Combination of Ten Stems 十干配合

Combination of the stems is also another topic that seems ambiguous to me. Combination 合 is not the same as Transformation 化. Some combination transform and some don't. It depends on other factors such as the month's decree, Intensity and Qi of the resulting element and support from the HS.

Combination and Transformation of Heavenly Stem

SMTH on Heavenly Stem Combination:

夫合者，乃和谐之义，如阳见阳，二阳相竞则为克，阴见阴，二阴不足则为克，唯阴见阳，阳见阴为合，亦如男女相合而成夫妇之道。

Combination signifies harmony, Yang meeting Yang would be competitive and it's regarded as countering, Yin seeing Yin would be insufficient and it's also regarded as countering. Only when Yin meets Yang or Yang meets Yin, it's regarded as Combination, it's like the meeting of a man and a woman that has become a marriage.



东方甲乙木畏西方庚辛金克。甲属阳为兄，乙属阴为妹，甲兄遂将乙妹嫁金家，与庚为妻，所以乙与庚合。

Eastern Jia and Yi fear being countered by western Geng and Xin. Jia belongs to Yang, is the brother, Yi belongs to Yin and is the little sister, so the brother Jia marries his sister to the Metal family, as the wife of Geng, thus Yi and Geng combine.




南方丙丁火畏北方壬癸水克。丙属阳为兄，丁属阴为妹，丙兄遂将丁妹嫁水家，与壬为妻，所以丁与壬合。


Southern Bing and Ding fear being countered by Northern Ren and Gui. Bing belongs to Yang, as the brother, Ding belongs to Yin as the sister, Bing brother marries his little sister Ding to Water family, as the wife of Ren, thus Ding and Ren combine.




中央戊己土畏东方甲乙木克。戊属阳为兄，己属阴为妹，戊兄遂将己妹嫁木家，与甲为妻，所以甲与己合。


Middle Wu and Ji fear being countered by Eastern Jia and Yi. Wu belongs to Yang as the brother, Ji belongs to Yin as the little sister. Wu the brother marries his little sister Ji to the Wood family, as the wife of Jia, so Jia and Ji combine.




西方庚辛金畏南方丙丁火克。庚属阳为兄，辛属阴为妹，庚兄乃将辛妹嫁火家，与丙为妻，所以丙与辛合。


Western Geng and Xin fear being countered by Bing and Ding fire, Geng as Yang, the brother, Xin as Yin the little sister, Geng marries his little sister Xin to the fire family, as the wife of Bing, so Bing and Xin combines.




北方壬癸水畏中央戊己土克。壬阳为兄，癸属阴为妹，壬兄乃将癸妹嫁土家，与戊为妻，所以戊与癸合。


Northern Ren and Gui are afraid of being countered by Middle earth Wu and Ji, Ren as Yang the elder brother and Ji as Yin the little sister, Ren marries his little sister Gui to Wu, as the wife. thus Wu and Gui combines.



甲与己何名为中正之合？Why Jia and Ji combination is called the combination of Central and Upright?




甲，阳木也，其性仁，位处十干之首，己，阴土也，镇静淳笃，有生物之德，故甲己为中正之合。带此合主人尊崇重大，宽厚平直。如带煞而五行无气则多嗔好怒，性梗不可屈

Jia is Yang wood, it's benevolent. It's the leader of the 10 stems, Ji, Yin earth. Peaceful. quiet and solemn, has the virtue of engendering creations, Thus Jia and Yi is regarded as the combination of Central and Upright. Those who carry this combination indicates respectfulness, dignity, generosity and straightforwardness. If it carries a Killing and the five elements are without Qi signify the person blames a lot, ill-tempered, straightforwardness that does not want to bent (stubbornness).



乙与庚何名为仁义之合？Why Yi and Geng is called the combination of benevolence and righteousness?


乙，阴木也，其性仁而太柔，庚，阳金也，坚强不屈则刚柔相济，仁义兼资。故主人果敢有守，不惑柔佞，周旋唯仁，进退唯义。五行生旺则骨秀形清，若死绝带煞则使气好勇，体貌不扬，自是非人。甲己、乙庚之合，妇人不忌。

Yi is yin wood, it is benevolent and very gentle, Geng is Yang metal, it's tough, strong, unyielding, it's toughness and gentleness combined, benevolence and righteousness combined. Thus signify the person is vigilant but careful, not enticed by flattery, going back and forth only with benevolence, advancing or retreating with righteousness. The five elements that is 'born' or prosperous would have good looks, if it's in dead or extinction and carries Killing, the person would be brave but impulsive, body and looks unpleasing. A person of mischief. Jia + Ji, Yi + Geng are not taboo for women.


丙与辛何名为威制之合？Why Bing and Xin combination is named oppressive?


丙，阳火也，辉赫自盛，辛，阴金也，克刃喜煞。故丙辛为威制之合。主人仪表威肃，人多畏惧，酷毒，好贿喜淫，若带煞或五行死绝则寡恩少义，无情之人。妇人得之，与天中、大耗、咸池相并者，貌美声卑，夭冶而淫。

Bing is Yang fire,it's glorious, conspicuous and self flourishing. Xin is Yin metal, it Counters 'Ren (Blade)' and likes Killing. Thus Bing and Xin is regarded as oppressive combination. Signifies that the person looks strict, earnest and serious, is feared by many, cruel and malicious, likes bribery and loves greed (or lust), if it carries killing or the five elements are dead and extinct, the person is ungrateful and not righteous, inaffectionate. For women who has this together with TianZhong, DaHaoz and XianChi has good looks with a low voice, excessively beautiful (yin 淫 could also refer to lust).


丁与壬何名为淫慝之合？壬者，Why Ding and Ren combination is named as evil combination?


纯阴之水，三光不照，丁者，藏阴之火，自昧不明。故丁壬为淫慝之合。主人眼明神娇，多情易动，不事高洁，习下无去，枕欢溺色，于我则吝，于彼则贪，若五行死绝或带煞，见咸池、大耗、天中自败，有淫污家风之丑；亲厚小人，侮慢君子，贪婪作妄，必胜而后已。妇人淫邪奸慝，易挑易诱，多招玷辱，或年高而嫁少夫，或年幼而配老夫，或先贱而后良，或先良而后贱。

Water is of pure Yin, three lights does not shine on it, Ding is fire with Yin hidden inside, self obscuring and not bright. Thus Ding and Ren is called the evil combination. Signifies the person has bright eyes (could mean beautiful or the eyesight is good), sweet and charming, very affectionate (has many relationships) and easily enamored, does not care about being 'high and clean' (as in moral conduct),习下无去 when becomes habit, it would not change (unsure translation), pillows that like to indulge in colors (meaning love to have sex), what belongs to him, he would be stingy (unwilling to share or use), what belongs to others, he would be greedy for (he wants the same thing). If the five elements are dead and extinct or see Killing, meeting XianChi, DaHao and TianZhongZiBai, would spoil the family reputation, loves petty people, does not care or mistreat noble people, because of greed commits all kinds of outrages, must win and only after that he would stop.Women would be lewd, wicked, evil and treacherous, easily instigated and lured, bring about many flaws and humiliation, or being an older woman who marries a young husband, or a very young woman who marries an old husband or lowly at the beginning and good afterwards or good at the beginning and lowly afterwards.



戊与癸何名为无情之合？ Wu and Gui is named the apathetic combination (无情 could mean apathetic, disloyal, not affectionate, ruthless etc, it's like when one does not reciprocate the love that was given to him, even though he benefited from the love)


戊，阳土也，是老丑之夫，癸，阴水也，是婆娑之妇，老阳而少阴，虽合而无情，主人或好或丑，如戊得癸则娇媚，姿美得所，男子娶少妇，妇人嫁美夫；若癸得戊则形容古朴，老相俗尘，男子娶老妻，妇人嫁老夫。


Wu is Yang earth, a man that is old and ugly, Gui is yin water, a vivacious woman. Old Yang and Young Yin, even though is joint, is not affectionate, signifies a person that is probably good or probably ugly, if Wu gets Gui means good looks and beauty, man would marry a young wife, woman would marry a beautiful husband; when Gui gets Wu denotes simple and plain, old and plain, man would marry an old wife or woman marries and old husband.


End

Strength of the Daymaster

(Update: This post was written when I was still researching the 'standard modern BaZi' which analysis depends heavily on the strength of DayMaster. I no longer use this as the key point for analysis as I have changed my practice to base on the classical works. This post could be used as reference but please be informed that the strength of DayMaster isn't really that important as it is commonly thought to be.)

Determining the DM strength is almost subjective, a DM that appears strong to one person may seem to be weak for another. People may see the strength differently but there's only one true analysis.

Knowing the DM strength is possibly the first step in analyzing a chart, it is very important, but might not be as important as identifying the Useful God and the overall structure. After so many months researching Bazi, I still cannot decidedly determine if the DM is strong or weak.

My own way of analyzing the DM strength is based on the below factors:

1. 势 Intensity, is most possibly the strongest influence, IMO, a that is DM born in season should be termed 'timely' as 得时 DeShi in Chinese can be literally translated as 'getting the time', these DMs are strong, like wood born in spring, fire in summer, metal in autumn, water in winter and earth at the last month of each season. Being born timely also guarantees the support of the month's root.

2. 气, Qi refers to the 12 Qi stages of the Yang element as it represent the stages for the element in general, thus Yin DM should also refer to the Yang element. as Master Xu LeWu says "Having one Storage is better than having one BiJian (parallel), having a residual Qi is better than having 2 BiJians, meeting ChangSheng Lu or Wang is better than having 3 BiJians". IMO storage, residual Qi or ChangSheng Lu and Wang are not restricted to the Month's EB only. ChangSheng refers to the EB where the HS is born, Lu refers to GuanDai stage and Wang refers to the DiWang stage. This only apply to Yang DM, Yin DM ChangSheng is not as strong but Lu and Wang are just as strong. Yin storage however, is useless.

3. 生 Engendering and  泄 Exhausting, 生 Engendering refers to the element that the DM, and  泄 Exhausting refers to the element that DM engenders. Having many elements that engenders DM does not necessarily mean the DM is strong. When the engendering element is overly strong and the engendered element is weak, it's a condition called 母旺子衰, 母慈灭子 'Compassionate mother destroys the child. E.g many water would cause wood to float. Many earth bury metal, many metal cause water to be turbid etc.

通根, connected through roots, or 'rooted' refers to the HHS of the same element as the DM or the 10 Gods.The polarity of the elements in HHS does not matter, a Yang DM can root through a Yin HHS and vice versa. 通根 is directly the result of Intensity and Qi.

Examples:

Lady Gaga

Chart of a superstar, Xin metal born mid-spring, 

1. In spring season, metal intensity is trapped 囚.

2. Metal does not have Qi as metal is in womb in Mao. 

3. DM sits on Earth, the engendering element, however Wei is half combined with Mao to form a wood structure, support from earth is greatly reduced because strong wood is countering earth.

4. There is a Xin metal at month which is already combined with Bing on Year pillar. This Xin does not support DM

5. Metal has ChangSheng Qi in Si, however, Gui intends to combine with Wu in Si to form fire, metal in Si is unlikely to support DM because it is countered by strong fire.

Based on the 5 points above we could conclude that the DM is extremely weak.

(Update: Those were the days when I thought a DM like this is weak, but now I really think this DM is strong because metal has a ChangSheng Qi in Hour)

Oprah Winfrey

Chart of a philanthropist television celebrity, 

Yi wood born in late Winter.

1. Yi wood does not have intensity as wood is trapped in earth month.

2. Yi wood is under GuanDai stage in Chou, meaning wood Qi is still weak but sharply on the rise.

3. Wood is ChangSheng in Yin. 

4. Yi has support from HS Gui which engenders DM

5. DM has support from Yi wood on month pillar
6. Si You Chou forms a metal frame.

We can conclude that DM is fairly weak, not extremely weak as it has support on HS and EB.

(Update: Again, I think this DM is strong as wood has LinGuan Qi in hour pillar)

Bill Gates

Chart of a business magnet and philanthropist,

Ren water born in late autumn, 

1. As it is an earth month, water is dead.

2. Water has no Qi in Xu as it is still under GuanDai stage.

3. Ren finds 'Lu' in Hai, which is under LinGuan stage.

4. Xin on hour pillar supports Ren water

It seems like the DM is also fairly weak.

(Update: This is another strong DM as Ren is Lu in Hai)

David Cameron

Chart of a young prime minister,

Xin metal born late autumn,

1. Xin metal born in earth month is 相, ministerial, strong but not prosperous.

2. Metal is under 'Shuai' declining stage in late Autumn, it's Qi residual

3. Xin metal sits on Chou, its own storage, Chou earth is also the element that engenders earth. 

4. DM has a parallel element on hour pillar which supports DM.

Having support from the season, the storage, a HS, and many resources, we can only conclude that DM is strong for this chart.

(Update: DM sits on storage is strong, with the Month Command changed from Seal to Officer, DM has lost the support from the Month, however the protruding Seal makes the chart affectionate) 

*Birth data taken from Astro Databank.