Calendar and timing
Day Branch and Month Command (Ri Chen, Yue Ling)
By Vi Nhật Sơn · Updated
Nhật thần, Nguyệt lệnh (Nhật – Nguyệt)
Day Branch and Month Command (Ri Chen, Yue Ling) — what is it? Day Branch and Month Command: the Day is the cycle of one day, the Month of one month, both counted by branch and acting directly on the lines.
As a concept, the Day (Day Branch) is the cycle of the sun, otherwise called the cycle of one day; the Month (Month Command) is the cycle of the moon, otherwise called the cycle of one month.
The Day
The Day is counted by its Earthly Branch. When we take the Day, we take its Heavenly Stem as well, to be used later for referring to Void and to the Six Spirits.
The Month
The Month is counted by its Earthly Branch. When we take the Month, we need only the Earthly Branch.
How to take the Day and the Month
The most convenient way to take the Day and the Month is to open a perpetual calendar and read the Earthly Branches, for example a Jia Yin day in the Mao month.
Taking the Day and the Month serves to refer the lines to Prosperous, Weak, Resting, Rootless and so on. More generally, the Day and the Month act directly on the state of the lines.
See also
- Strength — the table of states counted from the Day and the Month
- Void, Month Break, Hidden movement
- Near and distant matters — the four frames of Hour, Day, Month and Year
- Five Elements — the elements of the twelve Earthly Branches