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Chart of Si Tian and Zai Quan on the Palm

Method for Deducing the Six Qi: The two positions preceding Si Tian (Chief Qi ruling the Heaven) constitute Chu Qi (First Qi); the position immediately preceding constitutes Er Qi (Second Qi); the position of Si Tian itself is San Qi (Third Qi); the position immediately following is Si Qi (Fourth Qi); the two positions following are Wu Qi (Fifth Qi); and the three positions following are Zhong Qi (Final Qi), which corresponds to Zai Quan (Chief Qi ruling the Earth). Within the circle of the palm, the Six Qi are clearly grasped.

The Six Qi are categorized as follows: Jueyin (Liver and Pericardium) is First Yin; Shaoyin (Heart and Kidney) is Second Yin; Taiyin (Spleen and Lung) is Third Yin; Shaoyang (Gallbladder and Sanjiao) is First Yang; Yangming (Large Intestine and Stomach) is Second Yang; and Taiyang (Bladder and Small Intestine) is Third Yang. Therefore, by remembering only the six characters "Jue, Shao, Tai, Shao, Yang, Tai," all Six Qi are covered. "Jue, Shao, Tai" represent the Three Yin, while "Shao, Yang, Tai" represent the Three Yang. The method begins with the years of Si and Hai, initiating with Jueyin Si Tian. Thus, the character "Jue" is placed at the Si-Hai position, "Shao" at the Zi-Wu position, and "Tai" at the Chou-Wei position. Counting forward to the end reveals the Si Tian of that year. The remaining five Qi can be deduced in sequence.

Shao Yong stated: Heaven has Four Seasons, Earth has Four Directions, and Man has Four Limbs. Finger joints allow one to observe Heaven, and palm lines allow one to inspect Earth. The principles of Heaven and Earth are contained within the palm. One theory holds: Hands face upward, originating from Heaven and tending upwards; Feet face downward, originating from Earth and tending downwards. Hands can invert while feet cannot, because Yang can encompass Yin, but Yin cannot encompass Yang. The back of the palm is high and the front is low, symbolizing that Earth's northwest is mountainous and its southeast is watery. Gathering into rivers and marshes, the lines in the palm resemble the image of rivers.

From the wrist-palm-elbow-to-shoulder, the hand has three segments; from the toe-shin-thigh-to-hip, the foot has three segments. Three times four corresponds to the Twelve Earthly Branches (Twelve Hours). The four limbs correspond to the Four Seasons of Heaven and the Four Directions of Earth. Each of the four fingers on one hand has three segments, corresponding to the Twelve Chen (Earthly Branches); together, both hands correspond to the Twenty-Four Solar Terms. The thumb has three segments; the two lower segments represent Yin and Yang, while the hidden part represents Taiji (Supreme Ultimate). The palm is a large object; combined, it totals thirty-two, corresponding to the Heavenly Trigrams; adding hands and feet totals sixty-four, incorporating the Earthly Hexagrams. The limit of Earth's body is sixteen; one hand displays fifteen numbers, with one being Taiji, hidden within the large object. Each of the four limbs has meridians corresponding to the Qi of the Four Seasons; each meridian has three positions, corresponding to a season and three months; each position has three pulses, corresponding to three ten-day periods of a month. Su Wen states that the Twelve Solar Terms originate from Heaven and correspond to the Twelve Meridians of Man, asserting that the hands and feet each have Three Yin and Three Yang. The School of Yin-Yang distributes the Twelve Earthly Branches around the twelve segments of the fingers, calling it the "Palm of Twelve Branches"; it distributes the numbers of Luoshu into three palaces on each of the index, middle, and ring fingers, calling it the "Palm of Nine Palaces"; it distributes the Eight Trigrams onto these three fingers, excluding the central palace, starting with Qian at the root of the ring finger in the northwest direction, ending with Dui at due west, calling it the "Palm of Eight Directions"; starting with Kan at the root of the index finger and moving up segment by segment, then Kun, Zhen, Xun, Center, Qian, Dui, Gen, and Li, ending at the root of the ring finger, it is called the "Mountain-Expelling Palm"; using colors White 1, Black 2, Green 3, Green 4, Yellow 5, White 6, Red 7, White 8, Purple 9, following the previous method, it is called the "Purple-White Palm"; starting with Jia at the Yin position and ending with Gui at the Hai position, excluding the Zi and Chou palaces, it is called the "Palm of Ten Heavenly Stems"; using the upper and lower segments of the index and middle fingers, it is called the "Liu Ren Palm." From this, we see that the principles of Heaven and Earth can be fully understood by raising the palm. Shao Yong certainly did not deceive us, and the creation of humans by Heaven could hardly be accidental.

Chart of Earth's Response to the Six Solar Terms

In this chart, the upper elements move to the right, and the lower elements move to the left. From the first to the final, they constitute the Principal Qi of Earth, remaining static and holding their positions.

The meaning originates from the chapter "Da Lun of the Six Subtle Principles" (Liu Wei Zhi Da Lun).