素问·天元纪大论 Great Discourse on the Celestial Origin
黄帝问曰：天有五行，御五位以生寒暑燥湿风，人有五藏，化五气，以生喜怒思忧恐，论言五运相袭而皆治之，终朞之日，周而复始，余已知之矣，愿闻其与三阴三阳之候，柰何合之。鬼臾区稽首再拜对曰：昭乎哉问也。夫五运阴阳者，天地之道也，万物之纲纪，变化之父母，生杀之本始，神明之府也，可不通乎。故物生谓之化，物极谓之变，阴阳不测谓之神，神用无方谓之圣。夫变化之为用也，在天为玄，在人为道，在地为化，化生五味，道生智，玄生神。神在天为风，在地为木，在天为热，在地为火，在天为湿，在地为土，在天为燥，在地为金，在天为寒，在地为水，故在天为气，在地成形，形气相感而化生万物矣。然天地者，万物之上下也，左右者，阴阳之道路也。水火者，阴阳之徵兆也，金木者，生成之终始也。气有多少，形有盛衰，上下相召，而损益彰矣。
帝曰：愿闻五运之主时也何如。鬼臾区曰：五气运行，各终朞日，非独主时也。帝曰：请闻其所谓也。鬼臾区曰：臣积《考太始天元册》文曰：太虚廖廓，肇基化元，万物资始，五运终天，布气真灵，摠统坤元，九星悬朗，七曜周旋，曰阴曰阳，曰柔曰刚，幽显既位，寒暑弛张，生生化化，品物咸章。臣斯十世，此之谓也。帝曰：善。何谓气有多少，形有盛衰。鬼臾区曰：阴阳之气各有多少，故曰三阴三阳也。形有盛衰，谓五行之治，各有太过不及也。故其始也，有馀而往不足随之，不足而往有馀从之，知迎知随，气可与期。应天为天符，承岁为岁直，三合为治。帝曰：上下相召柰何。鬼臾区曰：寒暑燥湿风火，天之阴阳也，三阴三阳上奉之。木火土金水火，地之阴阳也，生长化收藏下应之。天以阳生阴长，地以阳杀阴藏。天有阴阳，地亦有阴阳。木火土金水火，地之阴阳也，生长化收藏。故阳中有阴，阴中有阳。所以欲知天地之阴阳者，应天之气动而不息，故五岁而右迁，应地之气静而守位，故六朞而环会。动静相召，上下相临，阴阳相错，而变由生也。
帝曰：上下周纪，其有数乎。鬼臾区曰：天以六为节，地以五为制。周天气者，六朞为一备，终地纪者，五岁为一周。君火以明，相火以位。五六相合而七百二十气，为一纪，凡三十岁，千四百四十气，凡六十岁，而为一周，不及太过，斯皆见矣。帝曰：夫子之言，上终天气，下毕地纪，可谓悉矣。余愿闻而藏之，上以治民，下以治身，使百姓昭著，上下和亲，德泽下流，子孙无忧，传之后世，无有终时，可得闻乎。鬼臾区曰：至数之机，迫迮以微，其来可见，其往可追，敬之者昌，慢之者亡，无道行私，必得天殃，谨奉天道，请言真要。帝曰：善言始者，必会于终，善言近者，必知其远，是则至数极而道不惑，所谓明矣。愿夫子推而次之，令有条理，𥳑而不匮，久而不绝，易用难忘，为之纲纪，至数之要，愿尽闻之。鬼臾区曰：昭乎哉问，明乎哉道，如鼓之应桴，响之应声也。臣闻之，甲己之岁，土运统之。乙庚之岁，金运统之。丙辛之岁，水运统之。丁壬之岁，木运统之。戊癸之岁，火运统之。帝曰：其于三阴三阳，合之柰何。鬼臾区曰：子午之岁，上见少阴。丑未之岁，上见太阴。寅申之岁，上见少阳。卯酉之岁，上见阳明。辰戌之岁，上见太阳。巳亥之岁，上见厥阴。少阴，所谓标也，厥阴，所谓终也。厥阴之上，风气主之。少阴之上，热气主之。太阴之上，湿气主之。少阳之上，相火主之。阳明之上，燥气主之。太阳之上，寒气主之。所谓本也，是谓六元。帝曰：光乎哉道，明乎哉论，请著之玉版，藏之金匮，署曰天元纪。
Huangdi asked: Heaven has the five phases, which govern the five positions to give rise to cold, heat, dryness, dampness, and wind; man has the five viscera, which transform into five qi, giving rise to joy, anger, contemplation, worry, and fear. Treatises say that the five movements succeed one another and each governs in turn, and when the cycle of the year is complete it turns and begins again — this I already understand. I wish to hear how it corresponds with the signs of the three yin and three yang, and how they are joined together. Guiyuqu bowed his head twice and replied: Profound indeed is this question! Now, the five movements and yin-yang are the Way of heaven and earth, the guiding thread of the myriad things, the parents of change and transformation, the root and origin of birth and destruction, the abode of spirit and illumination — how could one fail to comprehend them? Thus when a thing is generated it is called transformation; when a thing reaches its extreme it is called change; when yin and yang cannot be fathomed it is called spirit; when spirit functions without fixed direction it is called sagely. Now as for the working of change and transformation: in heaven it is the mysterious; in man it is the Way; on earth it is transformation. Transformation generates the five flavors, the Way generates wisdom, the mysterious generates spirit. Spirit, in heaven, is wind; on earth, it is wood. In heaven it is heat; on earth, it is fire. In heaven it is dampness; on earth, it is earth. In heaven it is dryness; on earth, it is metal. In heaven it is cold; on earth, it is water. Hence in heaven it forms qi, on earth it forms shape; shape and qi stimulate each other, and thereby the myriad things are transformed and generated. Now heaven and earth are the above and below of the myriad things; left and right are the pathways of yin and yang. Water and fire are the signs and manifestations of yin and yang; metal and wood are the beginning and end of generation and completion. Qi has abundance and paucity, form has flourishing and decline; above and below summon each other, and thereby gain and loss become manifest.
Huangdi said: I wish to hear how the five movements govern the seasons. Guiyuqu said: The five qi move and circulate, each completing its own full cycle of the year — they do not simply govern fixed seasons alone. Huangdi said: Please let me hear what this means. Guiyuqu said: I have gathered from the text of the Investigation of the Grand Origin of Heaven from Remotest Antiquity: 'The Great Void is vast and boundless; it is the foundation from which transformation originates, whence the myriad things draw their beginning. The five movements traverse the heavens, spreading true numinous qi, uniting and governing the origin of earth. The nine stars hang bright, the seven luminaries revolve in turn. There is yin, there is yang; there is the soft, there is the hard. Once the hidden and the manifest have taken their places, cold and heat relax and tighten in turn; birth begets birth, transformation begets transformation, and the categories of things all become manifest.' I have transmitted this through ten generations of my family — this is what it means. Huangdi said: Good. What is meant by 'qi has abundance and paucity, form has flourishing and decline'? Guiyuqu said: The qi of yin and yang each has its abundance and paucity, hence it is said there are three yin and three yang. Form has flourishing and decline, meaning that in the governance of the five phases each has its excess and its insufficiency. Thus at the outset, if there is surplus, insufficiency will follow it; if there is insufficiency, surplus will follow from it. If one knows how to anticipate and how to follow, the movement of qi can be foreseen. When it corresponds to heaven it is called tianfu, celestial correspondence; when it inherits the governing qi of the year it is called suizhi, direct correspondence with the year; when the three coincide it is called governance. Huangdi said: How do above and below summon each other? Guiyuqu said: Cold, heat, dryness, dampness, wind, and fire are the yin and yang of heaven; the three yin and three yang receive them from above. Wood, fire, earth, metal, and water are the yin and yang of earth; growth, development, transformation, harvest, and storage respond to them from below. Heaven, through yang, generates life; through yin, fosters its growth. Earth, through yang, brings death; through yin, stores away. Heaven has yin and yang; earth too has yin and yang. Wood, fire, earth, metal, and water are the yin and yang of earth, governing growth, development, transformation, harvest, and storage. Therefore within yang there is yin, and within yin there is yang. The reason one wishes to know the yin and yang of heaven and earth is this: the qi that corresponds to heaven moves without cease, hence every five years it shifts to the right; the qi that corresponds to earth is still and holds its position, hence every six years it completes a full round. Movement and stillness summon each other, above and below overlook each other, yin and yang interweave, and thus change is generated.
Huangdi said: Do the cycles of above and below have fixed numbers? Guiyuqu said: Heaven takes six as its unit; earth takes five as its measure. In completing the cycle of heaven's qi, six years make one full round; in completing the record of earth, five years make one cycle. The sovereign fire governs through illumination; the ministerial fire governs through position. Five and six combine to give seven hundred twenty qi-periods, forming one era of thirty years with one thousand four hundred forty qi-periods; sixty years form one complete cycle, and within this span insufficiency and excess are both fully manifested. Huangdi said: Master, your words reach upward to encompass the qi of heaven and downward to complete the record of earth — this may truly be called thorough. I wish to hear it and store it away, to use it above in governing the people and below in governing the body, so that the common people may be enlightened, above and below in harmonious accord, virtue and grace flowing down so that descendants need not worry, and so that it may be transmitted to later generations without end. May I hear it? Guiyuqu said: The workings of the utmost calculations are pressing and subtle; their coming can be seen, their going can be traced. Those who revere them will flourish; those who neglect them will perish. To act without the Way, in selfish pursuit, will surely bring calamity from heaven. Reverently upholding the Way of heaven, let me speak its true essentials. Huangdi said: One who speaks well of beginnings must connect them to their endings; one who speaks well of the near must know the far. Only thus can the utmost calculations reach their limit without the Way becoming confounded — this is what is called illumination. I wish the Master to arrange them in sequence and give them order, so that they are concise yet not lacking, enduring yet unbroken, easy to apply and hard to forget, forming a framework and guiding thread. I wish to hear the essentials of the utmost calculations in full. Guiyuqu said: Profound indeed is this question, and clear indeed is the Way! It is like a drum answering the drumstick, like an echo answering a sound. I have heard: in the years of jia and ji, the earth movement governs. In the years of yi and geng, the metal movement governs. In the years of bing and xin, the water movement governs. In the years of ding and ren, the wood movement governs. In the years of wu and gui, the fire movement governs. Huangdi said: How does this correspond with the three yin and three yang? Guiyuqu said: In the years of zi and wu, lesser yin appears above. In the years of chou and wei, greater yin appears above. In the years of yin and shen, lesser yang appears above. In the years of mao and you, yang brightness appears above. In the years of chen and xu, greater yang appears above. In the years of si and hai, terminal yin appears above. Lesser yin is what is called the tip of the cycle; terminal yin is what is called its end. Above terminal yin, wind qi governs; above lesser yin, heat qi governs; above greater yin, damp qi governs; above lesser yang, ministerial fire governs; above yang brightness, dry qi governs; above greater yang, cold qi governs. These are what is called the roots; together they are called the six origins. Huangdi said: Brilliant indeed is this Way, illuminating indeed is this discourse! Let it be inscribed on tablets of jade and stored in a coffer of gold, entitled the Record of the Celestial Origin.