Evidence · Glossary
Classical terms used in BaZi readings
Sajudang shows the basis behind every judgment. These are the classical terms that basis is written in, explained one by one — not skipped over as jargon, but set out with what they mean and why a chart is read that way.
- Huo Lian Zhen Jin (火煉真金)Only fire makes iron into real metal
- Left alone, iron is just a lump; heated and hammered it becomes a blade or a tool. This is the basis for saying a Geng Metal Day Master needs Fire, and it explains why such a chart gains value in demanding rather than comfortable conditions.
Used in: Geng Metal (庚) — Yang Metal Day Master · Ding Fire (丁) — Yin Fire Day Master
- Forged / temperedTo heat metal and hammer an edge into it
- In a smithy, metal is heated and struck to take shape and take an edge. In BaZi it describes a Geng Metal Day Master meeting Fire and being worked. Unforged metal is read as hard but without use.
- Jian Ji Zhi Jin (劍戟之金)The image of Geng Metal
- Not the metal of ornament but the metal of weapons. It carries decisiveness and edge, together with a shortage of flexibility.
- Zhu Yu Zhi Jin (珠玉之金)The image of Xin Metal
- Metal already finished and shining. It carries precision and poise, together with sensitivity to being scratched.
Used in: Xin Metal (辛) — Yin Metal Day Master
- Tao Xi Zhu Yu (淘洗珠玉)Jade must be washed in clear water to shine
- Xin Metal buried in earth loses its shine and gains value when washed in clear Ren water. This is why a Xin Day Master is read with the presence and clarity of Water.
Used in: Xin Metal (辛) — Yin Metal Day Master
- Jiang He Zhi Shui (江河之水)The image of Ren Water
- Wide, deep, moving water. It carries adaptability and application, together with difficulty staying in one place.
- Yu Lu Zhi Shui (雨露之水)The image of Gui Water
- Thin water that seeps in and reaches the root. It carries intuition and quiet devotion.
Used in: Gui Water (癸) — Yin Water Day Master
- Teng Luo Xi Jia (藤蘿繫甲)A vine climbs by holding a strong trunk
- Yi Wood finds its own strength when it can climb Jia Wood or a solid base rather than stand alone. It explains both the relational skill and the tendency to depend.
Used in: Yi Wood (乙) — Yin Wood Day Master
- Qu Zhi (曲直)The nature of Wood
- How a tree grows. Jia is read as the straightening half, Yi as the bending, wrapping half.
Used in: Jia Wood (甲) — Yang Wood Day Master · Yi Wood (乙) — Yin Wood Day Master
- Run Xia (潤下)The nature of Water
- Water moistens as it runs downward. Blocked, it is read as turning murky, so a Ren Day Master is read with the channels its energy can flow through.
- Seven Killings (七殺)Another name for Indirect Officer
- Among the stars that control the Day Master, the one matching in polarity is Indirect Officer; because it falls seventh in the count it is also called Seven Killings. Controlled it makes a large vessel, uncontrolled it becomes depletion — the widest spread of any Ten God.
Used in: Seven Killings (偏官 / 七殺) — Qi Sha · Seven Killings Structure (偏官格 / 七殺格)
- Shi Shen Zhi Sha (食神制殺)The Eating God checks Seven Killings
- When the pressure of Seven Killings is strong, the Eating God restrains it into something usable. With 殺印相生 it is one of the two classical remedies that decide a Seven Killings structure.
Used in: Eating God (食神) — Shi Shen · Seven Killings (偏官 / 七殺) — Qi Sha · Seven Killings Structure (偏官格 / 七殺格)
- Sha Yin Xiang Sheng (殺印相生)Resource absorbs the force of Seven Killings
- Seven Killings feeds Resource, and Resource in turn feeds the Day Master. Pressure converts into learning and depth — the condition that makes Seven Killings a noble structure.
Used in: Seven Killings (偏官 / 七殺) — Qi Sha · Seven Killings Structure (偏官格 / 七殺格)
- Shang Guan Pei Yin (傷官佩印)Resource refines the talent of Hurting Officer
- Hurting Officer carries large talent that collides easily with norms; with Resource present the talent is refined. This is why Hurting Officer alone is not read as unlucky.
Used in: Hurting Officer (傷官) — Shang Guan · Hurting Officer Structure (傷官格)
- Shang Guan Jian Guan (傷官見官)Hurting Officer injures Direct Officer
- Direct Officer means norms and position; Hurting Officer breaks frames. The arrangement is read as friction in organisations and titles, and is weighed heavily in a Direct Officer structure.
Used in: Direct Officer (正官) — Zheng Guan · Direct Officer Structure (正官格)
- Dao Shi / Xiao Shen (倒食 · 梟神)Indirect Resource strikes the Eating God
- Indirect Resource supports the self but controls the Eating God. It is called "overturning the food bowl", or the owl star. A chart holding both is always read together.
Used in: Indirect Resource (偏印 / 梟神) — Pian Yin · Indirect Resource Structure (偏印格)
- De Bi Li Cai (得比理財)Peers are needed to carry wealth
- When the self is weak and Wealth is heavy, money becomes a burden. Peers of the same energy must add strength before that wealth can be handled.
Used in: Rob Wealth (劫財) — Jie Cai
- Cai Duo Shen Ruo (財多身弱)Plenty of wealth, not enough self to carry it
- Heavy Wealth without a self able to bear it turns money into a load. This is why a Wealth structure is always read with the strength judgment.
Used in: Indirect Wealth (偏財) — Pian Cai · Direct Wealth Structure (正財格)
- Cai Sheng Guan (財生官)Wealth creates position
- Wealth generates the Officer star. Accumulated resources are read as converting into social standing or title.
Used in: Direct Officer Structure (正官格) · Indirect Wealth Structure (偏財格)
- Cai Ke Yin (財剋印)Wealth damages Resource
- Wealth controls Resource. Where Resource is the Useful God, periods in which Wealth grows are read as a caution window.
Used in: Direct Resource (正印) — Zheng Yin · Direct Resource Structure (正印格)
- Hidden Stems (地藏干)Heavenly Stems concealed inside a branch
- Each of the twelve branches is one character on the surface but holds two or three stems inside: the residual energy first, then the middle energy, then the main energy that represents the branch. Structures are taken from the main energy of the month branch.
Used in: Zi (子) — the Rat branch · Chou (丑) — the Ox branch · Yin (寅) — the Tiger branch · Mao (卯) — the Rabbit branch · Chen (辰) — the Dragon branch · Si (巳) — the Snake branch · Wu (午) — the Horse branch · Wei (未) — the Goat branch · Shen (申) — the Monkey branch · You (酉) — the Rooster branch · Xu (戌) — the Dog branch · Hai (亥) — the Pig branch
- Birth, Peak and Storehouse branches (生旺庫)Where energy is born, peaks, and is stored
- The three branches of a frame each play a role: born at Yin, Shen, Si, Hai; at peak at Zi, Wu, Mao, You; stored at Chen, Xu, Chou, Wei. The storehouse is also called the tomb-vault.
Used in: Zi (子) — the Rat branch · Chou (丑) — the Ox branch · Yin (寅) — the Tiger branch · Mao (卯) — the Rabbit branch · Chen (辰) — the Dragon branch · Si (巳) — the Snake branch · Wu (午) — the Horse branch · Wei (未) — the Goat branch · Shen (申) — the Monkey branch · You (酉) — the Rooster branch · Xu (戌) — the Dog branch · Hai (亥) — the Pig branch
- The Four Peak branches (四旺支)Zi, Wu, Mao, You
- The four branches where each phase is purest and strongest. They are read as Peach Blossom positions and connected to the pull a person exerts on others.
Used in: Zi (子) — the Rat branch · Mao (卯) — the Rabbit branch · Wu (午) — the Horse branch · You (酉) — the Rooster branch
- Mixed-energy months (雜氣月)Chen, Xu, Chou and Wei
- These four months hold several energies mixed together. A birth in them takes its Structure from whichever hidden stem is revealed in the heavenly stems.
Used in: Chen (辰) — the Dragon branch · Xu (戌) — the Dog branch · Chou (丑) — the Ox branch · Wei (未) — the Goat branch
- Triple Punishment (三刑)Three branches tangling into friction
- Yin-Si-Shen and Chou-Xu-Wei are the two main sets. Rather than a head-on clash they tangle, appearing as disputes, surgery or litigation.
Used in: Yin (寅) — the Tiger branch · Si (巳) — the Snake branch · Shen (申) — the Monkey branch · Chou (丑) — the Ox branch · Xu (戌) — the Dog branch · Wei (未) — the Goat branch
- Punishment of discourtesy (無禮之刑)Another name for the Zi-Mao punishment
- The friction between Zi and Mao. It is read as trouble that starts from a breach of manners, typically among people who are close.
Used in: Zi (子) — the Rat branch · Mao (卯) — the Rabbit branch
- Start of Spring (立春)Where the BaZi year begins
- The BaZi year starts at Start of Spring (around 4 February), not 1 January. Someone born in January before that date uses the previous year’s pillar.
Used in: Yin (寅) — the Tiger branch
- Tai Yang Zhi Huo (太陽之火)The image of Bing Fire
- Fire that lights a wide area. Feeling and intent show at once and people gather. Contrasted with Ding, the fire that consumes rather than illuminates.
Used in: Bing Fire (丙) — Yang Fire Day Master
- Deng Zhu Zhi Huo (燈燭之火)The image of Ding Fire
- Fire that burns narrow and long. It carries focus and precision, and it is the fire that refines Geng Metal.
Used in: Ding Fire (丁) — Yin Fire Day Master
- Cheng Yuan Zhi Tu (城垣之土)The image of Wu Earth
- Thick earth that blocks water and holds. It carries steadiness and, at the same time, obstinacy.
Used in: Wu Earth (戊) — Yang Earth Day Master
- Tian Yuan Zhi Tu (田園之土)The image of Ji Earth
- Soft earth that grows whatever is planted in it. It carries the capacity to take people in and a hands-on practical sense.
Used in: Ji Earth (己) — Yin Earth Day Master
- Shi Shen Sheng Cai (食神生財)What you make turns into income
- The Eating God generates Wealth. What is expressed and produced converts directly into earnings — the arrangement an Eating God structure welcomes.
Used in: Eating God Structure (食神格) · Eating God (食神) — Shi Shen
- Travelling Horse (驛馬)The star of movement and change
- It attaches to the birth branches Yin, Shen, Si and Hai. Staying in one place is hard, and the energy comes alive in travel, relocation and postings. It is read as a mobile engine rather than instability.
Used in: Yin (寅) — the Tiger branch · Shen (申) — the Monkey branch · Si (巳) — the Snake branch · Hai (亥) — the Pig branch
- Peach Blossom (桃花)The star of attraction
- It attaches to the four peak branches. Not only about appearance — it is the pull carried in speech and manner, and it is read as strongest when the person is being sincere.
Used in: Zi (子) — the Rat branch · Mao (卯) — the Rabbit branch · Wu (午) — the Horse branch · You (酉) — the Rooster branch
- Canopy (華蓋)The star of art and inwardness
- It attaches to the storehouse branches. Strength appears in solitary immersion, and it is also read as a star of solitude.
Used in: Chen (辰) — the Dragon branch · Xu (戌) — the Dog branch · Chou (丑) — the Ox branch · Wei (未) — the Goat branch
- Established Salary (建祿)The Day Master standing on its own seat
- Where the month branch’s main energy is the same as the Day Master. The capital is the self rather than anything to lean on, which suits independent practice and one’s own business.
Used in: Established Salary Structure (建祿格)
- Yang Blade (羊刃)Rob Wealth in an overflowing position
- Formed when the month branch’s main energy is Rob Wealth and the Day Master is a Yang stem. The force is unusual and it swings between extremes; it becomes a vessel only when Officer or Killings govern it. With a Yin Day Master it is read as a Rob Wealth structure instead.
Used in: Yang Blade Structure (羊刃格) · Rob Wealth Structure (劫財格)
- Revealed (透出)A hidden stem appearing in the heavenly stems
- A stem concealed inside a branch also showing at stem level. Structures are judged clear or mixed depending on whether the month branch’s main energy is revealed.
Used in: Chen (辰) — the Dragon branch · Xu (戌) — the Dog branch · Chou (丑) — the Ox branch · Wei (未) — the Goat branch · Direct Officer Structure (正官格)
- Draining (洩氣)Letting excess flow into the next phase
- Excess is not suppressed but channelled onward — too much Wood is drained into Fire, too much Metal into Water.
- Strong and Weak Self (身强 · 身弱)Whether the Day Master is strong or weak
- Judged by the season of the month branch, the root in the day branch, and the support of surrounding characters. The same Ten God flips between fortunate and unfortunate depending on this, so good and bad cannot be called without it.
Used in: Friend (比肩) — Bi Jian · Direct Wealth (正財) — Zheng Cai
- Void (空亡)The two branches the stems could not reach
- Grouping the sixty-year cycle into decades, ten stems cannot cover twelve branches; the two left over are the Void. It is taken from the day pillar. Empty does not mean bad — it means what is placed there tends not to stay in hand, so attachment is reduced and weight is put elsewhere.
- Resentment (怨嗔)A branch pair that quietly dislikes each other
- Where a clash is a head-on collision, Resentment is dislike without a stated reason. Six pairs are read: Zi-Wei, Chou-Wu, Yin-You, Mao-Shen, Chen-Hai, Si-Xu.
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