How to Judge the Strength and Weakness of Stems and Branches

Translator's note. Eight lines that replace the whole apparatus of classical strength assessment. Traditional bazi asks whether an element is “strong,” and gives the same answer for everyone born under that chart. Lü asks a narrower question — has this person actualised the energy of that stem, which his body will show — and reads strength only from immediate neighbours. The gate concept survives; the notion that a chart has one fixed strength does not.

Strength and weakness in a bazi does need to be discussed. But the method of judging and applying it here is, and should be, utterly different from that of traditional fate studies.

The traditional concept of the “gate” is entirely correct. As the old formula has it: to know who will be rich, look for the wealth star reaching the gate. The gate means the day stem's immediate neighbours left and right, plus the day branch. If the month stem, hour stem or day branch controls the day master, the year stem and year branch will find it very hard to rescue him — the king of Qin had a million men, but when Jing Ke came at him with a dagger, what use were a million men? None at all. Kidnap a man and no matter how many police surround him, they can hardly help.

The purpose of judging strength is to see whether a given stem or branch has actualised a certain energy in your fate.

Traditional fate studies hold that if jia wood is strong in one chart, then jia wood is strong in every chart identical to it.

Our theory holds that although the position of jia wood is the same in identical charts, the body part that jia wood stands for need not have grown into the same features in different people born under that chart. Bodily features are the real evidence of whether this particular person has actualised the energy of jia wood. It is not that jia wood being strong means everyone born under that chart has actualised it. Some have; some have not.

Judging strength matters greatly, but our method of judging and applying it is completely different from the traditional one. We do not judge strength in order to select a useful god. We judge it in order to judge how the stems' energy has been actualised in one particular person.

1. The strength of the year stem is judged chiefly by how the month stem and the year branch act on it.
2. The strength of the month stem is judged chiefly by how the year stem and the day stem act on it.
3. The strength of the day master is judged chiefly by how the month stem and the hour stem act on it, with the day branch as reference.
4. The strength of the hour stem is judged chiefly by how the day stem and the hour branch act on it.
5. The strength of the year branch is judged chiefly by how the year stem and the month branch act on it.
6. The strength of the month branch is judged chiefly by how the year branch and the day branch act on it.
7. The strength of the day branch is judged chiefly by how the month branch and the hour branch act on it.
8. The strength of the hour branch is judged chiefly by how the hour stem and the day branch act on it.

Notes:

(1) Owl-seal and parallel-and-rob generate and support; they make a stem or branch strong.

(2) Officer-and-killer controls; wealth, eating-and-wounding drain and exhaust. These make a stem or branch weak.

Example: male — Jiayin, Renshen, Yisi, Yiyou

Year stem jia wood: strong. Month stem ren water: weak. Day stem yi wood: strong. Hour stem yi wood: balanced.

Year branch yin wood: balanced. Month branch shen metal: weak. Day branch si fire: weak. Hour branch you metal: weak.

Once you can combine the judgement of stem and branch strength with the system that locates body parts, you have the theoretical basis for distinguishing between people born under the same chart — and you are basically ready to read bazi.