The Correct Way of Understanding a Person's Destiny

ෘ ಯ ‫ܧ‬ ᑵ Knowledge of a Lifetime (Basic)

The Correct Way of Understanding a Person’s Destiny Benson Yeo

Knowledge of a Lifetime (Basic)

The Correct Way of Understanding a Person’s Destiny

Knowledge of a Lifetime (Basic)

The Correct Way of Understanding a Person’s Destiny

Benson Yeo Co-author

Christine Lim

Copyright © 2009 Benson Yeo All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. All requests are to be directed to the publisher.

While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, neither the authors and publisher shall have any liability to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the views, thoughts and opinions contained in this book. No part of this book constitutes advice and should be construed as such. The materials in this book are based on information that is considered reliable, but neither the publisher nor authors guarantee that it is accurate or complete. Expressed opinions are time-based and are subject to changes.

ISBN: 978-981-08-3079-3

Publisher: Destiny Empire Author: Benson Yeo Co-author: Christine Lim

Typeset in Century Gothic by Paul Lim. Printed in Singapore by Image Printers Pte Ltd. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Published by

625 Elias Road, #01-320 Elias Mall Singapore 510625 Tel: (65) 6585 0543 Fax: (65) 6585 0542

www.destinyempire.com

甲 Jia Tree

乙 Yi Flower

丙 Bing Sun

丁 Ding Fire

戊 Wu Mountain

己 Ji

Moist Earth

庚 Geng Iron

辛 Xin

Gold, Minerals

壬 Ren Water

癸 Kui

Rain, Water vapor

Contents Foreword .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. xix Introduction .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. xxi Classical Bazi - How it all began .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. xxi How to use and read this book . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. xxvii Chapter 1

What is Bazi . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 1 Chapter 2

The Ingredients of Heaven, Earth and Man .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .15 How to derive your Bazi chart .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 30 What does your Day Master Stem tells about you .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 31 Earthly Branches reveal its secrets .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 44 Secrets of the Hidden Stems .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 47 The complexity of a person’s character and feelings .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 57 Chapter 3

More secrets unlocked .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .59 Introducing the Noble Elements .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 60 Chapter 4

Misconceptions of the modern understanding .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .93 The misconceptions of the Strong and the Weak.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 94 The true meaning of Strong and Weak . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 99

Chapter 5

Uncoding the Bazi secrets . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..103 What it says about people around you .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 109 What it says about your career .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 113 What it says about your family background.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 114 What it says about your marriage . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 117 What it says about your children .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 119 Chapter 6

Do you have any Noble Elements? . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..121 Do you resign to fate? .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 125 Chapter 7

Questions asked and answered .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..127

Foreword Bazi is the Chinese ancient way of Destiny analysis. The history of Bazi began some 5000 years ago during the Chinese Wu Kingdom. This is our first book of many to come. Many people have attempted to interpret the classical Bazi treasures, written in these books such as “窮通寶鑑 The Infinite Treasure”, “滴天随 Heaven Instillation Secret” and “子平真诠 The Real Meaning of Bazi classic”. To their dismay, the texts were both complex and confusing, and many have given up. Others have made shallow conclusions based on what the literal meaning of what they read. Unfortunately, the Classical Bazi text was not what they appeared to be. “Why is there not a consistency in its meanings? What are the hidden meanings in the words?” I have asked myself over a thousand times when trying to decode the Bazi treasures. I know that one day, I will find the truth. In my undying spirit to discover the truth, I had read the Bazi classics over a hundred times. This was done over my last 19 years since my passion for Chinese Metaphysics developed. I have read books and attended courses by other Bazi Masters. Many Bazi interpretations have been told and taught to me. Yet, I was not convinced, as there were unanswered contradictions. One fine day, staring at the piles of Bazi scribbles I’d made on the walls of my kitchen, I held my breath for a few minutes. I’d DISCOVERED IT! I’d finally found the way to decode the Bazi classics. I have understood what the original masters are trying to say, by not offering a direct explanation.

This discovery happened at my “NOBLE” hour (I will explain this concept in this book) – my best knowledge hour. I began to pen down my discoveries in my own “Bible”. Over the next few years, I confirmed my discoveries by doing Bazi readings for friends, families and my Bazi clients. Yes, I have found the truth. After fine-tuning and conceptualizing my discoveries, I am now ready to share this knowledge. I started teaching Bazi and Feng Shui at my school, Destiny Empire, in Singapore and Malaysia. Keen learners from all over the world have requested for the knowledge. Thus, I feel compelled to share this knowledge through books. In my school, I teach the various levels of Bazi and Feng Shui, covering the Bazi Classics and applications. Information on the courses can be obtained in my website (www.destinyempire.com). The greatest challenge for us, in writing this first Bazi book, is to be able to effectively explain the Bazi fundamentals to the beginners, yet be profound enough for those who have some knowledge of Bazi. More of my discoveries will be featured in our future books. In our series of Bazi books, we will show you: why you are the way you are, why you had gone through what you had been through, and what are the coming attractions in your life. It does not only tells about your life, it will also reveals about the people around you – your parents, your spouse, your children, your boss, your competitors, your peers or supporters. Enjoy this discovery.

Benson Yeo CEO, Destiny Empire

www.destinyempire.com

Introduction

Classical Bazi – How it all began In this first book, what we are uncovering for you are references and conclusions that we have drawn from the ancient classics of Chinese Metaphysics, known as the 窮通寶鑑“The Infinite Treasure”, 滴天随 “Heaven Instillation Secret” and 子平真诠 “The Real Meaning of Bazi classic”. These classical texts were dated some 5000 years back, and here was how the Bazi secrets began… Xu Sheng (also known as Xu ZiPing) was a military general for the Kingdom of Wu during the Three Kingdoms era of China. He fought in several battles for the Wu Kingdom during his lifetime. He is often noted several times throughout his career for overcoming enemies who vastly outnumbered him, and with decisive victories.

Huashan Mountain

Introduction

Soon after Cao Pi declared himself emperor of the Kingdom of Wei, he mobilized a large force to attack Eastern Wu. As the commander in chief of the Wu forces, Xu Sheng constructed a fake wall along the banks of the river that served as a border, which stretched over 100 li. Cao Pi, upon seeing the wall, immediately withdrew his forces. Little is known today about his personality. His real name was Xu Sheng (also known as Xu Ziping). There are two historical references on him; one says that he lived at the time of Five Dynasties Period (907-960 A.D.), when he was a hermit in Huashan Mountain. The other mentions that he was an expert in Fate calculation (Suan Ming or Destiny reading) at the time of Northern Song dynasty (9601127 A.D.). With these considerations we are allowed to presume that he lived somewhere around 960 A.D. Before Xu there were even more sages, who were developing the method of Fate calculation, mainly with the help of Yi Jing. 三命通 會 “SanMing TongHui”, a late book from 16th century, mentioned that the actual father of Bazi was Yi Xing (cca. 683-727 A.D.). Bazi definitely developed along with the western and Indian type of astrology and used comparative method and Yi Jing verification. It is possible that Yi Xing, whose real name was Zhang Sui, was the real father of Bazi fundamentals. And it was Yi Xing, not Li xuzhong, who was claimed to be the best Fate calculator of Tang dynasty. But all this remains uncertain. Fate Calculation was probably developed from 2nd century B.C. onwards. Xu Zi Ping or Xu Ziping (徐子平) was a Bazi Grandmaster, who reinvented the system of Fate Calculation (Bazi Understanding and Prediction), which was considered a far more complete and accurate as an analysis tool of understanding Destiny after his reinvention. Instead of the Old school practices on using only the year, month and day as a reference point, it also includes using all sorts of deities’ interpretation! He abandoned some of the old techniques and started to use his new invention. Grandmaster Xu is a founding father of the new school, which is named Ziping school

Introduction

in his honour. Today this school of Four pillars is the most popular approach to the study of Destiny understanding. Unfortunately, all ancient books, which are reported in the chronicles and other historical sources, are now lost with the exception of Li Xuzhong’s book on Fate Calculation. Li Xuzhong died before 824 A.D. As Han Yu quoted, Master Li was a great scholar of the Five elements (Wu Xing) doctrine and he used day, month and year pillars in his calculations, which seems to be interpolated into his book on Destiny calculation by newer authors, who lived in Song times. His book was remodeled by them and actual authorship was ascribed to impossible and fictitious Guigu Zi from the remote time of Warring States (403-221 B.C.). It is clear, that Li Xuzhong belongs to the Old School. Xu Ziping did not spread his Bazi knowledge and teachings. By the middle of the 10th century a great lore of Fate Calculation has been established. Old School has further developed to include the rules for clashes and combinations, using hidden stems, many special stars, technique of twelve palaces and the luck cycles. The basic reform claimed to be dealt by Master Xu is transfer of Heavenly Origin (Tian Yuan) from the year pillar to the day pillar. Nevertheless there were some major hints that indicated that Xu Ziping’s way of Fate Calculation were more credible and accurate. Firstly, it was Grandmaster Xu whose name was borrowed for the naming of the new Ziping school. Secondly, it was clear that there was a contradiction between Master Li’s clear membership in the Old School and his supposed application of the day pillar as Heavenly Origin (Tian Yuan). It was impossible to reconcile Old School and Heavenly Origin in the day pillar, because Old School used techniques which reference on the year, so all this mess was a result of a clear interpolation from later Song writers. The new edition of the book, broadened with its commentaries, started to circulate after the year 1127 A.D. According to the book references, the second commentary was written in 1037 A.D., so

26 The correct way of understanding a person’s destiny

the supposed authorship of the first commentary could be written before that year and actually may be that of Grandmaster Xu. Even if this commentary was not written directly by him, it was probably written by one of his students. Author uses New School approach, but with great simplicity. This information hardly contain more than it could be told by Xu Ziping himself, it mainly represents real teachings of Master Xu. Basically it can be said, that Grandmaster Xu took Bazi or what was supposed to be a close predecessor of Bazi to the new level of research. Most of his new formulas were probably derived with the method of vigorous Yi Jing analogy. He purged the old knowledge from superstitions and found out what was still valuable. He stopped to use the year pillar as a Heavenly Origin and lost his interest in melodic elements of stem-branch combinations. He abandoned most of the Special Stars (神杀 – Shen Sha) and made a shortened list of those, which he considered to be important. The major turning point was not only positioning the Heavenly Origin into the day pillar, that is into the Heavenly Stem of the day. There was also a new approach in the interpretation of relations between Heavenly Origin and the other characters. In the Old School, the Heavenly Stem of the year shown in the twelve life

Introduction

cycles represents an opportunity for official position. Earthly Branch of the year represents fate and health; if twelve palaces were considered important for Heavenly Stem interpretation, here one should use the concept of seasons. Because the seasons are the make-up of the 12 palaces! The combination of stem and branch of the year reveals the Body, which shows the characteristic of a person! Xu Ziping abandoned all these techniques. The character becomes determined largely by the day stem itself. The concept of season becomes important for all the characters derived from the classic 窮通寶鑑 or “The Infinite Treasure”. After Xu Ziping, many authors and researchers expanded the knowledge of Ziping school. In the 11th century the school became known as Four pillars and from that time it surely includes an application of the hour pillar. But only in the 16th century the first version of the book 淵海子平“YuanHai ZiPing” was written, presenting the first encyclopedia work on the matter of Four Pillars. Many Bazi practitioners have made countless attempts to interpret the true meaning of this classical text.

Painting by Wu Daozi

28 The correct way of understanding a person’s destiny

The Infinite Treasure written in ancient chinese terms contains many contradictions and confusions to the real meanings. It has been suspected that the scholars and writers wrote in that way to cover some truths due to the duress they are subjected to in the King’s palace. Due to the confusion in the text, it is no wonder that many modern Bazi practitioners have interpreted the real meaning in different ways, thus affecting the accuracy of reading a Bazi chart. Through my countless study of the ancient Bazi classics, I have managed to uncover the real meaning of Bazi interpretations. To confirm my interpretation, I have made references on many real life cases in the course of my professional career. What I will share with you here are the real interpretation of the Bazi classics.

Introduction

How to use and read this book The profound knowledge of classical Bazi entails many complicated concepts. In this first book, we will introduce the key basic concepts of reading a Bazi chart. We will not, however, dwell into how you can derive the Bazi chart, as with the Internet and at my website www.destinyempire.com, this can be readily obtainable. Instead, appreciating and interpreting the Bazi chart is the most important knowledge that we will impart. There are many Bazi interpretations commonly used by the various practitioners, schools and books. We will cover the common misconceptions of the modern Bazi interpretations. More importantly, we will uncover for you the SECRETS of reading Bazi that have never been taught in the English speaking world. For those new to the Bazi knowledge, after reading this book, you will discover how much your Bazi chart can reveal about your life, and people around you. For those who have some foundation on Bazi, this book will help you to resolve some of your confusions, and to help you to grasp the hidden Bazi classical knowledge, so that you can now read a Bazi chart more accurately. In our next books, we will decode more classical secrets and the sophisticated application techniques in reading a Bazi chart.

Chapter 1

What is Bazi What is Bazi? The term Bazi is the Chinese term for “eight characters”, or what many people term as four pillars. Each pillar has two chinese characters, making it “eight characters”.

7

5

3

1

8

6

4

2

Chart 1.1 A typical Bazi chart derived from a person’s birth date and birth time

In Bazi, it is not just about what you are born with, by assessing these 8 characters, it is also about the luck cycles in your life. In general, every luck cycle spans over 10 years, and the luck cycle

2 The correct way of understanding a person’s destiny

changes every 10 years. That explains why, you have heard about, self-made millionaire in his 30’s becoming a bankrupt when he is in his 50’s. Or when you hear of people who are so fit and healthy, that no one believes that they had been striked with a major illness. And of course, you have heard of cases of people who were struggling with poverty 3 years ago, and who within a short span of time, became the richest and most popular author or artist. Their luck had certainly improved dramatically when they crossed over to the new luck cycle. To analyse a person’s life destiny, we need to derive a person’s Bazi chart and his 10 year luck cycle. These can be derived from his date and hour of birth. Once this is done, the most important and most difficult task is interpreting the Bazi chart accurately. We will uncover the foundation methods in this book, then the more sophisticated concepts in our next books. Before going into that, it is important to understand the fundamental concepts of Bazi.

Bazi is about the Law of Nature To start reading this book, first we have to bring ourselves far back into the ancient times. Classical Bazi was founded 5000 years ago. During that time, there was no technology, nature ruled the earth. Life revolved around nature, and nature was the call of the day. What do we mean by

10 years Lucks Cycles

Man

Earth

Heaven

戊

辛

2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031

壬寅 癸卯 甲辰 乙巳 丙午 丁未 戊申 己酉 庚戌 辛亥

乙

己 卯

66

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

壬辰 癸巳 甲午 乙未 丙申 丁酉 戊戌 己亥 庚子 辛丑

癸

乙

戊

庚 辰

56

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

壬午 癸未 甲申 乙酉 丙戌 丁亥 戊子 己丑 庚寅 辛卯

庚

戊

丙

辛 巳

46

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001

壬申 癸酉 甲戌 乙亥 丙子 丁丑 戊寅 己卯 庚辰 辛巳

己

丁

壬 午

36

1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991

壬戌 癸亥 甲子 乙丑 丙寅 丁卯 戊辰 己巳 庚午 辛未

乙

丁

己

癸 未

26

Chart 1.2 An example of a 10-year Luck Cycle chart starting from age 6

壬子 癸丑 甲寅 乙卯 丙辰 丁巳 戊午 己未 庚申 辛酉

丙

癸

2032 2033 2034 2035 2036 2037 2038 2039 2040 2041

甲

己

壬戌 癸亥 甲子 乙丑 丙寅 丁卯 戊辰 己巳 庚午 辛未

戊 寅

丁 丑

2042 2043 2044 2045 2046 2047 2048 2049 2050 2051

76

86

1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981

壬子 癸丑 甲寅 乙卯 丙辰 丁巳 戊午 己未 庚申 辛酉

戊

壬

庚

甲 申

16

1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971

壬寅 癸卯 甲辰 乙巳 丙午 丁未 戊申 己酉 庚戌 辛亥

辛

乙 酉

6

What is Bazi

4 The correct way of understanding a person’s destiny

nature? It is about seasonal changes, tapping natural resources for your benefits, and how each element of nature influences the other elements of nature. For instance, we know that the sun can warm the sea and provide food for the plants; water is needed to grow the environment with the help of the sun. Without the sun, cold water cannot grow the environment, aggressive water also will washes away plants and uproots trees. Metal can cut down the trees and be used as timber to build houses and make fire to produce heat. The earth can prevent flood, and good earth is needed for sowing and reaping. Rain is needed to moisture the soil. Metal or gold found in the earth be used as an exchange of food etc. These outcomes are the inter-relationship of the 5 elements based on the principle of I-Ching (The Principle of Change), the Yin and Yang! Classical Bazi is about understanding how seasons affect nature and the influence of each element of nature and its outcome. It is about how we can make the best of nature!

What is Bazi

The universal law of the Yin and Yang and the birth of “Change” Yin represents the Earth and Yang represents the Heaven (Time). Earth is still, and earth rotations are derived by the influence of Yang which is already contained within the earth. In science, they call it gravity or the influence of magnetic field. In Chinese Metaphysics, it is known as Heaven, Earth and Man! 天地人. In Bazi Destiny Reading and Feng Shui applications, Heaven (天) represents our social outcome and events, Earth (地) represents our feelings and Man (人) represents our hidden secrets. These three domains are interactive and have an impact of the outcome. The outcome can be peaceful or disastrous. If we can truly understand it, we can be the master of our domain!

The Concepts of Yin and Yang The term Yin and Yang was derived over 7000 years ago when life was dominated by simple pursuits of survival and overcoming nature. Yin and Yang are opposites, yet they complete each other to form a “whole”. For example: Yang represents day, brightness and Yin represents night, darkness; Yin represents cold, and Yang represents warmth. When Yin grows and strengthens, Yang will decline and weaken and vice versa. Because within Yin, there is Yang and within Yang, there is Yin inside it. When we talk about balance in life, we are talking Yin and Yang! Yang represents male and strength; while Yin represents female and gentleness. The matrimonial union of Yin and Yang gives rise to a family union and birth of children. Both Yin and Yang are essential to maintain a balance and completeness. Though opposites, Yin and Yang are interdependent to complete each other. Cold weather (autumn and winter) will be followed by warmth (spring and summer), and the cycle continues. Husband and wife must support each other to

6 The correct way of understanding a person’s destiny

from a healthy family unit. The sperm and the egg will meet to form a new life.

Sperm and ovum meet – Yang meets Yin

Working together; start of changes…

Illustration 1.3 The Yin and Yang cycle

The understanding of Yin and Yang and the universe, what does it mean? From the Chinese ancient classic texts once said, the Yin and Yang and the universe is of one body. This body cannot be separated! The Yin and Yang are the outcome of the universe! The understanding is simple and the knowledge is profound! For example, Yin is female and Yang is male, Yin without Yang cannot conceive, and Yang without Yin cannot change! What do we mean by that? We have to bring this to a micro reading; female produce the “ovum” and male produce “sperm”. From the scientific approach, we know ovum(Yin) is round in shape and is still, and requires the sperm (Yang) to make it “happen”. The term “happen” means birth taking place. Once this “can be achieve” occurs, changes will take place. What do we mean by “can be achieve?” Not every man can make those changes, and not many woman can produce eggs! Because we are not uniform in a way on our likes and dislikes! In a simplified version of “Heaven, Earth and Man” (天地人), “Heaven” represents the sperm and “Earth” represents the ovum and when this two meets, birth takes place and “Man” is created! Without the interaction of Yin and Yang, Man will not be created.

What is Bazi

And as we go along, we will introduce the rules and regulations, roles and responsibilities of “Heaven, Earth and Man” on their representations in our lives. In Bazi Destiny Reading and Feng Shui applications, Heaven (天) represent our social outcomes and events, Earth (地) represents our feelings and Man (人) represents our hidden secrets. These three domains are interactive and have an impact on any outcome. The outcome can be peaceful or disastrous. If we can truly understand it, we can be master of our domain! All things start in this trinity (Heaven, Earth and Man). Heaven, Earth and Man interact to generate a specific environment and outcome.

What is in a Bazi? Bazi is a composition of “Heaven, Earth and Man”. Bazi is the Chinese term for “eight (Ba) characters (Zi)”. It simply means that time that we are born, we can derive 8 characters, or 4 sets of character, with each set looking like this:

ᄖ!Heaven

࢐ Earth ཽ!Man Diagram 1.4 An example of Bazi

8 The correct way of understanding a person’s destiny

It is also commonly known as the Four Pillars, as each pillar consists of two characters. In each pillar, the top character is the Heavenly Stem, and the bottom called the Earthly Branch. The Hidden Stem is part of the Earthly Branch, and does not form one of the 8 characters in the Bazi. We will cover the significance of the Hidden Stem later.

Diagram 1.5 An example of a complete Bazi chart

The year that we are born, gave us a set of “Heavenly Stem-Earthly Branch” character. Our birth month gave us another set, and so did the Day and also the Hour. So all together, the four sets of pillars formed the complete Bazi Chart.

What is Bazi

天 Heavenly Stems

Let’s move a step further to understand the 10 Heavenly Stems. Why call “Heavenly Stems”? Now, this 10 wonderful stems cannot be seen and we will term it as Qi (or energy/ breath)! Heavenly Stems are what person show to the outside world – his character, his outlook, events that will happen in his life, the relationships obvious in his life. “We are the Heavenly Stems because we are the Qi from Heaven. You depend on us because we provide the breath of life to you! We are your Good, your Bad and your Ugly. We can make you rich and wealthy instantly! And at the same time, we can destroy your entire life! We are your events, your outcome, and the successes and failures in your life. We demonstrate to the world your life, and we make it obvious to others when the time is right. Your true intentions are kept in the branches (Earthly Branches). We are different from the branches because we are not concerned about your feelings, we only recognize reality! And when the time is right, we will uncover the reality to the world! The beauty of us is, we will signal to you the danger and opportunities, and at the same time, we can tell you when it is going to happen for SURE! You cannot hide us, but you can only control us by understanding our strength and weakness. By communicating to others in certain ways, developing certain behavior, and using certain action, you can minimize the outcome. That’s why you are here to study about us for your own benefit!”

10 The correct way of understanding a person’s destiny

地 Earthly Branches

Earth is mother earth or nature. We can recognize earth because it can be seen. In Bazi, they are represented by the 12 animals’ zodiacs. Unlike the Heavenly Stems, which are obvious, the Earthly Branches are feelings-oriented, and are kept within oneself. Branches are in hiding but it can be revealed at certain times in life.

What is Bazi

“We are your feelings and we are your hidden secrets. We take orders from Heaven (Heavenly Stems). We are the creator of your character. We represent your house, your body, your potential illnesses, and your hidden agenda. Most of the time, we are the creator of your family problems and health issues. We are in hiding, and when we receive orders from heaven (Heavenly Stems), your secrets will be revealed. This can happen in certain years, in your 10-year luck period, or in most part of your life. This greatly depends on your Bazi chart. We prefer to be still but sometimes moving or clashing us is a good sign! At times, when we are disturbed, we can create havoc and disastrous in your life! We can give you a sudden shock of surprise when we are being clashed and combined. The outcome can be good and bad! The Day Master will be the reference point on the deciding factor of the results! (this concept will be covered in later chapters) Your feelings of happiness and sadness will largely depend on us, because we control it. The beauty of us is that we can provide you a preview of your life’s coming attractions or disasters! if you can understand us, you can manage your feelings and be well prepared!”

12 The correct way of understanding a person’s destiny

人 The Hidden Stems Within the Earthly Branches, you’ll find some Chinese characters that look somewhat like the Heavenly Stems. These are the Hidden Stems.

“We are the hidden secrets from the Heavenly Stems and were being kept inside the earth. We are the one who made up the connection between heaven and earth! We are the link to make your secrets, feelings and hidden agenda open to the outside world.” The Hidden Stems reveal your hidden agenda, your innate character, your feelings, and your potentials. In Bazi, we can also discover your relationships. The Hidden Stems reveal the people close to you. In summary, the complete Bazi chart comprises Heaven, Earth and Man. From your Bazi chart, you can see: •

your successes and failures, your outward perceptions or how people see you (as revealed by the Heavenly Stems);

•

your character and feelings (as revealed by the Earthly Branches); and

•

your hidden agenda, your potentials and people you are close with (as revealed by the Hidden stems).

What is Bazi

The Yin and Yang of Heaven, Earth and Man – the Good and the Bad Heavenly Stems represent the external perceptions of a person in society. Heavenly stems also have their own Yin and Yang because an outcome can be good or bad. Earthly Branches represent a person’s feelings and thoughts. Earthly Branches also have their Yin and Yang because every thought and feeling can be with a good and bad intention. Hidden Stems in the branches represent a person’s hidden potential or disaster. Whether they turn out positive or negative depends on the appearance of the Heavenly Stems during the 10-year luck cycle, the year, the month, the day and the hour. Every time or period carries with it a Heavenly Stem, thus this appearance can be promising or disastrous, depending on whether elements (ingredients of the Heavenly Stem) support or control each other!

© NASA

Chapter 2

The ingredients of Heaven, Earth and Man Our destiny as well as all outcomes and events are influenced by the interactions of Heaven, Earth and Man. In other words, your Bazi chart tells you about the social outcomes and behaviors obvious to others (Heaven), your feelings and what you are deep inside (Earth), and your hidden potentials or disasters (Man). This trinity plays an important role in determining: •

Who we are: our talents, our character, our strengths and weaknesses;

•

How we relate to others: our relationship with our spouse, our family, our bosses, colleagues, etc;

•

What opportunities are presented to us: the comfort we have at birth, our family background, our siblings, our supporters, our cycle of luck, etc;

•

Our life’s events and outcome: marriage, career, health problems, etc; and

•

How our children will be: closeness with your children, are they difficult to bring up, whether they will have a significant standing in society.

16 The correct way of understanding a person’s destiny

So all of us have our individual “Heaven, Earth and Man”, determined at the time of our birth. Depending on your character (whether you are steadfast, constantly seeking improvement, etc) there’s still a scope that you can influence the outcome of your life. This will be shared with you in our later chapters and books. At the end of the day, within what is “given” to you at birth, you can still improve your life if you know yourself well. The underlying principle behind Bazi Analysis is that there are 5 driving forces in the universe. These 5 elements – Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth – are the ingredients that made up of Heaven, Earth and Man. 天地人. Heaven has 5 elements, Earth has 5 elements and Man also has their own 5 elements! Bazi Analysis is guided by the following principles: •

Everything in the universe, all matter and events and outcome, is made up of the 5 elements – Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth.

Yang (5)

甲

丙

戊

庚

壬

Yin (5)

乙

丁

己

辛

癸

Chart 2.1 The 10 Heavenly Stems (or 10 qi) •

These elements interact with one another according to some basic cycles – the cycle of production, the cycle of destruction and the cycle of control.

The ingredients of Heaven, Earth and Man

The Heavenly Stems The 10 elements that make up the Heavenly Stems First we need to understand the principle of the 5 elements (Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth), which is the governing principle in Bazi. Once you know the relationship between the 5 elements, you can uncover some of the secrets on why people are the way they are. In order to understand the 5 elements, you have to bring yourself back 5000 years. It was a time where people used nature to understand and interpreted events and outcomes. The following are the 10 ingredients of nature derived from the principle of 5 elements; because each of the individual element contains a Yin and Yang, see Table 2.2. The 5 Elements

Yin or Yang nature

The 10 Heavenly Stems

Wood

Yang Yin Yang

甲 Jia 乙 Yi 丙 Bing

Earth

Yin Yang Yin

丁 Ding 戊 Wu 己 Ji

Metal

Yang

庚 Geng

Water

Yin Yang

辛 Xin 壬 Ren

Yin

癸 Kui

Fire

Close match on the pronunciation of the Chinese characters Read as “Jar” Read as “E” Read as “Bing” using Pink and replace the P to “B” Read as “DING” Read as “WOO” Read as “Jee or Ji” replace Gee with the G to “J” Read as “Geng” replace Feng the F to “G” Read as “SING” Read as “Ren” using Learn and replace the L to “R” Read as “Kway” add an “K” to Way

Environment Representation Tree Flower Sun

Fire Mountain Moist Earth Iron Gold, minerals Water Rain, water vapor

Table 2.2 The 10 ingredients derived from the 5 elements

The ingredients of Heaven, Earth and Man

Yin & Yang of Wood

ଡ!!!ጰ Yin & Yang of Fire

Yin & Yang of Water

ܻ!!!ࢷ

ཻ!!!ਟ

৏!!!ባ

Yin & Yang of Metal

ᇒ!!!଄

Yin & Yang of Earth

1st relationship principle of the 5 Elements – the cycle of support Wood

Yang ଡ

Yin ጰ

Water

Yang ཻ

Fire

Yin ਟ

Yang ܻ

Diagram 2.3 The Production Cycle Metal

Yang ৏

Earth

Yin ባ

Yang ᇒ

Yin ଄

Yin ࢷ

The ingredients of Heaven, Earth and Man

This is the process where each element provides for or produces the other elements, as illustrated above. While explaining the production cycle, I will look into the differences between the Yin and Yang of the elements and pose some questions for you to ponder over, as these concepts will be covered in the later chapters. •

Wood supports Fire: In general, wood facilitates in the burning of fire. However, we have Yin Wood (Flower) and Yang Wood (Tree), so which wood can create a burning sensation and which wood cannot?

•

Fire supports Earth: Fire burns things to create ashes that form earth. Which fire (Sun or Fire Flame) can create ashes and what kind of fire cannot! And what is the purpose of creating ashes, what is the outcome?

•

Earth supports Metal: Minerals are hidden inside earth. What kind of earth (Moist earth or Mountain) can produce metal for a good cause?

•

Metal supports Water: Minerals purify water. Metal cannot produce water but certain metal can purify water. Which one, Yin Metal (Gold), or Yang Metal (Iron)? And of course, purifying water is a good outcome of nature.

•

Water supports Wood: Water grows “wood”. Which water, Vapour or Water, can grow wood? A tree is already matured, which is why we call them a tree. What is the purpose of growing a matured tree again?

2nd relationship principle of the 5 elements – the cycle of weakening In the opposite way, each of the elements is weakened by the element that it supports. For example, while wood produces fire, Prosperous fire weakens the wood until it slowly diminishes into ashes.

The ingredients of Heaven, Earth and Man

•

Prosperous Fire tosses Wood

•

Prosperous Earth stops Fire

•

Prosperous Metal deforms Earth

•

Prosperous Water sinks Metal

•

Prosperous Wood shrinks Water Wood Prosperous Wood shrinks Water

Prosperous Fire toss Wood Yang ଡ

Yin ጰ

Water

Yang ཻ

Fire

Yin ਟ

Yang ܻ

Diagram 2.4 The Weakening Cycle

Prosperous Water sinks Metal

Metal

Yang ৏

Prosperous Earth stops/blocks Fire

Earth

Yin ባ

Yang ᇒ

Yin ࢷ

Yin ଄

Prosperous Metal deforms/opens Earth

3rd relationship principle of the 5 elements – the cycle of control There is a controlling relationship among the 5 elements. Control takes place when one element “destroys” another element. Again, I’ll explore a deeper concept to distinguish the differences of “destruction impact” between the Yin and the Yang or each element on the other element. In many other books, little distinction was made between the Yin and Yang of the element in the cycle

24 The correct way of understanding a person’s destiny

of control. There is, of course, a big difference between the two; illustrated as follows. •

Metal chops wood, thus destroying it. There are 2 types of metal, Yin Metal (Gold) and Yang Metal (Iron), which can do the job of cutting wood and which one cannot?

•

Tree roots penetrate into the earth, thus breaking the soil up. Which wood, Tree or Flower, can break or loosen earth?

•

Earth soils up the stream, thus impurifying water. Which earth, Moist earth or Mountain, can create chaos to water?

•

Water extinguishes Fire. Which water, Vapour or a large pool of water, can create chaos to the Sun and Fire?

•

Fire melts Metal. What kind of Fire melts metal? Can the Sun do the job? Wood

Yang ଡ

Yin ጰ

Water

Yang ཻ

Fire

Yin ਟ

Yang ܻ

Metal

Yang ৏

Earth

Yin ባ

Yang ᇒ

Diagram 2.5 The Control Cycle

Yin ଄

Yin ࢷ

The ingredients of Heaven, Earth and Man

Line up of the 10 Heavenly Stems These 10 elements, 甲乙丙丁戊己庚辛壬癸, make up the Heavenly Stems. They are also the Qi (or energy) that forms the study of a seasonal outcome – hot, cold, warm, moist, dry, chill, freezing. Thus the 10 Heavenly Stems, 甲乙丙丁戊己庚辛壬癸, help the farmers to read the weather condition. These are indicated in the Chinese Lunar calendar. The 10 Heavenly Stems sequential cycle are as follow: 甲 乙 丙 丁 戊 己 庚 辛 壬 癸 In the 10 stems line up, we begin with 甲 Jia (Tree), and end with 癸 Kui (rain). Ancient people use the characteristics of nature as reference on seasonal activities. That’s why 甲 Jia represent Tree is use as the first icon because wood has a close match to human behavior in the sense that for a Tree, the influence of external condition tells you about their growth, health, sickness, age and death of a tree. Just like a human being. And 癸 Kui (rain) as the last line-up, and when this ends, cycle continues with 甲 Jia.

The Earthly Branches The branches derived from the 12 animal zodiac (called 12 earthly branches) and each animal is placed as a representation of a month and thus it also represents seasonal phases. •

The Tiger is placed in the month of January as the representation of the start of Spring;

•

The Rabbit is placed in the month of February as the representation of Bloom of Spring;

•

The Dragon is placed in the month of March as the representation of a transition period from Spring to Summer;

26 The correct way of understanding a person’s destiny

•

The Snake is placed in the month of April as the representation of the start of Summer;

•

The Horse is placed in the month of May as the representation of the extreme condition of Summer;

•

The Goat is placed in the month of June as the representation of a transition period from Summer towards Autumn;

•

The Monkey is placed in the month of July as the representation of the start of Autumn;

•

The Rooster is placed in the month of August as the representation of the extreme condition of Autumn;

•

The Dog is placed in the month of September as the representation of a transition period from Autumn towards Winter;

•

The Pig is placed in the month of October as the representation of the start of Winter;

•

The Rat is placed on the month of November as the representation of the extreme condition of Winter; and

•

The Ox is placed in the month of December as the representation of a transition period from Winter towards Spring.

Line-up of the 12 zodiac Based on the seasonal changes, 12 behavior patterns are discovered and each one is unique on its influence towards the 10 stems. Hence, the 12 animal’s zodiac is the reference point of each season phase when its place. For example, tiger represents the start of Spring, rabbit represents the peak of Spring, dragon represents the end of Spring and it is also the transition towards Summer. This also means the environment is getting warm.

The ingredients of Heaven, Earth and Man

With the 3 animals in place (Tiger, Rabbit and Dragon), we know that the whole season of spring is formed here. That’s where the location and direction comes into play. In this world, every location has a direction and every direction comes with a location! The SECRET of Feng Shui lies here! The rest of the animals follow the above principle. The snake, horse and goat form the season of Summer. The monkey, rooster and dog form the season of Autumn and the pig, rat and ox form the season of Winter. Whether we like it or not, we are living in the environment of change. This is what I-Ching is all about! In the world of Chinese Metaphysics, be it palm reading, face reading, Hexagram reading, Chinese medicine, acupuncture, fortune telling, destiny understanding and Feng Shui, they all relate to the influence and outcome of nature. And nature follows the principle of Yin and Yang of the 5 elements. So which one comes first, the chicken or the egg? The answer is, they come as a whole. Wood

寅

Tiger

Start of Spring

Wood

卯

Rabbit

Peak of Spring

Earth

辰

Dragon

End of Spring

Fire

巳

Snake

Start of Summer

Fire

午

Horse

Peak of Summer

Earth

未

Goat

End of Summer

Metal

申

Monkey

Start of Autumn

Metal

酉

Rooster

Peak of Autumn

Earth

戌

Dog

End of Autumn

Water

亥

Pig

Start of Winter

Water

子

Rat

Peak of Winter

Earth

丑

Ox

End of Winter

Table 2.6 The line-up of the 12 zodiacs

28 The correct way of understanding a person’s destiny

Destiny understanding was derived from the knowledge of nature. In the Ancient Chinese practice, a year contained 24 seasons where the month represented, and in certain day, an outcome will be determined, and by the hour the results on a given situation will occur! Based on this principle, the outcome of a person destiny can be decoded. The question is, how we can change our lives for the better? The answer is start from the FOUNDATION, and Inside Out of the Yin and Yang! The zodiac animal placement and the representation on a month with a certain outcome are based on the ancient Chinese knowledge of I-Ching, the cycle of change in nature! The knowledge and wisdom were discovered in China; so wherever you are in the world, China must be the point of reference for the Bazi chart assessment! Because different countries have different environment conditions. But of course, you can still use your country time zone for assessment on a Bazi chart and exercises the flexibility! The saddest thing is for people to start arguing on time zone differences and the impact on the reading! For example, most people will have a PC or laptop with a pre –installation of Microsoft Window XP or Vista! All windows updates have to come from America because of their rules and regulations on governing the birth place of windows application! And there will be no mistake if you follow the birth place of the origin! Each animal zodiac represents an Earthly Branch, and earth is termed as land form. And in nature, the land does not change overnight. When changes occur, they happen when the branches or the animals clash and combine!

The ingredients of Heaven, Earth and Man

How Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches interact with one another The change of the 12 branches is by the influence of the Qi. For example, rain can wet and moist the branches, the sun can dry the land, the snow can cool the land, and if there is a balance of sun and water, the land is in balance! This is call, Qi influencing the land! But if the land is too dry, the rain will have no effects. If the land is too muddy the sun will have no effect. If the land is too cold and freeze with snow, the sun cannot do a good job! This is call, Land overrule the Qi! The Heavenly Stems can influence and affect the Earthly branches and the Earthly Branches can also influence and affecting the Heavenly Stems! The final conclusion is drawn when the year, month, day and time is determined!

甲 子 甲 戌 甲 申 甲 午 甲 辰 甲 寅

乙 丑 乙 亥 乙 酉 乙 未 乙 巳 乙 卯

丙 寅 丙 子 丙 戌 丙 申 丙 午 丙 辰

丁 卯 丁 丑 丁 亥 丁 酉 丁 未 丁 巳

戊 辰 戊 寅 戊 子 戊 戌 戊 申 戊 午

己 巳 己 卯 己 丑 己 亥 己 酉 己 未

庚 午 庚 辰 庚 寅 庚 子 庚 戌 庚 申

Chart 2.7 60 甲子 (Jia Zi) chart

辛 未 辛 巳 辛 卯 辛 丑 辛 亥 辛 酉

壬 申 壬 午 壬 辰 壬 寅 壬 子 壬 戌

癸 酉 癸 未 癸 巳 癸 卯 癸 丑 癸 亥

30 The correct way of understanding a person’s destiny

The derivation of a person’s destiny chart is the assessment of the various permutations of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, and 60 甲子 Jia Zi chart is the coding of nature under the law of Yin and Yang! Chart 2.7 shows every possible combination of a Heavenly Stem and an Earthly Branch. You’ll find one of the combinations at any time period (a particular, year, or month, or day or hour). They are also the components of the Ten Thousand Years Calendar where every fortune tellers and Bazi masters are using.

How to derive your Bazi chart The derivation of the Bazi chart is based on the assessment of a environment scenario where the Qi (called energy) and branch (called zodiac) inter-relates, and this inter-relationship creates an outcome of nature. The concept sounds simple, but the applications are profound. As mentioned earlier on, the complete Bazi chart has a total of 4 pillars – with your birth year, month, day and hour giving one pillar each. Each pillar consists of a Heavenly Stem and an Earthly Branch.

The Day Master is YOU!

Chart 2.8 A typical Bazi chart being derived from the permutations of the 60 jia zi.

The ingredients of Heaven, Earth and Man

These require a certain formula guideline to follow. We have incorporated the formula into our website where you can access it freely to plot your own chart. With the help of our software, we will not allocate a chapter in this book to explain how the pillars are determined. The “Master” in the day Heavenly Stem represents YOU! The rest of the stems and branches represent their influences to your life and pathways.

What does your Day Master Stem tells about you By looking at the Day Master Stem, we can tell something about your character and personality. Of course, the description cannot be taken in as a whole and in absolute terms. There are variations to this due to the influence of the following: •

The other three pillars interacting with the Day Master

•

The 10-yearly luck cycle, or the year pillar, each itself having a pillar that that will interact with all four pillars

However, a general character can be determined by the Day Master element. You can also use this as a guide for your family members, spouse or friends.

32 The correct way of understanding a person’s destiny

Understanding 甲 (Jia) Wood character From the way trees extend themselves to reach sunlight for growth, ଡ (Jia) people will exert themselves to plan and develop in order to move upward from their current situation. Moreover, their roots are always rooted firmly in the ground and therefore, they are not easily swayed by strong winds. The characteristics of ଡ people are that they have strong willpower, are outspoken, and will not give up easily even in the face of setbacks and obstructions. They are both righteous and direct, and not the type who will beat around the bush. They are not frivolous by nature. They have high morals, and having a good reputation is important to them. Strong, steady and down-to-earth, ଡ people are meticulous in their work. They have a strong sense of responsibility in all that they undertake to do, no matter what it is. They are known to be honorable people who do not succumb easily to temptations. ଡ people are able to sympathize and empathize with others and will not turn away when they know someone needs help. However, this may lead to too much interference in another person’s life. ଡ shortcomings are that they can be stubborn, and may find it difficult to compromise. They are not as quick-witted and sometimes are not able to adapt to changing circumstances. Like a strong tree with firm roots, changes are unlikely to happen overnight. It is easy to anticipate and foretell the development and growth of the character of a ଡ person. In the same way that a tree grows naturally from a small plant into a tall and strong tree, a ଡ person will also grow and develop his character. It is unlikely that ଡ people would develop otherwise, unless they meet with a very great setback or they grow up in an abnormal environment.

The ingredients of Heaven, Earth and Man

Understanding 乙 (Yi) Flower character Like a small plant growing up softly and gently, and emerging as a beautiful and gorgeous flower, ጰ people are meek and mild, richly expressive and have the ability to distinguish reality. They like to seek improvement and development in one’s own environment. As in a small plant or flower, 乙 reacts and responds very sensitively to any small changes of conditions or the environment. From this, we can see that 乙 people are quick-witted and are able to adapt very quickly to any change of circumstances. Other characteristics of 乙 people are that they can coordinate very well and will not insist on their own opinions. Although they can be very modest, they tend to be possessive at heart and are also very careful and meticulous. Like a little flower, they may appear weak but can still grow well in a harsh environment. In a typhoon, the small plants will sway and move in the direction of the typhoon. They will not wither easily even though trodden, as long as their roots are still intact. From this instance, we can see that 乙 people are not only very flexible but they are also realistic. In the financial aspect, 乙 people will make efforts to save as much as they can; they will be not wasteful when it comes to money and can be quite stubborn about this. Shortcomings are that they have a timid personality and are very dependent on others. Although they may be creative, things or events may not happen as they wished. Hence these problems may cause them to be distressed and lose their self-confidence. Besides, they are likely to go against their own feelings and thoughts to follows others. They are swayed by temptations and may be deceived or misled by others easily.

34 The correct way of understanding a person’s destiny

Understanding 丙 (Bing) Sun character People of ܻ personality, like star sign Leo, are open, frank, generous and full of warmth, passion and enthusiasm. They are well-liked by others, have leadership qualities, and will not stop until they attain their goals. They are not interested and will not get involved in human trifles or small matters. They have very clear opinions and will not take unnecessary pains to resolve problems or get themselves in a deadlock situation. They are straightforward and will not hide any truth. Synthesis says that people of ܻ are amiable, big-hearted, lenient, of a striking personality, and able to give good impressions of themselves to others. They are also very energetic, show enthusiasm and interest in all things, and will be actively hands-on in action. Sometimes their personality can lead them to be overly excited which in turn make them rash and reckless. When this happens it stirs up situations, causes the丙person to be busy, and leads to wasted efforts. From the example of the Sun looking across the earth and all things, it may create benefits; however, it may also create unhealthy or harmful reactions. ܻ people are very fast in terms of action, speech and understanding ability. Sometimes, they are impatient and this can lead to misunderstandings. They will also tend to be able to see matters very clearly and are able to differentiate matters. Shortcomings of ܻ people are impatience, self-opinionated, have a tendency to waste. They also are prone to mood swings and show their temper every now and then. Sometimes, they can be conceited, and sometimes they have a merciful heart. So, friends tend to come and go, one after another.

The ingredients of Heaven, Earth and Man

Understanding 丁 (Ding) Fire flame character 丁 people are mild, conservative, courteous and passionate. They do not have a strong personality. A fire which is neither hot nor fiery, and often do not let others know of their directions or movements; thus 丁 do not attract attention from other people. The good points of 丁 are that they are quiet, warm, unhurried. Their endurance and tolerance levels are very high, which is totally opposite of 丙 people. So, in order to get along with 丁 people, one must be patient and sensitive, and cannot be too frank. However, just like the situation where a fire requires various conditions to reach the burning-point, this does not imply that 丁 people are negative or lack self-confidence. They will hide their thoughts or feelings in their heart, waiting diligently and attentively for the right opportunity to come knocking. Most of the time, others will not know what丁people are thinking. Synthesis says: 丁 people’s contemplation is profound; their behavior is careful and cautious. There are very few cases where actions are carried out on impulse. Their thinking is like a careful vanguard, planning every matter to completion. This is like the nature of a small fire, from ignition it burns anything until it turns into ashes. They can be likened to a fire burning slowly, sacrificing oneself to bring warmth to those near them. Hence ࢷ people will tend to be very close to those whom they know very well. They dedicate their hearts, even to the extent of sacrificing themselves. As they are always thoughtful of the feelings of those who are dear to them, they will tend not to tell the truth. They also find it hard to reject anyone who is close to them even though they are aware that they themselves may lose out in certain circumstances.

36 The correct way of understanding a person’s destiny

Understanding 戊 (Wu) Mountain character People of this element are like the great earth or stone rock. They are trustworthy and optimistic, open-minded and steady, carefree, strict and honest and simply dressed. Although their innate quality is like stone, they deserve to be appreciated for their stability. ᇒ people will always make sure that the foundation is strengthened before taking the time to put in effort, feelings or commitment. Like the earth or rock change will not occur suddenly; instead changes will take place slowly, over many years. With such a nature, they may miss opportunities sometimes. However, they will not regret, as long as they are happy with what they have currently. Once they have decided on something, nothing can change their mind. In other words, the Wu person can be stubborn at times. However, because of this nature enables them to inspire faith unto others. The ᇒ person is amiable and appreciates and treasures relationships, and because of this, others will tend to seek consultation from them. The ᇒ person will not reject those who come to him but neither will he go after those who reject him. He will not promote himself to others. Their shortcomings are being willful, self-centered and stubborn which can lead to non-coherence and not able to mingle or socialize well. Moreover, as ᇒ person is inflexible and does not change his opinions easily. This tends to lead to a monotonous lifestyle. They will often be considered as people with uninteresting speeches. Their self-respect is very strong, and having a good reputation is important to them. However, they do not indulge in flattery from others.

The ingredients of Heaven, Earth and Man

Understanding 己 (Ji) Moist earth character Field earth or rich earth is sufficient to absorb adequate moisture, and is a depository for various kinds of nutrients. It is the place for cultivating various plants. ଄ people’s understanding, learning and grasping of knowledge is rapid; in other words, they are very versatile. Synthesis says that the majority of ଄ people are very steady and kind. However, their heart is very complex, and they may not be as good as they appear to be. ଄ people are considerate and hardworking, and others will see their potential to substantiate and improve themselves, hence the appraisement that they can attain high achievements. Besides, rich field earth has a soft, flexible comfortable nature. Therefore they know very well when to retreat and when to advance in different circumstances or situations; they have very high adaptability and hence will be entrusted frequently to handle difficult problems. Shortcomings of ଄ people are that their concentration levels are not that high; they are rash at times, tend to compromise easily on decisions made, and, at times, will also be taken for granted by other people.

38 The correct way of understanding a person’s destiny

Understanding 庚 (Geng) Iron character Like a sword being sharpened for war, ৏ people are strong when compared to others of the same nature. They are sharp, determined, straightforward, strong-willed, and do not admit failure easily. They show much enthusiasm and determination in whatever they do, may be too excited and rash at times. This is because they do not like to waste time thinking and contemplating, and once they have made a decision, they will take action without any hesitation. Synthesis says, ৏ people exercise great comprehension and will spare no effort to upgrade oneself. They can be proficient in a skill most of the time; apply and reap benefits from what they have studied or learnt. ৏ people are also very much into cleanliness. They have a strong sense of justice, are against unfairness or hypocritical behavior. They also have a chivalrous heart; when they see others suffering from injustice, they will stand up to speak with eloquence for those suffering, so as to gain the favor of others. One of their shortcomings is stubbornness; after having decided on something, they will not change their decision under any circumstances. ৏ people are also careless, not paying much attention to fine details or feelings. They can also show little or no mercy for people whom they do not like, and hence will make enemies very easily.

The ingredients of Heaven, Earth and Man

Understanding 辛 (Xin) Gold character As in the golden silver pearl, jade can be split to emit a unique radiance, and is sensitive to heat and electricity. ባ people have very fine feelings, and have unique opinions. For the matter of each aspect, they are very approachable and helpful to others. Sometimes they will also tire oneself through helping out with a sympathetic heart. ባ people are very sharp and quick in thinking, have fine morals and are very attractive, attracting attention wherever they go. They are very sociable and can get into or maintain good friendships. They will be able to differentiate between good and bad distinctly. Self respect for ባ people is very strong. They love new things, indulge in vanity, and hence can spend unwisely most of the time. ባ people shortcomings are willfulness, stubbornness when it comes to having their own opinions and they mind very much about their external looks, making sure they look presentable at all times. ባ people like to ensure the best of circumstances and situations. They find it hard to reject others when they require assistance and this also shows as a weakness in their mindset.

40 The correct way of understanding a person’s destiny

Understanding 壬 (Ren) Water character Just like waters of rivers and sea flow continually everywhere, and drawn into various kinds of things, the ཻ person is worry free and optimistic; they don’t mind the past and are filled with courage to move on. They show enthusiasm in whatever they do. They like to help others and don’t mind hardships. They are vivacious, lively, high spirited and enjoy social activities, and often become the center of attraction. They are highly adaptable to change in any circumstances. They are also quick to grasp and will not miss any good opportunity that comes along. Once the drive kicks in, they will overcome all difficulties to meet their objective or reach their goal. Synthesis says that ཻ people are clever, intelligent and full of inspiration. They can be endowed in both civil and martial virtues, have leadership qualities, and are able to outshine and surpass themselves from others. Shortcomings are that although they have a well-rounded personality, they are willful. They can be lazy and this causes them to be dependent on others easily. ཻ people are very fond of freedom, dislike to be restrained or controlled. As a result, they are not able to hold on to the last minute at times. They are also easily affected and get entangled in love relationships.

The ingredients of Heaven, Earth and Man

Understanding 癸 (Gui) Rain and vapor character Rain and dew are weak and fine, and can be soaked or immersed fully in object. Therefore, ਟ people are steady and peaceful, diligent, hardworking and have high levels of endurance. They have an introvert personality, are honest and down-to-earth. They are also very much into cleanliness. They can be very weak when managing their feelings. They are nervous, like to have fantasies and romantic thoughts or feelings. In order to attain the real meaning of life, they allow their hearts and feelings to lead them to pursue their dreams and goals. They may pay attention to rules and morals, but due to wishful thinking and fantasies, they may not be able to know and understand reality. Hence they can unknowingly engage in meaningless matters, sometimes putting too much though into a small matter and this could lead to doubtful and distrustful thinking. Synthesis says that ਟ people are very pure and innocent, strong in coordination and can be affected over very small or meaningless matters. They are sympathetic towards others but also can be cool and clear-headed at times. They are very sensitive to feelings and will tend to hide their own feelings from others. Therefore, they can appear mild on the outside. They pay much attention to the way of life, to live their dreams and enjoy their lives to the fullest.

42 The correct way of understanding a person’s destiny

When Heavenly Stems combine There are some rules dictating how some Heavenly Stems react when they see each other. There are 5 possible pairs of combinations. When they see each other, they will combine. 甲己 see each other always combine and draw in a 戊 庚乙 see each other always combine and draw in a 庚 丙辛 see each other always combine and draw in a 壬 壬丁 see each other always combine and draw in a 甲 戊癸 see each other always combine and draw in a 丙 How do we interpret when a ‘combine’ takes place?

The ingredients of Heaven, Earth and Man

Example 1: If you are a 甲 (Male), and you see 己 in your chart, we can conclude that: •

you like to work (since 己 represents your direct wealth, which means money derive from work);

•

your wife is close to you (in relationship, 己 represents your wife);

•

you are a realistic person; and

•

you are driven by making money (戊 is your indirect wealth or money, it is drawn into your chart)

Example 2: If you are a 己 Male, and you have a 甲 in your chart. We can conclude that: •

you value reputation (甲 is your “Officer”, meaning your reputation and status);

•

your children are close to you (in a relationship, 甲 represents your children, and they “combine” with you);

•

your children make you prosperous (this is the next important concept of the NOBLE STARS, which we will cover in the next chapter)

•

you will have high status in society

Please do not jump into conclusion by applying the same conclusions to the rest of the combinations. All interpretation varies, as we have to look at the whole chart.

44 The correct way of understanding a person’s destiny

Earthly Branches reveal its secrets “We are the branches; we are your feelings and many hidden secrets” I mentioned earlier that the Earthly Branch represents the feelings and thoughts of a person. It can be his innate character or behavior not obvious to the outside world. How then can we interpret a person’s “hidden” behaviour or thoughts by looking at his Bazi chart? The key is to focus on the Earthly Branches in the Bazi chart.

The “hidden” characteristics People who have Tiger (寅 Yin) are able to apply knowledge into practice effectively. They have good observation skills and are able to grasp opportunities fast. At the same time, they are careful and will check and plan before acting. People who have Rabbit (卯 Mao) are born gifted in art and full of creativity. They are likely to be successful designer or model. Though they may appear to be reserved, cool headed and negligent, they are creative and have very detailed thinking. People who have Dragon (辰 Cheng) are very patient. They can work for long hours and suit work that require patience. But they dislike interruptions in their work. They enjoy good food. People who have Snake (巳 Si) are hardworking and tend to put in efforts to practice, and this is one of their strengths. Full of life and energy, they seldom complain or have grievances, and tend to act promptly and swiftly. People who have Horse (午 Wu) are courageous and faithful. They are quick to decipher between the good and the bad. They do not hesitate to admit their mistakes and mend their ways.

© ucla

46 The correct way of understanding a person’s destiny

People who have Goat (未 Wei) are very sensitive in feelings. They are conscientious in whatever they do. They are not afraid of setbacks and are full of courage to move on with life. They are not complacent, and always strive to improve. People who have Monkey (申 Shen) are nimble and quick-witted. They are creative, and are able to learn new skills quickly. They are hardworking and are meticulous. They have the potential to make great planners. People who have Rooster (酉 You) are sentimental and are full of romantic feelings. They are idealistic and like to pursue perfectionism. Once they see something that they like, they tend to purchase the item without much consideration on its value or usefulness. People who have Dog (戌 Xu) are loyal and faithful. They like to seek improvement and are eager to perform to get into others’ good books. They are trustworthy. However, they tend to rush into love relationships, and sometimes they fall in love with someone without even knowing the other party well. People who have Pig (亥 Hai) like to ponder over matters. They enjoy fantasizing and are full of imaginations. However, they lack the determination to put to practice what they think. They require all things to be going well in their stride before they put in all their efforts to perform with full confidence. In other words, they will only do what they are good at or when they are ready for it! Otherwise, they prefer not to put in much effort. People who have Rat (子 Zi) are wise and resourceful. They can express themselves very well, can reason logically and impressively. If their self element is strong and luck in their stride, they can be a master in strategic planning. For those with too much earth in their Heavenly Stems, they can be very rash and impatient, and this behaviour may easily offend others.

The ingredients of Heaven, Earth and Man

People who have Ox (丑 Chou) work hard and are enthusiastic in seeking improvements. Their weakness is that they worry too much, to the point of exhausting their mental and physical energy.

Secrets of the Hidden Stems Element

12 Animals

1st Qi

2nd Qi

3rd Qi

丙

戊

Wood

寅

Tiger

January

甲

Wood

卯

Rabbit

February

乙

Wood

辰

Dragon

March

戊

乙

癸

Fire

巳

Snake

April

丙

戊

庚

Fire

午

Horse

May

丁

Fire

未

Goat

June

己

丁

乙

Metal

申

Monkey July

庚

壬

戊

Metal

酉

Rooster

August

辛

Metal

戌

Dog

September

戊

辛

丁

Water

亥

Pig

October

壬

Water

子

Rat

November

癸

Water

丑

Ox

December

己

己

甲

癸

辛

Chart 2.9 The 1st, 2nd and 3rd Qi of each element

Within each Earthly Branch, you’ll find several Hidden Stems. The above table lists down the hidden secrets of each animal. These secrets are either hidden potentials or hidden disasters! To determine whether it is a potential or a disaster, the reference point will have to be made to the Day Master. Each animal contains certain Heavenly Stems ranging from one to three stems. The stems are fixed within each of the branch. Let’s start with the basic understanding: All those highlighted in “red” represent the main Qi (energy) of the branch, which also relates to the characteristic of the animal or branch. For example,

48 The correct way of understanding a person’s destiny

if the Bazi chart has 卯 in its branch, this branch contains 乙 as the main Qi (energy). In other words, 卯 contains the characteristic of 乙, and 乙 has the characteristic of 卯. This is especially so for the case of 卯, as it contains only one Qi (see below), as compared to say the Tiger that contains three Qi. Thus 卯 has pure Qi of 乙. (Characteristics of the animals and stems have already been discussed earlier). Let’s use the example of all the animals with relation to the main Qi of the branches in the dotted line box! If the same Qi appears both on the Heavenly Stem and Earthly Branches, we can say that this person is congruent in thoughts and actions! So now, are you congruent in personality? •

寅 contains 甲 as the main Qi, which means 寅 has 甲 attributes and 甲 has the 寅 attributes.

•

卯 contains 乙 as the main Qi, which means 卯 has 乙 attributes and 乙 has 卯 attributes.

•

辰 contains 戊 as the main Qi, which means 戊 has 辰 attributes and 辰 is 戊 attributes.

•

巳 contains 丙 as the main Qi, which means 丙 has 巳 attributes and 巳 has 丙 attributes.

•

午 contains 丁as the main Qi, which means 丁 has 午 attributes and 午 has 丁 attributes.

•

未 contains 己 as the main Qi, which means 己 has 未 attributes and 未 has 己 attributes.

•

申 contains 庚 as the main Qi, which means 庚 has 申 attributes and 申 has 庚 attributes.

•

酉 contains 辛 as the main Qi, which means 辛 has 酉 attributes and 酉 has 辛 attributes.

The ingredients of Heaven, Earth and Man

•

戌 contains 戊 as the main Qi, which means 戊 has 戌 and 戌 has 戊 attributes.

•

亥 contains 壬 as the main Qi, which means 壬 has 亥 attributes and 亥 has 壬 attributes.

•

子 contains 癸 as the main Qi, which means 癸 has 子 attributes and 子 has 癸 attributes.

•

丑 contain 己 as the main Qi, which means 己 has 丑 attributes and 丑 has 己 attributes.

12 Animals 寅

Wood

卯

Wood

辰

Fire

巳

Fire

午

Fire

未

Metal

申

Metal

酉

Metal

戌

Water

亥

Water

子

Water

丑

Tiger

January

Rabbit

February

Dragon

March

Snake

April

Horse

May

Goat

June

Monkey July Rooster

August

Dog

September

Pig

October

Rat

November

Ox

December

1st Qi

2nd Qi

3rd Qi

甲

丙

戊

戊

乙

癸

丙

戊

庚

▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲

Wood

▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲

Element

乙

丁

己

己

丁

乙

庚

壬

戊

辛

丁

辛 戊 壬

甲

癸 己

癸

辛

Chart 2.10 The 1st, 2nd and 3rd Qi of each element

All those highlighted in “blue” represent the 2nd Qi and those in “green” as the last Qi. These two Qi are “trapped” because they are kept inside the branch, and only when heaven gives them an order, these Qi will become active and the corresponding outcome will become reality!

50 The correct way of understanding a person’s destiny

Special notes on the two Heavenly Stems on Earth characteristic Pay special attention on 戊 and 己 if you have these Stems in your chart, as both the dog and dragon contain 戊 Qi, and both Goat and Ox contains 己 Qi. Now that there are both 戊 (wu) and 己(Ji) in both of these animals, how can we determine their true characteristic? Which animal does 戊 correspond to? We need to look at the birth month of the person in question to determine this. If you are born within the first six months from the Tiger to Goat month, the 戊 and 己 in your heavenly stem will take after attributes of Dragon (for 戊) and Goat (for 己) respectively, because Dragon and Goat fall within the first six months! If you are born within the last six months from the Monkey to Ox month, the 戊 and 己 in your heavenly stem will take after the attributes of Dog (for 戊) and Ox (for 己) because dog and ox fall within the last six months! Even if 戊 and 己 earth is not your Day Master, but they are one of the Heavenly Stems in your chart, how can we tell the animal characteristic of the stem?

The ingredients of Heaven, Earth and Man

Chart 2.11 Example of a Bazi chart

For example, in Chart 2.11, 己 here falls under the Goat character! Because Tiger falls within the first six months! This means that this person exhibits a goat character as his main character, as 己 is in his YEAR pillar. You will learn later that whatever appears in your YEAR pillar corresponds with your overall character.

52 The correct way of understanding a person’s destiny

Chart 2.12 Example of a Bazi chart

In Chart 2.12, 戊 and 己 characters are determine by the month of 申 and NOT the 辰 hour, 戌 day and 丑 year. As 申 falls within the last six months, 戊 character takes after the 戌, and 己 character takes after the 丑.

The ingredients of Heaven, Earth and Man

Chart 2.13 further illustrates the differences in character match on their feeling and action (Heavenly Stem and Earthly Branch). Although the two 戊 earth Day Master have “roots” on the 戌 and 辰 months, there lies a difference in their character match. In chart B, the 戊 Day Master take after the 戌 character, as this person is born in the 申 month. This means that the feelings and the action of this person is congruent, thus he practices what he preaches.

Chart A

Chart B Chart 2.13 Example of a Bazi chart

Whereas in chart A, the person behaves with “Dog” character (courageous, faithful, etc), but his thought and feelings are inclined towards the 辰 attributes. This person has a character contradiction. However, do take note the above two charts are ONLY applicable to Earth Day Master, as amongst the 12 animals, there is a duplicate of 戊 and 己. Thus, reading a Bazi chart always demand extreme care and attention.

54 The correct way of understanding a person’s destiny

When branches interact with one another How the Earthly Branches interact will give you an insight on what is to come. Remember that branches are about ones’ feelings and hidden character. Before we dwell further, I need to explain to you more about seasonal structures. When branches interact, they do so in the following ways: seasonal structures, three combinations, double combinations and clashes. To be able to do so, these branches need to sit side by side within the Bazi chart. Seasonal Structures Season of WOOD

寅

卯

Season of FIRE

辰

巳

Season of METAL

申

酉

午

未

Season of WATER

戌

亥

子

丑

When Seasonal Structures are encountered, it brings out a person’s extreme character! Some of the structures are called Special Structure, and the whole chart has to be read differently.

The ingredients of Heaven, Earth and Man

Three combinations The 3-combinations of the Earthly Branches happen when any of the following branches come together. The combinations produce the following elements: 3 Combo into WOOD

3 Combo into FIRE

亥

卯

未

寅

午

戌

Pig

Rabbit

Goat

Tiger

Horse

Dog

3 Combo into METAL

3 Combo into WATER

巳

酉

丑

申

子

辰

Snake

Rooster

Ox

Monkey

Rat

Dragon

4 Combo of Earth

辰

未

戌

丑

Dragon

Goat

Dog

Ox

The Double Combination The double combine can bring good or bad. For example, money can come to you or money can slip away from you. Combine into Wood when they see each other Tiger 寅

亥 Pig

Combine into Metal when they see each other Rooster 酉

辰 Dragon

Combine into Fire when they see each other Rabbit 卯

戌 Dog

Combine into Fire when they see each other Horse 午

未 Goat

Combine into Water when they see each other Monkey 申

巳 Snake

Combine into Earth when they see each other Rat 子

丑 Ox

56 The correct way of understanding a person’s destiny

Clashes Clashes are surprises. Some will be volcanic outcomes. 6 Clashes – once they see each other, the clashes will take place! Tiger 寅 Rabbit 卯

申 Monkey 酉 Rooster

Dragon 辰 Snake 巳

戌 Dog

Horse 午

子 Rat

亥 Pig

Goat 未

丑 Ox

In many books, they usually categorize clashes as unfavorable. But basing on past experiences, there are good and bad clashes! Because if we termed them as bad clashes, then we have to ask ourselves, how bad is bad? What is the cause of the bad clashes and who is involved or what is the cause of the clashes! Once we can find out the cause, even a bad event can turn out to be one with a good ending, and vice versa! As this book is about the fundamental concepts, we will have an in-depth coverage of this concept in our next book!

The ingredients of Heaven, Earth and Man

The complexity of a person’s character and feelings Pig character appears

Snake character appears

Rabbit character appears

Dog character appears

Dragon character hidden

Tiger character hidden

Ox character hidden

Rat character hidden

Chart 2.14 The complexity of a Bazi chart

By now, you would had understood the meaning of characteraction congruency. Chart 2.14 shows us that the stems and the branches are not identical! It also explained how complex a person can be. Not because they want to behave in this manner, but at the time of birth, this set of character was already determined. This gives us an in-depth on a person’s innate character and why he does things in a certain manner. Only if we can decode and understand human nature, we can and will forgive everyone!

Chapter 3

More Secrets Unlocked We had explained in the previous chapters on the Heavenly Stems, the Earthly Branches and the Hidden Stems, and what do they reflect about your life. In this chapter, I will reveal to you the concept of the NOBLE ELEMENTS on the 10 Heavenly Stems. Noble Elements are elements that are useful to a particular element. Every element has two or three noble elements. How one element is noble or useful for another is explained by the law of nature. This is a very important and fundamental concept not covered in any books. Let me go through each element one by one to explain this concept clearly.

60 The correct way of understanding a person’s destiny

Introducing the Noble Elements In this chapter, we want you to focus on the concept on making an element USEFUL. We have termed a Noble Element as an element that makes another element useful. Again, to understand better, bring yourself back to 5000 years ago. “Usefulness” is about contributing to mankind during the ancient times. For example, the Sun grows the Flower so that the Flower can beautify the environment. Thus, the Sun is useful to the Flower. Every element on the Heavenly Stem has two or three Noble Elements. Look at your Day Master, you too have Noble Elements, and we are going to reveal what your Noble Elements are. A useful element for another element is not about making this element stronger. Instead, it is about how this element adds value to the other element’s key utilitarian function. Let’s take the example of a tree, the Noble Elements for a tree, is about how the tree adds value to mankind, not about how the tree can be grown bigger for itself. Many other books focused on how enhancing the tree by making it stronger, for example, by adding more water element that

More secrets unlocked

“produces” the tree. Why does a big tree still needs so much water? In the extreme case, too much water can uproot the tree, thus destroying it! Thus, I would like to share here with you the concept of Noble Elements, and explain to you, the logical meaning behind it.

Day Master 甲 乙 丙 丁 戊 己 庚 辛 壬 癸

NOBLE ELEMENTS 丁 庚 丙 甲 癸 壬 辛 甲 庚 甲 壬 丙 甲 癸 甲 丁 壬 己 丙 辛 壬 丙

In our next book, we will bring you to a deeper concept on situations where this Noble Element can become “EVIL”!

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If you are a 甲 Jia Day Master Hour

Day

Month

Year

Day Master

庚甲 丁 Geng Iron

Jia Tree

Ding Fire flames

The knowledge of using of the environment has been dated to more than 5,000 years ago; and since then, this knowledge had been put into practice. What is the tree to be used for? Briefly, a tree needs to be cut down, trimmed and sized to suit its various usages. In ancient time, trees were mainly used for building houses, supports and pillars, boats etc; and without the presence of iron, wood cannot be made useful. So iron plays an important role to make wood useful. The second element is fire flames. It’s not so much about burning the wood, it’s more for the purpose of having a forging effect on the iron! For without fire, the iron cannot be forged! If iron cannot be forged, the tree would have no purpose to serve, be kept aside and most probably, would rot. Iron needs fire to forge – fire needs wood to burn – wood needs iron to cut; this is the inter-relationship of the three elements. If 甲 received either 庚 or 丁 in their charts, they will be noble! In our next book, we will bring you to a deeper approach on when the useful becomes “EVIL”!

© sjtoh

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If you are a 乙 Yi Day Master Hour

Day

Month

Year

Day Master

癸乙 丙 甲 Gui Dew/Rain

Yi Flower

Bing Sun

Jia Tree

How do flowers contribute to society? Then let’s ask ourselves: Why do we send flowers to our loved ones, for funerals, for well wishes and for all kinds of celebrations and ceremonies? They are used for beautifying our environment too. Flowers bring peace, serenity, hopes and happiness amongst others. Flowers are highly recommended for decoration too. That’s a saying: 乙 people are strong in organizational skill, and this is usually an in-born trait! Healthy flowers, what do we mean by that? The job of the sun! Without the sun, flowers will not bloom! There are flowers that bloom in the night! This is what we call unique flowers! As this is only the basic level, we will only stay within this general nature of 乙. Flowers like water, but not the kind that will washes them away! They like dew, where water is most gentle. If there are no sun and dew, than they will twirl on trees to reach out for the sun, so that they will bloom and earned our attention! If will be good to have either one of these three Noble Elements ( 癸, 丙 and 甲) to appear in the chart because this will bring gain and reputation to the 乙 person.

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If you are a 丙 Bing Day Master Hour

Day

Month

Year

Day Master

丙 壬辛 Bing Sun

Ren Water

Xin Gold

丙 people are dynamic by nature; they play both the good and the bad roles in their lives. How can the sun plays its role by helping the society? The sun’s responsibility is to make water useful and aids harvesting of crops. Based on scientific approaches, warm water will initiate a healthy grow but not cold water. To carry out its task of warming the water, the sun needs water to be pure. Chalky waters will result in a major disaster! As such, the quality of water becomes the focus! Water needs to run along a stream that contain minerals, and is termed healthy because of the purification by the minerals. Gold is derived from these minerals. (To side track, that’s why when water receives gold, water is termed as pure in character! With pure and warm water in place, the sun will become a noble figure to promote the birth of nature. People will reap the benefits from the sun’s unconditional effort!

© shiyali

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If you are a 丁 Ding Day Master Hour

Day

Month

Year

Day Master

庚丁 甲 Geng Iron

Ding Fire flames

Jia Tree

丁, in modern society, is term as electricity. 丁 peaks in performance when the sun loses its radiance. As such, 丁 comes in handy at night! Some classics said: if 丁 people are born during the night, they will be useful and attract attention easily! 丁 require various conditions so that burning can take place. Considering trees and flowers for burning purposes, trees are better fits for the job because flowers are wet in nature. They may create a negative impact! With the trees in place, the fire will spread and travel freely, just like how electricity travels. Characteristically, fires and stock market behaviors perform similiarly in their ups and downs movements. But the performance of fire is largely dependent on the condition of the wood. And wood depends on iron. The successes and failures of 丁 is first on wood, and iron, second. They are the minister and advisor for 丁. When 丁 receives both 甲 and 庚, the fire becomes a power house!

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If you are a 戊 Wu Day Master Hour

Day

Month

Year

Day Master

甲戊 壬 辛 Jia Tree

Wu Mountain

Ren Water

Xin Gold

戊 is unwavering and stable, and what matters most to the mountains are trees! Choose a mountain without trees, or one that is full of trees; which one will you choose to climb? The answer is obvious. The mountain with trees because the trees make the mountain a beautiful sight to explore! And accompanying the sight, a skirting of mineral gold purifying the water as it runs along 戊. Heaven is a place on earth! There are many forms of Noble Elements and Wealthy Structures. The above chart is just one of them. Any wrong arrangement will cause the outcome to be devastating!

© PaulMT

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If you are a 己 Ji Day Master Hour

Day

Month

Year

Day Master

甲己 丙 Jia Tree

Ji Moist Earth

Bing Sun

己 is classified as fertilizer in nature. Their responsibilities are to grow trees and vegetations. Without sun, trees and vegetations cannot take place. Due to the nature of 己, 丙 is of paramount importance and second, 甲! With this two in place, 己 can exercise power and influence. Here we would like to stress on the understanding and reading of a destiny chart or Bazi reading. There are no fixed rules for reading a destiny chart. The reading is flexible. It is just like learning a martial art or a certain skill, the outcome is subjected on the level of skill you’d acquired with the various masters! If you can see a person going through unfavourable luck, the outcome is obvious: this person will face many obstacles! Before offering any suggestions, pinpoint the root of the cause! Only then can you arrive at a logical implementation to assist this person. Things happen not because of us but the surroundings around us! What do we mean by this sentence, especially surroundings? The Day Master is us. The surroundings are other elements that sit besides us, and the Earthly Branches which we sit on (which is now empty). When the surroundings encounter any movement or changes, it creates a direct impact on our lives. It can be good or bad! In the metaphysics world, we call them environment! Indepth coverage will be featured in our next book!

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If you are a 庚 Geng Day Master Hour

Day

Month

Year

Day Master

丁庚 甲 Ding Fire flames

Geng Iron

Jia Tree

Where can we locate 庚? They are found inside earth, and are termed as coal! 庚 likes fire so that they can be forged into various useful components, making them useful. They can take hardship; the tougher it gets, the harder they emerged because this is their driving force and nobody beats them in terms of survival! Although 庚 enjoyed the companionship of 丁, but must not be short of wood. That’s why we need 甲 to appear, in order to maximize the noble and wealthy outcome! Now come back again, all above mentioned charts must also be accompanied with favourable lucks, to ensure a smooth ride to the limit. If the lucks line-up reflects reverse results, the outcome will be devastating! That’s where the classics said: Lucks will be the deciding factor on a person’s life! Good or bad chart, without the accompanying good lucks, life will be in vain! Please be mindful about this!

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If you are a 辛 Xin Day Master Hour

Day

Month

Year

Day Master

壬辛 己 Ren Water

Xin Gold

Ji Moist Earth

辛 are mostly the perfectionist and details-orientated. Due of their pure nature characteristic, they are the difficult to please. If they are your boss, you can imagine the outcome! 辛 is formed by a collection of pure minerals; that’s why gold are term precious. To reiterate, minerals purify water and when water receives gold, that’s when water is deemed as pure. It is not about metal producing water, it is about making the water character pure. As 辛 people are difficult to please; they require 己 in order to become flexible! 辛 without 己, will experience difficulty in terms of learning. If 壬 and 己 appear in a chart, a noble and wealthy outcome will be achieved. 辛 without 壬, will encounter difficulty in expression and performance. If 辛 wants to be lucky, they must be straight forward with their words. Beating around the bush will create a reverse effect! This is based on the above chart line-up on basic interpretation. In our series of books, we will touch on how the good can become bad, and how the bad can become good! This will fall under our the series of “The Ancient Classics Art of Chinese Metaphysics collections”. A new perspective and one of its kinds for the English speaking world!

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If you are a 壬 Ren Day Master Hour

Day

Month

Year

Day Master

辛壬 丙 Xin Gold

Ren Water

Bing Sun

Water is the source of survival. That’s why 壬 are very good in survival tactics and are tactful in handling situations. 壬 is the fastest of all Heavenly Stems. Classics said: Water travel faster than fire. Translated, it means that 壬 can see and grasp opportunities fast. Water always flows download, they don’t look back even when encountering any setback. But it will be stop by the slowest element, 戊. This is the factor of Yin and Yang! The slowest will lose to the fastest and at the same time, the fastest will also lose to the slowest! Sounds contradictory, right! But it is not! Here’s the connotation for consideration in our actions: if we find ourselves moving too fast, will must slow down and if we find ourselves moving to slow, we must put in more efforts! Back to 壬! 壬 must have minerals to be clear and pure, if not, it will face obstacles. Without the sun, cold water cannot support nature and worse, it slows down the growth or even cause damage to the environment. Tsunami is the result of a disaster by water, but the cause is from earth. 壬 will grow and simultaneously, destroys everything. This applies to all other stems as well. There are counter measures to prevent 壬 from becoming unstoppable (subject to a chart outcome). And when water becomes too intense, they require other elements for a different kind of support! Readers please be aware!

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If you are a 癸 Kui Day Master Hour

Day

Month

Year

Day Master

癸 壬辛 Kui Dew/Rain

Ren Water

Xin Gold

癸 is an unique element. It is the air that we breathe, and it must be healthy. Which is the best element for recycling effects? Metal is not the answer. Without 壬, air cannot be recycled, and without 辛, water cannot be pure and clean. 壬 without 辛 is not pure, and 辛 without 壬 will trap the air! There will be times when 辛 will come in handy. The inter-relationship will be: 辛 purify 壬 and 癸 can recycle from water and create aiding effect to moist the earth. It’s not so much about watering the tree and flower! Due to filtration, 己 can gather or absorb healthy minerals from the rain water. The filtration will form 辛 to purify 壬 and 丙 will warm the water to grow nature, so spring can happen. When spring peaks, 庚 will take down 甲 to build houses in preparation for winter. 丁 will come in handy to forge 庚 for maintenance, and for cooking and also warming the environment. 戊 acts as a shelter to prevent the cold because of their strong mass which the coldness will have a difficult time to penetrate. The principal of 5 elements tell us the harmony of usage but the actual relationship derives from the secrets of their ingredients that what we call them “The Magical of 10 stems”! But the 10 ingredients can come in harmony and due to the Yin and Yang factor, they can appear to be destructive as well! Reader must be careful about it when comes to reading!

82 The correct way of understanding a person’s destiny

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Noble Elements supporting the other elements The importance of the Noble Elements has not been fully discovered and uncovered by many Bazi practitioners and books. Let me attempt to put everything into a pictorial representation to illustrate the Noble Elements’ usefulness. Let’s start with where we stopped; 癸.

84 The correct way of understanding a person’s destiny

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癸 requires 壬 and 辛 for re-cycling into pure air and rain. 癸 can help to moist 己 to grow crops. Because 己 can gather or absorb healthy minerals from 癸, this is what we know as filtration. Filtration of minerals can form 辛 to purify 壬.

86 The correct way of understanding a person’s destiny

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丙 will warm 壬 to grow nature, so spring can happen. And when spring reaches its peak, 庚 will take down 甲 to build houses and prepare for winter. 丁 will come in handy to forge 庚 to chop woods and for repair works, make 丁 for cooking and to warm the environment.

88 The correct way of understanding a person’s destiny

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戊 also comes into play so as to provide shelter from the cold environment.

90 The correct way of understanding a person’s destiny

The general principle of 5 elements focuses how each element harmonizes with the other. What I cover on the usage Noble Elements is about the actual usefulness of each element to the other element. Knowledge of this will help you uncover how to read a Bazi chart more accurately. This is an overall concept of Noble Elements, which I have found it a very important concept for accurate Bazi reading. Many readers from other schools and books have found this to be extremely useful. Deviations from the concept and more sophisticated application techniques will be covered in my next books.

Notes on reading a Bazi chart First and foremost, there are no fixed rules on reading a Bazi chart. Reading it is flexible, it’s like learning martial arts or a certain skill, the outcome is subject to the skills and art you acquire in various masters! If you can see a person going through an unfavourable luck, you know the outcome is obvious; this person will face many obstacles! And in providing suggestions to this person, we must know the root of the problem. Only by knowing this, we can provide a logical suggestion to assist this person in what he wants. There are many instances whereby things happen around us, not due to our own doing, but due to the things or people around us. How do we interpret this from your Bazi chart?

More secrets unlocked

This is how you read from your chart. •

You are the day master, and every other element surrounding the Day Master are influences in your life.

•

If the elements on the right of the Day Master (in order words, the Stem on the Month Pillar), is your mother, we can say that your mother has a strong influence teenage years of your life. Why teenage? Month pillar also represents the teenage years of your life, whereas the hour pillar represents the old age period of your life.

•

When this surrounding element encounter any movement or changes (due to clashes or combine in certain years), it create a direct impact on your life. It can be good and bad! In the metaphysics world, we call them environmental influence.

In our series of books, we will touch on how the good can become bad, and how the bad can become good! This will fall under the series of “The Ancient Classics Art of Chinese Metaphysics” collection. A new perspective and one of its kind for the English speaking world!

Chapter 4

Misconceptions of the Modern Understanding Many practitioners and learners of Bazi believe or assumed that they have understood the ancient chinese metaphysics classics, the way the text were being phrased. Reading the Bazi classics is not as easy as most people think. First of all, we need to understand the history of the Chinese ancient culture, the beliefs, mannerisms, the environment and the living conditions etc. Only with this knowledge, we can understand how the classical book was being written, and how to decode the real meaning. Without this background, we will not understand the real meaning as intended through the Bazi text. Let’s revisit the old Chinese practices, beliefs, and the laws and restrictions of the ancient times. What we have been taught in our school history is that ancient China dynasties were governed by a ruler, named as the emperor! A set of rules were being imposed by the emperor to the people. These rules were mainly to protect the palace treasures and secrets. And the text used to communicate was such that the commoner find it hard to understand, thus misleading its rivals and enemies. The objectives were also to mislead political rivals on the myths without directly decoding the true meaning. In order to crack the real meaning, we have to decipher the hidden words beyond written words and this is not a simple task to do.

94 The correct way of understanding a person’s destiny

This did not only happen in Chinese classics, it also happened in the English speaking world where the Da Vinci code has yet to be discovered.

The misconceptions of the Strong and the Weak What does it mean by strong and weak? In many Bazi teachings and books, the focuses on a good versus a not-so-good chart were on how strong or how weak the Day Master was, with reference to the other elements in the chart. Many learners have been confused by this concept: how do we determine the strength or weakness? Just like the concept of far and near; how far or near depends on how you define distance based on your criteria. Strength and weakness are relative terms, how can we judge the strength or weakness? What are the criteria? In this chapter, we will resolve to uncover this mind bogging issue! To truly understand this concept, we must create a cross reference on “Heaven, Earth and Man” for accessing the “real meaning”! Let’s term them as “The Rules of Engagement”. For example, most reader or practitioners will base on the season’s influence to decide on the strength of the Day Master! Chart 4.1 is a sample chart on the Day Master of 甲, born in the start of spring. We will use 甲 as the reference to walk thru certain months phase to determine each outcome!

Misconceptions of the modern understanding

Hour

Day

Month

Year

Day Master

甲 Tree

寅 Tiger

Start of Spring

Chart 4.1 Chart illustrating the misconception: “The Day Master is a strong Tree” This 甲 Day Master was born at the start of spring. Every start of any given season is the start of the growth of an element. The start of spring is the growth phase for wood, and thus Tiger month is categories as the growth of Wood. The person born in this season of “Growth” will be independent and has a thriving personality! Many practitioners and learners will categorize this as a “strong tree”. To create a balance, those books mentioned that the strong tree needs to be weakened, in either of the following ways: •

A “strong tree” needs fire to weaken itself because the release of energy will be deemed as “auspicious”. Using the principle of 5 elements, there are 2 types of fire: - The Yin Fire is the Flame, and the Yang Fire is the Sun. Now which of the two fire is the noble or useful?

•

Metal is also considered useful, as it can “control” the Wood, thus weakening its strength. Metal again can be a Yin Metal (Gold) or a Yang Metal (Iron); which one to be used? The truth is that not both of them are useful or noble. The one that can be used will create a noble and wealthy outcome! The one that cannot be use will create a legal implication!

96 The correct way of understanding a person’s destiny

So the question here is: Is strong and weak the deciding factor on the goodness of the chart, or is Day Master is the deciding factor on the usage? Hour

Day

Month

Year

Day Master

甲 Tree

卯 Rabbit

Peak of Spring

Chart 4.2 甲 born in the peak of spring, any season a person that is born in the peak of a season, their character and influence will be dominated by the season! Please remember! The condition on the tree element’s usage will be the same as Chart 4.1! Hour

Day

Month

Day Master

甲 Tree

辰 Dragon

End of Spring

Chart 4.3

Year

Misconceptions of the modern understanding

In Chart 4.3, we use the same Day Master stem again so as not to cause any confusion. But this time, the wood is born at end of spring! Now, some will say that the wood is strong because the dragon falls under the wood category! And some practitioners or books said that the wood is weak because dragon represents the end of spring and wood is trap in dragon earth (Within dragon, it contains wood surplus). Some also said that the dragon is the transition towards summer and wood is weak in the season. If the wood is strong, we need fire and metal to do the job, but which metal and which fire? And if the wood is weak, we need to use water to grow the wood (refer to The Production Cycle, page 19)? And by using the ingredients of the sea and rain on the water element’s principle, which will be the best match? The answer is neither. Hour

Day

Month

Year

Day Master

甲 Tree

巳 Snake

Start of Summer

Chart 4.4

甲 born in the start of summer, in the other Bazi books, this is immediately categorized as a weak wood and the use of water will be highly recommended.

98 The correct way of understanding a person’s destiny

Now the water can come as a Heavenly Stem or Earthly Branches, or they may appear in a complete pillar which both stem and branch are of water element. And not many people know whether the water in the Heavenly Stem or that in the Earthly Branch is better. Unfortunately, neither is useful! And when wood enters into a water year or luck, the 甲 person will become unstable, and problems will start to arise. And this concept created a contradiction on the reading, and not many Bazi practitioners can explain why. This is because of the misconception on the understanding of a tree. Picture how a tree looks like – they are tall and big! Does a tree, tall and big, needs constant water to be useful and contribute to society? When we say usefulness, it’s not about whether the tree grows well, but how this tree can be made useful for society in general. Hour

Day

Month

Year

Day Master

甲 Tree

申

Monkey Start of Autumn

Chart 4.5

Chart 4.5 uses the same Wood again, for your easy reference. This wood person is born at the start of autumn. Other books had termed this as a very weak wood and water should be a good use to grow the wood.

Misconceptions of the modern understanding

So, what is the purpose to grow the tree? And what can the tree achieves? If you’re the tree, what is your usefulness? How to make the best use of the tree? If you can put in some logical application by turning the tree into usefulness, you will understand why this is the best season for the tree!

The true meaning of Strong and Weak Ancient classical Bazi has made references on “strong and weak”. Many modern Bazi practitioners and their books have made interpretations in the way as described in the above 甲 person. The meaning of strong and weak have been wrongly construed! This is one of the reasons why many practitioners and learners have been unable to read the Bazi chart accurately.

© bigevil600

The true meaning of what the classical text was saying is that: a strong wood or a strong metal person refers to their characters being rooted. Rooted people are very stable and know what they want in life.

100 The correct way of understanding a person’s destiny

What do we mean by having his or her character rooted? This is illustrated in Chart 4.6 below.

Chart 4.6

Remember in our previous chapter that we had already mentioned about the same attributes, the above 2 charts are the real example of a person with character congruency! The day stem is 甲 and the tiger also contain the main Qi of 甲, this creates an interlink on the person’s character!

Misconceptions of the modern understanding

Of course you may ask if it matters where the tiger appears. Yes, it is important which pillar does the tiger is on, as it tells us how to apply the character congruency. For now, we will stick with the foundation knowledge. When a person’s character is rooted, he will act the way he thinks. Remember that the Heavenly Stem represents how he behaves or how people see him (external perceptions), and Earthly Branch represents what is in his mind or his feelings (inward self). When his Bazi chart shows that his character is rooted, his action is congruent to his thoughts. A person whose character is rooted is as good as having strong foundation of his character. On the contrary, when a character is not rooted, he will be termed as weak. This means that he tends to contradict himself and draw confusion in his thoughts. As you may be aware that the above two charts are all references from the season to determine on the behavior of the Day Master. You can find that the character in Chart 4.1 is congruent as the tree was born in the season of spring. The conclusion is that this person will do what he preaches and preaches what he do.

© jelaga

Chapter 5

Uncoding the Bazi Secrets Your Bazi chart reveals many aspects of your life. And these are predetermined at birth. You may ask if we can change our lives. The answer is a direct YES! But can we make any changes? It is often easier said than done. •

What each pillar represents with basic understanding (eg..year, month, day, hour) Hour

Day

Month

Year

}

Heavenly Stems

Earthly Branches

Hour

Day

Month

The Heavenly Stems and the Earthly Branches together form a ‘pillar’. It is also known as ‘Four Pillar Reading’ in some countries.

Year

Each pillar in your Bazi chart can tell you many things. The pillars cover areas from your ancestors to children, and stages of your life from youth to old age. Table 5.1 will illustrates further.

104 The correct way of understanding a person’s destiny

Pillar

What it tells

Stage of your life about you

People around you

Year Pillar

Your original overall character

Age 1 to 16 years old

Your ancestors

Month Pillar

Your family background

Age 17 to 32 years old

Your parents and siblings

Day Pillar

Your life, your house and your marriage

Age 33 to 48 years old

Yourself and your spouse

Hour Pillar

Your career

Age 49 years old onwards

Your children

Table 5.1 Areas covered by the pillars Not only can the elements in each pillar tell us about ourselves, they display our parents, our siblings, our career and our children as well. Here’s an example. What can we interpret from Chart 5.2 in the area of relationship? Career & Children

Siblings & Parents

Chart 5.2

Uncoding the Bazi secrets

So let’s try to apply the concepts to the above example. Chart 5.2 belongs to a male, 壬 Day Master. Lets’ call him Mr B. We had previously covered on the attributes and characteristics of each of the 10 Heavenly Stems. Thus, being a 壬 Day Master, he exhibits the characteristics of a forward looking and courageous personality. Mr B’s Noble Elements are 丙 and 辛. In the chart, these two elements appear beside the Day Master. As each element represents a relationship to the Day Master, these relationships are also close to him. The fact that they are his Noble Elements, these people are helpful and supportive of him! •

The month pillar represents Mr B’s siblings and parents. Since these two elements are Noble Elements of 壬, Mr B’s siblings and parents are supportive, and often helping out Mr B in various aspects of his life.

•

The hour pillar represents Mr B’s children pillar. It also represents his career pillar. In this case, since 辛 is 壬’s Noble Elements, we can conclude that he’ll have filial children and good career prospects in life!

Please remember that this is only a basic way to read a Bazi chart. As you get on to our next book, we will introduce more advanced techniques to reading a chart.

106 The correct way of understanding a person’s destiny

What do the other elements in your chart tell about you? First, pay attention to your Day Master Stem. With reference to your Day Master Stem, we can conclude your primary behavior, and your external perceptions in society. Remember, the Heavenly Stem is about what and how others see you, or about you. 甲

乙

丙

丁

戊

己

庚

辛

壬

癸

Jia

Yi

Bing

Ding

Wu

Ji

Geng

Xin

Ren

Gui

Friendly & strive to improve

甲

乙

丙

丁

戊

己

庚

辛

壬

癸

Strong personality like a warrior

乙

甲

丁

丙

己

戊

辛

庚

癸

壬

Act quietly

丙

丁

戊

己

庚

辛

壬

癸

甲

乙

Act expressive

丁

丙

己

戊

辛

庚

癸

壬

乙

甲

Passive income

戊

己

庚

辛

壬

癸

甲

乙

丙

丁

Working income

己

戊

辛

庚

癸

壬

乙

甲

丁

丙

The Ruler

庚

辛

壬

癸

甲

乙

丙

丁

戊

己

The Minister

辛

庚

癸

壬

乙

甲

丁

丙

己

戊

Non-academic knowledge

壬

癸

甲

乙

丙

丁

戊

己

庚

辛

Academic knowledge

癸

壬

乙

甲

丁

丙

己

戊

辛

庚

You as the Day Master

Table 5.3 The 10 nature of the characteristic outcome when you see them

The above red box contains the 10 phases of nature. It also represents an outcome or behaviour with reference to the Day Master. When it appears, you will encounter the outcome or exhibit the behavior that it represents. For example, 2009’s pillar is is 己丑 (Ji Chou), with 己 as the Heavenly Stem. For a 甲 Day Master, 己 represents working income. This means that in this person will be earning more money through work this year. It also means that there is heavier workload in year 2009.

Uncoding the Bazi secrets

Table 5.4 shows a sample Bazi chart with his prevailing 10 years lucks. His expressiveness is a dominant attitude in his career life.

Day Master

10 years luck cycle table

Table 5.4

When he encounter a luck period, the element that appear will generate an outcome represented by this element. For example, for a 辛 Day master, 壬 represents expressive action. If it appears in his chart, his expressiveness is a dominant attitude in his career life.

108 The correct way of understanding a person’s destiny

Here’s another example.

Chart 5.5 In Chart 5.5, the circled 乙 represents you as the Day Master, the left 丙 (red box on top left hand) represents expressive action, which means you are a very expressive person, especially in your career life. And on the right, 乙 represents your friendly personality approach towards society, it also means you always strive to improve yourself! And the 戊 represents working income, means you like to work! But elements that do not appear in your chart do not mean that you do not have them. They will appear in your luck cycle or certain years. However when they appear, they will play a minor role in your life, that is during the 10 years or the particular year that it appears. Because they do not appear in your chart, they do not disturb you often. Once you understand each elemental influence, you can interpret what will happen in your life, and at what point in time it happens.

Uncoding the Bazi secrets

What it says about people around you Reading your Bazi chart, we can uncover the relationships in your life, and whether these people have an impact on your life. Table 5.6 shows the relationships with reference to the male Day Master. Note that there is a difference between a male and a female Day Master in interpreting relationships by looking at the elements. You as the Day Master (Male)

甲

乙

丙

丁

戊

己

庚

辛

壬

癸

Jia

Yi

Bing

Ding

Wu

Ji

Geng

Xin

Ren

Gui

Sibling

甲

乙

丙

丁

戊

己

庚

辛

壬

癸

Sibling

乙

甲

丁

丙

己

戊

辛

庚

癸

壬

Male employee

丙

丁

戊

己

庚

辛

壬

癸

甲

乙

Female employee

丁

丙

己

戊

辛

庚

癸

壬

乙

甲

Girl friends

戊

己

庚

辛

壬

癸

甲

乙

丙

丁

Wife

己

戊

辛

庚

癸

壬

乙

甲

丁

丙

Son

庚

辛

壬

癸

甲

乙

丙

丁

戊

己

Daughter

辛

庚

癸

壬

乙

甲

丁

丙

己

戊

Stepmother

壬

癸

甲

乙

丙

丁

戊

己

庚

辛

Mother

癸

壬

乙

甲

丁

丙

己

戊

辛

庚

Table 5.6 The 10 Heavenly Stem Relationships reading for a MALE Day Master

110 The correct way of understanding a person’s destiny

Relationship interpretation of the elements: (Note that the Day Master is a MALE)

Chart 5.7

In Chart 5.7 is based on a 己 male Day Master. The 己 on the year pillar represents his sibling, and 丙 month represents his mother, and 甲 represents his daughter. When these people “appear” in his chart, they have an impact in his life. It can mean that they are close to him. It may be that he is not emotionally close to them but that they have a strong influence in his life. If these elements appear in the hidden stems, you can say that he is emotionally linked to them at heart. Remember, hidden stems are about your feelings.

Uncoding the Bazi secrets

You as the Day Master (Female)

甲

乙

丙

丁

戊

己

庚

辛

壬

癸

Jia

Yi

Bing

Ding

Wu

Ji

Geng

Xin

Ren

Gui

Sibling

甲

乙

丙

丁

戊

己

庚

辛

壬

癸

Sibling

乙

甲

丁

丙

己

戊

辛

庚

癸

壬

Daughter

丙

丁

戊

己

庚

辛

壬

癸

甲

乙

Son

丁

丙

己

戊

辛

庚

癸

壬

乙

甲

Mother-in-law

戊

己

庚

辛

壬

癸

甲

乙

丙

丁

Boyfriend’s mother

己

戊

辛

庚

癸

壬

乙

甲

丁

丙

Boyfriend

庚

辛

壬

癸

甲

乙

丙

丁

戊

己

Husband

辛

庚

癸

壬

乙

甲

丁

丙

己

戊

Mother

壬

癸

甲

乙

丙

丁

戊

己

庚

辛

Stepmother

癸

壬

乙

甲

丁

丙

己

戊

辛

庚

Table 5.8 The 10 Heavenly Stem Relationships reading for the FEMALE Day Master

Relationship interpretation of the elements: (Note that the Day Master is a FEMALE) Now let’s interpret the same chart (Chart 5.7) assuming the Day Master is now a female. In the above Bazi chart, 己 on the year pillar represents her siblings, and 丙 on the month pillar represents her stepmother (if she has one)! And 甲 represents her husband which is in the hour pillar! These people will have a strong influence in her life or are close to her. A point to note closeness in relationships is that such closeness may not be a good thing totally, it may turn out to be bad.

© Kreon

Uncoding the Bazi secrets

What it says about your career Our concentration here will be the stem because stems are social outcomes and how people see you, while branches are about your feelings. Many books had stressed on the importance of branches, and yet, many outcomes cannot be explained accurately from the reading. This is how we are different. What is truly important is on the accurate assessment on the outcome by looking at the Heavenly Stems. The Noble Elements which we had cover in “The 10 rules of nature” will serve as guidelines to assess the Bazi chart. Remember we mentioned earlier that the hour pillar represent the Career luck. To assess whether this person’s career prospects are lucky and smooth sailing, we will focus on the hour pillar.

Chart 5.9

114 The correct way of understanding a person’s destiny

Now, using the Day Master as the reference point, for a 己 person, his Noble Elements are 丙 and 甲. We can see that 甲 is in the hour pillar. This concludes that he has good career luck in his life. And the 甲 also represent the minister of 己 Day Master, we can conclude that he will receive blessings from his boss and his boss is very close to him. For this person, his career luck is generally good throughout his life. However, in his life, there may be some “less lucky periods” for his career. This happens when he encounter a period when the element in the pillar “removes” the noble element in his pillar. This is what we call clashes or combines, a concept we will cover in my next book.

What it says about your family background

Chart 5.10

Uncoding the Bazi secrets

When we talk about family background, we refer closely to the month branch and the month stem which represent siblings! We focus on whether your parents or siblings are helpful or useful in your life. In a basic reading, this 己 Day Master was born in extreme winter (in the Rat month) where the environment is extremely cold. On top of the extreme condition, to worsen the environment, the branches of 亥子丑 appears to forming a winter season that where the environment is too cold and harsh! The responsibility of 己 is in supporting agriculture and growing crops! With the winter season in place, growth cannot take place unless there is 丙 in his chart. Which mean this person will have difficulty to depend on parental support! He will have to find other source of survival in his environment condition! We can see there is a 丙 on his month stem which falls under the pillar of his sibling. This is indeed good news for him. This means that he can seek help and depend on his siblings. The best thing is, they will be happy to give him a hand! Why? Because 丙 is the noble element of 己! To bring the reading further for a more sophisticated level, this person is self-reliant, has strong principles and constantly seeks to improve his life!

Uncoding the Bazi secrets

What it says about your marriage Have you ever come across a Bazi master who had advised you to marry at an early age or later in life? Did you ask him why? This is due to the influence of certain elements!

Chart 5.11 In Chart 5.11, the person is of 乙 Day Master. The branch that the Day Master seats on represents her spouse and her family. With reference to the relationship chart earlier, we know that Snake contains 丙, and is the Noble Element for 乙 because 丙 makes the 乙 bloom! With this, we can tell that this lady will receive support from her spouse, and will get a lucky house when the time is right! She will become lucky once she is married! All these positive outcomes are due to the influence of her Noble Element. With this, in general, a Bazi practitioner will advice her to have an early marriage because of the Noble Element in her spouse palace. When she gets married, the lucky star shines on her. But if the element is not in her favor, then the advice will be reversed!

Do you have any noble elements?

What it says about your children You may have heard of Bazi Master advising you to have more children and you will turn lucky once your child is born.

Chart 5.12 Chart 5.12 belongs to a male, and the Day Master is 庚! Remember it was mentioned earlier that 庚 needs 丁 to forge, and 丁 needs 甲 to support the fire burning. Both 丁 and 甲 are Noble Elements of 庚. With two Noble Elements appearing, we can term this chart as noble. We mentioned earlier that the hour represents his children. With one of his Noble Element in the stem of the hour pillar, we can conclude that he will have noble and helpful children. Secondly, for a 庚 Day Master, 丁 represents his children (daughter to be exact). 丁 also receives its Noble Element of 甲 and 庚! Once he receives a daughter, his luck will improve immediately. The 10 basic charts with their Noble Elements in place (make reference to the Stems and NOT the Branches) are featured in the next chapter. Check and see if you have them on your Heavenly Stems? The references will be on all the Heavenly Stems to determine the Noble Chart!

Chapter 6

Do you have any Noble Elements?

甲 Jia Day Master

122 The correct way of understanding a person’s destiny

乙 Yi Day Master

丙 Bing Day Master

丁 Ding Day Master

Do you have any noble elements?

戊 Wu Day Master

己 Ji Day Master

庚 Geng Day Master

124 The correct way of understanding a person’s destiny

辛 Xin Day Master

壬 Ren Day Master

癸 Gui Day Master

Do you have any noble elements?

Do you resign to fate? What if your chart does not have any of the Noble Elements? What happen if you have the Noble Elements but your life is in chaos now? This is where our next book can help you! Do you know that even without the Noble Elements, you will still have a chance to be successful? You do not need to resign to fate. If you know how to use I-Ching, you will know how to change for the better! See you in our next book.

Chapter 7

Questions Asked and Answered Is Bazi based on religion? It is a BIG NO! Because Bazi is an ancient study of chinese metaphysics on nature! Using nature as a tool for predicting a certain outcome in a given time period. That’s where the 10 rules of nature come into play in our lives.

The Bazi Classics was derived using China time zone, what if I live in America? Time difference is created by man to tell the difference between day and night (Yin and Yang). Whether you are born in America or in Hong Kong, use your country’s time zone to plot your Bazi chart, there will be no mistake about it. This is because your date of birth clearly states your original birth place and that cannot be changed. You need not have to change the time to China (where Bazi is founded) because that is not your original birth place.

128 The correct way of understanding a person’s destiny

Do two persons with the Bazi chart have the same fate? It’s a Yes and a No. This depends on what these 2 persons want to know. People who have different Bazi chart may still have the same fate. For example in a plane crash disaster, the Bazi of the victims are all different but their plight are the same. Applying a deeper knowledge of Bazi, every hour contains 60 minutes and each minute contains a pillar. Every minute contains 60 seconds and every second contains a pillar! Thus we can explain the differences in character and destiny between a pair of twins or triplets. Another reason to explain why two identical Bazi charts may not end up having the same destiny. It is because they are born in a different place or country. First we need to look into the bigger environmental influence or the country prospects – are you born in a first world or third world country? Even in the same country, the state or district comes into play. We can further zoom into the family background and finally the door facing where Feng shui will play an important role! Here we are considering important influences of a big environment and then narrowing down into the micro environment. Even if both of them are living in the first world condition, each of their living environment would still be different. This is where Feng Shui comes into play in a person’s life.

Questions asked and answered

How can Ancient Bazi classics be applied to today’s world? What are the differences? There is Yin and Yang in every aspect of our lives. Comparing past and present environment, there is a big difference because of the evolution of technology (eg. computers). The world have become a ‘smaller’ place as information reaches us in minutes or even seconds! Ancient people experienced much restriction on personal views as the rules and regulations are governed by the ruler! Especially on political issues within the palaces! All text or books had to be written in favour of the ruler and cannot be too direct! If not, the chance of survival will be in question! In short, they have to beat around the bushes where only the learned could understand what the classic meant. And present readers have to first understand why the text was being written in that manner, and what they were trying to put across! Reading of classical texts, we have to find out the connotation of each specific line! Today, people look for quick-fixes and want fast answers! That’s when confusion and contradiction commence because they are reading only on text and not on agenda!

130 The correct way of understanding a person’s destiny

Is it true that “Heaven’s secret cannot be revealed”? This statement “Heaven’s secret cannot be revealed” is only applicable in ancient practices and not in today’s world! Why? During the ancient times, fortune telling masters were not supposed to reveal the life of a person, especially the country’s ruler. Those who knew too much about the ruler’s life will be prosecuted to prevent the secrets from being leaked out! In today’s world, “Heaven’s secret cannot be revealed” has became an excuse for being unable to answer a tough question.

ect p x to e book… e r Mo next ur s in o asic

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