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Of the Five Phases

Critical Text

五	行	無	恆	勝	四
wu	xing	wu	heng	sheng	si
five	movement	without	lasting	victory	four

時	無	常	位	日	有
shi	wu	chang	wei	ri	you
season	without	constant	rank	sun	has

短	長	月	有	死	生
duan	chang	yue	you	si	sheng
short	long	moon	has	die	born

神	要
shen	yao
spirit	essentials

Yinqueshan Text

五行無恆勝四時無常立謮有短長月有死生神要

Shiyijia zhu Text

故五行無常勝四時無常位日有短長月有死生

Translation

Of the Five Phases, none is the lasting victor. Of the four seasons, none has constant rank. The sun shines short and long. The moon dies and lives. Spirit-like essentials.

Annotations

The Yinqueshan text restores the heng 恆 that had been lost due to the ban on the Han Emperor's personal name.

The final phrase, shenyao (spirit-like essentials) is found at the end of the Yinqueshan strip for the passage, perhaps as a section summary or a phrase of appreciation.