Heavenly Stem · 3 of 10
Bing丙
/bɪŋ/
Bing is the third of the ten Heavenly Stems, and the character itself means "third". It is yang Fire and belongs to the south. Bing has no cell of its own on the chart: it lodges on Snake with Wu, so wherever the chart shows Snake, read Bing.
- 甲JiaYang Wood
- 乙YiYin Wood
- 丙BingYang Fire
- 丁DingYin Fire
- 戊WuYang Earth
- 己JiYin Earth
- 庚GengYang Metal
- 辛XinYin Metal
- 壬RenYang Water
- 癸GuiYin Water
Term details
| Chinese | 丙 |
|---|---|
| Pinyin | bǐng |
| Standard name | Bing |
| First mention | Bing (Yang Fire 丙) |
| Order | 3 of 10 |
| Element | Fire |
|---|---|
| Yin or yang | yang |
| Lodges on | Snake 巳 of the Earth Plate |
| Patron by day | Pig 亥 |
| Patron by night | Rooster 酉 |
Etymology
The original sense of the character 丙 is lost. The Erya says 丙 is the name of a fish's tail. What the early form depicts has no settled answer, and from early times the character was used only as a stem.
The Shuowen Jiezi, the Han dynasty dictionary, places it in the south: "all things are complete and bright; yin breath first stirs, and yang breath is about to wane". The same dictionary also says the character pictures the shoulders. The word 炳, "bright", takes its sound from it. From "the third" comes the sense "third": in modern Chinese 丙 still means grade C or party C in a contract.
The Old Chinese pronunciation is reconstructed as *praŋʔ (Baxter and Sagart). Middle Chinese was pjaengX.
Significations
- direction and time
- the south
Source text
Of the Heavenly Stems, Jia and Yi are Wood of the east, Bing and Ding Fire of the south, Wu and Ji Earth of the centre, Geng and Xin Metal of the west, Ren and Gui Water of the north. In setting up a chart, Jia lodges on Tiger, Yi on Dragon, Bing and Wu on Snake, Ding and Ji on Goat, Geng on Monkey, Xin on Dog, Ren on Pig, Gui on Ox. (Da Liu Ren Zhinan, book 1)
天干者甲乙東方木，丙丁南方火，戊己中央土，庚辛西方金，壬癸北方水。入式之法：甲課在寅，乙課在辰，丙戊課在巳，丁己課在未，庚課在申，辛課在戌，壬課在亥，癸課在丑。
Sources: 大六壬指南 卷一、卷四神煞指南; 大六壬集应钤 丙戌日丑将、丙寅日申将; 毕法赋注解 天祸课; 六壬直指 丁未日巳将