Ren Water in All Twelve Months: Climate Favorable Elements from the Qiong Tong Bao Jian
The same Ren Water Day Master born in deep winter and in high summer needs completely different things. The Qiong Tong Bao Jian, a Qing-era classic on climate adjustment, goes through all twelve months for Ren Water one by one. This page puts them in a single table, then checks how close they come to the favorable elements our engine works out from the whole chart.
Climate favorable elements for each month
| Month | Climate | Climate favorable elements (first choice in bold, Ten God in brackets) | At least one among our favorable elements |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yin month (early spring, ~Feb 4 – Mar 5) | lingering cold | Geng Metal (Indirect Resource), Bing Fire (Indirect Wealth), Wu Earth (Seven Killings) | 100% |
| Mao month (mid-spring, ~Mar 6 – Apr 4) | Wood at its peak | Wu Earth (Seven Killings), Xin Metal (Direct Resource), Geng Metal (Indirect Resource) | 95% |
| Chen month (late spring, ~Apr 5 – May 5) | damp Earth in command | Jia Wood (Eating God), Geng Metal (Indirect Resource) | 100% |
| Si month (early summer, ~May 6 – Jun 5) | Fire rising | Ren Water (Friend), Xin Metal (Direct Resource), Geng Metal (Indirect Resource), Gui Water (Rob Wealth) | 83.2% |
| Wu month (midsummer, ~Jun 6 – Jul 6) | scorching heat | Gui Water (Rob Wealth), Geng Metal (Indirect Resource), Xin Metal (Direct Resource) | 89.8% |
| Wei month (late summer, ~Jul 7 – Aug 7) | dry Earth in command | Xin Metal (Direct Resource), Jia Wood (Eating God) | 100% |
| Shen month (early autumn, ~Aug 8 – Sep 7) | Metal emerging | Wu Earth (Seven Killings), Ding Fire (Direct Wealth) | 70.2% |
| You month (mid-autumn, ~Sep 8 – Oct 7) | Metal at its peak | Jia Wood (Eating God), Geng Metal (Indirect Resource) | 100% |
| Xu month (late autumn, ~Oct 8 – Nov 6) | dry Earth in command | Jia Wood (Eating God), Bing Fire (Indirect Wealth) | 35.3% |
| Hai month (early winter, ~Nov 7 – Dec 6) | cold setting in | Wu Earth (Seven Killings), Bing Fire (Indirect Wealth), Geng Metal (Indirect Resource) | 100% |
| Zi month (midwinter, ~Dec 7 – Jan 5) | bitter cold | Wu Earth (Seven Killings), Bing Fire (Indirect Wealth) | 71.1% |
| Chou month (late winter, ~Jan 6 – Feb 3) | frozen, damp Earth | Bing Fire (Indirect Wealth), Ding Fire (Direct Wealth), Jia Wood (Eating God) | 63.2% |
Climate favorable elements follow the commonly circulated table of the Qiong Tong Bao Jian, listed roughly in order of priority. The original text often chooses differently depending on the rest of the chart; the table gathers all those cases into one list. Across the twelve months, the most frequent first choice is Wu Earth (4 months). Month dates are approximate and shift by a day or two each year with the solar terms.
What the original text says
| Month | Original text (Chinese) | In plain words |
|---|---|---|
| Yin month (early spring, ~Feb 4 – Mar 5) | 「正月壬水，汪洋之象，能並百川之流，然水性柔弱，宜用庚金之源」 | The Water is vast but soft in early spring: Geng Metal as its source, with Bing Fire and Wu Earth in support. |
| Mao month (mid-spring, ~Mar 6 – Apr 4) | 「二月壬水，先戊後辛，庚金次之。」 | No Bing Fire for warmth in mid-spring: Wu Earth first, then Xin Metal, with Geng Metal next. |
| Chen month (late spring, ~Apr 5 – May 5) | 「三月壬水，戊土司權……先用甲疏季土，次取庚金。」 | Wu Earth is in power in late spring: Jia Wood first to loosen it, then Geng Metal to produce Water. |
| Si month (early summer, ~May 6 – Jun 5) | 「四月壬水，丙火司權，水弱極矣，專取壬水比肩為助，次取辛金發源」 | Bing Fire rules in early summer and Water is weakest: Ren Water peers first for support, then Xin Metal as the source. |
| Wu month (midsummer, ~Jun 6 – Jul 6) | 「五月壬水，丁旺壬弱，取癸為用，取庚為佐。無庚不能發水，無癸不能傷丁。」 | Ding is strong and Ren weak in midsummer: Gui Water is used, with Geng Metal in support. |
| Wei month (late summer, ~Jul 7 – Aug 7) | 「六月壬水，先辛後甲，次取癸水。」 | Ji Earth rules in late summer: Xin Metal first to produce Water, then Jia Wood to loosen Earth, with Gui Water next. |
| Shen month (early autumn, ~Aug 8 – Sep 7) | 「七月壬水，庚金司令，壬得申之長生，源流自遠，轉弱為強，專用戊土，次取丁火佐戊制庚。」 | Ren Water gains its source and turns strong in early autumn: Wu Earth alone to contain it, with Ding Fire helping Wu against Geng. |
| You month (mid-autumn, ~Sep 8 – Oct 7) | 「八月壬水，辛金司權，正金白水清，忌戊土為病，專用甲木。」 | Clear Water and bright Metal in mid-autumn fear Wu Earth's mud: Jia Wood alone to control the Earth. |
| Xu month (late autumn, ~Oct 8 – Nov 6) | 「若一派壬水，見一甲、制戌中之戊，戊又出干，斯用丙火。」 | Water gains strength in late autumn: Jia Wood controls the Wu Earth inside Xu, then Bing Fire is used. |
| Hai month (early winter, ~Nov 7 – Dec 6) | 「十月壬水司權，至旺之極，取戊為用」 | Ren Water is at its strongest in early winter: Wu Earth as the dyke; the common table also lists Bing and Geng. |
| Zi month (midwinter, ~Dec 7 – Jan 5) | 「十一月壬水，陽刃幫身，較前更旺，先取戊土，次用丙火」 | Water is stronger still in midwinter: Wu Earth first to contain it, then Bing Fire for warmth. |
| Chou month (late winter, ~Jan 6 – Feb 3) | 「上半月癸辛主事，故旺，專用丙火。下半月己土主事，故衰。亦用丙火，甲木佐之。」 | Bing Fire thaws in both halves of the twelfth month; Earth is strong in the second half, so Jia Wood is added. |
Quotations follow the edition on Chinese Wikisource and were checked sentence by sentence against a second circulating edition; where the two differ the passage is skipped with an ellipsis, and variant characters are written in their standard forms. Where the book discusses several months together, the same sentence is repeated. The plain-words column is our own summary, not the book's wording; where the table above lists more climate favorable elements than the book's summary for that month, it is flagged there.
The four seasons at a glance
| Season | Months | What the table emphasizes |
|---|---|---|
| Spring | Yin, Mao, Chen | Yin month takes Geng, Bing and Wu; Mao month takes Wu first, then Xin and Geng; Chen month takes Jia and Geng. |
| Summer | Si, Wu, Wei | In Si month the Water is weak, so Ren, Xin, Geng and Gui are taken to back it up and give it a source. Wu month takes Gui, Geng and Xin; Wei month takes Xin and Jia. |
| Autumn | Shen, You, Xu | Shen month takes Wu first, then Ding; You month takes Jia and Geng; Xu month takes Jia and Bing. |
| Winter | Hai, Zi, Chou | In winter Water is strong: Hai and Zi months take Wu Earth first to build a dike, with Bing Fire to warm the chart. Chou month takes Bing, Ding and Jia. |
How we counted: our engine cast one chart for every day from 1960 to 2005, with the birth hour drawn at random from a fixed seed, 16,802 charts in all, and compared the Qiong Tong Bao Jian's climate favorable elements for that Day Master and month with the favorable elements our engine worked out.
Find your climate favorable elements
Enter your date of birth to find your Day Master and birth month, see which climate favorable elements the Qiong Tong Bao Jian lists for them, and check each one against the favorable elements our engine works out from your whole chart. Everything is calculated in your browser; nothing is uploaded.
Uses your Gregorian birth date. The month follows the solar terms, not the calendar month: Yin month begins at Start of Spring, Mao month at Awakening of Insects, and so on (see how the month pillar works).
A straight word: the Qiong Tong Bao Jian is a good map, but it is not your location
The Qiong Tong Bao Jian lists climate favorable elements by Day Master and birth month, which tells you what people born in that month usually need. Two people born in the same month can still hold very different amounts of Fire and Water. In our own test, the book's first choice matched the top favorable element our engine worked out from the whole chart only 35.0% of the time; at least one of the listed climate favorable elements was among the favorable elements 84.8% of the time. Use it for a sense of direction, and read the whole chart in the end. Everything on this site is for reference and entertainment.
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Ren Water climate adjustment FAQ
What is the climate favorable element for Ren Water born in Yin month?
The common Qiong Tong Bao Jian table lists Geng Metal, Bing Fire and Wu Earth, with Geng Metal as the first choice.
What is the climate favorable element for Ren Water born in Zi month?
The table lists Wu Earth and Bing Fire, with Wu Earth as the first choice.
Is the Ren Water climate favorable element the same as my favorable element?
Not necessarily. In our engine simulation, the first-choice climate favorable element for Ren Water matched our top favorable element 23.3% of the time, and at least one of the listed climate favorable elements was among the favorable elements 84.1% of the time. Favorable elements also depend on the strength of the whole chart and how warm or cold it already runs.