What Is Spring Water (Quan Zhong Shui)?
In a Nutshell
The NaYin of the Jia Shen and Yi You stem-branches: the source that never runs dry, on which the myriad things depend — the image of living spring water.
Quick facts
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Stem-branches | Jia Shen, Yi You |
| NaYin element | Water |
| Signature image | The source that never runs dry, on which the myriad things depend |
What is Spring Water?
Spring Water is one of the thirty NaYin (Melodic Elements) groups of the sexagenary cycle, covering the two stem-branches Jia Shen and Yi You. The sixty stem-branches are taken two at a time, in order, forming thirty groups; each group has its own NaYin name, and the Jia Shen–Yi You group is called "Spring Water."
A NaYin's element often differs from the elements of its own stem and branch. Here, the stem Jia is Wood and the branch Shen is Metal, yet the NaYin is Water; within any group, the two stem-branches always share the same NaYin — a basic rule of the system.
"Within the spring" fixes the image: water gushing from a spring's eye. The *San Ming Tong Hui* calls Jia Shen and Yi You "Well-Spring Water", which "comes forth without end and is drawn without running dry", and on which "the people depend to live". Where Ravine Water is the flowing shallows, Spring Water is the deep source. The original passages are quoted below.
How to look it up: match the stem-branch of your Year Pillar or Day Pillar against the NaYin chart. For example, 2004 was a Jia Shen year and 2005 an Yi You year, so anyone born in those years carries Spring Water as their Year Pillar NaYin; a Jia Shen or Yi You Day Pillar works the same way. MoZhu's built-in NaYin lookup tool lists the NaYin of all Four Pillars automatically from a birth time.
The Zi Ping school centers on the Day Master and treats NaYin as auxiliary reference only. Names like Spring Water are essentially the ancients' evocative nicknames for stem-branch pairs; understanding the imagery helps you read classical texts, but nothing should be inferred from the name alone. This page is for study and reference only.
Classical sources
"Jia Shen and Yi You: the qi is calm, mother and child share one place; it comes forth without end and is drawn without running dry — hence it is called Well-Spring Water."
Plain words: Jia Shen and Yi You are called Well-Spring Water (Spring Water): calm, inexhaustible, never running dry.
Source: *San Ming Tong Hui*, Book 1, "On the Images Adopted by NaYin" — original: 甲申乙酉，气息安静，子母同位，出而不穷，汲而不竭，乃曰井泉水。
"Well-Spring Water is a cold, clear spring that nourishes without end; eight households dig it and drink together, and the people depend on it to live."
Plain words: A cold, clear spring shared by a whole village and relied on by everyone.
Source: *San Ming Tong Hui*, Book 1, "On the Images Adopted by NaYin" (individual NaYin) — original: 井泉水者，寒泉清冽，取养不穷，八家凿之以同饮，万民资之以生活。
*For entertainment purposes only.*