Xin Metal in All Twelve Months: Useful Gods from the Qiong Tong Bao Jian
The same Xin Metal 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 Xin Metal 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.
Useful gods for each month
| Month | Climate | Useful gods (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 | Ji Earth (Indirect Resource), Ren Water (Hurting Officer), Geng Metal (Rob Wealth) | 100% |
| Mao month (mid-spring, ~Mar 6 – Apr 4) | Wood at its peak | Ren Water (Hurting Officer), Jia Wood (Direct Wealth) | 46.8% |
| Chen month (late spring, ~Apr 5 – May 5) | damp Earth in command | Ren Water (Hurting Officer), Jia Wood (Direct Wealth) | 53.5% |
| Si month (early summer, ~May 6 – Jun 5) | Fire rising | Ren Water (Hurting Officer), Jia Wood (Direct Wealth), Gui Water (Eating God) | 69.5% |
| Wu month (midsummer, ~Jun 6 – Jul 6) | scorching heat | Ren Water (Hurting Officer), Ji Earth (Indirect Resource), Gui Water (Eating God) | 99.3% |
| Wei month (late summer, ~Jul 7 – Aug 7) | dry Earth in command | Ren Water (Hurting Officer), Geng Metal (Rob Wealth), Jia Wood (Direct Wealth) | 100% |
| Shen month (early autumn, ~Aug 8 – Sep 7) | Metal emerging | Ren Water (Hurting Officer), Jia Wood (Direct Wealth), Wu Earth (Direct Resource) | 100% |
| You month (mid-autumn, ~Sep 8 – Oct 7) | Metal at its peak | Ren Water (Hurting Officer), Jia Wood (Direct Wealth) | 78.4% |
| Xu month (late autumn, ~Oct 8 – Nov 6) | dry Earth in command | Ren Water (Hurting Officer), Jia Wood (Direct Wealth) | 74.1% |
| Hai month (early winter, ~Nov 7 – Dec 6) | cold setting in | Ren Water (Hurting Officer), Bing Fire (Direct Officer) | 48.9% |
| Zi month (midwinter, ~Dec 7 – Jan 5) | bitter cold | Bing Fire (Direct Officer), Wu Earth (Direct Resource), Ren Water (Hurting Officer), Jia Wood (Direct Wealth) | 100% |
| Chou month (late winter, ~Jan 6 – Feb 3) | frozen, damp Earth | Bing Fire (Direct Officer), Ren Water (Hurting Officer), Wu Earth (Direct Resource), Ji Earth (Indirect Resource) | 95.6% |
Useful gods 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 Ren Water (9 months). Month dates are approximate and shift by a day or two each year with the solar terms.
The four seasons at a glance
| Season | Months | What the table emphasizes |
|---|---|---|
| Spring | Yin, Mao, Chen | Yin month takes Ji Earth first to produce Metal, then Ren and Geng. In Mao and Chen months Ren Water washes the Metal clean, with Jia Wood assisting. |
| Summer | Si, Wu, Wei | In summer Ren Water comes first, assisted by Jia and Gui in Si month, Ji and Gui in Wu month, and Geng and Jia in Wei month. |
| Autumn | Shen, You, Xu | In autumn Ren Water washes the Metal, with Jia Wood assisting; Shen month adds Wu Earth. |
| Winter | Hai, Zi, Chou | Hai month takes Ren first, then Bing. Zi and Chou months are cold and frozen, so Bing Fire comes first for warmth, followed by Ren, Wu and others. In nine of the twelve months, Xin Metal's first choice is Ren Water. |
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 useful gods for that Day Master and month with the favorable elements our engine worked out.
Find your climate useful gods
Enter your date of birth to find your Day Master and birth month, see which useful gods 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 useful gods 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 35.3% of the time; at least one of the listed useful gods was among the favorable elements 85.2% 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.
Are you a Xin Metal Day Master?
Enter your birth date to see which useful gods the Qiong Tong Bao Jian gives for your birth month, and whether they are among your favorable elements.
Xin Metal climate adjustment FAQ
What is the useful god for Xin Metal born in Yin month?
The common Qiong Tong Bao Jian table lists Ji Earth, Ren Water and Geng Metal, with Ji Earth as the first choice.
What is the useful god for Xin Metal born in Zi month?
The table lists Bing Fire, Wu Earth, Ren Water and Jia Wood, with Bing Fire as the first choice.
Is the Xin Metal climate useful god the same as my favorable element?
Not necessarily. In our test, the first-choice climate useful god for Xin Metal matched our top favorable element 28.9% of the time, and at least one of the listed useful gods was among the favorable elements 80.5% of the time. Favorable elements also depend on the strength of the whole chart and how warm or cold it already runs.