"At Kung--the Seventh Stem--the Darkness nips all things."
But the Darkness is passing away:
"At Jin--the Ninth Stem--the Light begins to nourish all things in the recesses below.
"Lastly, at Tsze, all things begin to germinate."[1]
The same story is told in the "Twelve Branches."
"1. K'wun-tun stands for the period of chaos, the cold midnight darkness. It is said that with it all things began to germinate in the hidden recesses of the under-world."
In the 2d--Ch'i-fun-yoh--"light and heat become active, and all things begin to rise in obedience to its nature." In the 3d--Sheh-ti-kuh--the stars and sun probably appear, as from this point the calendar begins. In the 5th--Chi-shii--all things in a torpid state begin to come forth. In the 8th--Hëen-hia--all things harmonize, and the present order of things is established; that is to say, the effects of the catastrophe have largely passed away.[2]
The kings who governed before the Drift were called the Rulers of heaven and earth; those who came after were the Rulers of man.
"Cheu Ching-huen says: 'The Rulers of man succeeded to the Rulers of heaven and the Rulers of earth in the government; that then the atmosphere gradually cleared away, and all things sprang up together; that the order of time was gradually settled, and the usages of society gradually became correct and respectful."[3]
And then we read that "the day and night had not yet been divided," but, after a time, "day and night were distinguished from each other."[4]