Clarify Bazi reading & name tweak

[Elros]

Hi Sifu,

Firstly, Happy CNY! I am excited and happy to be part of this community. Just went through my full Bazi report and thought it was very comprehensive. Thank you for doing this for us.

To follow-up, I have three questions I'd like to clarify. For your reference, my birthday is Feb 10 1987 10:51pm.

1) Favorable elements. My report tells me that they are Earth and Metal, which makes sense since I'm weak Metal. However, there are some that say since my Metal is extremely weak, my favorable elements are actually Wood and Water. Why is that, and how should I resolve this?

2) Career. My report says that this decade I'll have more Earth but I'm not sure if it's enough for me to focus on Wood and Fire careers (Wealth/Power). I'm currently working as management in software (Fire?) and was a strategy consultant (Wood?) but thinking of working for a real-estate software company (Earth/Fire?) and becoming a part-time loan signing agent (Metal?). What do you think?

3) Name tweak. Currently my chinese name is 林文汉 (Wood Water Water) but I'm thinking of tweaking it to 林珳汉 (Wood Metal Water). That way I'll add some Metal/Earth without having to change my name's pronunciation. Would you recommend against doing this?

Thanks again for all the time that you put into what you do, and I hope to hear from you soon.

Edited February 2, 2019 by Elros
Minor edits

[Robert Lee]

Hi Elros,

Happy Chinese New Year to you too! Glad that you found the report comprehensive. Please see my replies below:-

5 hours ago, Elros said:

1) Favorable elements. My report tells me that they are Earth and Metal, which makes sense since I'm weak Metal. However, there are some that say since my Metal is extremely weak, my favorable elements are actually Wood and Water. Why is that, and how should I resolve this?

 

 

1. Honestly, I have no idea how other people analyse your bazi, but I can tell you that depending on the how comprehensive and detailed the analysis was done to determine your five element percentage. If they do not consider all the factors such as even combinations between some elements that result in changes of elements, the clashes/harms that occur. Often than not, they can get your element strength incorrectly and also the breakdown of the percentage incorrectly, resulting in different interpretations.

 

2. Based on your current ba zi chart from our analysis, your percentage breakdown is as follows:-

Element

Strength

Percentage

1 Water

Weak

5.7 %

8 Wood

Strongest

75.5 %

2 Fire

Strong

15.1 %

0 Earth

Extremely Weak

0 %

1 Metal

Weakest

3.8 %

 

3. As a weak Metal person, the elements:-

3.1 That would make you a Strong Metal would be Earth (0%) + Metal (3.8%) = Total 3.8%

3.2. That would make you a Weak Metal would be Wood (75.5%) + Fire (15.1%) = Total 90.6%

3.3. Water 5.7% element helps to strengthen the elements that make you weak, while exhausting away the Metal that makes you strong. Hence, this cancel itself out in the balancing equation. Hence, we don't consider it as part of the initial balancing equation when determining your initial element strength.

 

4. Since total elements making you weak is 90.6% > than the total elements making you strong is 3.8%. Hence, you are a weak Metal person. As there is no way your 3.8% elements can overcome the overwhelming 90.6% elements that make you weak. As the ratio is like 1:30, too unbalanced.

 

5. Hence, as a weak Metal:-

5.1. Your favourable elements would then be Earth (0%) the element you lack most followed by Metal (3.8%).

5.2. While Unfavourable elements would be Wood (75.5%) and Fire (15.1%).  Where Wood should be avoided as all cost as there is way too much, way beyond the ideal 20% range. Fire element while it is your unfavourable element, it is still below 20%, so you can still add some Fire when you have added sufficient Earth and Metal element first. This is because the goal is to bring each element percentage to 20%. However, you cannot add Fire without first adding Earth+Metal, as Fire while it will exhaust the Wood, it will also destroy your Metal. Hence, unless you boost your Earth+Metal first, adding Fire on it's own will only melt your already weak Metal, as the Fire will be further boosted by the 75.5% Wood. 

5.3. As a weak Metal, Water by default will also exhaust your Metal and make Wood Stronger even though it will help to control some Fire. However, the production effect will already make your Wood much stronger and in turn the Wood will continue to make the Fire strong which negates the impact of the Water destroying your Fire element.

 

6. So in order to balance your five element, you have to add in this order:-

6.1. Add Elements you lack the most which is Earth, why? Earth will exhaust the Fire that weaken you while converting it into helping you produce Metal. Then it will in turn help you to produce more Metal, making you a Strong Metal. And finally, it will destroy the Water which will eventually weaken you. So in this case, Fire and Water percentage will be subsequently weaken while Earth and Metal element percentage will increase.

6.2. Add the next Element you lack which is Metal, why? Metal will exhaust the the Earth while helping to strengthen the Metal. This will in turn help you to be strong enough to destroy the Wood element that you have too much off. Metal will also help to make the Water stronger and control some of your excessive Metal,  which in turn help to destroy the Fire that is also weakening you. So in this case, Fire and Wood percentage will subsequently weaken, while Wood and Water will increase. Although water is still your unfavourable but at 5.7%, there is still room to have a bit more as the percentage is still below the ideal 20%. But you cannot add Water by itself without Earth or Metal first. This is the same as you cannot add more Fire by itself without Earth and Metal first.

6.3. Wood element you should completely avoid, as you have way too much. Generally, >50% is already very bad, but at 70%, that's way too much. Hence, adding the Earth+Metal will reduce this.

6.4. Fire element while it is your unfavourable element, but as you only have 15.1%, it's still below 20%, so adding some Fire will still help exhaust the Fire element and convert the energy into producing Earth, while also helping to keep Metal in check. As the goal is to have 20%, you also don't want your Earth and Water element too be too much, as that will again bring everything out of balance. So in this case, by adding Fire, the Wood percentage will reduce, but the Earth percentage will increase. 

Eventually, your five element percentage will start to be closer to the 20% range for each five elements.

 

7. So back to the question, why would some people recommend Wood and Water as your favourable elements. This would be incorrect, because Wood will make your Wood percentage too strong, while water while it help to destroy the Fire element, but it would also make your Wood too strong. So I think they either didn't get your five element percentage breakdown correctly. I think it could be more likely because they didn't consider some of the combinations of elements which results in changes in your initial element.

7.1 Because if you look at your initial ba zi chart. If I take the raw elements. You would probably have:-

• 3 Water (But 2 of these water got converted to Wood, resulting in 1 Water)
• 4 Wood (But got 4 additional one, resulting in 8 Wood) - This addition of 4+4 = 8 is why your Wood element percentage is so high.
• 3 Fire (But 1 of these Fire got converted to Wood, resulting in 2 Fire)
• 1 Earth (But 1 of this Earth got converted to Wood, resulting in 0 Earth)
• 1 Metal  (No conversion, so 1 Metal)

7.2. I think because these weren't considered, so the five element percentage calculated from the initial element would be very different. Hence, probably why the recommended elements were different.

 

8. However, as you can see from the above explanation, we used a series of mathematical percentage, a clear understanding of Elements (Productive, Destructive, and Exhaustive cycle), and priority of most favourable elements to least unfavourable elements in order to balance the element. This would give you much clearer and understanding of why our recommended elements are in this order. This is fundamental of how our site applies various different concept by prioritizing which needs to be assess first and so forth.

 

5 hours ago, Elros said:

2) Career. My report says that this decade I'll have more Earth but I'm not sure if it's enough for me to focus on Wood and Fire careers (Wealth/Power). I'm currently working as management in software (Fire?) and was a strategy consultant (Wood?) but thinking of working for a real-estate software company (Earth/Fire?) and becoming a part-time loan signing agent (Metal?). What do you think?

 

 

9. Based on your Balance of Five Elements for Age 32 - 41 (2019 - 2028)

1 Water 8 Wood 3 Fire 3 Earth 2 Metal 4.8 % 64.5 % 19.4 % 4.8 % 6.5 %

9.1. While Earth (4.8%) and Metal (6.5%) percentage is now 11.5%, it is still against an overwhelming Wood+Fire at 83.9%. But of course, it is a bit better as the percentage is reduced from 90.6%.

9.2. Don't forget that each year, your percentage will still change a bit. But even with the additional yearly influence, it is unlikely that there will be enough Earth and Metal as the percentage is just too much with a nearly 1:8 ratio of Favourable vs Unfavourable odds. But better than the initial 1:30 ratio. So I think to consider Wealth/Power element career is unlikely to be a good idea for a chart that is as unbalanced as yours.

 

10. As for type of elements in career etc:-

10.1. management in software (Fire?) - Programming and Project Management is generally more Wood element job scope, which Wood element is not the most favourable elements for you without Earth+Metal. Software is in IT technology which is Metal+Water element job industry. Metal element portion is good for you, but water element is not so good without Earth+Metal. Since there is some Metal element so the job industry is still considered suitable.

10.2. strategy consultant (Wood?) - Consultant is Wood element, which again is not the most favourable type of job scope without Earth+Metal.

10.3. Real-estate software company (Earth/Fire?) - Real Estate is property which is Earth element. Software company is more IT technology Metal+Water element. Since there is Metal, so the Water element while not your most favourable will still be okay.

104. a part-time loan signing agent (Metal?).  - Loan should the Finance related so it is Metal element. Metal is one of your favourable element so it is suitable.

 

5 hours ago, Elros said:

3) Name tweak. Currently my chinese name is 林文汉 (Wood Water Water) but I'm thinking of tweaking it to 林珳汉 (Wood Metal Water). That way I'll add some Metal/Earth without having to change my name's pronunciation. Would you recommend against doing this?

 

 

11. Chinese Name Analysis requires a fair bit of analysis to really be able to comment properly. As there is more than just the elements based on the character shape. The Name stroke group that your entire name falls under would also need to be considered. But yes picking a good name does help improve your five element percentage especially if done from birth. As the name is with you when you are born. Everything your name is called, you benefit from the name luck. But it only covers a small percentage of the overall luck.

 

12. A person's luck is influenced by 3 forms of luck, of which each luck comprise of about 33.3% of your overall luck.:-

• Heaven Luck - Luck you are born with and supposed to have (based on your Ba Zi etc)
• Earth Luck - Luck from your home and surrounding (Feng Shui of your Home/Office etc)
• Human Luck - Luck from your relationship with others and own hard work.

 

13. So Chinese Name forms part of your Heaven Luck, which accounts for about 5-10% of your 33.3% of your Heaven Luck. So in reality, it will only forms about 1.6-3.3% of your overall Heaven+Earth+Human Luck. So while it is important, it usually only beneficial when done from birth. As the time you are likely to use the Chinese Name is when you are still in School, as your family and friends would be calling your name every day while you are in school. Once you are working, most of the time, because of the use of your Western name, it's likely that your full Chinese Name may not be even used. So even if you do change it, but no one knows or call it, it won't be effective. Hence, I normally won't recommend making any name changes once you are an adult. Unless of course, your career depends on it such as as an Actor/Actress who is known by their Name.

 

14. So yes, while changing a name will certainly help improve it if your name is important for your work. Otherwise, you will find it more worth it to focus on improving your Earth Luck (ie your Home or Office Feng Shui) which influences 33.3% vs <3.3% (Changing Name).

 

15. Anyway, back to your question. Based on my experience, if you plan to only change just the character to retain the same pinyin, the odds that the name change will result in a better Name Stroke Goup etc will be quite slim. Often than not, unless you are not restricted ie can change the entire name, it would give a better change of getting a better name stroke group. Most name depending on surname have the highest name stroke group at about 80-96%. Most name stroke group usually will fall between 40-60%, so odds of an matching an existing name  that will be better than the existing one is very slim if there is further restriction on the characters strokes etc. Chances are it may improve only by a bit of the combinations of the characters are good.

 

16. But you got the correct idea that if you can change a character that sounds the same with one that have a better element, that may help. How much really depends. Without working out the details it's quite different to tell you for sure. But again, like I mentioned. I doubt you will really see much of a different since the impact on your overall luck is going to be very small especially once you have reach adulthood. 

 

 

 

 

[Elros]

Hi Sifu Robert,

Thank you so much for taking the time and effort to reply so quickly! I was very pleasantly surprised especially because today is Sunday. 

I reread your response several times as it was so comprehensive. Tried to think of follow-up questions but really couldn't because you've covered everything in detail. Additionally, it's helped me understand my elements much better. 

Thanks to you, I'm feeling more confident and able to prepare for this coming period. Will read up more of your materials and hopefully contribute in the future also. Have a great weekend and a prosperous year ahead!

Best Wishes, Adrian

[Elros]

Hi Sifu Robert,

Thank you again for your really detailed explanation previously. Since learning more about Bazi, I've come across the terms "trend following formation (从势格)" and "abandoned life follower (弃命相从格)". I'm curious if you practice this, and if so, how does this potentially apply or not apply to my chart (e.g., since I have 0 earth, and minimal metal in my natal chart)? 

Best Wishes, Adrian

[Robert Lee]

Hi Adrian,

1. Actually, those concepts you mentioned are nothing but the results of certain charts conditions based on a certain five element percentage present.

1.1 The key to this understanding is: the fundamental goal of trying to achieve 20% of each five element ( 20% x 5 = 100%).

1.2. As my  initial post already covers this in detail: where the fundamental of applying favourable elements you lack most that are <20%, followed by unfavourable elements that you lack most <20%, while avoiding adding more of elements you have >20%.

2. In addition, my initial post of deriving what you need actually is the most personalised to your individual chart based on your individual five element percentage.

2.1 That is because each chart is unique with different five element percentage, hence even two weak metal charts may need different order of elements to balance it depending on which percentage it lacks most.

3. Thus one should be focusing on what that individual really needs rather than based on these type of chart conditions. Which is ultimately what that type of chart condition is suppose to try to do when a chart is similar to that. However, you must remember that condition is for a particular chart with that kind of percentage and condition. 

4. Only those who don't really understand the fundamental of how such type of chart types will need to base their analysis on such theoretical examples.

4.1 Often than not, they don't cover all types of charts since each person's ba zi chart is different and unique.

4.2  That type of concept is unique to a only covers certain portion of the condition that results in that type of chart only.

4.3 Hence, one may not be actually fixing the entire problem.

5. Sad to say a lot of people just blindly learn the concepts without truly understanding the fundamental reasoning behind it.

Warmest Regards
Robert Lee

 

[Elros]

Hi Sifu Robert,

Thanks again for taking the time to write a comprehensive response to my question. It makes sense to me, and a good example of where a little bit of knowledge can be dangerous when we don't understand the full picture.

On 3/18/2019 at 9:05 PM, Robert Lee said:

4.2  That type of concept is unique to a only covers certain portion of the condition that results in that type of chart only.

My situation may provide one such scenario. It seems that for "Follow-Wealth" charts, since the Day-Master is overly feeble, the recommendation is to overwhelm it with more Wealth elements (in my case, Wood). While this may help me end up with lots of potential wealth, it may cause a lot of imbalances in other parts of my life (spirituality, decision-making, etc.). Even if I could obtain the wealth, I may not necessarily be able to enjoy it since my Self is so weak. Would that be the right understanding?

I have another follow-up from my previous ask about future jobs/careers. Since my decade pillar changed, I've been feeling increasingly demotivated at my current job, and wanting to switch. I'm curious if you can tell from my chart what would be the next best course of action given my luck pillars. Would appreciate any words of advice from you.

• Remain at current company, start a side-hustle
• Join another large stable company, start a side-hustle
• Join as an early employee in a startup with high potential (likely no side-hustle since it'll be busy)
• Don't work for a company, start my own business or free-lancing work

Best, Adrian

[Robert Lee]

Hi Adrian,

19 hours ago, Elros said:

My situation may provide one such scenario. It seems that for "Follow-Wealth" charts, since the Day-Master is overly feeble, the recommendation is to overwhelm it with more Wealth elements (in my case, Wood). While this may help me end up with lots of potential wealth, it may cause a lot of imbalances in other parts of my life (spirituality, decision-making, etc.). Even if I could obtain the wealth, I may not necessarily be able to enjoy it since my Self is so weak. Would that be the right understanding?

1. Yes, that's correct.

2. That's why I kept saying that those type of chart is only focus on a portion of what you need to do. Without first strengthening your favourable weak element that you lack <20%, you won't be able to control your wealth. 

 

19 hours ago, Elros said:

I have another follow-up from my previous ask about future jobs/careers. Since my decade pillar changed, I've been feeling increasingly demotivated at my current job, and wanting to switch. I'm curious if you can tell from my chart what would be the next best course of action given my luck pillars. Would appreciate any words of advice from you.

• Remain at current company, start a side-hustle
• Join another large stable company, start a side-hustle
• Join as an early employee in a startup with high potential (likely no side-hustle since it'll be busy)
• Don't work for a company, start my own business or free-lancing work

Best, Adrian

3.1. Your earlier 10-yearly big luck (2009-2018) and 5-yearly medium luck (2014-2018) is not with you. Hence, you only had the yearly small luck from 2016-2018

3.2. Your current 10-yearly big luck (2019-2028) have big luck changing in your favour. Even your 5-yearly medium luck (2019-2023) and next 5-yearly medium luck (2024-2028) are in your favour. However, you would lose your yearly small luck, except  until 2028-2030 when yearly small luck swings back in your favour. 

3.3. Overall, that means you still gain more luck from big and medium luck influence. This upcoming luck period should generally have more luck on your side, so things are more likely to go in your favour no matter what you do.

4. In your case, you currently have big luck with you for next 3 decade. However, you will either only have 5-yearly with you or yearly small luck with you but not both. So there is no period which you can enjoy all 3 big/medium/small luck for maximum luck boost. But it would still definitely be better than your earlier luck period where big luck was generally not in your favour. So generally, you should have better luck overall, just not the very best possible.

5. Since more luck is generally on your side than in the earlier period, things should go well no matter which career option you go for. Usually, when luck is on your side, that is usually the better time to go all out in your career as that's likely when things will go well for you. Just watch out for some bad years or years that have clashes which would indicate more challenges in those years.

5.1. So generally this would be a good time for option 2 and 3, ie join another company with good potential, as to whether you want to do side line job, that depends on how much spare time you can spare and the opportunity cost of doing so. If the side-line doesn't impact your existing job, then I don't see why not so as to earn extra income.

6.1. As for option 4 of starting a business, well I can say that only a handful of people have a businessman type of chart. So for most people, they will find better prospects by working for others vs starting their own business. However, if you can find the right partners to complement your chart, possibly you can consider this. 

6.2. This option 4 is not going to be easiest since your chart is more of a work for others type of chart and that your big luck isn't the very best. That's why you can't find a luck period with all three big/medium/luck with you despite being in a big luck. Which is also one factor that is needed for a successful businessman type of chart.

 

Warmest Regards
Robert Lee

 

[Elros]

Hi Sifu Robert,

Thank you again for yet another comprehensive response! This was very helpful and timely for me as I make my decision in the next few weeks. Especially knowing that my chart is less suited for being an entrepreneur. No worries - it doesn't demotivate me at all, and in fact makes my decision clearer/easier.

Is it correct to assume that the same advice applies to how I manage my wealth/savings? It's probably better for me to keep my savings in FDs, blue-chips and property, since I don't have extreme good luck. And in years like 2021, maybe speculate a little bit. Also, can I apply favorable elements to the type of companies I buy? E.g., I should invest in Banking (Metal) and REITs (Earth) since they are favorable for me. Not sure if Bazi was meant to be used this way.

Best, Adrian

PS: I really like the latest version of the premium report, it's even more comprehensive and useful now. Keep up the great work!