On the Yang Blade (Lun Yang Ren)

The yang blade is the god that robs my proper wealth; it is the proper wealth's seven killings. It lies one place beyond the seat, and only the five yang stems possess it — hence 'yang' blade. It is called a blade rather than a robber because the robbing is extreme. The blade should be subdued and controlled, by officer or killings alike, and when wealth and seal attend it the rank is especially illustrious. Now a proper officer attended by wealth and seal is fine; but for the seven killings to have them — is that not excessive? Yet know that other structures dread wealth and seal because the killings can injure the body; the blade uses the killings to control the blade and does not fear injury, so it welcomes wealth and seal instead, and dreads restraint.

Where the blade uses the officer, a revealed blade is no concern; where the blade reveals the killings, a revealed blade accomplishes nothing. For the officer can control the blade, and its revelation does no harm; but the blade can combine with the killings — what use is that? A bing day born in wu, with ren revealed to control the blade and ding also revealed: ding combines with ren, and the killings, greedy for the combination, forget to control — how then can the blade be controlled? Hence no accomplishment.

Yet though officer and killings alike control the blade, the structures still rank high or low: where officer or killings are revealed and deeply rooted the rank is great; where they are stored and unrevealed, or revealed but shallowly rooted, the rank is small. In ji you, bing zi, ren yin, bing wu, the officer is revealed with power and prosperous wealth generates it — a minister's chart. And in xin you, jia wu, bing shen, ren chen, the killings are revealed with shallow roots, yet wealth and seal assist — also a minister's chart.

Yet there are also blade structures controlled by officer or killings that carry wounding or food and are still noble. Why? Either the seal protects, or the killings are too heavy and are trimmed, or officer and killings are light and are cleared. The chart of the Subprefect Mu — jia wu, gui you, geng yin, wu yin — has gui's water wounding the officer in yin and wu, and wu combines it away: this is the seal protecting. The chart of the Grand Councillor Jia — jia yin, geng wu, wu shen, jia yin — has the killings revealed twice with too heavy a root, and the food god checks them: this is trimming. And in bing xu, ding you, geng shen, ren wu, officer and killings contend, but ren combines away the ding officer, so the killings are pure and unmixed — and since the blade structure favours keeping the killings, this is clearing.

As for a bing day born in wu: wu stores ji earth, which can control water, so wealth and seal are especially fitting. But if a wu day is born in wu with bing fire revealed in the stems and the branches gathering into a fire structure, the blade transforms into the seal; then whether officer or killings appears. Its revelation removes the blade and preserves the seal, and the structure is clearer still. If instead wealth and killings are both revealed, one offends against the rule of removing the seal and keeping the killings, and it is not treated as generating or controlling the killings: rank and wealth come to nothing.

Further, where the blade uses wealth — a thing the structure dislikes — yet if the wealth is deeply rooted and wounding or food is used to turn the blade into generating wealth. Then although it does not rank with the established-seat or month-rob structures that can take rank, it can still reach wealth. Otherwise the blade and the wealth wrestle each other and no structure forms at all.