Geng Metal in the Di Tian Sui: "Carries a Killing Edge," Line by Line
Geng Metal (庚) is yang Metal, usually pictured as blades and ore: metal not yet worked. The Di Tian Sui gives it eight four-character lines: 庚金帶煞，剛健為最，得水而清，得火而銳，土潤則生，土乾則脆，能贏甲兄，輸於乙妹。 This page takes the verse apart line by line and tests the lines that set out checkable conditions against real charts. For Geng Metal as you, your personality, career and relationships, see Geng Metal Day Master.
The verse, line by line
| Original | In English | Plain reading |
|---|---|---|
| 庚金帶煞，剛健為最 | Geng Metal carries a killing edge, the most unyielding of all. | Geng Metal is blades and ore, yang Metal, with a killing air about it: the hardest and toughest of the stems. |
| 得水而清，得火而銳 | With Water it turns clear; with Fire it grows sharp. | Meeting Water, it lets its talent flow out and turns clear; meeting Fire (Ding Fire above all), it is forged and made sharp. |
| 土潤則生，土乾則脆 | Moist earth gives it life; dry earth makes it brittle. | Damp earth (Chen, Chou) produces Geng Metal; dry earth (Xu, Wei) not only fails to produce it but leaves the Metal brittle. |
| 能贏甲兄，輸於乙妹 | It can beat its elder brother Jia, but loses to its younger sister Yi. | Geng can control Jia Wood: yang against yang, hard against hard, and it wins. Yet Yi Wood combines it away (Yi and Geng combine): the hard is led by the soft. |
Text follows the Di Tian Sui Chan Wei (滴天髓闡微), the edition with Ren Tieqiao's commentary. Commentators over the centuries have read some lines differently; we follow the more widely accepted reading.
How often the verse's conditions show up in real charts
Some lines set out conditions that can be checked on a chart: the season, whether a certain stem appears, whether an element runs heavy. Of the 16,802 charts our engine cast, about 1,680 have Geng Metal as the day stem. Here is how they fall:
| Line | Condition checked | Share of charts |
|---|---|---|
| 得水而清 (With Water it turns clear) | Water shows on a stem | 46.2% have Water on a stem; 4.3% have no Water at all |
| 得火而銳 (with Fire it grows sharp) | Ding shows on a stem | Ding somewhere in the chart: 83.2%; Ding on a stem: 33.2% |
| 土潤則生 (Moist earth gives it life) | Chen or Chou (damp earth) in the branches, or only Xu or Wei (dry earth) | Damp earth: 52.8%; only dry earth: 26.7% |
| 能贏甲兄 (It can beat its elder brother Jia) | Yi on a stem (Yi–Geng combine) | 26.0% |
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, about 1,680 for each day stem. Each percentage uses that day stem's charts as the base. This describes how chart structures are distributed; it says nothing about anyone's luck.
Geng Metal meets the other nine stems
| Meets | Element | Relationship | Combine / clash |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jia Wood | Wood | I control it | Clash |
| Yi Wood | Wood | I control it | Combine (transforming to Metal) |
| Bing Fire | Fire | It controls me | — |
| Ding Fire | Fire | It controls me | — |
| Wu Earth | Earth | It produces me | — |
| Ji Earth | Earth | It produces me | — |
| Xin Metal | Metal | Same element, opposite polarity | — |
| Ren Water | Water | I produce it | — |
| Gui Water | Water | I produce it | — |
"I" in the table means Geng Metal. For the full rules on stem combinations and clashes, see the Ten Heavenly Stems and stem and branch relations. When Geng Metal is the day stem, these relationships become the Ten Gods; see the Ten Gods.
Geng Metal on the year, month or hour stem
When Geng Metal is not on the day pillar, it speaks about the area of life its position stands for: on the year stem, the blade quality in your family and early surroundings; on the month stem, the blade quality on your stage at work; on the hour stem, later life and long-term plans. Whether it helps or pressures you depends on how it relates to your day stem (the table above) and on your favorable elements.
What Geng Metal needs in each birth month
The Di Tian Sui describes Geng Metal's general nature. The Qiong Tong Bao Jian goes further and sets out, month by month, what Geng Metal takes for climate adjustment in each of the twelve months; see Geng Metal climate by month.
Your day stem in the Di Tian Sui: the verse's conditions, checked one by one
Enter your date of birth (the hour is optional). You will see your day stem's verse, whether each line that sets out a checkable condition holds in your chart, and whether your year, month and hour stems produce, control or combine with your day stem. Everything is calculated in your browser; nothing is uploaded.
Uses your Gregorian birth date, with the day changing at 11 p.m. "On a stem" means it appears on the year, month or hour stem; "hidden in the branches" means it appears among the hidden stems of the branches.
A straight word: an old verse is a point of view, not a verdict
The Di Tian Sui is one of the most respected classical texts on BaZi from the Ming and Qing dynasties, and its section on the ten stems sums up each stem's nature and needs in four-character lines. Its strength is its brevity, and so is its weakness: commentators over the centuries have read the same line in different ways. We test the lines that set out checkable conditions against real charts and present the rest as written, without stretching them into predictions of good or bad fortune. Everything on this site is for reference and entertainment.
Does your chart have what Geng Metal needs?
Enter your birth date to check your day stem's verse conditions one by one on your chart, and see whether your year, month and hour stems produce, control or combine with it.
Geng Metal (Heavenly Stem) FAQ
What is the Di Tian Sui verse on Geng Metal?
庚金帶煞，剛健為最，得水而清，得火而銳，土潤則生，土乾則脆，能贏甲兄，輸於乙妹。 In English: "Geng Metal carries a killing edge, the most unyielding of all. With Water it turns clear; with Fire it grows sharp. Moist earth gives it life; dry earth makes it brittle. It can beat its elder brother Jia, but loses to its younger sister Yi." Eight lines in all.
What does "Geng Metal carries a killing edge, the most unyielding of all" mean?
Geng Metal is blades and ore, yang Metal, with a killing air about it: the hardest and toughest of the stems.
What does "With Water it turns clear; with Fire it grows sharp" mean?
Meeting Water, it lets its talent flow out and turns clear; meeting Fire (Ding Fire above all), it is forged and made sharp.
What is the imagery of Geng Metal?
Geng Metal is yang Metal, usually pictured as blades and ore: metal not yet worked. The other Metal stem is Xin Metal; with the opposite polarity, it behaves quite differently.