How to Read Bazi Chart

Lesson 1: BZP 1201 REVISED HOW TO READ A BAZI CHART

Revised How To Read A Bazi Chart How To Read A BaZi Chart? Introduction At this juncture, it is important that you are reasonably well-versed with all the fundamentals. These fundamentals include the: • •

Heavenly Stems Earthly Branches

and the relationships between the stems and branches. In addition, if you are not quite comfortable yet with the concept of Yin/Yang, the nuances of the 5 elements, element strength, chart equilibrium, luck cycle as well as the basic pictorial approach, please do review the fundamentals.

Heaven Stem

Earthly Branches

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Lesson 1: BZP 1201 REVISED HOW TO READ A BAZI CHART

If you’re all systems set to go, let’s get to deciphering a BaZi chart! In this lesson, we take the first step to reading a BaZi chart (do keep in mind that learning BaZi is like peeling an onion; each time you re-look into any BaZi chart, you discover yet another aspect of the person’s life.) The Components of a BaZi Chart: Pillars, Palaces and Stars Now, the first step is to understand the components of a BaZi chart.

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Lesson 1: BZP 1201 REVISED HOW TO READ A BAZI CHART

There are altogether 4 pillars; the year pillar, month pillar, day pillar and hour pillar. Each pillar represents certain aspects of your life eg. relationships, the people in your life and your own personal characteristics— from external characteristics, your responses to challenges and situations, to your innermost thoughts and feelings!

Hour Pillar

Day Pillar

Month Pillar

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Month Pillar

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Lesson 1: BZP 1201 REVISED HOW TO READ A BAZI CHART

Within the 4 pillars themselves are “Palaces” (Western Astrology refers to Palaces as “Houses”). Each of the palaces governs a relationship or *affinity* with a particular subject matter. The year pillar is also know as the “Grandparents Palace” ie. the palace that governs your affinity with the your grandparents and extended family. The month pillar is the “Parents Palace” and represents your affinity to your parents or superiors/bosses. The day pillar can be divided into two portions. The stem of the day pillar is the “Life Palace” which is referred to as the “Day Master”, and represents YOU. The branch of the day pillar is the “Spouse Palace” and represents your spouse and also your home. The hour pillar is the “Children Palace” and represents your relationship and affinity with your children or others under your care. Each of the palaces basically indicates one’s relationship with the subject matter as represented by the particular palace in question.

Self Parents Palace

Children Palace

Grandparents Palace

Spouse Palace

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Lesson 1: BZP 1201 REVISED HOW TO READ A BAZI CHART

As a crucial component in understanding a specific affinity or relationship in one’s life, we have to look at the “stars” which are situated inside the palaces. For example, if your month pillar contains an unfavourable or negative element, then your relationship with what is governed by that pillar, ie. your parents is less than stellar!

Parents Palace

For more information on a specific subject matter for example the characteristics of your spouse or child, we have to look at the “stars” which reside inside the relevant pillar, such as the spouse palace or children palace.

Children Palace Spouse Palace

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Lesson 1: BZP 1201 REVISED HOW TO READ A BAZI CHART

In summary, a BaZi chart contains 3 major components: the pillars, palaces and stars. At this juncture, if you are shaking your head, confused at where all the “stars” are flying about, fret not! The “stars” are nothing more than the stems branches and hidden stems contained in the palaces of a BaZi chart. In future lessons, we will convert the stems and branches into descriptive stars which fall under 2 categories: •

10 Gods (eg. Eating God, Indirect Wealth, Direct Resource, Rob Wealth etc)

10 Gods

Pin Yin Bi Jian

Direct Translation

Group

Friend Associate

Jie Cai

Rob Wealth

Pian Yin

Indirect Resource

Zheng Yin

Direct Resource

Pian Guan/ Qi Sha

Indirect Officer/ Seven Killings

Zheng Guan

Direct Officer

Pian Cai

Indirect Wealth

Resource

Power

Wealth Zheng Cai

Direct Wealth

Shi Shen

Eating God

Shang Guan

Hurting Officer

Output

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Lesson 1: BZP 1201 REVISED HOW TO READ A BAZI CHART

•

Auxiliary Stars (eg Noblemen, Intelligence, Peach Blossom etc)

Auxiliary Stars Noblemen Star Intelligence Star Heavenly Noble Monthly Virtue Sky Horse Peach Blossom Solitary and Lonely Star

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Lesson 1: BZP 1201 REVISED HOW TO READ A BAZI CHART

Palace Relationships A basic BaZi reading entails deciphering and understanding the pillars, palaces and stars. We need to look at how all the components interact with each other. However, as a first step, we need to look into the relationships and interactions between the palaces within a BaZi chart. So before we delve deeper into “stars”, let’s understand the relationships between the palaces, of which there are essentially 2 types: •

Heavenly Stems relationships

Heavenly Stems Relationship Mastery Academy E-Learning Center. All rights reservedd worldwide. Copyright © 2008 by Joey Yap www.joeyyap.com

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Lesson 1: BZP 1201 REVISED HOW TO READ A BAZI CHART

•

Earthly Branches relationships

Earthly Branches Relationship

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Lesson 1: BZP 1201

REVISED HOW TO READ A BAZI CHART

Earthly Branches Relationship Table

Rat Dog

Rat

3 Combination

Harm

Clash

3 Combination

Punishment

Combination

Zi Destruction

Ox

Destruction

Combination

Chou

Yin

Punishment

3 Combination

Punishment Clash

Harm

Harm

3 Combination

Clash

3 Combination

3 Combination Combination

Punishment Clash

Rabbit

Punishment

Mao

3 Combination Destruction

Punishment 3 Combination Control

Tiger

Combination Destruction

Chen

Snake

Punishment Harm

3 Combination

Clash

Horse Wu

Harm

Wei Destruction

3 Combination

Combination

3 Combination

Shen

Rooster

You

Dog

Xu

Hai

Pig

Harm

Punishment Destruction

3 Combination

Clash

Combination

Punishment

Harm

3 Combination

Clash

3 Combination

3 Combination Combination Destruction

3 Combination Punishment

Clash

Harm

Punishment

3 Combination

3 Combination Combination

Punishment Clash

3 Combination Destruction

Monkey Combination Punishment Destruction

3 Combination Harm

Punishment Destruction

Combination

Punishment Clash

Goat Punishment

3 Combination

3 Combination Harm

Si

3 Combination Combination Punishment Destruction

Punishment

Harm

Destruction

3 Combination

Dragon

Combination

Clash

Clash

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Zi

Ox Horse Snake Dragon Rabbit Tiger

Chou Yin Mao Chen Si Wu

Wei Shen You Xu

Pig

Rooster Monkey Goat

Hai

Lesson 1: BZP 1201 REVISED HOW TO READ A BAZI CHART

To keep things simple for now, please assume that the heavenly stems may only interact among themselves and similarly for the earthly branches. Which of the 2 kinds of relationships is more important? They are both important but the relationships which have a more serious impact on one’s life are the earthly arthly branch relationships. The relationships between the heavenly stems are more on thee surface outlook of things akin to the clothes that we wear. This is because the heavenly nly stems represent the prevailing qi or what is outside. For example, a clashh of the heavenly stems may result in a small external injury or only a small problem that’s revealed to the world. worldd. As As the earthly earthhly branches brancches represent represennt what what is inside and the actual ccontent ontennt on w hat is involved, involvved, a clash, for example, exam mple, inn more serious, major problems. the earthly branches is m ore ser rious, su such as majo or healthh issues andd proble lem ms. contain roots subject matter. This is because the earthly earthhly branches brancches con nta t in the aactual ctual ro oots of any ny subjec ct matter m r. timing aspects seasonal In addition, the earthly bbranches ranches representt ti timi m ng aspect ts ((such suuch as seaso onal qi) as well. As such, a BaZii reading at this is stage sta t ge usually focuses more morre onn earthly eartthly earthly branches’ relationships an and as you’ll youu’ll soon find fin i d out in later er lessons llessons, s, thee eart thly branches’ relationships are arre quite numerous numeerous andd are rather rather complex. c mplexx. co

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Lesson 1: BZP 1201 REVISED HOW TO READ A BAZI CHART

Heavenly Stem Relationships There are 2 main relationships of the Heavenly Stems: • •

Counter Combination

Φ

‫׸‬

ʚ

՚

̵

̇

ʛ

߰

ˏ

ʚ

·

Φ

Jia

Yi

Bing

Ding

Ji

Wu

Geng

Xin

Ren

Gui

Yi

Jia

The heavenly stem relationships basically represent the apparent and revealed aspects of one’s life and include the events and outcomes that are visible and are know by others. For example, a countering relationship usually indicates an apparent problem in one’s life that is obvious to those around him/her. Do bear in mind as you progress with your BaZi studies that at every level of your study, you’ll keep adding yet another layer of information to concepts that you’ve already been introduced to at a previous level. We are indeed “peeling the BaZi onion” one layer at a time! Mastery Academy E-Learning Center. All rights reserved worldwide. Copyright © 2008 by Joey Yap www.joeyyap.com

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Lesson 1: BZP 1201 REVISED HOW TO READ A BAZI CHART

Earthly Branch Relationships Earthly branch relationships are more complex as there are several types of relationship. There are 5 types of earthly branch relationships: •

Clashes

˅ Zi

Rat

˘ Chou

Ox

ઙ Yin

Tiger

͜ Mao

Rabbit

՛ Chen

Dragon

ˑ Si

Snake

ԟ C lash

ԟ C lash

ԟ C lash

ԟ C lash

ԟ C lash

ԟ C lash

˿ Wu

Horse

ΐ Wei

Goat

Χ Shen

Monkey

զ You

Rooster

З Xu

Dog

μ Hai

Pig

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Lesson 1: BZP 1201 REVISED HOW TO READ A BAZI CHART

•

Combinations

˅

˘

Z Zi

Chou C Ch ou

Rat

Ox

ઙ

μ

Yinn Y Yi

Hai Hai H

Tiger

Pig

͜

З

Maoo M Ma

X Xu

Rabbit

Dog

՛

զ

Chen C Ch en

You You Y

Dragon

Rooster

ˑ

Χ

Si

Shen

Snake

Monkey

ΐ

˿

Wei Wei W

Wu

Goat

Horse

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Lesson 1: BZP 1201 REVISED HOW TO READ A BAZI CHART

•

Harms

Rat

࿃

Goat

р

Tiger

‫ۏ‬

Snake

ௐ

Monkey

ഛ

Pig

猪

Ox

̲

Horse

马

Rabbit

֊

Dragon

龙

Dog

‫ڔ‬

Rooster

鸡

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Lesson 1: BZP 1201 REVISED HOW TO READ A BAZI CHART

•

Punishment

Ungrateful Punishment ഒࣿ˞ϗ

ઙ

ˑ

Χ

Tiger

Snake

Monkey

Yin

Si

Shen

Bullying Punishment ‫ݰ‬ถ˞ϗ

ΐ

З

˘

Goat

Dog

Ox

Chou

Xu

Wei

Uncivilised Punishment ഒᕄ˞ϗ

˅

͜

Rat

Rabbit

Zi

Mao

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Lesson 1: BZP 1201 REVISED HOW TO READ A BAZI CHART

•

Punishment Self Punishment

՛

՛

Dragon

Dragon

˿

˿

Horse

Horse

զ

զ

Rooster

Rooster

μ

μ

Pig

Pig

Chen

Wu

You

Hai

Chen

Wu

You

Hai

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Lesson 1: BZP 1201 REVISED HOW TO READ A BAZI CHART

•

Destruction

Zi

Rat Shen

Monkey Chen

Dragon Wu

Horse Yin

Tiger

You

Destroy

Rooster Si

Destroy

Snake Chou

Destroy

Ox Mao

Destroy

Rabbit Hai

Destroy

Pig

Xu

Dog

Wei

Destroy

Goat

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Lesson 1: BZP 1201 REVISED HOW TO READ A BAZI CHART

Each type of earthly branch relationship represents a different aspect, feel, and affinity. While a single BaZi natal chart will not contain all the relationships, we will certainly experience all the relationships as life unfolds since there are the Luck Pillars and Annual Pillars that will interact with the natal chart. •

Clash - A clash is basically an antagonistic relationship between 2 earthly branches

• Combination – A combination is a merging of 2 earthly branches, sometimes producing an extra element. The analogy is like a couple getting together to produce a child (although note that a combination does not always mean a marriage nor is a combination always a good thing!)

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Lesson 1: BZP 1201 REVISED HOW TO READ A BAZI CHART

•

Harm – A harm generally entails some sort of betrayal, hurt feelings and causes emotional pain

• Punishment – A punishment is basically a negative repercussion or effect, such as pain or losses due to one’s own actions (or inaction), attitude and behaviour. It is by understanding the kind of punishment that we can take control, avoid or minimize its effect by identifying the cause of the problem.

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Lesson 1: BZP 1201 REVISED HOW TO READ A BAZI CHART

• Destruction – A destruction is basically a removal or change in some aspect of life and is best represented with the adage “out with the old, in with the new”, even though the “new” may be bad or negative! Self-destructive behaviour is one example of a destruction effect.

At this point, do bear in mind that there is no absolute rule as to which earthly branch relationship is “bad” or “good”. A clash or punishment, though generally unpleasant, may serve to teach us a good lesson, lead us eventually to a positive outcome and make us better people. But of course, not everyone is able to learn from these experiences (which may even destroy him/her). One key concept of understanding BaZi is to help us understand the forces that affect us and more importantly, what appropriate actions to take (or not to take) in order to improve our lives. As such, the real “cure” to any negative stem or branch relationship is via our own actions. The purpose of understanding BaZi is to comprehend what governs us, what affects us and most of all, what’s RIGHT action to take (avoidance can sometimes be the best action!) to make our lives better. At this stage you have taken an important first step to reading any BaZi chart, ie. in identifying and understanding the stem and branch relationships between the palaces in the chart. It is crucial to do this prior to delving into the elemental relationships between the stars.

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