The Mystic Pivot of Earthly Order: A Study on the Ancient Origins of the Six Combinations and Qi Transformations of the Twelve Earthly Branches
This article offers an in-depth investigation into the pre-Qin, high-antiquity origins and inner rationale of the Six Combinations and their Qi transformations among the Twelve Earthly Branches (e.g., Zi-Chou combining to transform into Earth). Through textual examination of the Earthly Branches' origins, their connection with Jupiter's orbital cycle, the correspondences between the twelve months and the twelve sovereign hexagrams, and the spatial positioning of the four Earth-branches at the four inter-cardinal directions, the essay reveals the profound astronomical and yin-yang philosophical underpinnings of the Earthly Branch system as a cornerstone of Chinese metaphysical arts.
Chapter Nine: The Six Combinations, Qi Transformation, and Pre-Qin Numerological Arts
Section 1: The Six Combinations in the Yellow River Map and Luo River Document
The Yellow River Map (Hetu) and Luo River Document (Luoshu) are the foundations of ancient numerology. The Yijing, "Appended Statements, Part I":
"The River brought forth the Map; the Luo brought forth the Document; the sages took them as models" (he chu tu, Luo chu shu, shengren ze zhi).
Numbers of the Yellow River Map:
North: one and six, Water. South: two and seven, Fire. East: three and eight, Wood. West: four and nine, Metal. Center: five and ten, Earth.
Numbers of the Luo River Document:
Wearing nine, treading on one; three on the left, seven on the right; two and four as shoulders; six and eight as feet; five in the center.
The Six Combinations and the Yellow River Map:
In the Yellow River Map, one and six share their ancestry (northern Water), two and seven share the same Way (southern Fire), three and eight are companions (eastern Wood), four and nine are friends (western Metal), five and ten keep watch together (central Earth). What connection do these five pairs have with the Six Combination qi transformations$1
The Map's one-six in the north (Water) correspond to Zi and Hai (northern Water Branches); two-seven in the south (Fire) correspond to Wu and Si (southern Fire Branches); three-eight in the east (Wood) correspond to Yin and Mao (eastern Wood Branches); four-nine in the west (Metal) correspond to Shen and You (western Metal Branches); five-ten in the center (Earth) correspond to Chen, Xu, Chou, Wei (the four Earth Branches).
Yet the Six Combination pairings do not simply follow the Map's directional groupings. The Zi-Chou combination is not a pairing of "northern Water Branches" but of Zi (Water) with Chou (Earth). This shows that the Six Combinations have their own logic independent of the Yellow River Map.
The Six Combinations and the Luo River Document:
As noted earlier, the positional sums of the two Branches in each Six Combination pair (counting from Yin as 1 to Chou as 12) mostly equal 15 (except Zi-Chou, which also equals 15 if Zi is treated as 13). And 15 is precisely the magic constant of the Luoshu.
The Luoshu grid:
4 9 2
3 5 7
8 1 6
Every row, column, and diagonal sums to 15.
Is this coincidence, or does it hint at an intrinsic connection between the Six Combinations and the Luoshu$2
The number 15 holds special significance in ancient numerology. 15 = 1+2+3+4+5 = the "center number" of Heaven and Earth. Fifteen days is exactly half a synodic month (new moon to full moon is 15 days; full moon to new moon likewise).
That the positional sum of two Branches in a Six Combination pair equals 15 may be understood as: the "temporal distance" of the two months (measured from the winter solstice as center) sums to half an annual cycle. This is perfectly consistent with the astronomical symmetry discussed above.
Section 2: The Six Combinations in Taiyi Numerology
Taiyi (Taiyi) is the foremost of the Three Cosmic Boards (sanshi) of antiquity -- Taiyi, Liuren, and Qimen. Taiyi numerology uses the three disks of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity to project the rise and decline of national destiny.
The Huangdi Taiyi Jing (attributed to high antiquity, though its text may have been edited by later hands) contains discussions of the Six Combinations. Taiyi numerology uses twelve palaces corresponding to the twelve Branches; the Six Combination pairings form specific configurations on the Taiyi board.
When Taiyi occupies a certain palace, the palace in its Six Combination relationship is its "combined palace." If Taiyi is in the combined palace, it is auspicious; if Taiyi clashes with the combined palace, it is inauspicious. This is the basic application of the Six Combinations in Taiyi numerology.
The Shiji, "Treatise on the Celestial Offices" (Tianguan Shu):
"When the Grand Year is in Zi, the year is named Kundun."
Though not directly addressing the Six Combinations, the relationship between the Grand Year's palace and its combined palace is of great practical importance.
Section 3: The Six Combinations in Liuren Divination
Liuren is the branch of ancient numerological arts that most extensively employs the Six Combinations. Liuren places a heavenly disk (twelve Earthly Branches) over an earthly disk (twelve Earthly Branches); the heavenly disk rotates while the earthly disk remains fixed, creating various configurations.
The uses of the Six Combinations in Liuren are exceptionally rich:
I. Six Combinations in Course Patterns
Liuren uses four courses and three transmissions (si ke san chuan) to determine the fortune of events. When a Six Combination relationship appears in a course, it signifies harmony and concord in affairs and interpersonal relations.
II. The "Six Combinations" as a Spirit-General
Among Liuren's twelve spirit-generals (tianjiang), one is called "Six Combinations" (Liuhe), specifically governing cooperation, matchmaking, and trade. This "Six Combinations" spirit-general is the personification of the Six Combinations principle at the level of spiritual agencies.
III. Application of Six Combination Qi Transformation in Liuren
In Liuren prognostication, when two Branches combine and the conditions for qi transformation are met, the Phase of the transformed qi is used for interpretation. For example:
- Zi-Chou combining in a course, during an Earth-dominant month, is interpreted as Earth -- signifying stability, favorable for construction, having a solid foundation.
- Yin-Hai combining, during a Wood-dominant month, interpreted as Wood -- signifying growth, development, and benevolence.
- Mao-Xu combining, during a Fire-dominant month, interpreted as Fire -- signifying illumination, propriety, and transformation.
Though these specific applications are not explicitly stated in pre-Qin texts, their theoretical foundation -- the Six Combinations and Qi Transformation -- genuinely originates from the learning of pre-Qin antiquity.
Section 4: The Six Combinations in Qimen Dunjia
Qimen Dunjia (Qimen Dunjia) uses nine palaces and eight gates in combination with heavenly and earthly disks of stems and branches to project military affairs, national destiny, and human events. The Six Combinations are also widely employed in Qimen.
In Qimen, "Six Combinations" is one of the eight spirits (ba shen, alongside Chief Spirit, Soaring Serpent, Great Yin, Hook Formation, Vermilion Bird, Nine Earth, and Nine Heaven). The Six Combinations spirit governs harmony, secret counsel, trade, and marriage.
When the Six Combinations spirit occupies a certain palace, the affairs governed by that palace should best be pursued through harmony and cooperation, not through conflict and confrontation. This is the application of the Six Combinations' meaning of "harmonious combination" in military numerological arts.
The Sunzi Bingfa (Art of War), "Chapter on Assessments," though not directly invoking the Six Combinations, shares in its concept of "subduing the enemy without fighting" a kindred spirit with the Combinations' meaning of "harmony" -- overcoming hardness with softness, winning loyalty through virtue, dissolving conflict through concord. This is the superior strategy.
Section 5: The Six Combinations in Ancient Astrology
Pre-Qin astrology used the motions of sun, moon, and the five planets to prognosticate national fortune. The principle of the Six Combinations was also applied here.
The Zuozhuan, thirty-second year of Duke Zhao, records the words of the historian Mo:
"The altars of soil and grain have no permanent caretaker; ruler and minister have no permanent station. This has been so since antiquity. Therefore the Odes say: 'High banks become valleys; deep valleys become hills.' The clans of the three former kings are now commoners, as my lord well knows. In the Changes, when Thunder rides upon Heaven, it is called Great Strength -- this is the Way of Heaven."
Though not directly addressing the Six Combinations, the vision of change in "high banks become valleys, deep valleys become hills" is kindred to the principle of "combining to transform" in the Six Combinations -- things undergo combination and produce qualitative change, original attributes (such as Water or Fire) disappear, and new attributes (such as Earth or Metal) emerge.
The Shiji, "Treatise on the Celestial Offices," offers more direct discussion:
"At conjunction (heshuo), the sun and moon are at the same mansion-degree... When the sun and moon conjoin at the beginning of the Establishing Star, this is called the Standard of the Year."
The conjunction of sun and moon -- when sun and moon meet at the same mansion-degree -- is the most fundamental astronomical "combination." The Six Combinations method is precisely a doctrine that extends the principle of sun-moon conjunction to the relationships among the Twelve Earthly Branches.