In this article, we'll continue from the previous one which mentioned that ancient classics are all incorrect, even though they are all classified as legendary. I will use a case from "Ditian Sui - The Dripping Heavenly Essence" to explain the content of this article. It might be a bit lengthy (15 minutes reading time); in fact, during my classes, just this one paragraph alone requires two sessions to explain. So presenting it in written form will undoubtedly leave out many details that cannot be fully clarified. Therefore, if you have a solid understanding of Bazi, good on ya! Otherwise, it's completely normal if you can't fully grasp this article. As there is a significant amount of information that might overwhelm some readers, it doesn't matter for those who find it hard to understand or feel confident in their Bazi knowledge, approach this with a calm and open mind. It's best to read several times and slowly comprehend this content.
Now, I'll provide the translation of the original text for everyone to read. You can also take a moment to think about how the author comments on this Bazi. However, there are a few points that need explanation. Firstly, there are many versions of "Ditian Sui." There's the original version (which is said to be authored by Liu Bowen, a famous military strategist from the Ming Dynasty, but it is not actually his work). Then there's the version with annotations from the Qing Dynasty (considered one of the most highly praised versions, annotated by Ren Tieqiao 任鐵樵). Additionally, there's the version by Xu Lewu 徐樂吾, which is one of the most prestigious Bazi books of more recent times, revised during the Republic of China era. Furthermore, there have been various newly revised versions that have emerged in the past decade or so (with a large number of authors involved). Here's the translation of the content from the "Ren Tieqiao" version:
和中堂造：庚生仲秋，支中官星三見，則酉金陽刃受制，五行無土，弱可知矣。喜其時上壬水為輔，吐其秀氣，所以聰明，權勢為最。月乾乙木透露，戀財而爭合，一生所愛者財，不知急流勇退。但財臨刃地，日在官鄉，官能制刃，財必生官，官為君象，故運走庚寅，金逢絕地，官得生拱，其財仍歸官矣。由此觀之，財乃害人之物，所謂欲不除，似蛾撲燈，焚身乃止；如猩嗜灑，鞭血方休，悔無及矣。
He Zhong Tang Zao, born in the middle of autumn in the year of Geng Metal, the Officer Star appears three times in the branches, then the Yang Blade of You Metal will be restricted, and with the absence of Earth element, the chart is considered weak. It is fortunate to have the assistance of Ren Water at the Hourly Stem, as it enhances its talent and intelligence, thus gaining influence and power. With the presence of Yi Wood protruding from the Monthly Stem, there will be an attachment to wealth and competing with competitors. Throughout life, the affinity will be directed towards wealth, without realizing the importance of retreating from dangerous situations. However, when wealth resides in the Extinction position, and the day master is in the place of the officer, the Officer can control the blade (wealth), and the wealth will generate the officer. As the officer represents the ruler, the decade pillar brings the chart to move towards the luck of Geng Yin. When metal encounters its Extinction location, the officer can restrict the metal, and the wealth will still return to the authority. From this perspective, wealth can harm a person, just like a moth rushing towards a lamp, only to burn itself. Like a red ape addicted to sprinkling blood, it will be whipped until it ceases; but it will be too late to regret.
It appears that the mentioned passage is not present in the original Ditian Sui written during the Song Dynasty (Liu Bowen is from the Ming Dynasty, and so, DitianSui is not a work of Liu Bowen), while the character in this case study belongs to the Qing Dynasty. This case was specially added by Mr Ren to enhance readers' understanding of the original text. In other words, Ren Tieqiao included this particular Bazi example to help readers better comprehend the principles of Ditian Sui.
Next, we have a version from the Republic of China era, which was revised by another prominent destiny expert, Mr. Xu Lewu. The content is exactly the same as in Ren's version, except that it lacks the four characters 'He Zhong Tang Zao' (和中堂造). (Note that this amendment leads to the reader being unaware of who is this bazi referring to, and they do it for a purpose) Why did Mr Xu remove these four characters? This omission may be due to Xu Lewu's lack of expertise in Bazi and inability to discern the quality of the content. He might have found some contradictions in Ren's highly praised Ditian Sui but couldn't specifically identify them, leading him to remove those four words. The practice of "去字" (removing words) is a writing technique commonly used by many so-called "masters." The reasons for doing so are extensive and complex, and the explanation may be better suited for a class setting to discuss with students.
Then, we come to a recent version. The recent version and the above version, what are the differences? I will explain this later. For now, let's take a look at the content above to understand its meaning.
Now, I believe those who have been familiar with Bazi for some time would find the analysis provided to be indeed fitting for this Bazi, especially if readers have historical knowledge about the person in question. This individual is "和中堂" (He Zhong Tang), which later had the four characters removed, and He Zhong Tang is the famous officer in China, He Shen (和珅). Perhaps for English learners, these four characters might not hold any specific meaning, and I suspect even Google Translate wouldn't know what they represent. As for the exact meaning of "和中堂造," I won't elaborate on it here, but let's just understand that it refers to a high-ranking official from the Qing Dynasty, whose name is "和珅" (He Shen).
Now, we need to know who He Shen is to better understand this Bazi. However, explaining his history would take too much time. In simple terms, he was a favourite courtier of Emperor Qianlong during the Qing Dynasty. When Qianlong was in power, He Shen held the official rank of 'Yi Deng Gong' (一等公), which was a higher level than the usual first-rank official. In modern terms, a first-rank official would be equivalent to a top-ranking general or a high-ranking official in the State Council in the current era. The position of 'Yi Deng Gong' was rare and mostly reserved for royalty or nobles who held significant administrative responsibilities. This shows that He Shen achieved a remarkable status. In fact, He Shen could be considered as someone who influenced both the court and the common people. Almost everyone within and outside the imperial court was connected to He Shen. Emperor Qianlong also cherished this subordinate greatly. However, despite being such a formidable figure, He Shen was eventually forced to death by Emperor Jiaqing. The reason was that He Shen was a notorious corrupt official. Throughout history, there have been numerous corrupt officials, and even in modern times, corrupt officials can be found everywhere. But when it comes to the most significant corrupt official, apart from He Shen, no one dares to claim they are more notorious than him. Even in modern times, no corrupt official matches the level of He Shen's notoriety.
So, just how much money did this remarkable corrupt official embezzle? According to historical records, at least 800 million taels of silver, which is equivalent to the value of 3 trillion RMB in today's currency—a staggering amount. Even without converting it to today's currency, embezzling 800 million RMB is already an astronomical sum. In the 1950s-1970s, there was a well-known corrupt official in Hong Kong, a police officer known as 'The 500 Million Inspector,' who embezzled around 500 million HKD. However, even in the 1800s, 250 years ago, someone much more notorious had already appeared. If we compare the currency values, the most notorious modern corrupt official (a director of the public security bureau in China) embezzled only 7.5 billion RMB, which is far from He Shen's 3 trillion RMB. (Remember this part!)
Of course, it's possible that Emperor Jiaqing had an intense hatred for He Shen, and intentionally inflated the figures to make it appear more significant. In any case, the relationship among He Shen, Emperor Qianlong, and Emperor Jiaqing involved some areas that had to be sacrificed, which often leads to political issues that those outside the political circle can hardly comprehend. Therefore, there's no need to label He Shen as an irredeemable villain. Readers should understand He Shen's political and financial influence, and that would be sufficient.
After gaining a basic understanding of He Shen, let's now summarise four key points from Mr Ren's annotations: (Not my view yet, I will explain my view after this)
The first point is about the presence of "三見官星" (san jian guan xing) or "three appearances of the Official Star." This refers to the presence of three Wu Fire branches, which directly restrict the You Metal. Ren Tieqiao emphasises You Metal because the focus of this Bazi analysis is to illustrate how He Shen's wealth was seized. The three Wu Fire branches suppress the You Metal, and since there is no Earth element in this Bazi, the You Metal is left isolated. Ren Tieqiao emphasises this aspect because he considers the You Metal as the root qi of the Day Master. From the perspective of evaluating "strong" or "weak" Day Masters, this Bazi is born in the peer month, indicating a strong Day Master. However, with the You month being attacked by three Wu Fire, it becomes somewhat weak. Moreover, the absence of the Earth Element signifies that the You Metal is under attack without any reinforcements, making the situation dire for the You Metal.
The second point is that Ren Tieqiao states the Ren Water in the Hour Stem is the auspicious god (喜神) that helps the Day Master. Ren Water assists the Day Master by restricting the Wu Fire. Additionally, Ren Water acts as the "Eating God - 食神" for the Geng Metal, making the Day Master very intelligent, relying on this Ren Water to handle their responsibilities effectively.
The third point is that Ren Tieqiao mentions the Wealth Star is combining with the Day Master, indicating that the Day Master is highly fond of wealth. However, because the Wealth Star is also combined with another element in the Bazi, it leads the Day Master to constantly compete with others for wealth, resulting in a lack of understanding of when to advance or retreat, as Ren Tieqiao says, "不知急流勇退" (bù zhī jí liú yǒng tuì).
The fourth point is that the Official Star also represents the emperor. When the decade luck period reaches Geng Yin, the Yin Luck becomes the disaster place for the Wealth Star Metal, as Metal extinct at the Yin Wood, which indicates that the Wealth Star is about to be weakened significantly. At this time, with Yin Wood and Wu Fire combining to form Fire formation, it strengthens the power of the Official Star, completely subduing the Wealth Star which is already in a critical situation. As a result, He Shen's entire fortune of 800 million taels is confiscated because the Official Star, representing the emperor, annihilated the 800 million taels (You Metal).
So, is the above explanation almost perfect? Well, if you think so, then I believe it's essential to seriously find a good teacher and learn from them. Because you see, out of the four points mentioned earlier, Ren Tieqiao got only half of the points right, and the rest, well, he got them all wrong! Where did he go wrong? Let me explain this by attaching my school's bazi chart.
Firstly, Ren said this Bazi chart has no Earth element, and that's completely off the mark. In fact, this Bazi not only has Earth element, but it's also quite strong and prosperous. Explaining where and why this Earth element is strong would take too much time, so I'll leave it for class discussions. If you, as readers, can't figure out the location and strength of the Earth element, then there's no point in trying to discuss whether the Day Master is strong or weak. So, the whole talk about 'strong' or 'weak' Day Masters above is also incorrect. Also, the majority will say this bazi is strong in Metal as it is in the month branch, people will see that the strongest element is the Metal. If anyone said so, this is very wrong. Note that Ren never says anything about this, is the people who read this book misunderstand it.
Secondly, can Ren Water truly help the You Metal? From the perspective of the Five Elements and their interactions, Ren Water, the Yang Water, is like the vast ocean, and can indeed restrain Fire. However, if readers think this way, it only scratches the surface of understanding the Five Elements. In fact, this Ren Water is far from being a vast ocean. It's more like a 500ml bottle of water, after quantification, this Ren water only contains 3 degrees of water in it. On the other hand, Fire has 26 degrees. Now, ask yourself, how can a small amount of water cool down a big degree of fire? It won't cool it down; instead, it'll make the fire blaze even stronger. (when you pour a little water on a big fire, the flames intensify; it's common sense and common knowledge of the Five Elements! If one can't see this clearly, it's easy for outsiders to dismiss Chinese Metaphysics as superstition, got it?) Moreover, a 3-degree "Eating God - Shi Shen" (Output Element) is not very effective; in other words, a 3-degree level of intelligence isn't anything remarkable. This level of intelligence is nothing compared to the historical figure He Shen described in history. (Note: The "unseen" Earth element in this Bazi chart is actually much stronger than the "visible" Ren Water.)
Thirdly, Ren Tieqiao is right about the Day Master combining with Wealth Star, which often leads to a strong desire for wealth. However, the Day Master competing with the Wealth Star doesn't necessarily mean "not knowing when to advance or retreat." Such individuals might inadvertently enter into competitive circles rather than being clueless about their actions.
Fourthly, the Official Star isn't the image (xiang 象) of the emperor. While the emperor can be considered a symbol of power, the Official Star isn't the emperor! If reader can't discern which part of the Bazi represents the emperor, they might fall into the trap of making random associations of Xiang. To understand the emperor in this Bazi, one should look at the Yi Wood position instead of the Official Star! This is crucial, and I'm repeating it for the third time.
Furthermore, the Wealth Star in this Bazi chart is only 4 degrees. As I mentioned earlier, a 3-degree Eating God is almost negligible and doesn't have a significant impact. The same principle applies to a 4-degree Wealth Star; it's also quite ineffective. This implies that a person with only a 4-degree Wealth Star cannot possibly possess 30 trillion RMB (Or just at even 8 million current currency). I'll illustrate this with the Bazi of several modern wealthy entrepreneurs later, so you'll understand.
It is evident from the explanations given by Ren Tieqiao that almost all of them are completely wrong. If you still don't believe it, here's another solid proof. The birth year of this Bazi is 1750, with the Day Master being Geng Wu on the Yi You month. You can check with the Tong Shu (Chinese almanac), and you'll find that there's no Geng Wu day in the Yi You month of 1750. Surprised? What does this mean? Clearly, it means this Bazi doesn't exist at all. It's simply something Ren Tieqiao fabricated out of thin air. Why did Ren Tieqiao do this? It's all about his "purpose." He needed a reasonable existence to support the whole book's theories. Thus, he could only "create" a Bazi to fit his and Liu Bowen's narrative. So, do you understand now? This is why I keep emphasising that books are not for laymen to casually read. When someone lacks deep knowledge in Chinese metaphysics and tries to learn from books, they'll only end up learning the wrong things. In many Chinese martial arts novels, there's a phrase that fits perfectly: "走火入魔, Walk into the devil's trap, meaning losing one's mind" In reality, many so-called masters have made the same mistake. So, ask yourself, can someone who can't even spot basic errors be qualified to be a teacher? Come on! Frankly, it's highly irresponsible for someone with inadequate knowledge to charge fees for teaching. If these so-called teachers were honest about their limitations and simply free sharing their knowledge without claiming to be experts, that would be fine. Unfortunately, the academic world of Chinese metaphysics doesn't always exhibit such attitudes.
Indeed, after understanding all this, you can see why the later "Xu Lewu" version simply removed the four words "和中堂造" (He Zhong Tang Zao). This Bazi simply couldn't exist in the year 1750, and Xu Lewu discovered this fact during the Republic of China era. But why didn't Xu Lewu delete the whole case? After all, it's a fake case, right? The reason remains the same – all these authors have a common "purpose," which is to have a Bazi that supports the theoretical framework of the entire book. They have to keep the Bazi of He Shen in the book. So, let me emphasise once again. Those who continuously use classic books to teach may never truly grasp the subject. The entire theoretical foundation is built upon the wrong framework. That's why the arguments I presented earlier do not match He Shen's Bazi at all. Once you understand the principles correctly, you will easily spot the errors made by others. If you learn the principles incorrectly, you may mistakenly believe that "Di Tian Sui" is an unparalleled masterpiece of Bazi literature. Note that it is also a very common situation in WWG, Plum Blossom, and feng shui.......oh yeah, not to forget the text-based I Ching is also one of them.
In the evolution to modern times, many people noticed the inaccuracies in the book, especially when comparing different versions of the DiTian Sui. Therefore, some dared to boldly change He Shen's Bazi from Geng Wu Day to Geng Zi Day. Why make this change? Because the altered Bazi must still match He Shen's characteristic of being obsessed with wealth. In the Yi You month of the year 1750, there are only three possibilities for the day pillar with "Geng" – Geng Chen, Geng Yin, and Geng Zi. As for why "Geng Zi" was specifically chosen over the other two, that's left for the readers to contemplate. However, I must add that none of the "Geng" days is a true match for He Shen's Bazi. The reasons are lengthy, and I'll explain in class, so I'll omit them here.
One important point to note is that in the historical book "Qing Shi Gao," which records the history of the Qing Dynasty, there is no mention of He Shen's birth year as 1750. The only record mentioning his birth year is found in the biography of He Shen, but it does not specify the exact month and day. Therefore, the accuracy of He Shen's birth month and day is already in question. Furthermore, the biography of He Shen was written during the Jiaqing period, and Emperor Jiaqing held a deep hatred for the corrupt official He Shen. Thus, the authenticity of the contents of the biography remains uncertain as it may written in a biased format. Throughout history, accounts have been intentionally "fabricated," so it's essential to remain critical of historical records.
If it were to be discovered someday that He Shen's actual birth year is not 1750, those who have been touting "Di Tian Sui" as the ultimate authority in Bazi would undoubtedly be left with a lot to explain. Let's see how they going to spin the wheel again in the future.
In summary, the main point to understand is that the entire theoretical framework of these Bazi books is flawed. Throughout history, from ancient times to modern times, people have created false Bazi examples. When these falsehoods were exposed, instead of correcting the knowledge, modern individuals continued to fabricate new Bazi examples to uphold the flawed structure of the books. As a result, the field of Bazi has been riddled with deception. For my students who had attended my WWG classes, I believe they could understand this better as I had demonstrated and explained these kinds of cases in classes.
The major concept to understand here is that the entire framework of Bazi theories presented in these books is flawed. From ancient times to modern days, practitioners have been creating fake Bazi examples to support their flawed theories. When these fake examples are exposed, instead of correcting the knowledge, new fake examples are created to maintain the structure of the entire book. This has led to deception in the field of Bazi studies.
It's crucial to emphasise that Bazi, as a study, is real and not superstition. However, the majority of books and courses available in the market are not based on genuine knowledge. Readers need to be aware of this fact. The examples I have pointed out here are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the absurdities present in Bazi books. For those who study only I Ching Hexagram and Images, you are not standing apart from this either. The same can be said that the Yijing hexagrams and their interpretations are countless misconceptions and errors in that area as well.
In conclusion, the errors in this Bazi example are not due to the fabrication of examples by authors like Ren Tieqiao, Xu Lewu, or modern practitioners, but rather because the entire theoretical framework of "Di Tian Sui" is fundamentally flawed. Readers should focus on understanding this fundamental issue. If readers mistreat the real problem as "fabricating" the bazi, and not the theories as the basic problem, it's better not to read books randomly or follow teachers indiscriminately.
With this part of the iceberg of "Di Tian Sui" errors explained, in the next piece, I will introduce the Bazi of individuals who possess immense wealth and how their wealth stars manifest in their charts.
Lastly, understanding Bazi is no easy task. It involves complex knowledge and analysis, and sometimes, wrong interpretations can lead to misunderstandings. Therefore, it's wise to heed the advice and find a competent teacher to guide your learning. Let's cherish traditional knowledge and respect the expertise of professionals. Di Tian Sui is a high-end advanced Bazi book? No real expert gives a fuck.
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