Road-Block Void (Jielu Kongwang): The BaZi Hour Where Plans Stall Near the Finish
Traditionally, the Road-Block Void is said to bring brings obstacles halfway through an undertaking and a bumpy start, with something always blocking the way when you set out to get things done. Date selection also uses Road-Block hours as times unfit for travel or opening a business. This page lays out how to find it, the traditional view and a reading closer to modern life, with a lookup so you can check your own chart.
How to find the Road-Block Void
| Day stem | Road-Block hours | Hour pillars they produce |
|---|---|---|
| Jia 甲, Ji 己 | Shen 申 hour, You 酉 hour | Ren-Shen 壬申, Gui-You 癸酉 |
| Yi 乙, Geng 庚 | Wu 午 hour, Wei 未 hour | Ren-Wu 壬午, Gui-Wei 癸未 |
| Bing 丙, Xin 辛 | Chen 辰 hour, Si 巳 hour | Ren-Chen 壬辰, Gui-Si 癸巳 |
| Ding 丁, Ren 壬 | Yin 寅 hour, Mao 卯 hour | Ren-Yin 壬寅, Gui-Mao 癸卯 |
| Wu 戊, Gui 癸 | Zi 子 hour, Chou 丑 hour | Ren-Zi 壬子, Gui-Chou 癸丑 |
Where it comes from: the day stem fixes which stem the Zi hour starts on (the Five Rats rule), and counting forward from there, the two hours that land on Ren and Gui are the Road-Block hours. The ancients pictured that Water as a river lying across the road, hence the name “road block”. We re-derived every row with the Five Rats rule and arrived at exactly this table.
How we counted: our engine cast one chart for every day from 1960 to 2005, with the birth hour drawn by a fixed-seed random sample, 16,802 charts in all, and checked each star by the formal method on this page.
The traditional view, and a closer modern reading
Traditional view: Traditionally, the Road-Block Void is said to bring brings obstacles halfway through an undertaking and a bumpy start, with something always blocking the way when you set out to get things done. Date selection also uses Road-Block hours as times unfit for travel or opening a business.
Modern reading: The hour pillar stands for later life, children, and how things wrap up. The Road-Block Void reads best as a reminder that plans tend to stall in the later stages: build in slack and have a fallback ready. It depends only on the hour you were born; two of the twelve hours carry it, so it is common.
Where it sits and how to read it
- We check the hour branch only, the most widely used method. Some practitioners extend it to the year, month and day pillars, or cross-check day and hour stems; schools differ.
- Without a birth hour there is no way to check the Road-Block Void; see if you don’t know your birth hour.
- The Road-Block Void and the ordinary Void (xun kong) are different things: the Void comes from the ten-day cycle of the day pillar, the Road-Block Void from the day stem paired with the hour. See the Void.
- Road-Block hours in date selection are found the same way, from that day’s stem; see date selection.
Always read a star back through the Five Elements and the Ten Gods. On a favorable element, helper stars get better and even ominous stars can become assets; on an unfavorable one, helper stars lose value and an ominous star’s reminder deserves more attention. For what each pillar stands for, see the four pillar palaces; for how to tell favorable from unfavorable, see favorable elements.
Does your birth hour carry the Road-Block Void?
Enter your birth date (Gregorian calendar) to check all 24 common stars at once: whether you have each one, which pillar it sits on, and how it was found. Everything is calculated in your browser; nothing is uploaded.
Uses your Gregorian birth date; the day changes at 11 p.m. with the late Zi hour. Without a birth hour, the hour pillar cannot be read.
Two common misunderstandings
Born in a Road-Block hour, nothing will ever go right.
The Road-Block Void looks only at the hour pillar, and by our count about 16.5% of charts carry it, roughly one person in six. Whether a chart runs smoothly depends on the favorable elements and the luck pillars, not on a single hour.
The Road-Block Void is just the Void.
The names are alike, the methods are not: the Void is the two branches left over in the day pillar’s ten-day cycle, while the Road-Block Void is the day stem counted forward to the Ren and Gui Water hours. A chart can have both, or only one.
Other symbolic stars
A straight word: symbolic stars are footnotes, not fate
Symbolic stars are labels the ancients pinned onto a chart, some auspicious and some ominous, but what really decides a chart is the strength of the Five Elements and how the Ten Gods combine. A helper star on an unfavorable element loses value; an ominous star on a favorable element can become an asset. Whatever stars you find, treat them as a reminder or a small bonus. Everything on this site is for reference and entertainment only.
Beyond the Road-Block Void, which other stars does your chart carry?
Symbolic stars are only footnotes. The in-depth reading starts from the Five Elements, the Ten Gods and what is favorable for you, and covers personality, career, love and money together.
Road-Block Void FAQ
How do I find the Road-Block Void?
From the day stem, look at the hour branch: Jia and Ji days at Shen or You hours, Yi and Geng at Wu or Wei, Bing and Xin at Chen or Si, Ding and Ren at Yin or Mao, Wu and Gui at Zi or Chou.
How is the Road-Block Void different from the Void?
The Void (xun kong) is the two branches with no stem in the day pillar’s ten-day cycle; the Road-Block Void counts the hour pillars forward from the day stem and marks the two that land on Ren or Gui Water. They are found differently and come from different ideas.