Wu Earth in All Twelve Months: Climate Favorable Elements from the Qiong Tong Bao Jian
The same Wu Earth 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 Wu Earth 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 | Bing Fire (Indirect Resource), Jia Wood (Seven Killings), Gui Water (Direct Wealth) | 100% |
| Mao month (mid-spring, ~Mar 6 – Apr 4) | Wood at its peak | Bing Fire (Indirect Resource), Jia Wood (Seven Killings), Gui Water (Direct Wealth) | 100% |
| Chen month (late spring, ~Apr 5 – May 5) | damp Earth in command | Jia Wood (Seven Killings), Bing Fire (Indirect Resource), Gui Water (Direct Wealth) | 100% |
| Si month (early summer, ~May 6 – Jun 5) | Fire rising | Jia Wood (Seven Killings), Bing Fire (Indirect Resource), Gui Water (Direct Wealth) | 100% |
| Wu month (midsummer, ~Jun 6 – Jul 6) | scorching heat | Ren Water (Indirect Wealth), Jia Wood (Seven Killings), Bing Fire (Indirect Resource) | 100% |
| Wei month (late summer, ~Jul 7 – Aug 7) | dry Earth in command | Gui Water (Direct Wealth), Bing Fire (Indirect Resource), Jia Wood (Seven Killings) | 100% |
| Shen month (early autumn, ~Aug 8 – Sep 7) | Metal emerging | Bing Fire (Indirect Resource), Gui Water (Direct Wealth), Jia Wood (Seven Killings) | 100% |
| You month (mid-autumn, ~Sep 8 – Oct 7) | Metal at its peak | Bing Fire (Indirect Resource), Gui Water (Direct Wealth) | 100% |
| Xu month (late autumn, ~Oct 8 – Nov 6) | dry Earth in command | Jia Wood (Seven Killings), Bing Fire (Indirect Resource), Gui Water (Direct Wealth) | 100% |
| Hai month (early winter, ~Nov 7 – Dec 6) | cold setting in | Jia Wood (Seven Killings), Bing Fire (Indirect Resource) | 98.5% |
| Zi month (midwinter, ~Dec 7 – Jan 5) | bitter cold | Bing Fire (Indirect Resource), Jia Wood (Seven Killings) | 94.2% |
| Chou month (late winter, ~Jan 6 – Feb 3) | frozen, damp Earth | Bing Fire (Indirect Resource), Jia Wood (Seven Killings) | 89.9% |
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 Bing Fire (6 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) | 「三春戊土，無丙照暖，戊土不生，無甲疏劈，戊土不靈，無癸滋潤，萬物不長。」 | Spring Wu Earth needs Bing Fire for warmth, Jia Wood to loosen it and Gui Water to moisten it; in the first month Bing comes before Jia, with Gui last. |
| Mao month (mid-spring, ~Mar 6 – Apr 4) | 「三春戊土，無丙照暖，戊土不生，無甲疏劈，戊土不靈，無癸滋潤，萬物不長。」 | The second month is treated like the first: Bing Fire, then Jia Wood, with Gui Water last. |
| Chen month (late spring, ~Apr 5 – May 5) | 「三月先甲後丙，癸又次之，因戊土司權故也。」 | Wu Earth rules in late spring, so the order becomes Jia Wood first to loosen it, then Bing Fire, with Gui Water last. |
| Si month (early summer, ~May 6 – Jun 5) | 「四月戊土，陽氣發升，寒氣內藏，外實內虛，不畏火炎，無陽氣相催，萬物不長，故先用甲疏劈，次取丙癸為佐。」 | Jia Wood first to loosen the Earth in early summer, then Bing Fire and Gui Water in support. |
| Wu month (midsummer, ~Jun 6 – Jul 6) | 「五月戊土，仲夏火炎，先看壬水，次取甲木，丙火酌用」 | Fire blazes and Earth is dry in midsummer: look to Ren Water first, then Jia Wood, with Bing Fire as needed. |
| Wei month (late summer, ~Jul 7 – Aug 7) | 「六月戊土，遇夏乾枯，先看癸水，次用丙火甲木。」 | Earth is parched in late summer: Gui Water first, then Bing Fire and Jia Wood. |
| Shen month (early autumn, ~Aug 8 – Sep 7) | 「七月戊土，陽氣漸入，寒氣漸出，先丙後癸，甲木次之。」 | Cold begins to emerge in early autumn: Bing Fire first, then Gui Water, with Jia Wood next. |
| You month (mid-autumn, ~Sep 8 – Oct 7) | 「八月戊土，金洩身寒，賴丙照暖，喜水滋潤，先丙後癸，不必木疏。」 | Metal drains the Earth and the chart is cold in mid-autumn: Bing Fire for warmth and Gui Water for moisture; Jia Wood is not needed. |
| Xu month (late autumn, ~Oct 8 – Nov 6) | 「九月戊土當權，不可專用丙，先看甲木，次取癸水」 | Wu Earth is in power in late autumn: Jia Wood first to loosen it, then Gui Water; the common table also lists Bing Fire. |
| Hai month (early winter, ~Nov 7 – Dec 6) | 「十月戊土，時值小陽，陽氣略出，先用甲木，次取丙火。」 | Jia Wood first in early winter, then Bing Fire: without Jia the Earth is lifeless, without Bing it is not warm. |
| Zi month (midwinter, ~Dec 7 – Jan 5) | 「十一二月嚴寒冰凍……有丙無甲者，豪富。有甲無丙者，清貧。」 | Midwinter is frozen: Bing Fire leads, with Jia Wood in support. |
| Chou month (late winter, ~Jan 6 – Feb 3) | 「十一二月嚴寒冰凍……有丙無甲者，豪富。有甲無丙者，清貧。」 | The twelfth month is treated like the eleventh: Bing Fire leads, Jia Wood supports. |
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 | In Yin and Mao months Bing comes first to warm the chart, then Jia to loosen the soil, with Gui Water assisting. In Chen month Jia comes first to loosen the soil, then Bing and Gui. |
| Summer | Si, Wu, Wei | Si month takes Jia, Bing and Gui. In Wu month the Fire blazes and the Earth is parched, so Ren Water comes first. Wei month takes Gui first, then Bing and Jia. |
| Autumn | Shen, You, Xu | Shen month takes Bing, Gui and Jia; You month takes Bing and Gui. In Xu month Jia comes first to loosen the soil, then Bing and Gui. |
| Winter | Hai, Zi, Chou | Hai month takes Jia and Bing. Zi and Chou months are cold and frozen: Bing first, then 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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Wu Earth climate adjustment FAQ
What is the climate favorable element for Wu Earth born in Yin month?
The common Qiong Tong Bao Jian table lists Bing Fire, Jia Wood and Gui Water, with Bing Fire as the first choice.
What is the climate favorable element for Wu Earth born in Zi month?
The table lists Bing Fire and Jia Wood, with Bing Fire as the first choice.
Is the Wu Earth climate favorable element the same as my favorable element?
Not necessarily. In our engine simulation, the first-choice climate favorable element for Wu Earth matched our top favorable element 36.5% of the time, and at least one of the listed climate favorable elements was among the favorable elements 98.6% of the time. Favorable elements also depend on the strength of the whole chart and how warm or cold it already runs.