which is the expanse of space.

Bazi mainly encodes the temporality of the Heavenly Way ("Heaven's Movement"), while Qimen Dunjia encodes both the temporality and spatiality of the Heavenly Way ("Heaven's Movement" + "Earth's Disposition").

From the perspective of the Heavenly Way, temporality and spatiality are equally important aspects—neither can be omitted.

The Xici Zhuan states:

"Images are formed in Heaven, and forms take shape on Earth; transformations are thereby revealed." (Zài tiān chéng xiàng, zài dì chéng xíng, biànhuà jiàn yǐ.)

"Heavenly Images" (Tiān Xiàng) primarily relate to time (movements of the sun, moon, stars); "Earthly Forms" (Dì Xíng) primarily relate to space (distribution of mountains and rivers). "Transformation" (the generation and flow of information) must be revealed through the interaction of Heavenly Images and Earthly Forms.

Pure temporal information (Bazi) is like "Images formed in Heaven" but not yet "Forms taken shape on Earth"—the transformation may not be fully revealed.

Information that includes both temporal and spatial information (Qimen Dunjia) is like "Images formed in Heaven" and "Forms taken shape on Earth"—the "transformation is revealed"—the manifestation of information is more complete.

This provides a metaphysical basis for judging the difference in information capacity between the two: Because Qimen Dunjia incorporates both temporal and spatial dimensions, its coverage of the information of the Heavenly Way is more comprehensive.

Section 3: Heaven-Man Resonance and Information Transmission

The concept of "Heaven-Man Resonance" (Tiānrén Gǎnyìng) in pre-Qin thought is essentially a theory of information transmission—the information of the Heavenly Way can be transmitted to human affairs.

The Shangshu, Hongfan records Jizi's words:

"If the King is solemn, timely rain will fall. If he governs, timely sunshine will fall. If he is clear, timely warmth will fall. If he plans, timely cold will fall. If he is sage, timely wind will fall. Signs of calamity: If he is wild, constant rain will fall. If he is presumptuous, constant sunshine will fall. If he is complacent, constant warmth will fall. If he is urgent, constant cold will fall. If he is obscure, constant wind will fall."

There is a correspondence between the King's actions (Solemn, Governing, Clear, Planning, Sage) and meteorological phenomena (Rain, Sunshine, Warmth, Cold, Wind)—this is the specific expression of "Heaven-Man Resonance."

From an information theory perspective, this "resonance" is the "transmission" of information—the information of human affairs is transmitted to celestial phenomena through some mechanism, and the information of celestial phenomena is transmitted to human affairs through some mechanism—the transmission mechanism is the resonance of "Yin, Yang, and the Five Phases."

The path of Heaven-Man Resonance in Bazi: Temporal information of the Heavenly Way (Stems/Branches at birth) $\rightarrow$ Innate Endowment of the individual (Bazi Pattern) $\rightarrow$ Trajectory of the individual's destiny.

This path is: Heaven $\rightarrow$ Man (Unidirectional, mediated by Time).

The path of Heaven-Man Resonance in Qimen Dunjia: Time-Space information of the Heavenly Way (Bureau number and chart layout at the time of initiation) $\rightarrow$ Current state of the event (chart analysis) $\rightarrow$ Future direction and optimal course of action.

This path is: Heaven $\leftrightarrow$ Earth $\leftrightarrow$ Man (Multi-directional, mediated by both Time and Space).

The information flow of a multi-directional path is greater than that of a unidirectional path—this also supports the conclusion that the information capacity of Qimen Dunjia is greater than that of Bazi.

However, it must be pointed out: the "unidirectional" path of Bazi is not truly unidirectional—the addition of Great Cycles and Flowing Years gives it a certain characteristic of dynamic feedback. It is just that this feedback mainly occurs in the temporal dimension and does not involve the spatial dimension.

Section 4: "Counting the Past is顺 smooth/forward, Knowing the Future is 逆 reverse"—The Directionality of Information

The Shuogua Zhuan states:

"Counting the past is smooth (shùn); knowing the future is reverse (nì); therefore, Yi uses reverse counting." (Shù wǎng zhě shùn, zhī lái zhě nì, shì gù yì nì shù yě.)

This speaks of the direction of information in the Book of Changes—"reverse counting" means inferring backward, deriving causes from results, and the present from the future.

The direction of information in Bazi is mainly "smooth"—starting from the time of birth, flowing forward through the Great Cycles and Flowing Years to predict future fortune. This is the application of "Counting the past is smooth"—using the established past (moment of birth) as a basis to project the future.

The direction of information in Qimen Dunjia is mainly "reverse"—starting from the present question, inferring the pattern of Heaven and Earth, and finding the optimal course of action. This is the application of "Knowing the future is reverse"—aiming at the unknown future, designing actions in reverse.

"Reverse" information capacity is generally greater than "smooth"—because "reverse" requires considering more possibilities (inferring multiple possible causes from one result), whereas "smooth" only follows a single path forward.

This again supports the conclusion that the information capacity of Qimen Dunjia is greater than that of Bazi from another angle.

Section 5: The Dao of the Three Powers and the Hierarchy of Information

The Xici Zhuan states:

"There is the Way of Heaven, there is the Way of Man, there is the Way of Earth. Combining the Three Powers and multiplying them by two, thus we have Six. The Six are nothing else but the Way of the Three Powers." (Yǒu tiāndào焉, yǒu réndào焉, yǒu dìdào焉. Jiān sān cái ér liǎng zhī, gù liù. Liù zhě fēi tā yě, sān cái zhī dào yě.)

The Three Powers—Heaven, Earth, Man—are the three fundamental layers of cosmic information.

The correspondence of the Three Powers in Bazi:

Way of Heaven: Heavenly Stems of the Great Cycles/Flowing Years (external environmental changes).
Way of Earth: Earthly Branches of the Four Pillars (material basis of innate endowment).
Way of Man: The Day Master and the Ten Gods (the individual's subjectivity and social relations).

In Bazi, these Three Powers are "folded"—compressed within the Four Pillars of Stems and Branches, requiring the interpreter to unfold them.

The correspondence of the Three Powers in Qimen Dunjia:

Way of Heaven: Heaven Plate (Nine Stars + Heaven Plate Qiyi).
Way of Earth: Earth Plate (Nine Palaces + Earth Plate Qiyi).
Way of Man: Man Plate (Eight Gates).

Adding the Spirit Plate, it can be considered "Four Powers": Heaven, Earth, Man, Spirit.

In Qimen Dunjia, these Three Powers (or Four) are "unfolded"—each has an independent plate, and the information layers are clearly distinguished.

The difference between "unfolded" and "folded" relates to the readability of information:

"Unfolded" information is easy to analyze layer by layer, but the interactions between layers require separate inference.
"Folded" information is hard to layer, but its internal integration is stronger.

In terms of information capacity, "unfolded" information is no less than "folded"—because the process of "folding" might result in information loss (like lossy compression). But if the "folding" process incurs no loss, its information capacity is equal to that of the "unfolded" state.

Does the "folding" of Bazi involve no loss$4

The answer is: Generally no loss—because the rules of Bazi interpretation can restore the information of the Three Powers from the folded state. However, certain subtle pieces of information might be obscured during folding—for instance, spatial information like "This person develops better in the East." Bazi might infer this indirectly through the strength of Wood, but it is not as explicit as the direct directional indication in Qimen Dunjia.

Thus, from the perspective of the Dao of the Three Powers: Qimen Dunjia has slightly superior information in the "Man" and "Earth" dimensions compared to Bazi, while in the "Heaven" dimension, they are comparable.