OriginBazi ( also written as Ba Zi ) or Fate Calculation based on Chinese Year, Month, Day and Time of Birth was probably developed from 2nd century B.C. onwards.
It was subsequently made popular by Bazi Grandmaster Xu Ziping (徐子平) of the Song Dynasty (A.D 960-1279). Under his influence, the system became more sophisticated and accurate. He abandoned some of the old techniques, and introduced some new solutions. The school of Ziping is named in his honour, and is the most popular approach to the study of Destiny ( also commonly referred as Fate or Ming ). |
Before Xu there were other sages involved in developing the method of Fate calculation. According to Sanming tonghui, a late book from 16th century the actual founder of Bazi was Yi Xing ( AD 683-727 ). His real name is Zhang Sui. And it was Yi Xing, not scholar Li Xuzhong (AD 608 - 917), who was regarded as the best Fate calculator of Tang dynasty. Unfortunately, all ancient books reported in the chronicles and other historical sources are now lost with the exception of Li Xuzhong’s book on Fate calculation.
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Some claimed that Li Xuzhong died before AD 824. He was a great scholar of the Five Elements ( Wuxing ) doctrine, and used day, month and year pillars in his calculations. There is claim that he never used an hour pillar even though it is mentioned in his book. His book was noted to be improved upon by subsequent authors. But all these remain unverifiable for the time being.
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The theory of the Four Pillars of Destiny is based on Yin Yang and Wu Xing, and the pillars are represented on the basis of the heavenly stems and earthly branches. Bazi or Eight Characters is also referred to as the Four Pillars of Birth Time, because each of the four pillars ( representing the year, month, day, and hour of one's birth ) is represented by two characters.
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Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches are associated with
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One character representing the Heavenly Stem and another for the Earthly Branch. There are 10 Heavenly Stems ( 天干 or TiānGān ) and 12 Earthly Branches (地支 or DìZhī). The 12 Chinese zodiac animals represent the 12 Earthly Branches.
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Feng Shui and Bazi ( 八字 )Feng Shui and Bazi reading are 2 different studies. But in order to optimise the outcomes in achieving one's aspirations the integration of Bazi analysis and Feng Shui audit is necessary. Bazi analysis provides an insight into one's personality, abilities, favourable/unfavourable elements ( Wu Xing or 5 Elements ), strengths, weaknesses, 10-year luck-cycle, lucky colours/sectors/orientation, and other inputs for Feng Shui assessment and enhancement.
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Bazi analysis is based on the belief that one is born with a certain fate or destiny 命 ( ming ) to embark on in this world. From then on, one goes through life's journey 运 ( yun ) as destined. It is also believed that one cannot change one's birth date and time ( that is, fate ). But, one may lead a smoother and happier life journey through proper understanding of one's fate by analyzing one's bazi, and making the necessary adjustments or taking precautions at the appropriate time. It is important to know how Bazi works, and make it work for us !
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Bazi analysis can reveal one's health condition, wealth position, type of career industry to go into, finding the right marriage partner that complement one's own elements, mixed around with the right network of benefactors, and the likes. Besides, it helps one to determine what strategies - aggressive, conservative, delayed or status quo in capitalizing on one's 10-year luck-cycle. Each cycle has a governing Heavenly Stem and Earthly Root which can be favourable or unfavourable to one's destiny, depending on whether it is a Water Element phase, Wood Element phase or any one of the other elements comprising the 5 Elements.
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Incidentally, Bazi is one branch of chinese Numerology Study 命理学 ( Mingle Xue ) which belongs to the 3rd category of "wushu". Other popular theories for fate analysis include 子平真诠 ( Zi Ping True Interpretation ), 铁板神数 ( Tie Ban Shen Shu or Iron Abacus ), 紫微斗数 ( Zi Wei Dou Shu or Astrology ), 六爻 ( Liu Yao ), 梅花易数 (Mei Hua Yi Shu ).
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Bazi ChartThe Bazi chart looks at the energies of powerful ancient Chinese deities and stars that are influential at the time of one's birth.
In Bazi analysis, the Heavenly Stem 天干 is compared with the stems and roots 天干地支 of time, day, month and year of birth to determine the strength of the five-element profile of the day pillar. It is important to establish the day pillar as either strong, weak, average or belonging to the special category to understand one's personality, strength, weaknesses, and the necessary cures to enhance the favourable elements, and weaken the unfavourable elements. |
From the chart, you can see that there are two characters in each of the four pillars; making a total of eight characters. The top character represents the heavenly stem and the bottom character represents the earthly branch.
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Heavenly stem is the body, while the earthly branch is the application. The body is what heaven has bestowed on you on that particular hour, day, month and year of your birth; and it is important to know if the earthly branches support the heavenly stems. For this, it is necessary to understand the interaction of the five elements, namely water, wood, fire, earth, and metal.
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It is important to understand at this stage that the Heavenly Stem has one of the 5 elements whereas the Earthly Roots can have several elements with each root. Any deficiency in one of the elements will result in sickness or weakness unless there is a counteracting element to negate the sickness or weakness.
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The interaction of the five elements would give rise to Complementary 喜, Conflicting 忌, Contrasting 冲, Contradictory 刑, Controlling 克 or Cooperative 合 situations, and the study of their relative and/or combined strength and weaknesses would provide a better insight into the future.
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The earthly branch in the year pillar represents the Chinese animal sign of the year of birth, which is also referred to as one's personal Tai Sui. In reading one's Bazi, it is necessary to focus on the Day Master, and not the Chinese animal sign.
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Four Bazi Special Categories 特殊格局專旺格、從強格、雙神格、化氣格 are categories that do not follow the conventional means of finding favourable and unfavourable Elements.
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According to conventional wisdom, a person who has a weak Water birth profile may use Metal to produce Water; and Water to enhance his luck, health, wealth, etc. But, the conclusion and recommendations are totally reverse for those who fall under one of the 4 special categories.
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Under these special categories, if the person needs fire and wood, then heavier weightage could be given on sectors associated with fire and wood. This would affect the choice of wall papers, curtains, material, finishes and the likes.
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