Chiyang Daoren, Eastern Taoism
Chinese BaZi (Four Pillars of Destiny) fortune-telling, also known as “the Ziping art” and “Four Pillars prediction,” is an important method in traditional Chinese destiny studies. By analyzing the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches corresponding to the year, month, day, and hour of a person's birth, it predicts the person's destiny, character, health, career, wealth or poverty, and length of life.
BaZi fortune-telling (Four Pillars prediction) is a systematic process of destiny analysis. Its core logic is to take the day stem (the Day Master) as the center and make an overall judgment by combining the Heavenly Stems, Earthly Branches, Five Elements, and Ten Gods of the Four Pillars (year, month, day, and hour) with the Major Luck Cycles and Annual Luck.
What follows is an explanation of the steps of BaZi fortune-telling.
1. Gather the Birth Data of the Person Seeking a Reading
The first step is to gather the year, month, day, and hour of birth of the person seeking a reading, that is, the four points in time of the person's birth. This information is the foundation of a BaZi reading. People can usually obtain it by checking their identity card or asking their parents.
2. Determine the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches of Birth
From the year, month, day, and hour of birth, determine the corresponding Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches. The Heavenly Stems are Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, Wu, Ji, Geng, Xin, Ren, and Gui; the Earthly Branches are Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu, and Hai.
To obtain the year, month, day, and hour of birth accurately, they must be converted to the lunar calendar, paying attention to the effect of the solar terms on the month pillar.
3. Set Up the BaZi Chart (the Destiny Chart)
Arrange the stems and branches thus determined in the order of year, month, day, and hour to form a complete BaZi chart. The order of the chart is: year pillar, month pillar, day pillar, hour pillar.
Fixing the stems and branches: using a perpetual calendar or chart-plotting software, convert the time of birth into the corresponding Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, forming the “Four Pillars” (year pillar, month pillar, day pillar, hour pillar), eight characters in all.
Each Heavenly Stem and Earthly Branch has its own element and its own yin or yang, such as Jia Wood, Yi Wood, and Bing Fire. So one marks the yin-yang and element of each of the eight characters, making clear the yin or yang attribute and the element (Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, or Earth) of each stem and branch.
4. Analyze the Generating and Controlling Cycles of the Five Elements
Analyze the element of each Heavenly Stem and Earthly Branch and determine the generating and controlling relations among them. The generating cycle of the Five Elements is: Wood generates Fire, Fire generates Earth, Earth generates Metal, Metal generates Water, and Water generates Wood. The controlling cycle is: Wood controls Earth, Earth controls Water, Water controls Fire, Fire controls Metal, and Metal controls Wood.
5. Analyze the Strength and Weakness of the Day Stem (to Fix the Chart Pattern and Useful God)
Fix the day stem (the Day Master): the Heavenly Stem of the day pillar represents the person seeking the reading and is the reference point and core of BaZi analysis.
Look at the month command (the month branch): the month pillar is the “outline.” Analyze the strength of the day stem in the month of birth (the month command)—whether it is in season or out of season. This is the primary basis for judging the strength of the day stem.
Look at generation and control across the whole chart: analyze the generating, controlling, clashing, combining, and other effects of the other seven stems and branches on the day stem, and judge overall whether the day stem is strong or weak, leaning strong or leaning weak.
6. Determine the Ten Gods
Determine the Ten Gods according to the attributes of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches. The Ten Gods are: Direct Wealth, Indirect Wealth, Direct Officer, Indirect Officer, Direct Resource, Indirect Resource, Eating God, Hurting Officer, Friend, and Rob Wealth. The Ten Gods in a BaZi chart represent the various relations and manifestations among the pieces of information about a person's destiny.
7. Analyze the BaZi Chart Pattern
Determine the BaZi chart pattern from the combination of Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches. Common patterns include Eating God Controlling Killings, Hurting Officer Meeting Officer, the Direct Officer Pattern, the Indirect Officer Pattern, the Direct Resource Pattern, and the Indirect Resource Pattern. Whether the pattern is good or bad directly affects a person's destiny.
Fixing the chart pattern and the Useful God: fix the chart pattern according to the element of the month command and the Ten Gods (such as Direct Wealth or Indirect Officer); according to the strength of the day stem, find the “Favorable God” and “Useful God” that correct imbalances and remedy defects for the day stem, and the “Unfavorable God” that works against it.
8. Set Out the Major Luck Cycles and Annual Luck (Judging the Years and Cycles)
Setting out the Major Luck Cycles: from the person's sex and time of birth, determine when the Major Luck Cycles begin, and following the rule “yang men and yin women run forward, yin men and yang women run backward,” set out the stems and branches of the Major Luck Cycles (each Major Luck pillar governs ten years).
Looking at the Annual Luck: the Annual Luck (each year's stem and branch) represents that year's fortune, and it exerts generating and controlling effects on the natal chart (for example, it is auspicious when the Useful God is generated and supported, and inauspicious when the Unfavorable God is generated and supported).
Combining the years and cycles with the natal chart: analyze the generating and controlling relations between the Major Luck Cycles, the Annual Luck, and the natal chart to judge the rise and fall of the person's fortune, good and ill luck, and the timing of events in different stages of life.
9. Make an Overall Analysis and Draw Out the Images
Drawing on the above steps, analyze the BaZi chart as a whole: the person's character, health, career, wealth luck, relationships, and so on. Taking into account the Annual Luck, the Major Luck Cycles, and other factors, predict the person's development in different periods of time.
Look at the balance of the Five Elements and at “illness and medicine”: analyze whether the strength of the Five Elements in the chart is balanced, and whether “illness and medicine” complement each other (for example, what is too strong needs to be controlled or drained, and what is too weak needs to be generated and supported).
Look at the Ten Gods and the Six Relations: using the images of the Ten Gods (Direct Officer, Indirect Officer, Direct Wealth, Indirect Wealth, Direct Resource, Indirect Resource, Eating God, Hurting Officer, Friend, and Rob Wealth), analyze the person's character, career, wealth luck, marriage, health, and relations with family members.
Look at punishments, clashes, combinations, and harms: analyze the punishment, clash, combination, and harm relations among the stems and branches to judge whether the chart shows signs of upheaval, conflict, or resolution.
Overall judgment: combine the analyses of the natal chart, the Major Luck Cycles, the Annual Luck, the punishments, clashes, combinations, and harms, and the images of the Ten Gods into a comprehensive analysis, avoiding judging destiny from a single point, so that “the chart is combined with the years and cycles, and the favorable and unfavorable with the images.”
Drawing out the images: in light of real circumstances, translate the images of destiny into real-life readings (for example, “a strong Wealth star” may correspond to wealth luck or romance, and “an Officer star in clash” may correspond to a career change or quarrels and disputes).
10. Offer Advice
Based on the results of the BaZi analysis, offer the person some advice—for example, how to improve their fortune, how to adjust their state of mind, how to plan their career, and how to avoid danger. Make helpful choices toward the elements the person's destiny favors, and avoid those it shuns.
BaZi fortune-telling is a profound field of knowledge that requires continual study and practice. Through the above steps we can gain a preliminary understanding of a person's destiny, but it should be noted that BaZi fortune-telling is only a reference; in the end, it still comes down to one's own effort and choices.