Follow Structures in BaZi: Too Weak to Stand, So Go With the Strongest Force
For a weak chart, the favorable elements are usually Resource and Peers, to prop the Day Master up. But if the Day Master is so weak that it has no root at all in the branches and no Resource on the stems to lean on, there is nothing to prop up. The classics then say it "follows": it simply goes with the strongest force in the chart. At the other extreme, a Day Master so strong that nothing drains or controls it goes with its own strength.
Kinds of follow structure
| Follow structure | Condition | Favorable | Unfavorable | Our sample |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Follow-Wealth (從財) | Extremely weak Day Master, no root, no Resource; Wealth is strongest | Wealth, Output | Peers, Resource | 0.32% |
| Follow-Authority (從殺) | Extremely weak Day Master, no root, no Resource; the Officer is strongest | Officer, Wealth | Output (which attacks the Officer), Peers, Resource | 0.23% |
| Follow-Output (從兒) | Extremely weak Day Master, no root, no Resource; Output is strongest | Output, Wealth | Resource (which attacks Output), Officer | 0.20% |
| Follow-the-Dominant (從勢) | Extremely weak Day Master, no root, no Resource; Wealth, Officer and Output evenly matched | Wealth, Officer, Output | Peers, Resource | 0.01% |
| Dominant-Peers / Dominant-Resource (從旺／從強) | Extremely strong Day Master with almost nothing draining or controlling it | Peers, Resource | Wealth, Officer (Dominant-Resource also disfavors Output) | 0.01% |
For how follow structures read for each element, see the follow-structure pages for Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water Day Masters.
Our threshold: hard evidence only
| Verdict | Condition | How we handle it |
|---|---|---|
| Follow the weak (hard evidence) | Day Master ≤ 12% of the chart, with no Peer root in the branches and no Resource on stems or branches | Judged a follow structure; favorable elements follow the dominant force |
| Follow the strong (hard evidence) | Day Master ≥ 90% of the chart, with very little draining or control | Judged Dominant-Peers or Dominant-Resource; favorable elements go with the force |
| Possible follow | Day Master ≤ 22% with no root and no Resource, or ≥ 82% with little draining or control | Read as weak or strong for now, flagged for a second look |
| Broken | Extremely weak, but with a little root or some Resource | Read as weak ("rooted, so it does not follow") |
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. Transformation and dominant-element structures were checked condition by condition against this site's rules; follow structures use the hard-evidence gate of our strength engine.
Misjudging a follow structure is the costliest mistake of all. If a weak chart is wrongly called a follow structure, its favorable elements switch from Resource and Peers to Wealth and the Officer, and every piece of advice is turned upside down. That is why we set the bar high and would rather leave borderline charts as ordinary ones.
Follow-Wealth: no root, no Resource, going with Wealth
Born January 4, 1961, You hour (5–7 p.m.)
- The Day Master: Ding Fire is born in Zi month. The branches are Zi, Zi, You and You, with no Fire or Wood at all, and there is no Jia or Yi Wood (Resource) or Bing or Ding Fire (Peers) on the stems either.
- The dominant force: the two You Metal branches on the day and hour are Wealth, and Geng Metal on the year stem is Wealth showing, so Wealth carries the most weight; Wu on the month stem and Ji on the hour stem are Output, which feeds Wealth further.
- The verdict: our engine reads this chart as Follow-Wealth. The Day Master is only 0% of the chart, with no root and no Resource, so its favorable elements follow Wealth.
- Favorable and unfavorable: a Follow-Wealth Structure favors Wealth and the Output that feeds it, and disfavors Peers and Resource propping the Day Master back up (the classics call it "following and yet not following"; luck periods of Resource and Peers are often the turbulent stretches).
"Following and yet not following": where the swings come
What a follow chart fears most is a luck period that brings the Day Master "back to life." When a follow-the-weak chart meets a luck period of Resource or Peers, the Day Master suddenly has a root but still cannot carry the whole chart, and the classics say this is when big rises and falls tend to happen. That is why the favorable and unfavorable luck periods of a follow chart deserve especially careful reading; see Ten God luck periods.
Check whether your chart is a special structure
Enter your date of birth to check the conditions for transformation and dominant-element structures one by one, along with our strength engine's follow-structure verdict. Every condition is listed as met or not met. Everything is calculated in your browser; nothing is uploaded.
Uses your Gregorian birth date, with the day changing at 11 p.m. The hour pillar affects transformation (the hour stem can combine) and dominance (branch momentum), so without a birth hour, treat the result as a rough guide.
A straight word: special structures are rare, and they do not mean a better life
In our sample, charts that meet the classical conditions for any special structure are just 0.98% of more than sixteen thousand. It is common to hear "very weak" or "there is a stem combination" taken straight to a follow or transformation structure, and that is far too loose. A special structure changes how favorable elements are chosen, not whether a life is good or bad; get it wrong and the favorable set is turned upside down. Everything on this site is for reference and entertainment.
Does your chart follow?
Enter your birth date to see our strength engine's follow-structure verdict, along with checks for transformation and dominant-element structures.
Follow structure FAQ
What is a follow structure in BaZi?
An extremely weak Day Master with no root and no Resource goes with the strongest force in the chart (Follow-Wealth, Follow-Authority, Follow-Output, Follow-the-Dominant); or an extremely strong Day Master with almost nothing draining or controlling it goes with its own strength (Dominant-Peers, Dominant-Resource).
Is a weak Day Master a follow structure?
No. A follow structure needs a Day Master that is extremely weak and has no root and no Resource. With even a little root in the branches or some Resource, the chart is simply weak. In our sample, only 0.76% of charts are follow structures on hard evidence.
What does a follow structure favor?
Following the weak favors the side it follows (Follow-Wealth favors Wealth and Output, Follow-Authority favors the Officer and Wealth) and disfavors Resource and Peers. Following the strong favors Peers and Resource and disfavors Wealth and the Officer.