With Master Joseph Yu’s Annotations

Copyright © Joseph Yu | https://www.astro-fengshui.com/

Wei Qian Li 韋千里 is one of the few masters who specialized in Ba
Zi. I am going to share some of his teachings with annotations.
The three most influential Ba Zi (Four Pillars of Destiny) masters of
the early 20th century were:

• Xu Le Wu 徐樂吾(1886-1949).
• Yuan Shu Shan 袁樹珊(1881-1952).
• Wei Qian Li 韋千里 (1911-1988).

韋千里 舆 袁樹珊 齊名，南袁北韋。The two masters Wei and

Yuan, better known as Southern Yuan and Northern Wei, are the
two major contributors to BaZi studies and research in the 20th
Century.
After studying their works, I agree with the majority opinion that
Wei Qian Li is more systematic and has deeper knowledge.
I would like to share this wonderful teaching with you.
Since Wealth is one of the aspects that people care most about,
I will start with Wealth.

Joseph Yu
 Notes on Poverty 貧窮篇

1. 傷輕財重。
Output is light while
Wealth is heavy. $$$$$
This essentially refers to a lot of wealth branches
without an emerging wealth stem.
$$$
The person will have a strong desire to make money
without the ability because Output is light. The more
he loves money, the less he can make and remains
poor in his life. Besides, when Wealth is timely, Day
Master will be untimely and unable to master the
Wealth.
This is described as Wealth insulting the Body. Here Shang includes
Shi Shen and Shang Guan.

This series is about "poverty". Focus at the logic behind the

formation and not the formation itself.
 Notes on Poverty 貧窮篇

2. 財輕官重。
Wealth is light while
Power is heavy.
$$$$$
When Wealth is light, it is likely to have one Wealth star
on a stem without root in any branch. When Power is
heavy, it may be concentrated in the branches with or
$$$
without emerging to any stem. The little bit of Wealth
will flow towards Power vanishing in no time. The person
will have to give away money to those in power or even
worse when he is drained by lawsuits all the time leaving
him in poverty.
 Notes on Poverty 貧窮篇

3. 傷重，印輕，身弱。
Output is heavy, Resource
light, Body weak. $$$$
If body is weak with light Resource and a lot of Output
causing the Day Master to be exhausted, when Wealth
$$$
appears, it will remove the light Resource making the Day
Master even weaker. A weak body cannot enjoy much
Wealth. The person will remain poor until death due to
the removal of Resource by Wealth. When Power comes
to strengthen the Resource, it is refused by the heavy
Output. The situation is hopeless.
Luck Pillars with strong resource may be helpful as Resource
does two things - to cure the heavy Output sickness and to
strengthen the Day Master. Parallel may not help as they
strengthen Output unless there is present Wealth. What to do?
Acquire knowledge, learn more, and talk less.
 Notes on Poverty 貧窮篇

4. 財重，劫輕，身弱。
Wealth is heavy, Parallel
light, Body weak. $$$$
When the Body is weak with light Parallels, Resource is $$$
most important. If Wealth is heavy, it will remove any
Resource and the Body will be too weak to control
Wealth. In fact, Wealth will be bad for the person. The
light Parallel will not be able to help the person to use
Output to make money. Therefore, he has to remain
poor in order to survive.
知 足者貧亦樂，不知足者富亦憂。If one is content, even
though poor, he is happy. If one's desire knows no bounds, even
though rich, he suffers from a lot of worries. This means if he tries
hard to get rich, his health will deteriorate fast and cannot survive.
He is advised to live happily in poverty. Parallels are stems
including those in branches that are of the same element as the
Day Master. The original term is Bi Jian and Jie Cai 比肩劫財.
 Notes on Poverty 貧窮篇

5. 財輕，喜食傷，而印旺。
Wealth is light, Parallels
welcomed while Resource is $$$$
vibrant.
When Wealth is light, it needs to be created using
$$$
Output. If unfortunately Resource is vibrant, it will
disable any Output in the chart. Wealth will remain
weak and scarce. This person will live in poverty
because he has no ability to make money. He simply
cannot acquire any new skill or knowledge because of
being stubborn.
 Notes on Poverty 貧窮篇

6. 財輕，劫重，食傷不現。
Wealth is light, Parallels
heavy and Output is absent. $$$$
When Wealth is light, Friendly Parallel can help the
person to team up for money-making projects. However,
$$$
it needs Output to make it true. When Output is absent,
partners will take away the money (robbing the person)
instead. He will have to remain poor.

*Note: even Friendly Parallels become Robbers in the absence

of Output.
 Notes on Poverty 貧窮篇

7. 財多喜劫，官星制劫。
Wealth is abundant and
loves Parallels. However, $$$$
Power controls Parallels.
$$$
If Wealth is abundant it will remove support
(Resource). Parallels can keep the Wealth star under
control (and retain support). If Power curbs the action
of Parallels, Wealth only brings litigation or is stripped
by corrupt officers. This is an example of “Abundant
wealth attracts misfortune”.
 Notes on Poverty 貧窮篇

8. 喜印而財星壞印。
Loves Resource but there is
Wealth star to ruin the $$$$
Resource.
$$$
When the Body is not strong and Resource is most
needed, if there is Wealth star to ruin the
Resource, the chart becomes inferior because of
the Wealth star. The result is that the person will
not be able to enjoy Wealth. In fact, Wealth will
cause him loss of support and he has to suffer
living a miserable life.
 Notes on Poverty 貧窮篇

9. 忌印而財星生官。
Resource is annoying and
Wealth qi flows to Power. $$$$
When the Body is overly strong, it needs Output and
Resource will be annoying. Wealth is need to control
$$$
the excessive Resource. Unfortunately there is Power
to transfer the Wealth qi to nourish Resource. The
Wealth star cannot perform its duty in this chart. The
person cannot use his performance to make money
and has to remain poor in his life. This is the problem
with the Wealth star not doing its job.
 Notes on Poverty 貧窮篇

10.喜財而財神被合。
Wealth is favoured but the
Wealth God is busy with a $$$$
combination.
When Wealth is what makes a chart good the better
$$$
will it be if the Wealth God is vibrant and free. If the
Wealth God is busily involved in a combination, then it
cannot perform its duty and the chart will become bad.
The person will be deprived of Wealth.

*Triangular frame formation is not considered a combination

in this context.
Triangular frame formation 三合會局 is a strong partnership
with the same goal. It is not a combination like in a love affair
forgetting everything else. This is commonly misunderstood
in interpretations.
 Notes on Poverty 貧窮篇
11.官殺旺而喜印，財星得局。
Power+Sha is vibrant and loves Resource.
However, Wealth triangular frame is complete.

When there is a vibrant mix of Proper Power and Qi Sha, the

chart will love to have Resource to direct the qi away so that
it does not attack the Body. If there is a triangular frame of
Wealth, then it will hurt the Resource which cannot perform
its duty. The person will be involved in financial problems
leading to lawsuit and even imprisonment. The strong
Wealth frame not only removes support (Resource) but also
suffocates Power bringing out its negative effects.
 Notes on Poverty 貧窮篇
12.財爲忌神。
Wealth is the Annoying God of the chart.
Annoying God is the one that goes against the Useful
God. If the Useful God is Resource, then the Annoying
God is Wealth. The person will lose support arising from
money dispute. This will hurt his well-being. Life will be
miserable because of money. This is particularly true
when the Body is weak, Wealth is strong and abundant,
and there is no Power to bridge between Wealth and
Resource.

*Always examine what kinds of problems the Annoying God

brings. In this case, it is money problems.
 Notes on Poverty 貧窮篇
13.用財而被沖破。
Wealth is the Useful God but it
is broken by a clash.
Under what conditions will Wealth be the Useful God?
Different situations may arise. It will be a good exercise
to study this profound subject. Sometimes a serious
controlling relation is as bad as a clash. I will leave this
as an exercise. This will be much better than just
reading books and memorizing rules. Most students
suffer from indigestion and blind following as a result of
speedy spoon-feeding. I hope you will love Feng Shui
Research Center’s teaching style.
 This article was published in Master Joseph’s Yu
website: https://www.astro-fengshui.com
Check other articles and find valuable knowledge
in the courses and seminars in our Feng Shui
Research Center! Welcome and enjoy!

Joseph Yu B.Sc. 余若愚 was born during the second world war in a small
village in South China. He spent his childhood as a country boy and did not
receive any formal education until he came to Hong Kong at the age of eleven.
A lot of people suggest to him that he should create a story of learning
Astrology and Feng Shui in early childhood from a monk as do many a famous
Feng Shui Master. He prefers to tell the truth.
Yu studied Mathematics and Physics in the University of Hong Kong in the early
1960's. He abhorred all kinds of superstition and vowed to destroy such absurd beliefs
of ignorant people. He then frequented libraries, trying to find fault with Astrology
and Feng Shui from ancient books. The deeper he went into the subject, the more
excited he became about the rich legacy of ancient Chinese culture.

Whether or not to become a professional astrologer and geomancer or continue in

the fields of mathematics and physics, became a constant dilemma. Astrology and
Feng Shui have been viewed as superstition by their skeptics. Astrologers and Feng
Shui masters have been linked with fraud for centuries.

Someone wrote in his book, "If more knowledgeable men provide true Astrology and
Feng Shui services, the ignorant and fake 'professionals' will vanish." Sharing the same
view, Yu decided to provide useful services and correspondence courses at an
affordable price.
While Joseph Yu was a mathematics teacher after his graduation, he was lucky to
have as his neighbor one old Feng Shui master. This old master was very kind to
disclose a lot of secrets of the five arts to him even though he was not one of the
old master's apprentices.
In one Chinese New Year party at the old master's home, the master said to his
disciples, "This young man, though not officially under my care, has learned more
than most of you because he has a logical mind and dares to argue with me on
various issues."
The old master passed away a few months later. Joseph Yu did not feel comfortable
in the company of the disciples of this good master. He is grateful, but
circumstances make it impossible to express his gratitude towards the master who
passed on to him a lot of invaluable knowledge.