Thursday, February 28, 2013

BaZi: history, people and books


I like to imagine BaZi knowledge is like a tree, all the twigs and leaves get their sources from the same root. The Bazi system that we use today is largely based on the teaching of Xu Ziping of Song dynasty. Learning ZiPing method usually begins with reading 5 classical books namely ZPZQ, SFTK, SMTH, XPHH and YHZP. 



Updated, correction:
In Eastern Han, there's Wang Cong 王充, Wang used 30 years to come out with his book 论衡 (Lun Heng). He believed that a person's fate is already determined at the time of dissemination. He thought that a person's life can be seen in 2 ways - 寿命 Life Expectancy (about birth, death, longevity and short-life) and 禄命  Fortune Life (about wealthiness, nobility, poverty and lowliness).
Guan Lu, Koei, a little too good looking

Saturday, February 23, 2013

BaZi: 用神 - Useful God

用神 Yong Shen - Useful God


用神, PinYin YongShen, 'Used God' or commonly known as 'Useful God' is an important entity in a BaZi chart, it is essentially the God that regulates the chart. There is a lot of misunderstandings about YongShen, different schools have different views on this subject, many modern Masters teach about a balance BaZi, if the DM is strong, the gods that weaken the DM are taken as Useful God, if the DM is weak, the gods that support the DM are considered Useful Gods, while this is partially correct, it is a gross over-generalization.

The concept of YongShen can be easily understood if we refer to ZPZQ which states:

八字用神,专求月令,以日干配月令地支,而生克不同,格局分焉。财官印食,此用神之善而顺用之者也;煞伤劫刃,用神之不善而逆用之者也。当顺而顺,当逆而逆,配合得宜,皆为贵格。


The useful God of Bazi, seek only from the month's decree, with the Stem of the Day matching with the Month Decree Branch, engendering and countering are different, structures are distinguished. Wealth, Officer, Seal and Food, these are benevolent useful gods, thus should be used in a 'follow' / favorable manner; Devil, Hurting, Robbing and Blade, these are not benevolent gods, used in a reversed / 'against' manner. When it should be in a follow manner and it is in that manner, and when it should be in a reversed manner and it is in a reversed manner, the matching and combination are beneficial, all are noble structures.


顺 Shun - I translate this word as follow, like rowing a boat along the stream.

逆 Ni - I translate as against, like rowing a boat against the stream. 

This paragraph is pretty straight forward. From the first sentence we know that the Useful God is derived only from the Month's branch and useful god is related to the chart structure.


The second sentence tell us that there are 2 categories of Gods:
Benevolent Gods - Wealth, Officer, Seal and Food.
Not benevolent Gods - Devil, Hurting, Robbing and Blade. 

The benevolent Gods should be used in the 'follow' way while the not-benevolent Gods should be used in the 'against' way.

The third sentence says when the useful gods in the chart are correctly used, they result in noble structures including the not-benevolent gods.

So now it comes to the question:
What is the 'follow' way and what is the 'against' way?

The 'follow' way is explained as:

是以善而顺用之,

则财喜食神以相生,生官以护财;
官喜透财以相生,生印以护官;
印喜官煞以相生,劫财以护印;
食喜身旺以相生,生财以护食。

When it is benevolent and used in a 'follow' way, is like 


Wealth likes being engendered by Food God, and Wealth engenders Officer to protect wealth; Officer likes protruding Wealth to engender (Officer) and Officer engenders Seal to protect Officer; 
Seal likes being engendered by Officer and Devil to engender Seal and Rob wealth to protect Seal; 
Food likes prosperous self to engender Food, and engendering Wealth to protect Food.

The 'against' way is explained below:

不善而逆用之,


则七煞喜食神以制伏,忌财印以资扶;
伤官喜佩印以制伏,生财以化伤;
阳刃喜官煞以制伏,忌官煞之俱无;
月劫喜透官以制伏,利用财而透食以化劫。

Not-benevolent and used in an 'against' way is like

7th Devil likes to be controlled by Food, dreads supports and help from Wealth and Seal; Hurting Officer likes to be controlled by Seal, engendering wealth and transforming itself, 
Yang Ren likes to be controlled by Officer and Devil, dreads the total absence of Officer and Devil, 
Robbing Month likes to be controlled by penetrating Officer, using Wealth and penetrating Food to transform Rob. 

此顺逆之大路也。
These are the major ways of the concepts of 'follow' and 'against'.

So ZPZQ says the Useful God must be considered from the month's branch, what say other books?

SMTH does not have a particular chapter that discusses Useful God, but in one of its chapters, it is mentioned that Useful God is mostly taken from the month's branch 况用神多取诸月 in Volume 2 - Discussing Year, Month, Day and Hour 论年月日时

SFTK also mentions that Useful God comes from the Month's Decree, there's a poem that teaches how to derive the Useful God from the month Stem in sFTK

As for DTS, the concept of 'Usefulness' is much more complicated.

DTS Chapter 13 writes:

道有体用,不可以一端论也,要在扶之抑之得其宜。

Tao has forms and uses, cannot be discussed from one direction, from support and repress that benefits would be obtained.

体 - Body, form, structure.


用 - Use, capability, ability. 




This is a very profound sentence, the explanation is given by the original annotation below:

有以日主为体,提纲为用。

There's one that uses DM as the form, the outline (month's branch) as the use.

日主旺,则提纲之食神财官皆为我用;日主弱,则提纲有物,帮身以制其神者,亦皆为我用。
DM prosperous, the Eating God, Wealth and Officer in the outline all is used by me; DM is weak, the object in the outline that support self and control other gods also can be used by me.

提纲为体,喜神为用者,日主不能用乎提纲矣。提纲食伤财官太旺,则取年月时上印比为喜神;提纲印比太旺,则取年月时上食伤财官为喜神而用之。
Outline as the form, Favorable God as use. DM cannot use the outline. Food, Hurting, Wealth and Officer are too prosperous, thus Seals and Compares from Year, Month and Hour are taken as Favorable God; In the outline when Seal and Compares are too prosperous, thus take Food, Hurt, Wealth and Officer from Year, Month and hour as Favorable Gods to be used.

此二者,乃体用之正法也。
These 2 are the correct method in determining 'form' and 'use'

有以四柱为体,暗神为用者,必四柱俱无可用,方取暗冲暗合之神。
It is also taken the four pillars as 'form' and obscured gods as 'use', must be in the four pillars nothing can be used, thus is it taken obscurely clash or obscurely combine Gods (to be used). 

有以四柱为体,化神为用者,四柱有合神,即以四柱为体,而以化合之神可用者为用。
It is also taken four pillars as 'form', transformation god as 'use', there's a combination god in the four pillars, thus is taken four pillars as 'form' and the transformation god as 'use'

有以化神为体,四柱为用,化之真者,即以化神为体,以四柱中与化神相生相克者,取以为用。
It is also taken the transformation as 'form' and four pillars as 'use', when the transformation is real, the transformation god is regarded as 'form' and four pillars together with the gods that engenders and counters as 'use'

有以四柱为体,岁运为用,有以喜神为体,辅喜神之神为用,所喜之神,不能自用,以为体用辅喜之神。It is also taken the four pillars as 'form', years and luck as use, also with favorable god as 'form' and the gods that assists the favorable god as 'use', the god that is favorable, when cannot be used be self, thus it uses the god that assists the favorable god.

有以格象为体,日主为用者,须八格气象,及暗神,化神,忌神,客神,皆成一体段。
There's also structure as the 'form', DM as the 'use', it is when the Qi image, obscured god, transformation god, dreadful god, guest god all become on body.

若是一面格象,与日主无干者,或伤克日主太过,或帮扶日主太过,中间要寻体用分辨处,又无形迹,只得用日主自去引生喜神,别求一个活路为用矣。
If it is a one sided structure or image, nothing is related to DM, or when DM is overly injured or countered, or when DM is overly assisted, and in between we look for 'form' and 'use', and it cannot be found, there's no alternative but to use DM itself to lead and engenders favorable god, to seek out an alternative path of living as use.

有以日主为用,有用过于体者。
There's also DM as use, and use is more than form.

如用食财,而财官食神尽行隐伏,及太发露浮泛者,虽美亦过度矣。
Such as using Food and Wealth, and Wealth, Officer and Eating God are all completely hidden, or when overly revealed, superficial or floating, even though is beautiful but it is excessive.

有用立而体行者,有体立而用行者,正体用之理也。
There's stillness as use and movement as form, and there's movement as use and stillness as form, it is truly the principle of 'form' and 'use'

如用神不行于流行之地,且又行助体之运则不妙。
Such as when the useful god does not move at the prevalent places, and it moves to the luck which supports the form, that is not auspicious.

有体用各立者,体用皆旺,不分胜负,行运又无轻重上下,则各立。
There's form and use that establish (separately) on their own, both of them are prosperous, equally, and when in the luck cycle they are also equal, they would be separately establish own their own.

有体用俱滞者,如木火俱旺,不遇金土则俱滞,不可一端定也。
There's form and use that are entirely sluggish, like fire and wood are equally prosperous, does not mee with metal and earth so they are entirely sluggish, this cannot be determined from one aspect of the matter.

然体用之用,与用神之用有分别,若以体用之用为用神固不可,舍此以别求用神又不可,只要斟酌体用真了,于此取紧要为用神,而二三四五处用神者,的非妙造,须抑扬其重轻,毋使有余不足。
Use in the concept of 'form' and 'use' is different from the concept of 'use' in useful god, it is now allowable to take the 'use' from the concept of 'form' and 'use' as Yong Shen, and if to ignore this and to look for alternative useful god is also not allowable, as long as the true 'form' and 'use' is thoroughly thought, and from that the important useful god is determined, and 2, 3, 4, 5 places with useful gods, is not good chart, has to modulate its heaviness and lightness, do not use the excessive or insufficient.

The explanation, unfortunately is also very profound (to me), anyway, from bits and pieces that I could understand, it seems like the first two sentences from this excerpt agree to the concept of 'Useful God' in ZPZQ. 


有以日主为体,提纲为用。
There's one that uses DM as the form, the outline (month's branch) as the use.

This sentence is essentially the traditional ZiPing method. The objects in the month's branch can be taken as the Useful God, depending on which HS protruding and has the most influence in the chart.


日主旺,则提纲之食神财官皆为我用;日主弱,则提纲有物,帮身以制其神者,亦皆为我用。
DM prosperous, the Eating God, Wealth and Officer in the outline all is used by me; DM is weak, the object in the outline that support self and control other gods also can be used by me.

This describes the concept of 相神 Ministerial God that is taught by ZPZQ. Let's leave this for future discussion.

Other application of 'form' and 'use' concept from DTS have their own uses, and helps to determine the 'Useful God' for miscellaneous structures 杂格.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

BaZi: Names of Ten Gods in English.

Names of the Ten Gods in English:

IMHO, some of the English names that is commonly used don't reflect the gods' true identities. Anyway, I have no authority on this subject. On this post I'd like to discuss the names of the ten gods in English according to classical books.

Some Chinese words can be translated into a few meanings in English, the word 正, imo, is best translated as True / Proper / Conventional and 偏  as Side / Improper / Unconventional. Direct and Indirect are also good translations and they are very commonly used in English. 

Below is an excerpt from YHZP about the names and functions of the 10 Gods, I highlighted the one(s) that I think is most suitable. I always like to translated as literal as possible to preserve the Chinese meaning of the names to try to give non Chinese literate readers a good idea what the original meaning is.  

Chapter 1 Yuan Hai Zi Ping 渊海子平

五干属阳,喜合
Five stems that belongs to Yang, likes combination:

以甲为例 Take Jia as example

见甲:为比肩、兄弟。
Meets Jia: as Compare Shoulders, Brothers

见乙:为劫财、败财,剋父及妻。
Meets Yi: as Rob Wealth, as Failing Wealth, counters father and wife

见丙:为食神、天厨、寿星,为男。
Meets Bing: as Food God, Heavenly Kitchen, Longevity star, as male.

见丁:为伤官、退财、耗气,子甥。
Meets Ding: as Hurting Officer, Retreating Wealth, Wasting Qi, Nephew.

见戊:为偏财、偏妻、偏妾,剋子。
Meets Wu: as Indirect / Improper / Side / Unconventional / Slanted Wealth, as Unconventional / Side / Not the main wife, counters children.

见己:为正财、正妻,剋母,为合神。
Meets Ji: as True / Direct / Proper / Conventional Wealth, True / Legitimate Wife, counters mother, as the Combination God.

见庚:为偏官、七杀、官鬼、将星。
Meets Geng: as Unconventional / Improper / Side / Indirect / Illegitimate / Slanted Officer, 7 Killing, Ghost Officer, General Star.

见辛:为正官、禄马、荣神,父母。
Meets Xin: as True / Direct / Legitimate / Proper Officer, as Fortune Horse, Glory God, parents.

见壬:为倒食、偏印、梟神,剋女。
Meets Ren: as 'Pouring(away) Food' Indirect / Improper / Slanted / Unconventional Seal, Owl God, counters woman.

见癸:为印綬、正人、君子,产业。
Meets Gui,: as Seal and its ribbon, True person, person who upholds good principles, industry and property. 

五干属阴,喜冲。
Five Stems that belongs to Yin, likes clashing.

以乙为例 Take Yi as example


见甲:为劫财、逐马,剋妻。

Meets Jia: as Rob Wealth, Chasing Horse, counters wife.

见乙:为比肩、兄弟、朋友。

Meets Yi: as Compare Shoulders, brothers, friends.

见丙:为伤官、小人、盗气,为姪。

Meets Bing: as Hurting Officer, Petty People, Robbing Qi, as nieces / nephews from the male line.

见丁:为食神、天厨、寿星,子孙。

Meets Ding: as Food God, Heavenly Kitchen, Longevity Star, children and grandchildren.

见戊:为正财、正妻,剋母。

Meets Wu: as True / Direct / Proper / Conventional Wealth, True / Legitimate Wife, counters mother.

见己:为偏财、偏妻、偏妾,剋子。

Meets Ji: as Indirect / Improper / Side / Unconventional / Slanted Wealth, as Unconventional / Side / Illegitimate / Not the main wife, Unconventional / Side / Illegitimate / Not the main concubines, counters children.

见庚:为正官、禄马,剋父母。

Meets Geng: as True / Direct / Legitimate / Proper Officer, as Fortune Horse, parents.

见辛:为偏官、七杀、官鬼,媒人。

Meets Xin: Unconventional / Improper / Side / Indirect / Illegitimate / Slanted Officer, 7 Killing, Ghost Officer, General Star, matchmaker.

见壬:为印綬、正人、君子,忌杀。
Meets Ren: As seal and its ribbon, True Person, a person that upholds good principles, Dreading Killing.

见癸:为倒食、偏印、梟神,剋母。

Meets Gui: as 'Pouring (away) Food' Indirect / Improper / Slanted / Unconventional Seal, Owl God, counters mother.

There are some common English names that I particularly dislike:

1. 印 (The element that engenders DM) is commonly called Resource, 

正印 - Direct Resource
 - Indirect Resource 

I think these translations are incorrect. Not one Chinese to English dictionary would translate the word 印 as Resource. 

From an online dictionary:


yìn
to print to mark to engrave a seal a print a stamp a mark a trace image

印 - Is a seal that usually belongs to high ranking government officials in the olden days, it's a mark of authority. Like this one for example from Qing dynasty:


A seal 印
The word for Resource is written as 源 in Chinese, as in
利源 - Natural Resource
资源 - Financial Resource
And to which the classics says: 
財為養命之源 (SMTH volume 6 - 正财) 
Wealth as the resource that nurtures life. 

To call  'Seal' as Resource is not correct according to classical BaZi. 'Resource ' is a word that is linked to  Wealth, not  Seal

2. 食神 is often called Eating God in English, it's an acceptable translation but IMO, a better translation would be 'Food God', as 食 Shi is often used in a context that refers to Food e.g 枭神夺食 - The Owl God (forcibly) takes away food, a phrase that refers to the circumstance when the Food God is being countered by the Indirect Seal, e.g Jia DM with Bing Fire as food is countered by Ren Water (Owl God)

3. 食神 伤官 are called 'Talents', this is also not based on the classics. Talents in Chinese is written as 才. Although YHZP does say that people with 伤官 are artistic and talented, calling 食神 伤官 talents takes away their original meaning, 

伤官 - Hurting Officer, the god that hurts the Officer. 
食神 - Food good, represent food, the god that engenders Wealth, when it's auspicious, represent abundance of wealth and food 财厚食丰. 

Anyway, a better way to call the 10 Gods would be to use the PinYin instead of the English names. 

BaZi names of the Ten Gods in English


Earthly branches 6 harms 六害.

Earthly branches 6 harms 六害

Sometimes I feel like I want to translate something else other than SMTH, it's not my favorite book, but here I go again, another part from SMTH.




Zi and Wei harm each other




Chou and Wu harm each other




Yin and Si harm each other




Mao and Chen harm each other




Shen and Hai harm each other




You and Xu harm each other


SMTH says:

因昼夜阴阳之气感而六合。
Due to the touch of Yin and Yang Qi of the Day and night comes the 6 combinations.

因六合而生六害,因六害而忌昼夜阴阳之气。
Due to the 6 combinations, the 6 harm is born, because the 6 harm dreads the YinYang Qi of Day and night.

六害者,十二支凌战之辰也。
6 harms, is the occasion/time when the 12 branches are approaching war (with each other).

子未相害者,谓未旺土,亥子旺水,名势家相害。故子见未则为害。
Zi and Wei harms each other, is because Wei has prosperous earth, Hai and Zi prosper water. Is named 势家相害 'influential families harming eahc other'. Zi when meets Wei is harmful.

丑午相害者,谓午以旺火凌丑死金,名官鬼相害。故丑见午,而午更带丑干之真鬼则为害尤甚。
Chou and Wu harms each other, is because Wu has prosperous fire and when it approches Xin, metal dies, is named 官鬼相害 'officer and ghost harm'. When Wu meets Chou, Wu carries along the true ghost for a stem in Chou, which harms Chou.

寅巳相害者,谓名(各)恃临官擅能而进相害,若干神往来有鬼者尤甚,况刑在其中,尤不可不加减灾福言之。
Yin and Si harm, each of these stems are LinGuan for elements, and the Qi inside are advancing and harming each other. When the Stem god sees 'ghost' it's quite critical, furthermore punishment is in between, thus the auspiciousness or inauspiciousness would be increased or reduced.

卯辰相害者,谓卯以旺木凌辰死土,此以少凌长相害。故辰见卯,而卯更带辰干真鬼则其害尤甚。
Mao and Chen harm, Mao prospers wood and when approaching Chen, earth dies, A harm where the young is bullying the old. Thus when Chen meets Mao, and Mao brings along the 'true ghost' of the Stem of Chen (HS with earth) so the harm is quite critical.

申亥相害者,谓名恃临官,竞嫉才能,争进相害。故申见亥,亥见申均为害,更纳音相克者重。
Shen and Hai harms each other, each is relying on LinGuan, it's a harm of compete and envy. Thus when Shen meets Hai or Hai meets Shen are equally harmful, and when NaYin is countering each other, then the harm is heavy.

酉戌相害者,谓戌以死火害酉旺金,此嫉妒相害,故酉人见戌则凶,戌人见酉无灾;若乙酉人得戊戌,乙为真金,戊为真火,为害尤甚。
Chen and Xu harm, Xu with dead fire is countering You where metal prospers, is an envious harm, thus when You people meets Xu people is inauspicious, and when Xu people meets You people is okay; if YiYou gets WuXu, Yi as the true metal, Wu as the true fire, the harm is critical.

六,六亲;害,损也。犯之主六亲上有损克,故谓六害。
6, 6 relationships, harm is damage. those that offends (has 6 harms) would have relationship damage or countering, thus it's named 6 harm.

子未直上穿心,与冲合恩未结而仇巳生,乃曰害。
Zi Wei is straight away heart-wrenching, when clashing, combination and kindness has not ended, enmity is already born, is still named 'harm'. 

如 like


子生人畏午冲,而未却去合午;
Zi people fear Wu clash, and Wei combines with Wu

丑畏未冲,而午却去合未;
Chou fears Wei clash, and Wu comes to combine Wei

寅畏申冲,而巳合申;
Yin fears Shen clash, and Si combines with Shen

卯畏酉冲,而辰合酉;
Mao fears You clash, and Chen combines with You

申畏寅冲,而亥合寅。
Shen fear Yin clash, and Hai combines with Yin.

酉畏卯冲,而戊(typo)合卯,
You fears Mao clash, and Xu combines with Mao.

所以皆为害也。
So all this is harm.

Trey: Zi clashes with Wu, and Wei combines with Wu, so Wei takes Wu side, as combination signifies close relationship, and thus it harms Zi.

凡人带此,再见羊刃、劫煞、官府,为灾尤甚。
When people has this (harm), and meets YangRen, JueSha, GuanFu, the disaster is critical.

寅巳、亥申值生旺则主神洁貌俊,好争夺,喜激作;
Yin-Si, Hai-Shen, when happens to be prosperous denotes good looks, competitive, uplifting or proactive in his work.

值死绝则多谋少成,强学人做事,兀兀趋进不厌。
Happens to be dead and extinct, has a lot of plans but few succeeds, strive to learn from others, trudges with difficulty little steps forward but does not give up. 

入贵格则有操守,善机权;
When it's in a noble structure, denotes personal integrity, the person good for intelligent and authority. 

入贱格则多诈、爱贫、鄙吝。
When it's in a lowly structure, is deceitful, loves poorly and vulgar / stingy

卯辰、午丑如生旺,主好胜多怒,严毅不忍;
Mao-Chen, Wu-Chou if born prosperous, denotes an eager to win (aggresive) attitude, bad temper, uptight and intolerant.

死绝主毒害、伤惨、倾覆之事。
Death and Extinction denotes matters related to bane and harm, injury and suffering and collapse.

入贵格则主大权,司刑典狱;
When it's in a noble structure denotes great authority,  in charge of judging (decides on punishment and imprisonment)

入贱格则谋生于不义之地。
When it's in a lowly structure, earns a living in a bad (unjust) place

子未生旺、死绝皆不利六亲骨肉。入贵格多妻妾之累,入贱格孤独无倚。
Zi-Wei born or prosperous, dead or extinct all does not benefit the 6 relationships and offspring. In a noble structure would be tired due to too many spouses, in a lowly structure would be lonely and no one to rely on.

戌酉如生旺,不容物,多刚戾;死绝酷狠,憎善妒能。
Xu-You if born or prosperous, intolerant, obstinate; dead or extinct ruthless and cruel, hates the kind and envy the capable,

入贵格罗怯无辜,结构入讼,颇多奸佞,入贱格残害、阴狡、性佞、不良。
In a noble structure, timid, cowardly and innocent, gets into lawsuits consecutively,  quite a number of petty people, in a lowly structure, evil and crafty, its nature loves to flatter, bad

凡六害入命,大率主妨害孤独,骨肉参商,财帛淡泊,女命尤忌;
When 6 Harm is in Life, it generally means harmful lonliness, bad relationship with family,  wealth and silk indifferent, for women especially is bad.

兼起命宫,看之落何宫,分逐宫详断,
When it also comes up in life palace, see it falls into which palace, then analyze accordingly

《珞禄子》云:六害之徒,命有七伤之事。
Luo LuZi says: The person of six harm, life has matters of 7 injuries.

Trey: 7 injuries are 食伤 food injury、忧伤 worry、饮伤 drinking injury、房室伤 injury at home or accomodation、饥伤 hunger injury、劳伤 work injury、经络营卫气伤 health injury.

歌诀曰:六害之人忌日时,老年残疾苦何依;又逢羊刃神相蚀,不中锋芒虎亦欺。
Song and ode says: the person that has 6 harm, the day and hour is taboo (6 harm should not be between day and hour), olden years would be suffering from sickness with no one to care; if meets YanRen god eclipses one another, 不中锋芒虎亦欺 unsuitable edge (of the sword) tiger would also take advantage (this phrase makes no sense to me)

Trey: the song is like this
猪遇猿猴事罢休;
从来白马怕青牛;
蛇见猛虎如刀割;
玉兔逢龙双泪流;
金鸡遇犬门外立;
羊鼠相逢一担丢。
六害之人忌日时;
老年残疾苦何依;
又逢羊刃神相蚀;
不中锋芒虎亦欺。

可见命犯六害,大忌干支相伤,日时上最紧,身命宫次之,便是贵格,贵自贵,害自害,两不相掩。

It can be seen that if Life offends 6 harms, it's highly inauspicious for the Stems and Branches to injure each other, Day and Hour pillar would be the most criticalm Body and Life palace is second critical, even if the structure is noble, noble is noble, harm is still harm. The two does not counterbalance.

No more SMTH please...

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Earthly Branches - 3 Meetings 三会 & 3 Combinations 三合

3 Meetings 三会 , also called Directional Combination (方合)

When the 3 or 4 branches of the same season meets together, they form an extremely strong support for the element that represent the seasons.

Hai Zi Chou forms a water frame, north direction
Yin Mao Chen forms a wood frame, east direction
Si Wu Wei forms a fire frame, south direction
Shen You Xu forms a metal frame, west direction



















EB 3 combinations 三合

Shen Zi Chen combines to be Water
Si You Chou combines to be Metal
Yin Wu Xu combines to be Fire
Hai Mao Wei combines to be Wood

The 3 combinations is made of 3 Qi stages of an element which are
1. The ChangSheng (Birth) stage
2. The DiWang (Imperial / Peak) stage
3. The Mu (Tomb) stage

SMTH says:

如申子辰,申乃子之母,辰乃子之子,申乃水生,子乃水旺, 辰乃水气,生即产,旺即成,库即收,有生有成有收,万物得始得终,乃自然之理,故申子辰为水局。
Like Shen Zi Chen, Shen is the mother of Zi, Chen is the child of Zi, Shen is where water is born, Zi is where water is prosperous, Chen is water Qi, to be born is to be produced, to be prosperous is to be successful, storage means to be stored. There's production, success and storage. Ten thousand beings has beginning and the end, it's the natural law. Thus Shen Zi Chen is water frame.

若三字缺一则化不成局,不可以三合化局论。
If among the three words, one is missing, the transformed frame would not be successful, it cannot be regarded as the structure 3 combinations.

盖天地间道理,两则化,一阴一阳之谓也,三则化,三生万物之谓也。
It's the natural law, 2 to be transformed has to be one Yang and one Yin, 3 to be transformed  is because 3 engenders ten thousand beings 


已酉丑、寅午戌、亥卯未皆然。Si You Chou, Yin Wu Xu, Hai Mao Wei are all like this.


五行不言土者,四行皆赖土成局,万物皆归藏于土故也;若辰戌丑未全自作土局论。
The five elements are not including Earth, all the other four elements rely on earth to establish a transformed frame, that is because ten thousand beings return to earth (at some point). If there's Chen Xu Chou Wei all complete, it's regarded as an earth structure.


凡命有合,要得局为佳。假令丙丁生人见亥卯未印、已酉丑财为得局,见寅午戌火为本局,申子辰水为官局,辰戌丑未土为伤局。
Should there be combination in the natal chart, it has to have a frame to be regarded as good. For example, a Bing or Ding person sees Hai Mao Wei as 'Seal', Si You Chou as 'Wealth', Yin Wu Xu as its own frame, Shen Zi Chen as 'Officer' structure, Chen Xu Chou Wei as the 'Hurting' structure. 

又如丙人见已酉丑,丁人见寅午戌为三位禄格,谓丙以已为禄,丁以午为禄,酉丑合已,寅戌合午故也。《珞??录子》云:"禄有三会"。《壶中子》云:"得一分三,折月中之仙桂"。此之谓也。余仿此例。
And also if Bing person sees Si You Chou, Ding person sees Yin Wu Xu, it's regarded as three-prosperity -structure, as Si is the 'Lu' of Bing, Wu as the Lu of Ding, You Chou combines with Si, Yin Xu combines with Wu. <LuoLu Zi> says: 'Lu' has three meetings. <Hu Zhong Zi> says: to have one but divided into three, reduces the auspiciousness in the month (EB). It's talking about this, the other (elements) are all like this.

凡六合三合入命,主人形容姿美,神气安定,好生恶死,心地平直,周旋方便,聪慧疏通。
When 6 combination or 3 combination is in the natal chart, the person is good looking, has emotional stability, likes birth and hates death, kind and straightforward, moves around conveniently, intelligent and wise.

如相生合者,举事多遂,更有福神来往,则福愈厚,一生平易,多艺多才,言和貌悦,不较是非,福祸扶持,人多见怜;
When the mutually engendering element is combined, things can work out easily, has the blessing of the fortune god, fortunate and blessed, life is stable and easy, multi-talented, talk smoothly and look pleasing, does not like gossip, support the fortunate and help the unfortunate, likable.

如相克合者,难事而易悦,多是定计,动多招损,更有凶煞相兼,横事勾连,惊暴之灾,不致深咎;
When combining the mutually controlling element, things are difficult but easily blessed, mostly has to go with a fixed plan as changes would bring upon lost, when there's inauspicious devil, bad things happen consecutively, comes suddenly, but not to the extremity.

死绝合者,主人有为未尝遂意,威武不重,精神俗陋,招人鄙薄,志卑气窄,爱小人恶君子,习下自贱,一生少得称怀;
When combining with Si (dead) and Jue (extinct), meaning the person is not perfect/likable (as in when people look at him, people would not be satisfied),  he is not formidable, his thought / consciousness / vitality is common and plain (homely), people would despise him, his aspiration / will is low and his Qi (temperament) shallow, loves petty people and hates good people, his habit is low and himself is low, he would receive little appreciation and praise in his life;

与建禄合者,多横财、意外名望之福;
When it's combined with JianLu (month's Lu), has plenty unconventional wealth, the fortune of unexpected fame. 


正印贵人合,得天恩贵人提携之福;
When combining with ZhengYin (correct seal) GuiRen (noble people),  would fortunately be assisted by noble people.


食神合,衣禄丰余,饮食厚给;
When combining with ShiShen (Food God), clothes and money would be plentiful or in excess, food and drink is given generously.


大耗合,无礼貌,言情行浊,厚于贱人,侮慢君子;
Combining with DaHao (Big waste), no manners, his words passionate (in a negative way) and his conducts dirty, generous to (or favors) lowly (bad) people, bully or humiliate people of noble character.


咸池并,奸恶私通,不良贪污之行;
With XianChi (salty pool), personally connected to those crafty and evil, engage in bribery.

与官符并,多招形狱,词讼旁牵,暗昧是非;
With GuanFu, incur punishments and imprisonment. lawsuits after one another, remain unenlightened and quarrel (right and wrong) 


天空并,动无成实,贱人欺诒。
With TianKong (sky emptiness), his action would results in nothing, would be taken advantages of by bad people.

妇人大忌合中带煞,咸池玷行淫声,大耗必致淫奔,中有贵禄者,自贱而贵也。
For women, it's a big taboo to have combination that carries 'Devil' (7K), XianChi disgrace by committing adultery, DaHo would cause elopement because of 'sex', if within there's Gui and Lu, self is lowly but is also noble.

大率合吉神则吉,合凶神则凶。
Generally, combining with auspicious god is auspicious, combining with inauspicious god is inauspicious. 

phew....


Thursday, February 7, 2013

Earthly Branch EB 6 combinations

The 6 combinations of EB are like the 5 combinations of HS, the pairings of Yin and Yang that signify affection.

6 combinations of EB

Zi and Chou combine and transform to earth

Hai and Yin combine and transform to wood

Mao and Xu combine and transform to fire

Chen and You combine and transform to metal

Si and Shen combine and transform to water

Wu and Wei combine and transform to fire





From SMTH

夫合有合禄、合马、合贵之说。
There's the saying of combining with Lu (prosperity), combining with Ma(horse, as in YiMa) and combining with Gui (noble).


珞录子云:是从无而立有,谓见不见之形也。
Luo LuZi says: It's originally not there but it is then established to be there, it's said to be seen but not seen.


从无立有,喻如甲生人以寅为禄,不见寅而见亥,谓之合禄;
From not existing and become exist, for example, Jia people with Yin as 'Lu', does not sees Yin but sees Hai, thus it is called 'combining with Lu' as Hai combines with Yin


寅生人以申为马,不见申而见巳,谓之合马;
Yin people uses Geng as horse, does not see Shen but sees Si, thus it is called 'combining with Ma'


甲戌庚人以丑未为贵,不见丑未而见子午,谓之合贵。
Jia Xu Geng people use Hai and Wei as Gui (noble), does not see Chou or Wei but sees Zi and Wu, it is called 'combining with Gui'


经云:明合不如暗合,拱实不拱虚。此之谓也。
The classics says: Visible combination is not as good as concealed combination. arching to form a true is not as good as arching to form a fake. This is what it means.


《天元变化书》云:The book of TianYuan BianHua says:


子合丑福轻,丑合子福盛;
Zi combines with Chou, fortune is light. Chou combines with, fortune is prosperous


寅合亥福清,亥合寅福慢;
Yin combines with Hai, fortune is clear. Hai combines with Yin, fortune is slow.


戌合卯福虚,卯合戌福厚;
Xu combines with Mao, fortune is fake. Mao combines with Xu, fortune is thick.


辰合酉福弱,酉合辰大利;
Chen combines with You, fortune is weak. You combines with Chen, is greatly favorable.


午合未福慢,未合午大利;
Wu combines with Wei, fortune is slow. Wei combines with Wu, is greatly favorable.


已合申福慢,申合巳官气盛。
Si combines with Chen, fortune is slow. Shen combines with Si, the officer Qi is prosperous.


如甲午辛未只是身旺,却命禄弱,如乙未壬午虽禄弱粗得。又曰:男子忌合绝,女人忌合贵。
Such as Jia Wu Xin Wei is self prosperous, but natal 'Lu' is weak, like Yi Wei Ren Wu even though 'Lu' is weak is roughly obtainable. Also say: For men, combining 'Jue' is a taboo, for woman, combining with 'Gui (nobility)' is a taboo.

HS Combination and Transformation

Writing long articles and translating classical texts is very exhausting, I think I should write smaller articles and translate smaller portion of classical texts so I can write something everyday.

Back to the topic.

When HS combines, they don't necessarily transform. There are certain criteria has to be met.

The month's decree '月令', is probably the most influential factors.
Master Xu LeWu in his book ZPZQPZ chapter 5 presented this table which he cited from 子平四言集腋 



正月节(寅月)Yin month
丁壬化木(正化)Ding Ren transforms to wood, true transformation
戊癸化火(次化)Wu Gui transforms to fire, secondary transformation
乙庚化金(一云乙归甲不化)Yi Geng transforms to metal (one classics says Yi returned to Jia and does not transform)
丙辛不化(柱有申子辰可化)Bing Xin does not transform unless there's Shen Zi Chen in the pillars
甲己不化(木盛故不化)Jia Ji does not transform as wood is prosperous
寅午戌化火 Yin Wu Xu transforms to fire
亥卯未化木 Hai Mao Wei transforms to wood
申子辰不化 Shen Zi Chen does not transform
巳酉丑破象 Si You Chou with broken image (does not transform)
辰戌丑未失地 Chen Xu Chou Wei lost ground (does not transform)

二月节(卯月)Mao Month
丁壬化木 Ding Ren transforms to wood
戊癸化火 Wu Gui transforms to fire
乙庚化金(不化以乙归甲家也) Yi Geng transforms to Metal (does not transform as Yi returns to Jia family)
丙辛水气不化 Bing Xin water Qi does not transform
甲己不化 Jia Ji does not transform
寅午戌化火 Yin Wu Xu transforms to fire
亥卯未化木 Hai Mao Wei transforms to wood
申子辰不化 Shen Zi Chen does not transform
巳酉丑纯形 Si You Chou is in pure shape (does not transform)
辰戌丑未小失 Chen Xu Chou Wei lost a little (does not transform)

三月节(辰月)Chen Month
丁壬不化(木气已过故不化)Ding Ren does not transform because wood Qi is already over
戊癸化火(渐入火乡可化) Wu Gui transforms to fire because Qi gradually going into fire land (summer)
乙庚成形(辰土生金故化)Yi Geng becomes shape (transform because Chen earth engenders metal)
丙辛化水(辰为水库故化)Bing Xin transforms to water as Chen is water storage
甲己暗秀(正化)Jia Ji is obscuredly refined (true transformation)
寅午戌化火 Yin Wu and Xu transform to Fire
亥卯未不化 Hai Mao Wei does not transform
申子辰化水 Shen Zi Chen transforms to water
巳酉丑成形 Si You Chou becomes shape (transform)
辰戌丑未无信 Chen Xu Chou and Wei without integrity (does not transform)

四月节(巳月)Si Month
丁壬化火 Ding Ren transforms to fire
戊癸化火(正化)Wu Gui transforms to fire (true transformation)
乙庚金秀(四月金生可化)Yi Geng metal is refined as the fourth month is where metal is born
丙辛化火(化火则可,化水不可)Bing Xin transform to fire, only transformation to fire is allowed, transformation to water is not allowed
甲己无位 Jia Ji has no place (does not transform)
寅午戌化火 Yin Wu and Xu transform to fire
亥卯未不化 Hai Mao and Wei do not transform
申子辰纯形 Shen Zi Chen is in pure shape
巳酉丑成器 Si You Chou is becoming useful
辰戌丑未贫管(the original document says 贫乏) Chen Xu Chou and Wei are poor and lacking


五月节(午月)Wu Month
丁壬化火(不能化木)Ding Ren transforms to Fire, cannot transform to wood
戊癸发贵(化火)Wu Gui rises to nobility (transform to fire)
乙庚无位 Yi Geng has no place
丙辛端正(不化)Bing and Xin are proper (does not transform)
甲己不化 Jia Ji does not transform
寅午戌真火 Yin Wu and Xu are true fire
亥卯未失地 Hai Mao and Wei are losing ground
申子辰化容 Shen Zi and Chen transformation is contained
巳酉丑辛苦 Si You Chou is suffering
辰戌丑未身贱 Chen Xu Chou Wei is lowly


六月节(未月)Wei Month
丁壬化木(未为木库故可化也)Ding Ren transforms to wood as Wei is the storage for wood
戊癸不化(火气已过故不化)Wu Gui does not transform because fire Qi is over
乙庚不化(金气正伏故不化)Yi Geng does not transform because Metal Qi is totally subdued
丙辛不化(水气正衰故不化)Bing Xin does not transform because water Qi is Shuai (totally declined)
甲己不化(己土即家故不化)Jia Ji does not transform because Ji earth is at home.
寅午戌不化 Yin Wu Xu does not transform
亥卯未不化 Hai Mao Wei does not transform
申子辰不化 Shen Zi Chen does not transform
巳酉丑化金 Si You Chou transforms to metal
辰戌丑未化土 Chen Xu Chou Wei transforms to earth


七月节(申月)Shen Month
丁壬化木(可化)Ding Ren transforms to wood (allowable)
戊癸化火 Wu Gui transforms to fire
乙庚化金(正化) Yi Geng transforms to metal (true transformation)
丙辛进秀学堂 Bing and Xin enter refined school (学堂 XueTang, school is a ShenSha that indicates cleverness, Ren water is in XueTang in Shen) (transform)
甲己化土 Jia Ji transforsm to earth
寅午戌不化 Yin Wu Xu does not transform
亥卯未成形 Hai Mao Wei becoming shape
申子辰大贵 Shen Zi Chen great nobility
巳酉丑武勇 Si You Chou is martially courageous
辰戌丑未亦贵 Chen Xu Chou Wei is also noble.

八月节(酉月)You Month
丁壬不化 Ding Ren does not transform
戊癸衰薄 Wu Gui weak and thin
乙庚进秀 Yi Geng is advancing elegantly
丙辛就妻 Bing Xin follows wife (transforms to metal)
甲己不化 Jia Ji does not transform
寅午戌破象 Yin Wu Xu, broken image
亥卯未无位 Hai Mao Wei has no place
申子辰清 Shen Zi Chen is clear
巳酉丑入化 Si You Chou is entering transformation
辰戌丑未泄气 Chen Xu Chou and Wei are exhausting their Qi


九月节(戌月)Xu Month
丁壬化火 Ding Ren transforms to fire
戊癸化火(戌为火库亦正化)Wu Gui transforms to fire as Wei is the fire storage, the transformation is true
乙庚不化 Yi Geng does not transform
丙辛不化 Bing Xin does not transform
甲己化土(正化) Jai Ji transforms to earth (true transformation)
寅午戌化火 Yin Wu Xu transforms to fire
亥卯未不化 Hai Mao Wei does not transform
申子辰不化 Shen Zi Chen does not transform
巳酉丑不化 Si You Chou does not tranform
辰戌丑未正位 Chen Xu Chou Wei at their true place (transformed)

十月节(亥月)Hai month
丁壬化木(亥中有木)Ding Ren transforms to wood because there's wood inside Hai
戊癸为水 Wu Gui as water
乙庚化木 Yi Geng transforms to wood
丙辛化水 Bing Xin transforms to water
甲己化木 Jia Ji transforms to wood
寅午戌不化 Yin Wu Xu does not transform
亥卯未成材 Hai Mao Wei becomes talented
申子辰化水 Shen Zi Chen transforms to water
巳酉丑破象 Si You Chou broken image
辰戌丑未不化 Chen Xu Chou Wei does not transform

十一月节(子月)Zi Month
丁壬化木 Ding Ren transforms to wood
戊癸化水 Wu Gui transforms to water
乙庚化木 Yi Geng transforms to wood
丙辛化秀(正化)Bing Xin transformation is refined (true transformation)
甲己化土(十一月土旺故可化) Jia Ji transforms to Earth (if earth is prosperous on the eleventh month, transformation is possible)
寅午戌不化 Yin Wu Xu does not transform
亥卯未化木  Hai Mao Wei transforms to wood
申子辰化水 Shen Zi Chen transforms to water
巳酉丑化金 Si You Chou transforms to metal
辰戌丑未不化 Chen Xu Chou Wei does not transform


十二月节(丑月)Chou Month
丁壬不化 Ding Ren does not transform
戊癸化火 Wu Gui transforms to Fire
乙庚化金(次化)Yi Geng transforms to fire (secondary transformation)
丙辛不化 Bing Xin does not transform
甲己化土(正化)Jia Ji transforms to earth (true transformation)
寅午戌不化 Yin Wu Xu does not transform
亥卯未不化 Hai Mao Wei does not transform
申子辰不化 Shen Zi Chen does not transform
巳酉丑不化 Si You chou does not transform
辰戌丑未化土 Chen Xu Chou Wei transforms to earth

SMTH has some contradictions to ZPSYJD, according to SMTH

Jia Ji transforming to Earth happens on Chen Xu Chou Wei and Wu months, without Wu earth
Yi Geng transforming to Metal happens on Si You Chou and Geng months, without Jia Wood
Bing Xin transforming to Fire happens on Shen Zi Chen and Hai months, without Ding Fire
Ren Ding transforming to Wood happens on Hai Mao Wei and Yin months, without Bing Fire
Wu Gui transforming to Fire happens on Yin Wu Xu and Si months, without Ji earth.