What Is NaYin?
In a Nutshell
An alternate system of Five-Elements assignments for the sixty stem-branches: thirty evocative group names.
Quick facts
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Structure | The sixty stem-branches, taken two at a time in order, form thirty groups |
| Ordering rule | "Mates of the same kind pair up; skipping eight, a child is born" — the method by which the pitch-pipes generate one another |
| Examples | Jia Zi–Yi Chou: Sea Metal; Bing Yin–Ding Mao: Furnace Fire; Wu Chen–Ji Si: Great Forest Wood |
What is NaYin?
NaYin (sometimes glossed as "Melodic Elements") is an alternate Five-Elements assignment system for the sixty stem-branches. The sixty stem-branches are taken two at a time, in order, forming thirty groups; each group has a name — for example, Jia Zi and Yi Chou are "Sea Metal," Bing Yin and Ding Mao are "Furnace Fire," Wu Chen and Ji Si are "Great Forest Wood" — and the name's final word is the group's NaYin element. This system often disagrees with the elements of the stem and branch themselves: Jia is a Wood stem and Zi a Water branch, yet the NaYin of Jia Zi is Metal. Counting the Five Elements by stem-branch and by NaYin are therefore two different things and must not be mixed.
On NaYin's origins, the *San Ming Tong Hui*'s "General Discussion of NaYin" cites Shen Kuo's *Meng Xi Bi Tan* (Dream Pool Essays): NaYin comes from the musical method of the sixty pitch-pipes "rotating to take each as the tonic." The ordering rule is "mates of the same kind pair up; skipping eight, a child is born — the method by which the pitch-pipes generate one another": two stem-branch pairs of the same kind are matched into one group, and the next group is generated eight positions on. It also says "the stem is the ruler, the branch the minister; stem and branch join, and NaYin is born" — NaYin is derived from the stem and branch together, never from one alone.
In usage, early methods mostly looked at the Year Pillar NaYin (the "year-destiny"); since the Song dynasty, the Zi Ping school centers on the Day Master, and NaYin mostly serves as auxiliary reference. MoZhu's NaYin lookup tool shows the NaYin of all Four Pillars together with the complete thirty-group chart. This page introduces the system and its origins only, and draws no inferences from NaYin.
Classical sources
"The method of NaYin: mates of the same kind pair up; skipping eight, a child is born — the method by which the pitch-pipes generate one another."
(Rendered from the classical Chinese original.)
Source: *San Ming Tong Hui* (Comprehensive Treatise on the Three Destinies), Book 1, *Zong Lun Na Yin* (General Discussion of NaYin)
Plain-language reading: NaYin is ordered by the pitch-pipes' generative sequence: two pillars of the same kind are paired into one group, and the next group is generated eight positions on.
"I have observed the *Bi Tan* discussion of the sixty stem-branches' NaYin: it follows the sixty pitch-pipes, rotating to take each as the tonic — that is the method."
(Rendered from the classical Chinese original.)
Source: *San Ming Tong Hui* (Comprehensive Treatise on the Three Destinies), Book 1, *Zong Lun Na Yin* (General Discussion of NaYin)
Plain-language reading: The book cites Shen Kuo's *Meng Xi Bi Tan* (Dream Pool Essays) to show that NaYin comes from the musical method of the sixty pitch-pipes "rotating to take each as the tonic."
*For entertainment purposes only.*