HeritageThe Metaphysics Canon · Chronological
Trace Chinese Metaphysics from its earliest cosmological strata through imperial practice, regional transmission, and modern reception. A curated reading map for understanding where the systems came from—and what each text actually contributes.
A living archive
22Foundational entries
Seven connected fields arranged in historical sequence—from the Yijing to modern translation and reception.
Origins before opinions
See the lineage behind the method.
Every working system carries a history. Cosmology shaped its language. Courts refined its calculations. Practitioners translated doctrine into landform, timing, identity, and judgment. Later cultures adopted, adapted, and reframed what they received.
This archive keeps those layers visible. Browse chronologically to see development over time, or filter by discipline to follow one intellectual thread from its roots to its later applications.
A tradition becomes clearer when we separate origin, transmission, interpretation, and modern use.
Begin with cultural context
Cultural Legacy
Understand how texts, institutions, lineages, translation, and regional adaptation carry knowledge forward—and the standards required to present that inheritance responsibly.
The chronological canon
Explore the texts and traditions.
Search by title or idea, select a field, and switch between a visual library and a chronological timeline.
Yijing (Zhouyi) + Ten Wings
Binary lines, image, and judgment—the foundational language of change behind later canons.
Lüshi Chunqiu
A pre-imperial syncretic compendium organized around season, governance, and practical sense.
Huainanzi
Systematic Yin–Yang and Five Phases applied across governance, environment, and craft.
Chunqiu Fanlu
Correlative cosmology linking seasonal order, political conduct, and observable form.
Taixuanjing
Yang Xiong’s 81-figure ternary system of image, number, position, and transformation.
Zang Shu · Book of Burial
The form-first foundation: terrain, shelter, and flow must be proven before timing.
Onmyōdō
Court calendrics, Yin–Yang and Five Phases, directional logic, and ritual logistics.
P’ungsu-jiri
Landform-led siting with protective back mass, a gentle front, and clean water paths.
Taiyi Shen Shu
Macro cycles and omens used to size exposure according to long-range conditions.
Qi Men Dun Jia
A time–space strategy lens for selecting posture, position, route, and action window.
Da Liu Ren
Verification and precision timing for deciding when to advance, adjust, or hold.
Qing Nang Jing
Green Satchel doctrines: geometry, landform, orientation, and water—not decorative myth.
Zi Ping Zhen Quan
Balance, useful-factor selection, and the practical grammar of Four Pillars analysis.
Tibetan Element Calendars
The 60-year element–animal cycle, festival timing, and neutral operational windows.
Huangji Jingshi
Shao Yong’s image–number cosmology, long-cycle arrays, proportion, and change.
Yang Zhai San Yao
The residential spine of door, master seat, and stove—sequence before superstition.
Di Tian Sui
A backbone of Four Pillars interpretation: structure and condition before flourish.
Ma Yi Xiangfa
Tang–Song roots, widely transmitted through Ming print culture; structure-first face reading.
Shenxiang Quanbian
A major physiognomy compendium read through behavior and condition—not fixed labels.
Xieji Bianfang Shu
The imperial calendrics standard: technical correctness and sequence before flourish.
Tongshu · Tongsheng
The operational almanac: distinguish favorable, neutral, and avoid windows—form first.
Western Reception of the Yijing
Legge and Wilhelm/Baynes—and how translation choices reshape modern decisions.
A disciplined reading method
Read the layer before using the lesson.
Historical texts survive through editing, commentary, transmission, and modern translation. Treat each layer with care, then ask what remains operationally useful.
Research standards
Heritage without mythology.
The archive is designed for historical care and practical clarity—not costume, mystification, or certainty beyond the evidence.
Continue the study
Move from lineage to living practice.
Explore the wider Metaphysics Canon for system-based study, or begin with your own Day Pillar as a practical anchor into BaZi’s language of structure.