Heavenly Stem · 2 of 10
Yi乙
/iː/
Yi is the second of the ten Heavenly Stems, and the character itself means "second". It is yin Wood and belongs to the east. Yi has no cell of its own on the chart: it lodges on Dragon, so wherever the chart shows Dragon, read Yi.
- 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 | 乙 |
|---|---|
| Pinyin | yǐ |
| Standard name | Yi |
| First mention | Yi (Yin Wood 乙) |
| Order | 2 of 10 |
| Element | Wood |
|---|---|
| Yin or yang | yin |
| Lodges on | Dragon 辰 of the Earth Plate |
| Patron by day | Rat 子 |
| Patron by night | Monkey 申 |
Etymology
Where the character 乙 comes from is not known. In old texts 乙 also names bent things such as a fish's gut or gill bone.
The Shuowen Jiezi, the Han dynasty dictionary, reads it as "spring plants coming out bent and twisted, while yin breath is still strong": a shoot forcing its way up through cold ground in a crooked line. This is why Yi belongs to the east, to spring and to Wood, and is the soft, bending yin Wood. From "the second to sprout" comes the sense "second": Yi is second among the ten Heavenly Stems, and in modern Chinese 乙 still means grade B or party B in a contract.
The Old Chinese pronunciation is reconstructed as *qrət (Baxter and Sagart). Middle Chinese was 'it, already far from today's yǐ.
Significations
- nature
- soft and weak, bent
- direction and time
- the east
Source text
Rat, Horse, Rabbit and Rooster hold the five yin stems Yi, Ding, Ji, Xin and Gui … so when Taigong set up the chart, he moved the five yin stems onto the Final Branches. That is what this means. The Middle Branches are where the yin stems are at their height: Yi's salary reaches Rabbit, … and there its breath is at its fullest. (Da Liu Ren Zhinan, book 2)
子午卯酉所藏乃乙丁己辛癸五陰干……故太公立課將五陰干移於四季，正謂此也。蓋四仲當陰干之旺，如乙祿到卯……則極氣盛矣。
Sources: 大六壬指南 卷一、卷二; 毕法赋注解 四十七; 六壬直指 乙未日丑将; 大六壬集应钤 乙卯日子将