---
type: article
status: Published
slug: "yinfujing"
title: "The Yellow Emperor’s Scripture of the Hidden Tally (Huangdi Yinfu Jing)"
author: "Anonymous (attributed to the Yellow Emperor)"
tradition: "alchemy"
language: "lzh"
genre: "Daoist scripture"
period: "traditionally Warring States to Tang; Daozang text"
source_url: "https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/黃帝陰符經"
certainty: observed
source: "https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/黃帝陰符經"
unknowns: none known
---
# The Yellow Emperor’s Scripture of the Hidden Tally (Huangdi Yinfu Jing)

## Original

### The Whole Scripture: Observing Heaven, Enriching the State, Strengthening the Army

1.觀天之道，執天之行，盡矣。天有五賊，見之者昌。五賊在心，施行於天。宇宙在乎手，萬化生乎身。天性，人也；人心，機也。立天之道，以定人也。天發殺機，移星易宿；地發殺機，龍蛇起陸；人發殺機，天地反覆；天人合發，萬變定基。性有巧拙，可以伏藏。九竅之邪，在乎三要，可以動靜。火生於木，禍發必尅；姦生於國，時動必潰；知之修練，謂之聖人。天生天殺，道之理也。

2.天地，萬物之盜；萬物，人之盜；人，萬物之盜。三盜既宜，三才既安。故曰：食其時，百骸理；動其機，萬化安。人知其神而神，不知不神而所以神也。日月有數，大小有定。聖功生焉，神明出焉。其盜機也，天下莫能見，莫能知。君子得之固躬，小人得之輕命。

3.瞽者善聽，聾者善視。絕利一源，用師十倍；三反晝夜，用師萬倍。心生于物，死于物，機在目。天之無恩而大恩生。迅雷烈風，莫不蠢然。至樂性余，至靜性廉。天之至私，用之至公。禽之制在炁。生者死之根，死者生之根。恩生於害，害生於恩。愚人以天地文理聖，我以時物文理哲。人以虞愚，我以不愚聖。人以期其聖，我以不期其聖。故以沉水入火，自取滅亡。自然之道靜，故天地萬物生。天地之道寖，故陰陽勝。陰陽相推，而變化順矣。是故聖人知自然之道不可違，因而制之。至靜之道，律曆所不能契。爰有奇器，是生萬象。八卦甲子，神機鬼藏。隂陽相勝之術，昭昭乎進乎象矣。

## Translation — Mouseia

> Mouseia’s complete machine-assisted Musean translation, made directly from the Chinese Wikisource transcription of the Zhengtong Daozang text (revision 2616477), covering the whole scripture in three sections, 447 characters, for fidelity, clarity, imagery and cadence.

### The Whole Scripture: Observing Heaven, Enriching the State, Strengthening the Army

1. Observe the Way of Heaven, hold fast to the workings of Heaven, and that is the whole of it. Heaven has five bandits, and whoever sees them flourishes. The five bandits lie in the heart; they are carried out in Heaven. The universe lies in the hand; the ten thousand transformations are born in the body. The nature of Heaven is the human; the human heart is a mechanism. Establish the Way of Heaven, and thereby settle humankind. When Heaven sets off its killing mechanism, the stars shift and the lodges change places; when Earth sets off its killing mechanism, dragons and serpents rise on the dry land; when humans set off their killing mechanism, heaven and earth are overturned; when Heaven and humans set theirs off together, the ten thousand changes settle on their foundation. Nature has its skill and its clumsiness, and it can be made to lie hidden and stored away. The nine apertures go astray in the three essentials, and through these they can be set moving or made still. Fire is born in wood, and when the calamity breaks out it must conquer; treachery is born in the state, and when the time stirs it must collapse. One who knows this and cultivates and refines it is called a sage. Heaven gives life and Heaven deals death: this is the principle of the Way.

2. Heaven and earth are the thieves of the ten thousand things; the ten thousand things are the thieves of humankind; humankind is the thief of the ten thousand things. When the three thefts are fitting, the three powers are at peace. Hence it is said: “Take food in its season, and the hundred bones are in order; set its mechanism in motion, and the ten thousand transformations are at peace.” People know the divine and call it divine; they do not know the undivine that makes it divine. Sun and moon have their numbers; the great and the small have their fixed measure. From this the sage’s work is born; from this divine light comes forth. As for its mechanism of theft, no one under heaven can see it, and no one can know it. Those of noble character who gain it make their persons secure; small people who gain it hold their lives cheap.

3. The blind hear well; the deaf see well. Cut off profit at a single source, and the army is worth ten times as much; go back over it three times, day and night, and the army is worth ten thousand times as much. The heart is born of things and dies of things, and the mechanism lies in the eye. From Heaven’s lack of kindness, great kindness is born. At swift thunder and fierce wind, nothing fails to stir. In utmost joy the nature has more than enough; in utmost stillness the nature is pure and spare. Heaven’s utmost partiality, when it is used, is utmost impartiality. The control of creatures lies in the qi. Life is the root of death; death is the root of life. Kindness is born of harm, and harm is born of kindness. Fools find sagehood in the patterns and principles of heaven and earth; I find wisdom in the patterns and principles of the seasons and of things. Others are fools through guesswork; I am a sage through not being a fool. Others expect their sagehood; I am a sage through not expecting it. So they sink into water and step into fire, and bring destruction on themselves. The Way of the natural is stillness, and therefore heaven, earth, and the ten thousand things are born. The Way of heaven and earth advances by degrees, and therefore yin and yang prevail. Yin and yang push against each other, and change and transformation follow smoothly. For this reason the sage, knowing that the Way of the natural cannot be defied, follows it and thereby controls it. The Way of utmost stillness is one that the pitch-pipes and the calendar cannot match. Here there is a wondrous vessel, and from it the ten thousand images are born. The eight trigrams and the sexagenary cycle: the mechanism of spirits, the hiding place of ghosts. The art by which yin and yang prevail over one another shines out, bright and clear, and passes beyond the images.

## Translation — Mouseia

> Mouseia’s complete Plain English edition, made independently and directly from the same original, covering the whole scripture in three sections, 447 characters.

### The Whole Scripture: Observing Heaven, Enriching the State, Strengthening the Army

1. Watch the Way of Heaven and hold to the way Heaven moves, and you have done everything. Heaven has five thieves. Whoever sees them will prosper. The five thieves are in the mind, and they are carried out through Heaven. The universe is in one's hand. All the changes of things are born in one's body. The nature of Heaven is the human being. The human heart is the trigger. Setting up the Way of Heaven is how human beings are made steady.
When Heaven sets off the killing trigger, the stars move and the constellations change places. When Earth sets it off, dragons and snakes rise up onto dry land. When humans set it off, Heaven and Earth turn upside down. When Heaven and humans set it off together, all the changes settle into their base.
Natures can be clever or clumsy, and they can be kept hidden. The evils of the nine openings of the body depend on three key points, and these can be set in motion or held still. Fire is born in wood, and when the disaster breaks out, it always overpowers the wood. Treachery grows inside a country, and when its time comes to move, the country always collapses. Someone who knows this and trains in it is called a sage. Heaven gives life and Heaven kills. That is the principle of the Way.

2. Heaven and Earth are the thieves of all things. All things are the thieves of people. People are the thieves of all things. When the three thefts are each done in the right way, the three powers of Heaven, Earth, and people are at peace. So it is said: “Eat at the right time, and the hundred bones of the body stay in order. Set the trigger in motion, and all the changes settle.”
People know what is divine and call it divine. They don't know that what makes it divine is itself not divine. The sun and moon have set counts, and large and small have fixed measures. From this the work of a sage is born, and divine insight comes out. This trigger of theft is something no one under Heaven can see or understand. A person of character who gets hold of it makes themselves secure. A petty person who gets hold of it takes life lightly.

3. Blind people are good at hearing. Deaf people are good at seeing. Cut off gain at a single source, and you get ten times the use out of an army. Repeat it three times, day and night, and you get ten thousand times the use out of an army. The mind comes to life through things and dies through things. The trigger is in the eye.
Heaven shows no kindness, and out of that comes great kindness. When sudden thunder and fierce wind arrive, nothing fails to stir. With the greatest joy, one's nature has more than enough. With the greatest stillness, one's nature is modest. Heaven is at its most selfish, yet it uses that for the most complete fairness. Controlling a bird or beast depends on qi.
Life is the root of death, and death is the root of life. Kindness is born from harm, and harm is born from kindness.
Foolish people find their sageliness in the patterns of Heaven and Earth. I find my wisdom in the patterns of the seasons and of things. Other people are foolish because of their forethought. I am a sage because I am not foolish. Other people hope to become sages. I don't hope to become one.
So sinking into water or walking into fire is how a person brings on their own destruction.
The way of nature is stillness, and that is why Heaven, Earth, and all things are born. The way of Heaven and Earth is to advance little by little, and that is why yin and yang gain the upper hand. Yin and yang push against each other, and so change and transformation run smoothly. This is why the sage knows that the way of nature can't be defied, and so follows it and keeps control of things by it.
The way of perfect stillness is something that the pitch pipes and the calendar can't match. Here there is a wondrous device, and from it all appearances are born. The eight trigrams and the cycle of sixty that begins with jiazi have divine triggers and hidden depths like a ghost's. The art by which yin and yang overcome each other is perfectly clear, and it goes beyond appearances.