module 04 strength and favourable
Module 04: Determining the Strength of the Birth Owner & Favourable/Unfavourable Five Elements (Chapter 5)
Why Is This Critical?
Determining the strength of the day birth owner (命主强弱) is one of the most complicated theories in Bazi to decipher. However, practice will make perfect. You need to read more birth charts to get familiar with it.
Why is it important to learn the strength of the birth owner? Because you can find out what are the favourable (喜用神) and unfavourable (仇忌神) five elements (五行) in the birth chart to help the birth owner find fortune and disaster timing.
Once you are able to correctly define the strength of the day birth owner, you will be able to know what are the favourable and unfavourable five elements. Once you know favourable and unfavourable five elements, you can then go through the 10-year luck cycle (十年大运) and yearly luck (流年) to start looking for fortune and disaster.
The Month Season (月令) is the Foundation
One more critical use of the twelve Chinese animal zodiacs (十二地支) is to determine the month season (月令). The month season is the important focus point to determine the birth owner's strength to handle the five elements interacting with one another.
The month season (月令) occupies at least 40% (forty percent) of the strength in the birth chart.
The month season is the Chinese animal zodiac of the month column (月支).
Extra Tips on Strength
- Adequately strong (强) birth owner: easier to (i) feel more confident, (ii) achieve financial goals, (iii) achieve independency.
- Overly strong (极强) birth owner: may overdo things and jeopardize goals, demonstrates unrealistic self-confidence. Too strong becomes weak birth owner!
- Weak (弱) birth owner: has difficulty acquiring financial goals, independency, and self-confidence.
- Overly weak (极弱) birth owner: may overturn into a strong element instead. In Chinese: "物极必反."
How to Determine the Strength of the Day Birth Owner
The Three Steps (三得)
Step 1: 得令 (Season Support)
Check if the season (month controller) supports the birth owner.
Example: If the birth owner is a metal day master and born in the transition earth period from winter to spring (water is lessened), earth grows the metal day birth owner → YES, season supports.
Step 2: 得势 (Heaven Row Support)
Check if any of the Chinese numeral system on the heaven row supports the birth owner.
Example: If the birth owner has another metal supporter in the heaven row → YES.
Step 3: 得地 (Earth Row Support)
Check if any animal zodiac on the earth row supports the birth owner.
Example: If fire and wood reduce the metal birth owner's strength → NO.
Reading the Conclusion
| Result | Strength |
|---|---|
| 得令 Yes + 得势 Yes + 得地 No | Strong day birth owner |
| 得令 Yes + 得势 Yes + 得地 Yes | EXTREMELY strong = confirmed as WEAK birth owner (物极必反) |
| 得令 No + 得势 No + 得地 No | Extremely weak day birth owner |
Worked Examples
Example 1 — Strong Day Birth Owner
Chart: Xin (辛) Yin Metal Day Master, born in the transition earth month (丑 Ox month)
| Column | Stem | Branch |
|---|---|---|
| Hour | 辛 Xin | 巳 Si |
| Day | 庚 Geng | 午 Wu |
| Month | 乙 Yi | 丑 Chou |
| Year | 戊 Wu | 寅 Yin |
- Step 1 (得令): Born in the transition earth period from winter to spring (water is lessened). Earth grows the metal day birth owner → YES
- Step 2 (得势): The birth owner has another metal supporter (Xin 辛) in the heaven row → YES
- Step 3 (得地): Fire and wood in earth row reduce metal birth owner's strength → NO
Conclusion: Strong day birth owner (Balance = approximately 60/100 points)
Example 2 — Extremely Strong = Confirmed Weak (Wu Earth)
Chart: Wu (戊) Yang Earth Day Master, all elements supporting
| Column | Stem | Branch |
|---|---|---|
| Hour | 戊 Wu | 午 Wu |
| Day | 戊 Wu | 午 Wu |
| Month | 丙 Bing | 戌 Xu |
| Year | 庚 Geng | 午 Wu |
- Step 1 (得令): Born in the transition earth period from winter to spring. Earth supports the earth day birth owner → YES
- Step 2 (得势): The birth owner has another earth supporter in heaven row → YES
- Step 3 (得地): Fire grows the earth birth owner's strength → YES
Conclusion: EXTREMELY strong day birth owner = confirmed WEAK (物极必反). There are no other elements to exhaust or counter this birth owner, except geng metal — but geng metal is injured due to the strong fire and earth uncovering metal in his birth chart.
Example 3 — Moderately Weak
Chart: Wu (戊) Yang Earth Day Master, born in water month
| Column | Stem | Branch |
|---|---|---|
| Hour | 甲 Jia | 寅 Yin |
| Day | 戊 Wu | 申 Shen |
| Month | 丁 Ding | 亥 Hai |
| Year | 庚 Geng | 戌 Xu |
- Step 1 (得令): Born in the water month (亥 Hai). Water counters the earth day birth owner → NO
- Step 2 (得势): The birth owner has fire in heaven row — fire grows earth → YES
- Step 3 (得地): Earth supports the earth birth owner's strength → YES
Conclusion: 得令 No / 得势 Yes / 得地 Yes = Moderately weak day birth owner. Why? Because the month season (月令) is the controller of the birth chart — it has the greatest strength to counter the birth owner. Luckily there are Chinese numeral systems on the heaven row and animal zodiacs on the earth row that support the day birth owner. Nonetheless, it is a slightly weak day birth owner.
Example 4 — Extremely Weak Earth (另一例)
Chart: Wu (戊) Yang Earth Day Master surrounded by countering elements
| Column | Stem | Branch |
|---|---|---|
| Hour | 辛 Xin | 酉 You |
| Day | 戊 Wu | 申 Shen |
| Month | 甲 Jia | 子 Zi |
| Year | 戊 Wu | 子 Zi |
- Step 1 (得令): Born in the water month. Water exhausts the earth day birth owner → NO
- Step 2 (得势): The birth owner has earth in heaven row to support him → YES
- Step 3 (得地): Metal exhausts and water exhausts the earth birth owner's strength → NO
Conclusion: 得令 No / 得势 Yes / 得地 No = EXTREMELY weak day birth owner. Why? Because water month is the controller (月令) of the birth chart — it has the greatest strength to counter the birth owner. Also, the wood, metal and water in the birth chart weaken the element of the day birth owner. Therefore, instead of weak, the birth owner may overturn into a strong birth owner (物极必反).
Chart: Gui (癸) Yin Water Day Master, born in the water month (子 Rat month)
| Column | Stem | Branch |
|---|---|---|
| Hour | 壬 Ren | 子 Zi |
| Day | 癸 Gui | 酉 You |
| Month | 壬 Ren | 子 Zi |
| Year | 壬 Ren | 子 Zi |
- Step 1 (得令): Born in the water month — water supports the water day birth owner → YES
- Step 2 (得势): The birth owner has water in heaven row to support him → YES
- Step 3 (得地): Metal and water in animal zodiacs support the water birth owner → YES
Conclusion: Balance = 100 – 90 = 10 out of 100 points → EXTREMELY weak day birth owner (物极必反: the overly strong overturn into weak)
Example 3 — Extremely Weak
Chart: Wu (戊) Yang Earth Day Master, surrounded by metal elements
| Column | Stem | Branch |
|---|---|---|
| Hour | 辛 Xin | 酉 You |
| Day | 辛 Xin | 未 Wei |
| Month | 己 Ji | 未 Wei |
| Year | 癸 Gui | 丑 Chou |
- All elements around are metal, water, and earth
- No fire to support the earth birth owner
- Metal exhausts earth
- Water counters earth
Conclusion: Balance = 10 out of 100 points → Extremely weak day birth owner
Determining Favourable and Unfavourable Five Elements
Once you know the strength of the day birth owner, you can figure out the favourable (喜用神) and unfavourable (仇忌神) five elements easier. Just follow the rules below:
The Two Golden Rules
| Birth Owner Strength | What They Need |
|---|---|
| Strong day birth owner (命主强) | Requires countering and exhaustion |
| Weak day birth owner (命主弱) | Requires growth and support |
Example — Strong Day Birth Owner Needs Countering and Exhaustion
Chart: Geng (庚) Yang Metal Day Master, born in Ox (丑) month
| Column | Stem | Branch |
|---|---|---|
| Hour | 辛 Xin | 巳 Si |
| Day | 庚 Geng | 午 Wu |
| Month | 乙 Yi | 丑 Chou |
| Year | 戊 Wu | 寅 Yin |
Balance = 60 out of 100 points → Strong day birth owner
Strong day birth owner requires countering and exhaustion:
- Fire counters metal
- Metal counters wood — reduces metal energy
- Water exhausts metal
Conclusion: The favourable elements are fire, wood, and water.
Example — Weak Day Birth Owner Needs Growth and Support
Chart: Wu (戊) Yang Earth Day Master, extremely weak
Conclusion: Extremely weak day birth owner requires growth and support. Earth needs fire to grow and earth to support.
Favourable elements: fire and earth.
The Favourable/Unfavourable Classification (喜闲仇忌)
In a Bazi birth chart, each element is classified into one of four categories:
| Category | Chinese | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 用 (Yong) | Favourable — Use | The most needed element |
| 喜 (Xi) | Positive — Like | Helpful element |
| 闲 (Xian) | Neutral | Neither helpful nor harmful |
| 仇 (Chou) | Negative — Dislike | Mildly unfavourable |
| 忌 (Ji) | Unfavourable — Avoid | The most harmful element |
Example display on a Bazi chart:
用喜闲仇忌
水金土木火
(Water Metal Earth Wood Fire)
This tells you which elements favour and which harm the birth owner, allowing you to:
- Track 10-year luck cycles (十年大运)
- Track yearly luck (流年)
- Identify fortune and disaster periods
- Recommend Feng Shui (风水) directions and items
- Advise on career choices and relationship decisions
Summary: Step-by-Step to Determine Strength and Favourable Elements
Step 1: Identify the day master (日主) — the heavenly stem of the day column.
Step 2: Check the month branch (月令) to determine the season.
Step 3: Apply the 3-step strength test:
- 得令: Does the month season support the day master?
- 得势: Does any heavenly stem in the chart support the day master?
- 得地: Does any earthly branch in the chart support the day master?
Step 4: Count the score. Calculate total % of supporting vs. weakening elements (month = 40%, others = 10% each approximately).
How the percentage scoring works (Page 145):
The month branch always carries -40% or +40% depending on whether it supports or counters the day master. Every other stem and branch carries approximately ±10% each.
Worked example — Wu 戊 Earth Day Master, extremely weak:
| Hour | Day | Month | Year | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stem | 辛 Xin (-10%) | 戊 Wu | 甲 Jia (-10%) | 戊 Wu (+10%) |
| Branch | 酉 You (-10%) | 申 Shen (-10%) | 子 Zi (-40%) | 子 Zi (-10%) |
Balance = 100 − 90 = 10 out of 100 points → Extremely weak day birth owner
The month branch 子 (Rat/Water) counters earth → -40%. Every other element in the chart (metal exhausts earth, water counters earth, wood counters earth) all subtract further. Only the year stem 戊 (earth) provides +10% support.
Key principle: The month season (月令) occupies at least 40% of the strength in the birth chart — this is why it is examined first in the three-step method.
Step 5: Determine strength status:
- Below 50: Weak → Needs growth and support
- Around 50–70: Strong → Needs countering and exhaustion
- Above 80 (extremely strong): Weak again (物极必反)
Step 6: Identify favourable and unfavourable elements based on strength result.
Step 7: Apply to 10-year luck cycle (十年大运) and yearly luck (流年) to predict fortune and disaster timing.
Next module: Chapter 6 — The Ten Gods (十神)