Eight Characters: Favorable and Unfavorable Elements

Well, now this section is about the Bazi patterns. The Bazi patterns are what we previously talked about in terms of determining the pattern and then connecting the relevant elements. Previously, we only discussed what pattern is determined by the heavenly stems revealing and earthly branches hiding, and what pattern is formed by the three - harmony and three - union combinations. This is about how to determine the Bazi patterns, but we haven't talked about the content of the patterns. It seems that everyone has a Bazi pattern. Any pattern can bring glory, wealth, and high status to a person, and any pattern can also be useless. Let me give an example. Whether a person succeeds or not doesn't depend on what major you studied in school. You can still fail even if you studied business administration, and you can succeed if you studied law. The major you studied has nothing to do with your success.

How to extract the pattern is about the method of extraction. You may have the Zheng Guan pattern, and he may also have the Zheng Guan pattern, but the two people are as different as heaven and earth! So, for a pattern to be successful, there are its rules. How to use the Zheng Guan pattern and how to use the Qi Sha pattern. If you use them correctly, any pattern can lead to success; if you use them wrongly, any pattern can result in failure. Just like the joke we tell: "Men are afraid of choosing the wrong career, and women are afraid of marrying the wrong man." That is to say, if you don't follow the rules of the pattern, you won't succeed. For example, let's just talk about the Zheng Guan pattern. Without talking about good or bad luck, it represents that a person has a very gentle and proper personality, is very thrifty with money, and is not arrogant. Such virtues are still okay, but this has nothing to do with success. People with the Zheng Guan pattern can also do well as civil servants. A civil servant can sit at a desk all his life or be promoted to the position of division chief or department head. Whether his life is good or bad needs to be distinguished.

In Shen Xiaozhan's *Zi Ping Zhen Quan* (True Interpretation of the Four Pillars), there are a total of eight patterns: the Pattern of the Direct Official, the Pattern of the Seven Kills, the Pattern of the Hurler, the Pattern of the Direct Seal, the Pattern of the Partial Seal, the Pattern of Wealth, the Pattern of the Hurter. Each of the eight patterns has its own usage, and within these eight patterns, there are two ways of utilization: the positive utilization and the negative utilization. The so - called positive utilization means that there should be no conflict. For example, in the Pattern of the Direct Official, the Hurter should not appear. On the contrary, the Pattern of the Seven Kills in negative utilization requires conflict, specifically, it needs to be controlled by the Hurler. This is a basic combination. One needs to be patient when listening to the patterns. Generally speaking, whether a person understands fortune - telling or not is determined by whether they can clearly explain the usage of the patterns. If you can clearly explain the positive and negative utilization of the eight patterns, people will think that you understand fortune - telling. If you can't, it means you haven't put in the effort. Everything I've said before, including the content in this section, is just common knowledge, not the real essence of fortune - telling. Fortune - telling is about reasoning and has a system.

First, I talked about the association of the two characters "pattern" in the Five - Elements theory. Regarding the Five - Elements other than the Day Master, the Day Master doesn't have a pattern. The Day Master is related to the Peer and Rob Wealth, as well as the Three - Harmony and Three - Union Combinations. Most people have their opinions. I'm the chairman. When I'm holding a meeting! Whose opinions should I listen to? I should listen to everyone's opinions. So the Day Master and the pattern need to be well - matched. Well, before talking about good or bad luck, as the Day Master, the lord of the birth chart, I must have the ability. I should be able to take charge. I cooperate with you and won't end up in a situation where I can't cooperate at all.

Therefore, in fortune - telling, it is emphasized that the Day Master should be strong. But how strong should it be? It should be in direct proportion to the overall situation. When those who study the theory of fate explain it to ordinary people, they interpret a strong Day Master as having ambition. This "strong" character can be understood through what we've memorized: in the East, there are Jia, Yi, Yin, and Mao representing wood. For a Day Master of Jia or Yi, if there are Yin or Mao in the chart, it means it has its own root. When the Heavenly Stems have a corresponding presence in the Earthly Branches, it is called having a root. If the Day Master has a root, you have your own stance; if not, you don't. A chairman, of course, should respect everyone's opinions, but he doesn't just go along with all of you. The final decision - making power lies with him. So, a strong Day Master can bear wealth and official positions, while a weak one cannot.

Regardless of what kind of configurations like wealth, officialdom, and seal in the Bazi (Chinese traditional fortune - telling system), if the day master has no roots, in terms of human nature, one has no stance. In terms of fortune, one simply doesn't have any aspirations. Well, let me take a step back. Isn't it also good not to have any aspirations? Then one can just live in peace without any troubles! However, in the literati society of the Qing Dynasty, it wasn't like this. From a young age, people were determined to pass the imperial examinations and obtain certain official positions! That is to say, just like the jokes we hear. Whether it's true or false, when someone says "What's 20 million?" Whether he really has that much money or not, the fact that he can say such a thing indicates a strong - body condition in the Bazi theory. Some people say, "For my three meals a day, 50,000 yuan a month is enough for me." This shows a weak - body condition.

As for whether a strong or weak constitution is good or bad, it can't be simply judged. As long as the price you offer matches your objective conditions, that's fine. The objective conditions refer to the overall situation. If the Day Master is in the Lin Guan position and the overall situation is also in the Lin Guan position, then this person's ideals and wishes are more or less in line with the objective environment. If the position of the overall situation is very high but the Day Master has no root, then this person won't fight for things. I've seen many such cases. Even if they are asked to get promoted, they don't want it. They think it's troublesome and don't want to offend people! This is what is called "a weak constitution can't bear wealth and official positions, while a strong constitution can". What I'm saying here is not related to religion but about human feelings. Generally, people prefer a strong constitution. To put it simply, it is required that the Day Master should have a root. That is, if there is Jia in the Heavenly Stems, there should also be Jia in the Earthly Branches. This is the minimum requirement. However, having a root doesn't necessarily mean having a good fortune. The overall situation has its own way of application.