BOOK IV. THE YÜEH LING
OR
PROCEEDINGS OF GOVERNMENT IN THE
DIFFERENT MONTHS.
Section I. Part I.
1. In the first month of spring the sun is in Shih, the star culminating at dusk being Зhan, and that culminating at dawn Wei[1].
2. Its days are Kiâ and yî[2].
- ↑ In this month the conjunction of the sun and moon took place in Shih or a Markab Pegasi. Зhan is a constellation embracing Betelguese, Bellatrix, Rigel, γ, δ, ε, ζ, η, of Orion; and Wei is ε, μ, of Scorpio. Shih is called in the text Ying Shih, "the Building Shih," because this month was the proper time at which to commence building.
- ↑ Kiâ and yî are the first two of the "ten heavenly stems," which are combined with the "twelve earthly branches," to form the sixty binomial terms of "the cycle of sixty," that was devised in a remote antiquity for the registration of successive days, and was subsequently used also in the registration of successive years. The origin of the cycle and of the names of its terms is thus far shrouded in mystery; and also the application of those terms to the various purposes of divination. The five pairs of the stems correspond, in the jargon of mysterious speculation, to the five elements of wood, fire, earth, metal, and water, and, as will be seen in this Book, to the seasons of spring, summer, the intermediate centre, autumn, and winter. Whether there be anything more in this short notice than a declaration of this fact, or any indication of the suitableness of "the days" for certain "undertakings" in them, as even the Khien-lung editors seem to think, I cannot say.
