Heavenly Stem · 8 of 10
Xin辛
/ʃɪn/
Xin is the eighth of the ten Heavenly Stems, and the character itself means "pungent" and "hardship". It is yin Metal and belongs to the west. Xin has no cell of its own on the chart: it lodges on Dog, so wherever the chart shows Dog, read Xin.
- 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 | 辛 |
|---|---|
| Pinyin | xīn |
| Standard name | Xin |
| First mention | Xin (Yin Metal 辛) |
| Order | 8 of 10 |
| Element | Metal |
|---|---|
| Yin or yang | yin |
| Lodges on | Dog 戌 of the Earth Plate |
| Patron by day | Horse 午 |
| Patron by night | Tiger 寅 |
Etymology
The traditional account makes 辛 the picture of a chisel or awl, the tool used to brand slaves and criminals, which is why characters for crime, concubine and servant are written with it. Some scholars think this comes from confusing it with another character, and that the oracle-bone form shows new shoots on a tree.
The Shuowen Jiezi, the Han dynasty dictionary, assigns it to autumn and the west: "all things are complete and ripe; Metal is hard; the taste is pungent, and when pungency hurts, tears come". In everyday Chinese 辛 means pungent, and by extension hardship and toil.
The Old Chinese pronunciation is reconstructed as *[s]i[n] (Baxter and Sagart). Middle Chinese was sin.
Significations
- nature
- sharp, reforming
- matters
- change, alteration, mistakes, revolution, rebellion, punishment
- things
- pointed knives
- direction and time
- the west
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; 毕法赋注解 十二、四十七、别责课、天狱课、亨通课; 六壬直指 辛未日子将; 大六壬集应钤 辛酉日未将、辛亥日申将