At a glance
- Classification
- Five relations × two polarities
- Reference
- Identify the Day Stem first
Definition and terminology
Five basic relationships—same, producing me, produced by me, controlling me, controlled by me—each divide by polarity, giving ten labels. Their familiar names invoke peers, resources, output, authority and wealth. Those metaphors reflect historical family and official structures rather than literal modern descriptions of everything a person experiences.
Structure and rules
For Jia yang wood, Jia is Peer and Yi Rob Wealth; Ren Indirect Resource and Gui Direct Resource; Bing Food God and Ding Hurting Officer; Geng Seven Killings and Xin Direct Officer; Wu Indirect Wealth and Ji Direct Wealth. Direct/indirect are labels, not moral judgments, and position and seasonal conditions still matter.
Worked reading
To label Xin relative to Jia, first identify metal controlling wood, then opposite polarity, giving Direct Officer. Geng shares yang polarity and becomes Seven Killings instead. This two-step derivation checks the table. It does not imply that Xin guarantees public employment or that Geng guarantees danger; those would be additional interpretive claims.
Context and limits
Historical preferences for office, wealth and output reflected social institutions and values. Modern schools recast these as expression, resources or competition, which should be identified as reinterpretations rather than ancient psychological validation. Labels are comparatively clear; their supposed favorable or unfavorable effects depend on additional, disputed methods.
References & further reading
Historical sources document ideas and rules of their time, not empirical proof of predictive accuracy. Source notes identify the nature and scope of each reference.
- 《三命通会》卷五：论印食官财名义Primary / tradition source
Public-domain text explaining Day Stem relations, resource, output, office, wealth and patterns.