On the Escaping Moon, Day, and Hour
Original Text
夫命以年为本为父，月为兄弟僚友，日为主为妻为己身，时为子孙为帝产为平生荣辱之首。又曰年为根，月为苗，日为花，时为实，故苗无根不生，实无花不结。所以遁月从年，遁时从日。遁月即甲己之年，正月起丙寅，二月丁卯，顺行十二月。
古歌曰：甲已之年丙作首，乙庚之岁戊为头，丙辛之岁寻庚上，丁壬壬位顺行流，更有戊癸何处起？甲寅之上好追求。
遁时如甲子日子时生人即甲己，还加甲，便知子时乃甲子，丑时乃乙丑，顺行十二时。
古歌曰：甲己还加甲，乙庚丙作初，丙辛从戊起，丁壬庚子居，戊癸何方发？壬子是直途。
月时之法，取天干合数，阴阳之配也。既取合数，自生化数，月则取生，时则取克。假如甲己化土，火生土故，月起丙寅；水克土故，时起甲子。月遁起寅，人生于寅之义，东作方兴之时也；时遁起子，天开于子之义，一阳方生之候也。究而言之，则皆相生而转，回圈无端焉。盖上古历元年甲子，月甲子，日甲子，时甲子，甲己起，甲子祖于此也。有甲子则乙丑、丙寅顺布十二宫，阳生阳，阴生阴，相间一位，同类为夫妇。是起月之法，不外起时之中矣。
Interpretation
One's fate takes the year as the foundation and represents one's father, the month represents brothers, colleagues and friends, the day represents the self and one's wife, and the hour represents descendants, imperial properties and is the key to one's lifelong honor and disgrace. It is also said that the year is like the root, the month is like the sprout, the day is like the flower, and the hour is like the fruit. Therefore, a sprout cannot grow without a root, and a fruit cannot form without a flower. So, to calculate the month, we start from the year; to calculate the hour, we start from the day. When calculating the month, in the years when the Heavenly Stem is Jia or Ji, the first lunar month starts with Bingyin, the second month is Dingmao, and it goes on in sequence for the twelve months.
An old verse goes: In the years of Jia and Ji, Bing starts the cycle; in the years of Yi and Geng, Wu takes the lead. In the years of Bing and Xin, look for Geng. In the years of Ding and Ren, follow Ren in order. And where does it start for Wu and Gui? It's good to start from Jia Yin.
When calculating the hidden time, for example, if a person is born at the Zi hour of the Jiazi day, according to the rule of "when it's Jia and Ji, start with Jia", we can know that the Zi hour is Jiazi, the Chou hour is Yichou, and then count through the twelve time periods in sequence.
An ancient verse goes: For jia and ji, start with jia; for yi and geng, begin with bing; for bing and xin, start from wu; for ding and ren, it starts with geng zi; where does it start for wu and gui? It starts with ren zi.
The method of determining the month and hour involves taking the combined numbers of the Heavenly Stems, which represents the pairing of yin and yang. Once the combined numbers are obtained, they naturally generate the transformative numbers. For the month, we take the generating number, and for the hour, we take the conquering number. For example, when Jia and Ji transform into Earth, since Fire generates Earth, the month starts with Bingyin; since Water conquers Earth, the hour starts with Jiazǐ. The monthly cycle starts from Yin, which is based on the meaning that human beings are born in the period of Yin, when spring plowing is just starting. The hourly cycle starts from Zǐ, which is based on the meaning that the sky opens at Zǐ, when the first yang qi is just emerging. In essence, they all follow the pattern of generation and transformation, circulating endlessly. In ancient times, in the first year of the calendar, it was the year of Jiazǐ, the month of Jiazǐ, the day of Jiazǐ, and the hour of Jiazǐ. The starting point of Jia and Ji from Jiazǐ has its origin here. With Jiazǐ, Yichǒu, Bingyin and so on are arranged in sequence in the twelve palaces. Yang generates yang, and yin generates yin, with an interval of one position. Those of the same kind are regarded as a couple. Therefore, the method of determining the month is actually included in the method of determining the hour.