The Wu Epoch and the Vermilion Bird

The principle is in truth quite simple: 1 yuan = 129,600 years; one yuan has 12 epochs, each epoch lasting 10,800 years. We are within the Wu epoch, so one places Wu over Zi to form the inverted diagram. Also, because “the emperor emerges from Zhen” and is received in Geng—Heaven returns to Geng and Earth to Shen—and from this the Nayin, the principles of River and Luo, and the transformations of the Five Movements and Six Qi can all be derived. Thus is the principle by which the Vermilion Bird is the source where prosperous qi arises.