The original ZiPing

明通赋

The Odes of Ming Tong

东海徐子平撰。易水万育吾解。

Authored by Xu ZiPing of DongHai, explained by Wan YuWu of YiShui

and Trey of Kampung Sayang 

太极判为天地，一气分为阴阳，流出五行，化生万物，为人禀命；贫富贵贱由之。术士知机，吉凶祸福定矣。

TaiJi is judged as Heaven and Earth, one Qi is separated as Yin and Yang, It flows out the 5 elements, transform and engendered ten thousand being, and they decide the Lives of people, the origin of the poor, wealthy, noble and lowly is such. When the practitioners have known the mechanism, they can determine the auspiciousness, inauspiciousness, disaster or blessing.

（此原造化之始）。

Xu ZiPing: 凡看命，以日干为主，统三元而配合八字干支。

When analyzing Life (BaZi), use the Day Stem as the Master, gathers the 3 Origins and match them with the eight characters Stems and Branches.

（天有四时，造化万物，屋有四柱，各立规模；命有四柱，注定荣枯。论者专以日辰天干为命元之主，上为地元禄支，内所藏者，为人元寿。人字，即四柱天干、地支共八字也。《继善篇》云：四柱排定，三才次分，专以日干天元，配合八字干支是也。）

Wan YuWu: Heaven has for Times (Seasons), created ten thousand beings. A House has four pillars, each with their own dimensions; Life has 4 pillars, that decide glory or condemnation. When analyzing, use the Day Stem as the Master of Day Origin, the ones above are the Earth Origin of Fortune branches, the ones hidden are Human Origin of Longevity. The eight characters are the 4 characters in the Heavenly Stems and the 4 characters from the Earthly branches, altogether there are 8 characters. <<Ju Shan Pian>> says: Four pillars are determined, the three talents are then identified, focus on the HS of the Day Stem, matches with the 8 characters. 

Trey: The three origins 三元 is the same as the three talents 三才. They refer to the Heavenly Origin, 天元, the Earth Origin, 地元 and the man Origin 人元. They are just terms referring to the HS, EB and HHS. 

沦(论)运者以月支为首，分四时而提起五行消长。

To discuss Luck, take the Month EB as the leader, separates into four seasons and analyzes the rise and fall of the 5 elements.

（大运以月支起，故月为提纲。看月支节气浅深，四时得何节。士。春木、夏火、秋金、冬水、车上。初气、中气，消长不同。所行之运，或顺或逆，或旺或衰，与八字或助，或泄，或克或生者，木乎此。先言日干，次言月支，举其所要者以示人也。）

The LP begins from the month EB, thus the Month is known as the KeyPoint (or Outline). Look at the deepness or shallowness of the term for the month EB, which term is within the season. Earth, Spring is for wood, Summer is for fire, Autumn is for Metal, Winter is for water, ??. The rise and fall of Qi for the beginning of Qi and the middle of Qi is different. For the LP, it could go for or it could go against, it could be prosperous or waning, it could support the BaZi or exhaust it, it could counter or engender,??. Firstly, analyze the Day Stem, secondly analyze the Month Branch, ....

向官旺以成功，人(入)格局而致贵。官印财食为吉，平定遂良；煞伤果(枭)败为凶，转用为福。
Success is when it is towards the Officer, Noble is when it has a structure. Officer, Seal, Wealth and Food are auspicious. When it is calm it is good; Devil, Hurt, Owl and Failing are inauspicious, but if they are transformed to be Useful, it is a blessing.

（五行临官、帝旺，在四柱为本宫成功之地。入格局则百，破格局则贱。如它(官)印、财食，本是吉种，须无伤克、冲刑、破败，则为平定遂良，乃入格也。煞伤、具(枭)败，末为凶煞，若有制伏，去留合化，是谓转用为福，亦入格也。观下取用诸格局，其喜忌自可见矣。四吉、四凶，格局之最重者，故首言之胜云，"日主景宜健旺，用神不可损伤"是也。）
The stages of Arriving Officer (LinGuan) and Imperial Prosperity (DiWang) at the four pillars are places of success. When (a chart) has a structure, it is a hundred (good), when the structure is broken, it is lowly. such as Officer, Seal, Wealth and Food are of auspicious type, there must not be injury or counter, clashes, punishment, breakage and failing, when it is calm, it is good and is considered as having a structure. Devil, Hurt, Owl and Failing, are inauspicious spirits, if there are restraint, discard and saving, combination and transformation, they are considered as transformed to be Useful, which is a blessing, that is also called having a structure. When one has taken and use a certain structure, its favorable and unfavorable (entities) can be naturally seen. The 4 auspicious, the 4 inauspicious are the most important (concept) of the chart, thus some classics say: The state of Day Master is better at Healthy and Prosperous, The Useful God cannot be damaged or Injured. That is it.

Trey:

This except talks exactly about the concept of 顺逆, which was previously discussed in the topic of Follow Use and Against Use. Notice that the name of the gods are somehow different from ZPZQ.

Officer, Seal, Wealth and Food are benevolent, so they need to be engendered or protected. They should not be injured, clashed, countered, etc in order for a chart to successfully establish a structure.


Devil (7K), Hurt (HO), Owl and Failing (Rob Wealth / YangRen) are malevolent, so they need to be
- Restrained (eg 7K seeing Food)
- Discarded and Saved(Refer to the previous few chapter)
- Transformed (eg the month command is combined and transformed into another element)

for the chart to successfully establish a structure.

Also notice the last sentence,

DM is preferred to be Healthy and Prosperous, Useful God cannot be damaged or Injured.

Healthy is a term that is used to describe a weak DM getting support from the Seal. Prosperous means the DM is having enough Qi as in having ChangSheng, Lu or DiWang.

When DM is not having Qi, such as in the stages of Death and Extinction, meeting a Seal is called

死处逢生 - At dead place encounters 'engendering' or 绝处逢生 - At Extinct place encounters engendering.

There's a chapter in SMTH Discussing Seal that explains this. Although the DM is without Qi and not prosperous, but it is considered Healthy.

Some DMs have Qi. but at the same time encountering too many Seals. That is also not Healthy.

In summary, the classics does not say that a strong DM is better than a weak DM. This is a common misconception. The correct term for a good DM is 建旺, Healthy / Prosperous.

In ZPZQ, Master Shen XiaoZhean stresses 2 main concepts when analyzing a chart.

1. Look for 'Affection' - 有情 - which refers to a chart having the correct dynamics between the gods. I.e the benevolent gods be protected and supported, and the malevolent gods be restrained or transformed.

2. Look for Strength - 有力- which refers to the entities in the chart having Qi to play their parts.

These 2 concepts are named differently from classics to classics, but the fundamentals remain the same as explained by the founder of the system Mr Xu ZiPing and Master Wan of Ming dynasty.

BaZi: SMTH 魁罡 GuiKang

“阳建之月，前三辰为天罡，后三辰为河魁，阴建之月反是。”


此格有四日：庚辰、壬辰、戊戌、庚戌。辰为天罡，戌为河魁，乃阴阳绝灭之地，故名。
There are four days for this structure:

Geng Chen
Ren Chen
Wu Xu
Geng Xu.

Chen is TianKang (possibly referring to a name of Chinese deity), Xu is HeGui (possibly another name of deity), those are the places where Yin and Yang go extinct, thus they are named so.


独除甲干，以居干之首，在辰为青龙，在戌为禄堂，有吉而无凶故也。
For the rest of the pillars, for example Jia, sits on Chen as QingLong (green dragon), and Xu as LuTang (Fortune Hall), there's only auspiciousness and no inauspiciousness, that is why.


格须叠化重逢日位，加临者众，以伏为贵。
For this structure, there must be repeating places of Day Master, with the arriving parties many, lying hidden? as noble.


经云：魁罡聚众，发福非常，主为人性格聪明，文章振发，临事果断，秉权好杀。
The classics says: Many GuiKangs gathered, one is extraordinarily successful, denotes an intelligent person, his literary works are successful and influential, he handles matters (related to government ) prudently, he has authority and commands killing.


赋云：魁罡性严有操持，而为人聪敏是也。运行身旺，发福百端，一见财官，祸患立至，或带刑煞尤甚，倘日位独处，刑冲克制重临，必是小人，刑责不巳，穷必彻骨，运临财官旺处，主防奇祸。
The odes says: GuiKang temperament is moral, he is intelligent. When luck goes to prosperous Self, he will be highly successful, once it sees Wealth and Officer, it become a severe catastrophe, especially if it sees punishment and 7K, if the Day Pillar is punished, clashed, countered or controlled repeatedly, one is a petty people, he will be punished (by the law), or he would be poor to his bones, when LP goes to Wealth and Officer, one needs to take precautions against such disasters.


若月令见财官印绶，日主一位，即以财官印食取用，虽微有破败，财官印食得位，亦无大害，须斟酌提纲，当用者取之，不可拘以小节。
If the Month Command sees Wealth, Officer or Seal, with one DayMaster, then take the Wealth, Officer, Seal or Food as the Useful God, even though it is a little broken, if Wealth, Officer, Seal or Food has the place (being used correctly), the there is no great harm, on has to consider first the Outline (month command), take what is usable, do not stick to trifle things.

This phrase explains that if the Month EB has something usable, e.g Wealth, Officer, Seal or Food, the the structure will be according to the Month EB. GuiKang is a trifle thing that should not be prioritized over the Month EB.


又曰：庚戌、庚辰二日，无官星，若魁罡重叠有情，主富高于名，但见财则不成局，岁运再见财旺之乡，祸不可测。Also it says: The days of Geng Xu and Geng Chen, without Officer star, if GuiKang is seen repeatedly, it is affectionate, it denotes Wealth higher than reputation, but once it see Wealth, it will not become a complete structure, when LP goes to places where Wealth is prosperous, disaster is immeasurable.

庚辰日生九月，虽辰戌相冲，运行南方，柱中有火，亦可言贵。
Geng Chen born in the ninth Month, even though Chen and Xu clash each other, when Luck goes to south, with fire within the pillars, it can also be regarded as noble.


庚戌日生三月，纵有官星印绶亦不用，盖庚用戌中火为官库，戊土为印，辰中癸水伤官，又泄庚气，不成格矣。
Geng Chen day born in the 3rd month, even though there is Officer star or Seal, they are not used, as Geng uses the Fire inside Xu as the storage of Officer, Wu as Seal, within Chen is Gui water Hurting Officer, it exhausts the Qi of Geng, the structure is not successful. 

 
戊戌日无财不贵，不宜见官，若魁罡重叠有情，富贵两全。
Wu Xu day without Wealth is not noble, it's no beneficial to see Officer, if GuiKang is seen repeatedly and it is affectionate, then one will have both wealth and nobility.


壬辰日怕见财官，大喜印绶、却(怯)财与煞，岁运同。
Ren Chen Day fears seeing Wealth and Officer, it greatly favors Seal, dreads Wealth and 7K, seeing AP or LP is analyzed similarly.


又曰：辰是水库属天罡，戌是火库属地魁，辰戌相见，为天冲地击。
Also it is said: Chen is the water storage, it belongs to TianKang, Xu is the fire storage, it belongs to DiKui, When Chen and Earth see each other, it is regarded as Heaven clashes and Earth attacks.


《子平总论》云：身值天罡地魁，衰则彻骨贫寒，强则绝伦贵显。
ZiPingZhongLun says: When Self is TianKang DiKui, when weak, one is deeply in poverty, when strong, it is extremely noble.


诗曰：壬辰庚戌与庚辰，戊戌魁罡四座神，不见财官刑煞并，身行旺地贵夫伦。
The poem says: Ren Chen, Geng Xu and Geng Chen, Wu Xu as 4 GuiKang spirits, it should not see Wealth, Officer, punishment and 7K together, when Self goes to prosperous places, it is analyzed as noble.


又：魁罡四日最为先，叠叠相逢掌大权，庚戌庚辰怕官显，戊戌壬辰畏财连。
Also: GuiKang is considered foremost for the 4 days (against all other pillars), when it is seen repeatedly, one wields high authority, Geng xu, and Geng Chen is afraid of prominent Officer, Wu Xu and Ren Chen fears chaining Wealth.


又：魁罡四柱日多同，贵气朝来在此中，日主独逢冲克重，财官显露祸无穷。
Also: GuiKang for 4 pillars are largely the same. The noble Qi comes from within, if DM sees heavy counters and clashes, or prominent and exposed Wealth and Officer, disaster is immeasurable.


按此格，俱用辰戌，独天干少异，戊庚辰二日，既曰日德，又曰魁罡，论其格局，迥然不同，不必拘论。
For this structure, all use Chen and Xu, as the HS is less different, the day of Xu Chen and Geng Chen, is called Day Virtue, but it is also GuiKang, and to analyze these structures are very different, thus one does not have to be inflexible when analyzing.


如张时佥事：
Like (the chart of) Zhang (some titles)


庚午、丁亥、戊戌、丙辰；
Bing Wu Ding Geng
Chen Xu Hai Wu


刘大受少卿：
(the chart of) Liu (some titles)

丁亥、癸丑、庚戌、戊寅，
Wu Geng Gui Ding
Yin Xu Chou Hai


二命魁罡日，只取财官印是也。
These 2 are GuiKang day, but is only analyzed as Wealth / Officer / Seal.

Like all the classics, SMTH prioritizes the Month Command over an external structure.

庚午、丁亥、戊戌、丙辰；
Bing Wu Ding Geng
Chen Xu Hai Wu

Wu born in Hai is Wealth / Officer structure. Ding and Bing are Seals, so this is regarded as Wealth / Officer / Seal

丁亥、癸丑、庚戌、戊寅，

Wu Geng Gui Ding
Yin Xu Chou Hai

Geng born in Chou with Hurting Officer and Seal protruding. So this is a ShangGuan PeiYin chart.

Trey: The classics are not unanimous when it comes to GuiKang structure. ZPZQ and SFTK say GuiKang structure do not exists. That is understandable from classical point of view as the Month EB is prioritized over all external structures. 

There are some rules for a GuiKang chart to be established:

1. DayMaster has to be one of the 4 days.

2. Month EB has no use.

3. Wealth and Officer / 7K are not present

4. The chart does not transform nor follow.

Since there are about 500,000 BaZi charts and 15% of them are made of GuiKang DM, it's difficult to say if some of the 75,000 charts will satisfy all the criteria above. Probably GuiKang chart exists, but it must be really rare.