Life Cycle-Hidden Stems - Season Cycle

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Ba Zi/Life Cycle

12-Stage Life Cycle Of The Self Element[edit | edit source]


The Self Element is the Heavenly Stem of the Day Pillar. The Self Element is combined with the
Earthly Branch of each of the Pillars (Year, Month, Day, Hour), and the intersection of these gives
the Life Stage as depicted in the chart below:

Status/
H10 H8 H6 H4 H2 H9 H7 H5 H3 H1 12 Life Stages
Strength

E4 E1 E10 E10 E7 E9 E6 E3 E3 E12 Birth Strong

E3 E12 E9 E9 E6 E10 E7 E4 E4 E1 Bath Weak

E2 E11 E8 E8 E5 E11 E8 E5 E5 E2 Attire Weak

E1 E10 E7 E7 E4 E12 E9 E6 E6 E3 Coming-of-Age Strong

E12 E9 E6 E6 E3 E1 E10 E7 E7 E4 Prosperity Peak Strong

E11 E8 E5 E5 E2 E2 E11 E8 E8 E5 Ageing Average

E10 E7 E4 E4 E1 E3 E12 E9 E9 E6 Sickness Weak

E9 E6 E3 E3 E12 E4 E1 E10 E10 E7 Death Weak

E8 E5 E2 E2 E11 E5 E2 E11 E11 E8 Grave Average

E7 E4 E10 E10 E10 E6 E3 E12 E12 E9 Repose Weak

E6 E3 E12 E12 E9 E7 E4 E1 E1 E10 Conception Weak

E5 E2 E11 E11 E8 E8 E5 E2 E2 E11 Nurture Weak

For example, if the Month Pillar is H3~E4, then the Self Element is H3. If the Year Pillar is
H10~E1, then the Life Stage for the Year Pillar is H3~E1, and from the above table, it is depicted
as "Conception" which is bestowed with a "Weak" status. This process of obtaining the Life Stage
is then repeated for each of the four pillars.
Hidden Stems in Earthly Branches[edit | edit source]
Each Earthly Branch in the four Pillars will have one or more Hidden Heavenly Stems.

Earthl
y Hidden
Branch Heavenly
in any Stems
Pillar

E3 H5, H1, H3

E4 H2

E5 H10, H5, H2

E6 H7, H3, H5

E7 H4, H6

E8 H4, H6, H2

E9 H5, H7, H9

E10 H8

E11 H4, H5, H8

E12 H9, H1

E1 H10

E2 H8, H6, H10

For example, if the Earthly Branch of the Month Pillar is E11, then the Hidden Heavenly Stems
are H4, H5 and H8 for the Month Pillar. If the Earthly Branch of the Day Pillar is E10, then the
Hidden Heavenly Stem is H8 for the Day Pillar.
Seasonal Cycle of the Five Elements[edit | edit source]
Season Prosper Born Die Imprison Retreat

Spring Wood Fire Earth Metal Water

Summer Fire Earth Metal Water Wood

Autumn Metal Water Wood Fire Earth

Winter Water Wood Fire Earth Metal

All
Earth Metal Water Wood Fire
Seasons

The Season of Birth has the greatest impact on the Ba Zi. For example, if a person is born in
Spring, then Wood prospers, Fire is born, Earth dies, Metal is imprisoned, and Water retreats. The
term "All Seasons" refer to the last month (the third month) of every Season, when Earth prospers,
as Earth is the transition element between any two Seasons. For example, when Metal (Autumn)
changes to Water (Winter) the transition element is Earth.
Hsia Calendar
The Hsia Calendar (夏历) is also known as the Ten Thousand Year Calendar (万年历). Unlike the Chinese Lunar
Calendar, the Hsia Calendar is a Chinese solar sexagenary calendar system, based on a cycle of 60-years.

Purpose
For a given date and time of birth, the Hsia Calendar is used to obtain the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches with
which to construct the Four Pillars of Destiny (四柱) of a person. The Four Pillars of Destiny are also known as
the Ba Zi (八字), literally the Eight Characters of a person's birth. In ancient China, one use of this form of divination
was to select a suitable marriage partner.
The Four Pillars of Destiny are the Year Pillar, the Month Pillar, the Day Pillar and the Hour Pillar. Each Pillar is
made up of two components, namely the Heavenly Stem and the Earthly Branch, both of which are read from the Hsia
Calendar.

Seasons[edit | edit source]
There are twelve Seasons (SS) used in the Hsia Calendar. These are based on the relative position of the sun.

Numeral Season Notation

1 Early Spring SS1

2 Mid Spring SS2

3 Late Spring SS3

4 Early Summer SS4

5 Mid Summer SS5

6 Late Summer SS6

7 Early Autumn SS7

8 Mid Autumn SS8

9 Late Autumn SS9

10 Early Winter SS10

11 Mid Winter SS11

12 Late Winter SS12


Numeral Season Notation

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