Pattern (1) Select the pattern

In the previously discussed content about the positioning of the Ten Gods, it seems that each of the Ten Gods has its own characteristics. The scope of these characteristics includes the specified relatives, time effectiveness, and personality. It's like sketching an outline first and not being able to discuss fortune - telling in detail. So during this period, the most important thing is for everyone to understand the four sets of rules clearly, namely, punishment, conflict, combination, and gathering; the representatives of the Six Relatives; the generation and restraint of the Ten Gods; and the prosperity and decline of the Five Elements. By now, I think everyone has a basic understanding of fortune - telling and can enter the real stage of fortune - telling.

The positioning of the Ten Gods can only be regarded as common sense. So, what about the formal stage of fortune - telling? A Bazi (Eight Characters) consists of eight characters, including Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches. We all know that the Bazi has the Five Elements, but fortune - telling is not based on the Five Elements; it is based on the Ten Gods. The Ten Gods are generated from the relationships of "giving birth" and "being born into" between the five - element of the Day Master and the other seven units of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, resulting in relationships such as Peer, Rob Wealth, Eating God, Hurting Officer, etc. When discussing them individually, it is the positioning of the Ten Gods. When discussing them together, it's a different story.

The Heavenly Stem of the Day Master only has one element. For example, Jia and Yi represent Wood, Bing and Ding represent Fire. Then, we don't know what the other three Heavenly Stems and four Earthly Branches represent. Well, all the five elements are possible for these seven! There are ten Heavenly Stems and twelve Earthly Branches. Before discussing how to determine the Chart Pattern, we'll find an inconsistent problem here, that is, there are ten Heavenly Stems while there are twelve Earthly Branches. How can we match ten with twelve? We must find a unified way. In the Ziping Method, the unified way is to transform the Earthly Branches into the Heavenly Stems. This is what we call "the Heavenly Stems hidden in the Earthly Branches". As we all know, Zi corresponds to Gui, and Chou corresponds to Gui, Xin and Ji.

Of course, there is a complete set of theories behind formulating this set of rules. For now, we don't need to worry about these theories. Just compare according to the answers. For an eight - character Heavenly Stem, the Day Master is compared with three Heavenly Stems to obtain three types of Ten Gods. Each of the twelve Earthly Branches contains hidden Heavenly Stems, and each has its own Ten Gods. Then a problem arises. Some Heavenly Stems exist and the corresponding ones also exist in the Earthly Branches. Some Heavenly Stems exist but the corresponding ones don't exist in the Earthly Branches. So, we'll start further discussions from this point. A new term is generated between the Heavenly Stems and the Earthly Branches, called "Heavenly Appearance and Earthly Confinement". If there is Jia in the Heavenly Stem and also in the Earthly Branch, it's called "Earthly Confinement". If there is Jia in the Earthly Branch and also in the Heavenly Stem, it's called "Appearance". From the perspective of the Heavenly Stem, it's called "Confinement", and from the perspective of the Earthly Branch, it's called "Appearance". When combined, it's called "Heavenly Appearance and Earthly Confinement".

Well, "heavenly appearance and earthly hiding" (Tian Tou Di Cang) is just two words. In terms of the time - effectiveness in fortune - telling, when it comes to the time - effectiveness of the six relatives in the positioning of the ten gods, another meaning emerges. Since it is "heavenly appearance and earthly hiding", even if it occurs in one pillar, it has a time - effectiveness of fifteen years. For example, if the earthly branch of the month pillar appears in the heavenly stem of the month pillar, it affects from the age of sixteen to thirty. If the earthly branch of the month pillar appears in the heavenly stem of the hour pillar, it affects from the age of sixteen to sixty. That's a very long time! As for the content, we can talk about it slowly later. If one thing affects you from the age of sixteen to sixty, I think it will affect you for a lifetime.

So, what about this issue of timeliness? We call it "ge" (a certain pattern or framework). We don't discuss good or bad luck but only talk about its scope. This is also what ordinary people usually say: Does someone have personality? Does someone have taste? Both personality and taste are not formed overnight; it takes a long time. This is what we call "taking the ge". For any eight-character horoscope, you need to identify a "ge", and this "ge" represents a person's whole life! Talking about husband - wife relationship and wealth is just a part of one's life. Then, how to take the "ge"? When the heavenly stems reveal and the earthly branches hide (a certain element), it is qualified to be taken as a "ge". Whether this "ge" is good or bad is another matter.

Let's talk about the conditions for forming a pattern first! For example, now we're looking at page 46 (13th edition) of *General Introduction to Ziping Basics*. There is a Bazi: Guisi Gengshen Renzi Wushen If we look at it in the way we did before, only talking about what the Heavenly Stems are, finding their time and relatives, then there is a Gui in the Heavenly Stems. There is another Gui under Renzi. This is a situation where the Heavenly Stem appears and the Earthly Branch hides it! Gui has its root. This Gui is the Rob Wealth of the Day Master. The Rob Wealth in the Year Pillar reaches the Day Branch. This Rob Wealth can be used in the positioning of the Ten Gods. However, when it comes to taking the pattern, we need the five - elements other than the Day Master. From the perspective of relatives, this Rob Wealth restrains the wife and has nothing to do with career. Rob Wealth also means losing money, which is a phenomenon and has nothing to do with career. So in fortune - telling, for this pattern, there is no pattern for the same element as the Day Master. There is no Peer - to - Peer pattern and no Rob Wealth pattern. Only the other eight kinds exist: Eating God, Hurting Officer, Proper Officer, Seven Kills, Proper Seal, Partial Seal, Proper Wealth, and Partial Wealth. So although this Rob Wealth has its root, it doesn't form a pattern. It's just a phenomenon.

So here you can understand that what is mentioned in the positioning of the Ten Gods is not about glory, wealth and honor, but just a phenomenon. Whether you lose money when you have no money or when you have money, it's the same in terms of losing money. Well, the Rob Wealth has no pattern. There is a "Geng" in the Heavenly Stems. Is there a "Geng" in the Earthly Branches? Yes. There are "Wu", "Geng" and "Ren" in "Shen". There are two "Shen". In the "Si" of the Year Pillar, there are "Wu", "Bing" and "Geng", and there is also "Shen". So it's the case that the Heavenly Stem reveals it and the Earthly Branch hides it. Therefore, this "Metal generates Water" is the Partial Seal. What's the nature of the Partial Seal? We'll talk about it slowly. This Bazi has formed the pattern of the Partial Seal.

So, what about Wu later? When Earth restrains Water, it represents the Seven Kills. It's the same situation. Check if there is Wu among the hidden Heavenly Stems in the Branches. There is Wu in Shen, and also Wu in Si. Then, both the Partial Seal and the Seven Kills have roots in the Earthly Branches. This BaZi then turns into having two patterns! It's both a Partial Seal Pattern and a Seven Kills Pattern. So, how should we calculate it? At this time, we still have to talk about the time periods. For the Partial Seal Pattern on the Year Pillar, Month Pillar, or Hour Pillar, we calculate according to age. When discussing patterns, the pattern on the Year Pillar is the least valuable because you basically have no career at that time. So, if it's a Partial Seal Pattern on the Month Pillar, it means that this person is mainly under the influence of the Partial Seal Pattern before the age of thirty, and mainly under the influence of the Seven Kills Pattern before the age of forty - five. We can then gradually discuss the good and bad fortune.

The discussion of the good and bad fortune in terms of patterns is very detailed, much more so than the positioning of the Ten Gods. Now, what we need to understand is what pattern this Bazi (Eight Characters) belongs to. So, this Bazi has two patterns: the Partial Seal pattern and the Seven Killers pattern. Well, as you can all see, both the Partial Seal and the Seven Killers have roots in the Hourly Branch. Therefore, although this person has two patterns, there is a relationship between these two occupations, it's just a matter of degree. Since they have roots in the Hourly Branch, this person won't retire. The Hourly Branch represents the later years of a person's life, and the pattern represents a person's career. Whether the career is successful or not, or how long you will engage in it, these are two different things. Many people come to ask me about their Bazi. They don't really ask about good and bad fortune. They just ask whether they should retire or not, and whether they should engage in this or that after retirement. This can be determined at this stage. If the pattern has roots in the Hourly Branch, you can switch your jobs and careers around, but you won't retire. This is how to determine the pattern. This is called the Partial Seal pattern and the Seven Killers pattern. As you can see in the fortune-telling report, the first thing is to tell you what pattern you have. This is pattern determination. Patterns are not as simple as the Ten Gods. Now, let's look at the second example: Jia Chen Xin Si Jia Chen Ren Chen The Day Master is Xin. There is Ren in the Heavenly Stems. Metal generates Water. What I generate is the Hurting Officer. Is there Ren in the Earthly Branches? No. There is Jia in the Heavenly Stems. Metal conquers Wood, which is the Proper Wealth. Is there Jia in the Earthly Branches? No either! So, in this Bazi, there is no manifestation in the Heavenly Stems and no hiding in the Earthly Branches. Logically speaking, there is no pattern. It's not like the previous one with a neat manifestation in the Heavenly Stems and hiding in the Earthly Branches. In the case of no pattern, there is another rule in pattern determination, called "Four Appearances". In terms of the Five Elements, there is Ren in the Heavenly Stems, and there is Gui in Chen. Gui is not Ren, but both Ren and Gui are Water. So, there is one Ren in the Heavenly Stems and three Gui in the three Chen. Ren and Gui together make four Waters. As long as there is a manifestation in the Heavenly Stems for the "Four Appearances", a pattern can also be determined. Then, Metal generating Water becomes what I generate as the Eating God and the Hurting Officer. This is the Hurting Officer pattern. It's completely different in nature from the previous pattern determined by the manifestation in the Heavenly Stems and hiding in the Earthly Branches. It's a kind of mixed pattern.

Let me give you an example. For instance, I might sell bubble gum or magnolias. It doesn't necessarily matter what I'm selling. In a couple of days, I might go and sell lottery tickets. Individually, they may not seem promising, but overall, it's fair to say that I'm a direct seller. You can make a lot of money selling magnolias or bubble gum. Maybe it's even more than a civil servant's salary! Whether you make more or less money is another matter. If it's a pattern like this, where different things are pieced together, it's just a hodgepodge! Besides talking about good and bad luck, we can also talk about time periods. In your pattern, the Heavenly Stem revealed in the Year Pillar is the Hurting Officer. There's a Gui in the Earthly Branch Chen of the Hour Pillar. The Hurting Officer and the Eating God are different among the Ten Gods, but they're the same in terms of the Five Elements. So, throughout this person's life, especially in their later years, their occupation must be related to their family and childhood. This is called having roots. When a certain Heavenly Stem is related to a certain position, it brings along the corresponding time effect.

Let me explain in more detail. Regarding the pattern where the influence runs from the year pillar to the hour pillar, in reality, when you were seven years old in terms of the year pillar, how could you have any career? There are career - related indications in the earthly branch of the hour pillar because it has a root connection to the year pillar. Here, the year pillar doesn't represent a specific time limit but indicates that your career is related to your youth. Any pattern where the influence runs to the hour pillar is related to your family. Whether you earn money for your family or squander your family's wealth, that's a topic for later. This matter is about the timeliness issue of the root connection between the year and the hour pillars. The pattern with four occurrences is different from the pattern of heavenly stems appearing and earthly branches hiding, but the timeliness is the same. Wherever there is a connection, it occupies that position.

Yi Hai Jia Xu Ren Chen Geng Xu We used this Bazi as an example in the section on the positioning of the Ten Gods. However, at that time, we were not talking about the Bazi structure but only from the perspective of the effectiveness of relatives. Now, for the same Bazi, from the perspective of the Bazi structure, the Day Master's own Five - Element is water. In the year column, there is Ji, and earth restrains water. In terms of the Ten Gods, this is a proper official in the year column. Just based on this statement, from the positioning of the Ten Gods, we can say that his family background at least has a house, because wealth, official positions, and seals are good things! Secondly, when Ren meets Jia, it is the gourmet god. For a female, it represents children. But it's too early to talk about children when she is only in her twenties, so we won't mention it. Then, what about Geng? When Ren meets Geng, it is the partial seal. An individual interpretation is that it represents your artistic temperament in your later years. Here, we were talking about the positioning of the Ten Gods. Now, we are talking about one's lifelong career. What kind of job does she do? When did she start doing it? This is about the Bazi structure.

Look, for that "ji", none of the four branches contains it among the Heavenly Stems. So the Direct Official cannot find its root. First of all, it's not a Direct Official pattern. Then, in terms of the positioning of the Ten Gods, the Direct Official in your year pillar only lasts until you're seven and a half years old. After you grow up, your family has nothing to do with you. For the second "jia", it exists in the year pillar and can be regarded as an Eating God pattern. However, this pattern is of little use because the qi from the year branch penetrates to the month stem when you're too young. That is to say, from fifteen to twenty - two years old, it's an Eating God pattern.

If we explain it based on the facts, when this person was in college, he had a lot of opinions like "I should do this" and "I should do that". Once he passed the age of 22, all those opinions were gone! At that time, the Heavenly Stem was Geng, and there was nothing in the Earthly Branches. Just considering the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, there was only one pattern, the Pattern of Hurting Officer. But it disappeared too early. What about the others? They didn't exist. So what should we do? Then there is the third method of determining the pattern. Just now, the first method is based on the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, and the second method is when there are four occurrences. So what about this birth chart? The Geng and Xin are mixed together. That means the Partial Seal sits on the Proper Seal. So, it can be barely counted as the Seal Pattern. It doesn't sound good to say that someone's birth chart has no pattern!

People without a pattern in their Four Pillars lack determination and are inconsistent, changing their ways frequently. If someone has absolutely no pattern, the positive seal in the year pillar indicates the personality associated with a positive seal, and the resource destroyer in the hour pillar indicates the personality associated with a resource destroyer in the hour pillar, showing no consistency. This Bazi can barely be regarded as a seal pattern, but we should know that this seal pattern is different from a true partial seal or a real positive seal. The partial seal sits on the positive seal, being both positive and partial, which is a mixed and somewhat muddled situation. How is it muddled? Let's take an example: For instance, a university professor. It would be fine for him to just teach at the university! But he also teaches at a cram school. A university professor represents a positive seal, and a cram school represents a partial seal. There's nothing wrong with this! It's just two different markets. A partial seal can also combine with a positive seal. For example, we see people selling incense and candles in front of a temple as a side - job. Some temples don't sell them, while some do. Or a traditional Chinese medicine pharmacy also sells Western medicine. Whether they make money or not is another matter, but the nature has changed. Since it's in the hour branch, the situation remains as described and they can't really retire. However, with the partial seal in the heavenly stem and the positive seal in the earthly branch, there's a difference in emphasis. Before the age of sixty, the partial seal is dominant, and after the age of sixty, the positive seal is dominant, but they are still combined!

Now we know that there are already three ways to determine the pattern. The first is when the heavenly stems are revealed and the earthly branches store the corresponding elements. The second is the "four - appearance" method. The third is when yin and yang elements meet, and we can barely use these methods to determine the pattern. I'm only talking about the formulas for determining the pattern now and not going into details. Because for the situation of "heavenly stems revealed and earthly branches storing", the elements don't necessarily have to be in the same pillar, and there can be several patterns. There is also a fourth way, which doesn't require the heavenly stems to be revealed and the earthly branches to store the elements, nor the "four - appearance" condition. Instead, it completely focuses on the three - combinations and three - gatherings of the earthly branches. Since we've mentioned the combinations and gatherings, I'll briefly explain. The three - combination of Yin, Wu, and Xu forms the fire element, which represents the birth, prosperity, and storage. The three - gathering of Hai, Zi, and Chou forms the water element, which means the qi is concentrated on one side, so its power is very great, even exceeding that of the situation where the heavenly stems are revealed and the earthly branches store the elements. Take the following Bazi: Yi Chou, Yi Hai, Bing Zi, Wu Zi. As you can see, it's obvious that the heavenly stems are not revealed and the earthly branches don't store the corresponding elements in the way we described before. However, the earthly branches have the three - gathering of Hai, Zi, and Chou to form the water element. This three - gathering is equivalent to, and even surpasses, the situation of "heavenly stems revealed and earthly branches storing". The power of the three - gathering is very great. For this three - gathering of water, in terms of the day master, the day master is Bing (fire). Water restrains fire, which represents the official and the killing qi. So this Bazi belongs to the Seven - Killing Pattern. Regarding the combinations and gatherings! The power of the three - combination is the same as that of the three - gathering, but their temperaments are different.

The three combinations represent the birth, prosperity, and storage, while the three meetings indicate that the qi is concentrated on one side. Simply put, the three combinations are like being overbearing. For example, if you are in charge of people and there are twelve of them, as long as you can control the three most powerful ones in the middle, everyone will listen to you! It's a bit overbearing. The three meetings are like the kingly way, where the qi is concentrated on one side and the three are connected together. This is the kingly way. Let me give another example. I get a salary to buy food, but I really don't like the job. However, if I don't do it, I won't get paid, so I have to do it! This is being overbearing. The kingly way is different. I may not necessarily work for the salary. I really like the job itself. It would be even better if I can get paid! This is the kingly way. As for which industries follow the kingly way or the overbearing way, we'll talk about it slowly.

This is called the ordinary pattern. The patterns are not limited to just these four methods and eight patterns. There are also others called special patterns, which will be discussed later. For example, the Kui Gang pattern and the Jin Shen pattern. It's like having a special pass and special rules. Where the pattern lies is where his career lies. Without talking about good or bad fortune, one can infer how he will spend his life based on common human feelings.

For example, if the earthly branch of the month pillar reveals itself in the heavenly stem of the hour pillar, whether it's a pattern of the Direct Officer or the Seven Killings, from the age of twelve to sixty, speaking from a common - sense perspective, isn't the working period too long? It's generally considered that about fifteen years of work for a person is about enough. Based on this nature, we can judge that this person is fated to be a toiler. Even when things go well, the progress is slower than others. Well, this is the middle stage of the time - effect.

On the contrary, if the earthly branch of the month pillar reveals itself in the heavenly stem of the month pillar, the total period is fifteen years. The first few years are useless as the person is still very young, like in their teens. It seems like early success in youth, but then it doesn't work later.

More appropriately, if the earthly branch of the day master reveals itself in the heavenly stem of the month pillar, then from the age of twenty to forty - five, this is also the normal age for a person to pursue a career and work. Well, the method of determining the pattern ends here.