Nayin 纳音 · sound element #15 of 30
Water with a settled course and a destination: volume that has become direction.
| Term 纳音 | 长流水 — Ever-Flowing Water (chang liu shui) |
|---|---|
| Element of the image | 水 Water |
| Pillars it covers | 壬辰、癸巳 — Renchen and Guisi (pair #15 of 30) |
壬辰癸巳，势极东南，气傍离宫，火明势盛，水得归库，盈科后进，乃曰长流水也
Why the name: Renchen and Guisi — the momentum reaches its extreme in the southeast, the qi runs beside the palace of Li, fire is bright and the force full, water gets its storehouse, and it advances only after filling each hollow; hence Ever-Flowing Water.
长流水者，混混无穷，滔滔不竭，就下必纳于东南，顺流自归于辰巳
Ever-Flowing Water: welling on and on without end, rolling on and never exhausted; going downward it must empty into the southeast, following the current it returns of itself to Chen and Si.
Chen is the storehouse of water. 盈科后进 — it advances only after filling each hollow — is a phrase from Mencius, and the derivation is using it precisely: this water does not leap ahead, it fills what is in front of it and then moves.
San Ming Tong Hui says it 喜金生养 and names White Wax and Hairpin Gold, both of which are unfinished or ornamental metals rather than blades. The text is consistent: a long river wants a steady source, not a sharp one.
Sources: 《三命通会》 (San Ming Tong Hui, Ming dynasty, 万民英) — chapters 论纳音取象 and 释六十甲子性质吉凶. Both passages above are quoted from a local plain-text edition and checked character by character by a test before this page can ship. Translations are ours.
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