Wake Forest University
Patrick Edwin Moran
Traditional:
數只是算氣之節候。大率只是一箇氣。陰陽播而為五行， 五行中各有陰陽。甲乙木，丙丁火；春屬木，夏屬火。年 月日時無有非五行之氣，甲乙丙丁又屬陰屬陽，只是二五 之氣。人之生，適遇其氣，有得清者，有得濁者，貴賤壽 夭皆然，故有參錯不齊如此。聖賢在上，則其氣中和：不 然，則其氣偏行。故有得其氣清，聰明而無褔祿者；亦有 得其氣濁，有褔祿而無知者，皆其氣數使然。堯舜禹皋文 武周召得其正，孔孟夷齊得其偏者也。至如極亂之後，五 代之時，又卻生許多聖賢，如袓宗諸臣者，是極而復 者也。{揚錄云：「碩果不食之理。」}如大睡一覺，及醍時 卻有精神。{揚錄此下云：「今卻詭詐玩弄，未有醍時。非 積亂之甚五六十年，即定氣息未蘇了，是大可憂也！」}
Simplified:
数只是算气之节候。大率只是一个气。阴阳播而为五行， 五行中各有阴阳。甲乙木，丙丁火；春属木，夏属火。年 月日时无有非五行之气，甲乙丙丁又属阴属阳，只是二五 之气。人之生，适遇其气，有得清者，有得浊者，贵贱寿 夭皆然，故有参错不齐如此。圣贤在上，则其气中和：不 然，则其气偏行。故有得其气清，聪明而无□禄者；亦有 得其气浊，有□禄而无知者，皆其气数使然。尧舜禹皋文 武周召得其正，孔孟夷齐得其偏者也。至如极乱之後，五 代之时，又却生许多圣贤，如□宗诸臣者，是极而复 者也。{扬录云：「硕果不食之理。」}如大睡一觉，及醍时 却有精神。{扬录此下云：「今却诡诈玩弄，未有醍时。非 积乱之甚五六十年，即定气息未苏了，是大可忧也！」}
big5:
ƥuO𤧸`ԡCjvuO@CӬA 椤UCҤAABFKݤALݤC~ ɵLD椧AҤABSݳݶAuOG CH͡AAJAoM̡AoB̡AQ ԬҵMAGѿpCtbWAh𤤩MG MAh𰾦CGoMAoӵLĸS̡F禳 oBAĸSӵL̡AҨƨϵMCϬo ZPlo䥿Aթsio䰾̤]CܦpäA NɡASoͳ\htApévѦڪ̡AOӴ_ ̤]C{GuӪGzCv}pjΤ@ıAۮ o믫C{UGuoBˡAۮɡCD näƤQ~AYw𮧥ĬFAOji~]Iv}
GB:
ֻ֮ںֻһΪУ иľ𣻴ľ ʱз֮ұֻǶ ֮֮еߣеߣ زȻвδˡʥϣкͣ ȻƫСе壬ޡ»ߣ ǣС»֪ߣʹȻҢ˴ ٵƫҲ缫֮ᣬ ֮ʱȴʥͣߣǼ Ҳ{¼ƣ˶ʳ֮}˯һʱ ȴо{¼ƣȴթŪδʱ ֮ʮ꣬ϢδˣǴҲ}
Translation:
"Number" is just the calculation of the seasonal characteristics of qi. Speaking in general terms, there is only one qi. The cosmic Yin and Yang broadcast (spin off from themselves) and make the five elemental components, and within each of the five elemental components there is the Yin and the Yang. The Jia-yi period is the elemental wood, the Bing-ding period is the elemental fire. Spring is subsumed under wood, and summer is subsumed under fire. Of the years, the months, the days, and the hours, none fail to be the qi of the five elemental components. The Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding (periods) are also subsumed under Yin and subsumed under Yang. They are only the qi of the Two (i.e., Yin and Yang) and the Five (i.e., the five elemental components). At the birth of each person, he or she encounters his or her lifebreath [in the outer environment, from which it is absorbed]. There are those who get the pure kind, and those who get the turbid kind. Being noble or of low estate, being long-lived or having a short lifespan are all this way. Therefore thing have become as irregular as they are. The sagely and the worthy people are on top, and therefore their qi is balanced and harmonious. In other cases, people's qi tends to run off to the side. So there are those who, while their qi is pure, are intelligent yet fail to attain wealth and high status in government. And also, there are those whose qi is turbid but get wealth and high status in government even though they are ignorant. All of these results are on account of the qi and its "number." Yao, Shun, Yu, Gao, King Wen and King Wu, the Duke of Zhou and the Duke of Shao all got the correct [qi], Confucius, Mencius, Yi, and Qi all got the biased kind. Coming on down to historical periods immediately following great civil disorders, such as during the Five Dynasties period, contrary to what one might expect there were once more many sages and worthies produced, such as the several ministers of the ancestors, and that was because having gone to a great extreme there was a [comparable] rebound [in the direction of the good]. That is like when one awakens full of spirits after having a good sleep.
-- Yang
Commentary:
There are a couple of interlinear notes in this passage that I have not translated. The way the second of them is written makes it appear that Yang was at least one of the students who recorded this conversation.
Since the time of writing of the Yi Jing, numbers have been believed to be highly significant, or at least to convey in a clear way some very important things about the world. The casting of a hexagram involves the element of chance that determines the number of stalks of yarrow that are held in one hand when the bundle that one starts with is divided in two. Numerical calculations are also involved in this process. A hexagram could just as easily be written as six digits selected from among the numbers 6, 7, 8, and 9. So a prognostication is delivered in what amounts to something like "688796".
Perhaps because of this early connection, "number" also involves ideas of determination, pre-determination, something that is pre-planned and a dependable guide for action, etc.
Zhu Xi appears to be saying that numbers can be found, by some process, that will allow one to succinctly characterize the qi of the seasons and other time periods. In other words, numbers can be used to indicate what are or will be the behavioral characteristics of some period of time. I use the word "behavioral" advisedly, because qi (or actually blood and qi) was used at least as early as the time of Confucius to account for the temperament and other behavioral characteristics of individual human beings. So when one is saying that a season has a qi, one is making an implicit analogy to the motivational forces and other psychological factors that are characteristic of a human being.
Yin and Yang are both qi, they are, in a sense, the cosmic breaths of the universe. Their characteristics are so general that they can only be grasped in the abstract. We can call them positive and negative -- in the sense of moving in a positive direction or a negative direction along a mathematical line. We can call them waxing and waning -- in the sense that the moon waxes and wanes but never stops at any point. We can call them expanding and contracting -- in the sense that a person's lungs and heart are continually cycling back and forth between inhaling and exhaling.
A somewhat more useful analogy to use in describing Yin and Yang is the vibration of the string of a musical instrument. After being plucked, the string moves back and forth. If you pull the middle of the string a quarter of an inch to the left and release it, the string will rebound to a position a quarter of an inch to the right, then return to approximately the position at which you released it, and so forth. But that is not all that a real string does. It also simultaneously vibrates by halves and by other fractions. That is what gives a richness to the sound of a fine musical instrument that you will not find in a laboratory oscillator that supplies a pure 400 cycle per second tone.
So Yin and Yang are the simple movement of the cosmic guitar string, but there is also a mode of vibration in which the string vibrates in five parts. These five parts are called the five elemental components. They have a bit more "substantiality" than do Yin and Yang. You can abstract from experiences in which one or the other predominates a sense of their quality. "Fire" is not the rapid oxidation of some fuel substance. But if you experience a "fire" entity (a hot pepper, perhaps), you will feel "fire" even if the actual substances involved are all below normal room temperature. If you eat a meal rich in ingredients that have a great deal of "fire" qi, you will probably feel hot and begin to sweat.
Zhu Xi appears to accept the theory that the qi that one has in one's body is absorbed from the environment at birth. This belief does not square very well with his other ideas, and I have no idea why he accepts it except that it is a convenient rationalization for why some fine people should have miserable lives, and some rotten people should live in undeserved luxury. This kind of explanation is important to the Confucians because they feel they must explain why the finest flower of human excellence, Confucius, lived his life with little temporal success.
-- PEM