Even if the Four Pillars of Destiny system is older, from the time of the Five Dynasties (907-960 AD) the current Ba Zi analysis method was introduced by the astrologer Xu Ziping (960-1127 AD). Its method, also called the Day Master method represents the New School and is based on the study of influences the five elements have over the Day Master.

What is the Day Master in Ba Zi?

Once we have plotted the Destiny Chart by entering a person's date of birth into the Profile Analysis, any analysis must begin with finding the Day Master. Nothing is easier than that. The Day Master is the Celestial Stem of the Day Pillar.

In the following example, the Day Master is Yang Water (壬 ren).

The next step is to establish the Strength of the Day Master. This means the strength of the element represented by Day Master, in our example Water.

Strengths of elements

The Day Master interacts with the other elements as explained in The Theory of the 5 Elements article of our blog. The outcome of these interactions is strongly influenced by the strength of these elements. We will explain here how to determine it.

We have five levels of strength in Ba Zi: Dead, Trapped, Weak, Strong, and Prosperous. On a scale from 1 to 5, Dead = 1 and Prosperous = 5.

Mainly, the strength of an element is given by the influence of the Season of the Destiny Chart on it.

The Season of the Destiny Chart is considered to be the season of the Earthly Branch of the Month Pillar, in our example: the dragon (辰 chen). According to the 12 Animals Map below, the dragon is the graveyard month of the Spring season.

The strength of each of the five elements in a given season is determined by following the following algorithm applied here for the spring season as an example.

For convenience, we show the strengths of all 5 elements in all 4 seasons in the following table.

How to determine the strength of an element?

Which is the strongest element of the spring season?
- the Wood which will be considered prosperous
Which is the element controlled by wood?
- the Earth. This will be Dead as long as it is controlled by the wood which is the most powerful element in spring
Which is the element controlling the wood?
- the Metal on which it is considered Trapped because it cannot exert its control function on the most powerful element of the season.
Which is the element producing the wood?
- the Water, but this is considered Weak as long as it must produce so much wood
Which is the element produced by wood?
- the Fire. This will be Strong as long as the wood is strong, it is capable of producing seriously.

Note: The strength computed in this manner can be adjusted in some particular cases as we will see later on, in this course.

In our example, the Day Master is Water and the Season of the Destiny Chart is Spring. The Water in Spring is Weak. It nourishes the element of the season which is the Prosperous Wood in this case.

Favorability

The rules used to determine the favorability of each of the 5 elements are rather simple and derived from the universal principles of balance and harmony.

How to determine the favourability of an element?

Everything is explained using the interactions between the 5 elements
An element is considered to be Favorable if it has a beneficial influence on the Day Master
If the Day Master is weak it needs to be reinforced
If the Day Master is strong it needs to be weakened
If the Day Master is prosperous it needs to be controlled
An element is reinforced by
- the element that generates it (nourishing)
- the same element with it (support)
An element is weakened by
- the element it generates (consuming)
- the element it controls (energy consuming)
- the element which controls it (exhausting)
An element is controlled by
- the element which controls it (exhausting)

Note: In certain cases the strength of the Day Master may vary due to temporary interactions and in these cases the auspiciousness will change accordingly.

Returning to our example: Day Master is Water which is Weak because the Season is Spring.

The favorable elements are the elements that strengthen it:

Metal - because the metal generates water
Water - because it is supported by

The unfavorable elements are the ones which reinforced it:

Wood - because Water weakens when it nourishes wood
Fire - because Water weakens when controls the fire
Earth - controls the Water exhausting it

Missing elements

It is possible to find Destiny Charts with one or more missing elements. These are considered special structures and we can say the following things about a chart that misses:

No wood: total lack of will
No fire: inadaptable, depressive, atheists
No earth: unstable, sudden changes in life
No metal: incapacity communication, bed relations, gossipy
No water: lack of entrepreneurship capacity, laziness to learn something new

Now is the right time to reanalyze your Destiny Chart and compare your own analysis based on what is explained in this article with the one made by Ba Zi Advisor, and presented to you in the format below.