At a glance
- First step
- Define the question before selection
- Across systems
- Different from BaZi useful factors
Definition and terminology
Documents commonly use Parents, resources Wealth, and one’s own situation may center Subject, depending on the manual. God here is a technical term, not invocation. Selection narrows interpretive focus. Mixing several questions makes the rationale ambiguous; a transparent method should not reclassify any convenient line as the target after seeing results.
Structure and rules
When several lines share the category, a method may select or compare them through position, movement and strength. An absent target may prompt concealed-line procedures. Supporting, opposing and further relational labels follow a rule chain, not fixed positions. Record selection first, then auxiliary relationships and date factors so each inference remains traceable.
Worked reading
For a filing-process exercise, declare Parents as focus and suppose the sole matching line is Chen earth. Fire producing earth then illustrates support, wood controlling earth opposition. Date and moving-line information are still absent. The example demonstrates a relationship table and cannot establish when an actual document will arrive.
Context and limits
Historical focus chapters reflect period-specific social roles; project and data examples are modern analogies. Selection introduces interpretive choices, so evaluation should pre-record question, target and rule rather than preserve only apparent successes. Explain how and why selection occurs without claiming the chosen symbolic line directly measures the real object.
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.
- 《增删卜易》Primary / tradition source
Public-domain Six Lines text; page includes modern transcriber additions, so use the original numbered chapters for attribution.