BaZi Strength Terms: Strong or Weak, Favorable Elements, Climate and Life Stages
The terms for deciding what a chart needs all live here: first judge the Day Master’s strength, then set the favorable and unfavorable elements, with climate adjustment, illness and remedy, and bridging as further methods.
Index of this group
- Strong or weak
- Being in season
- Rooting
- Revealing
- Favorable elements
- Unfavorable element
- Climate adjustment
- Illness and remedy
- Bridging element
- Qiong Tong Bao Jian
- Twelve life stages
- Yang forward, yin backward
- The Day Master's own seat
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13 terms
- Strong or weak 身強身弱
- Strong or weak asks which side of a chart weighs more: what supports the Day Master, or what drains it. Support ahead is strong, drain ahead is weak, near-even is balanced. It is not good or bad, but the first step to the favorable element. More on Strong or weak →
- Being in season 得令
- Being in season (de ling) means the Day Master is born in a month whose main energy is its own element or the element that feeds it, that is, Peers or Resource. It is one of the three main signs of a strong Day Master. More on Being in season →
- Rooting 通根
- Rooting (tong gen) means a Heavenly Stem finds its own element among the hidden stems of the branches, as Jia Wood does in Yin, Mao or Hai. A rooted stem stands firm; a rootless one floats and shifts easily. More on Rooting →
- Revealing 透干
- Revealing (tou gan) means one of the stems hidden inside a branch also appears, as the very same stem, among the year, month or hour stems (for example, Yin hides Bing, and Bing also shows on a stem). Another stem of the same element (Ding instead of Bing) does not count. A revealed hidden stem acts openly and can be put to use; one that stays hidden works more quietly. More on Revealing →
- Favorable elements 喜用神
- In BaZi, the favorable elements are what a chart needs most to regain balance. The primary favorable element (yong shen) leads and the joyful god feeds it; the elements working against them are unfavorable. More on Favorable elements →
- Unfavorable element 忌神
- The unfavorable element (ji shen) works against the Day Master and deepens the chart’s imbalance: more support for a strong Day Master, more drain for a weak one. In a luck pillar or year that brings it, steady beats bold. More on Unfavorable element →
- Climate adjustment 調候用神
- Climate adjustment (tiao hou) picks a primary favorable element from the birth season and how cold, hot, damp or dry a BaZi chart runs: winter charts want Fire for warmth, summer charts want Water to cool them. More on Climate adjustment →
- Illness and remedy 病藥用神
- In BaZi, illness and remedy (bing yao) applies when one Ten God group grows so dominant that it unbalances the chart: that excess is the illness, and the element that controls or drains it becomes the primary favorable element, the remedy. More on Illness and remedy →
- Bridging element 通關用神
- In BaZi, the bridging element (tong guan) is used when two evenly matched elements attack each other: the element between them, fed by one and feeding the other, turns the clash into a chain of production. More on Bridging element →
- Qiong Tong Bao Jian 《窮通寶鑑》
- The Qiong Tong Bao Jian (窮通寶鑑, also called Lan Jiang Wang) is a Qing-era BaZi classic that lists the climate favorable element for each of the ten Day Masters in each of the twelve months. More on Qiong Tong Bao Jian →
- Twelve life stages 十二長生
- The twelve life stages (chang sheng) describe a stem's qi across the twelve branches as a life cycle: Birth, Bath, Cap and Belt, Taking Office, Peak, Decline, Sickness, Death, Tomb, Extinction, Conception and Nurture. More on Twelve life stages →
- Yang forward, yin backward 陽順陰逆
- Yang forward, yin backward is the mainstream way to count the life stages: yang stems move forward from their Birth branch and yin stems move backward. A rival school, "yin and yang share Birth," gives each yin stem its yang partner's cycle. More on Yang forward, yin backward →
- The Day Master's own seat 日主自坐
- The Day Master's own seat (zi zuo) is the life stage the day stem reaches on its own day branch, such as Jia-Yin in Taking Office or Jia-Wu in Death. The day branch is also the spouse palace. More on The Day Master's own seat →
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About this glossary
Every definition is taken from the one-line definition on the matching page of this site, so when a page is updated, the glossary follows; only terms without their own page are written here. Usage varies a little between schools; this site follows the Zi Ping BaZi usage common in Taiwan. Everything here is for reference and entertainment only.
Find these terms on your own chart
A free chart lists your Four Pillars, Ten Gods, hidden stems and Five Elements; the in-depth reading then turns them into twelve areas of life.
BaZi strength & favorable elements terms FAQ
What does “Strong or weak” mean in BaZi?
Strong or weak asks which side of a chart weighs more: what supports the Day Master, or what drains it. Support ahead is strong, drain ahead is weak, near-even is balanced. It is not good or bad, but the first step to the favorable element.
What does “Being in season” mean in BaZi?
Being in season (de ling) means the Day Master is born in a month whose main energy is its own element or the element that feeds it, that is, Peers or Resource. It is one of the three main signs of a strong Day Master.
What does “Rooting” mean in BaZi?
Rooting (tong gen) means a Heavenly Stem finds its own element among the hidden stems of the branches, as Jia Wood does in Yin, Mao or Hai. A rooted stem stands firm; a rootless one floats and shifts easily.
What does “Revealing” mean in BaZi?
Revealing (tou gan) means one of the stems hidden inside a branch also appears, as the very same stem, among the year, month or hour stems (for example, Yin hides Bing, and Bing also shows on a stem). Another stem of the same element (Ding instead of Bing) does not count. A revealed hidden stem acts openly and can be put to use; one that stays hidden works more quietly.