Jia Wood in the Di Tian Sui: "Towers to the Sky," Line by Line
Jia Wood (甲) is yang Wood, usually pictured as a towering tree, timber for beams. The Di Tian Sui gives it eight four-character lines: 甲木參天，脫胎要火，春不容金，秋不容土，火熾乘龍，水宕騎虎，地潤天和，植立千古。 This page takes the verse apart line by line and tests the lines that set out checkable conditions against real charts. For Jia Wood as you, your personality, career and relationships, see Jia Wood Day Master.
The verse, line by line
| Original | In English | Plain reading |
|---|---|---|
| 甲木參天，脫胎要火 | Jia Wood towers to the sky; to shed its husk it needs Fire. | Jia is yang Wood, a great tree growing upward. To shed its husk, grow into timber and shine, it needs Fire (Bing or Ding) to draw its life out: Wood produces Fire, and that gives the Wood's energy an outlet. |
| 春不容金，秋不容土 | In spring it cannot bear Metal; in autumn it cannot bear Earth. | In spring the Wood is at its strongest and stiffest, and Metal coming to cut it only hurts both sides. In autumn Metal is strong and Wood is fading, barely able to look after itself, so it should not wear itself out controlling Earth as well. |
| 火熾乘龍，水宕騎虎 | When Fire blazes, it rides the Dragon; when Water floods, it mounts the Tiger. | When Fire is too strong, it needs Chen (the Dragon), a damp earth that takes in the Fire and moistens the roots. When there is too much Water, it needs Yin (the Tiger), so the Wood has somewhere to root and is not carried off. |
| 地潤天和，植立千古 | With moist earth and a gentle heaven, it stands planted for a thousand ages. | With moist ground below and harmony among the stems above, the great tree can stand for a very long time. |
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 Jia Wood as the day stem. Here is how they fall:
| Line | Condition checked | Share of charts |
|---|---|---|
| 脫胎要火 (to shed its husk it needs Fire) | Bing or Ding shows on the year, month or hour stem | 45.4% have Fire on a stem; 5.6% have no Fire at all |
| 春不容金 (In spring it cannot bear Metal) | Born in a Yin, Mao or Chen month, with Geng or Xin on a stem | Spring-born: 24.8%; with Metal on a stem: 10.3% of all Jia charts |
| 秋不容土 (in autumn it cannot bear Earth) | Born in a Shen, You or Xu month, with Wu or Ji on a stem | Autumn-born: 25.2%; with Earth on a stem: 11.8% |
| 火熾乘龍 (When Fire blazes, it rides the Dragon) | When Fire runs heavy, is Chen in the branches? | Heavy Fire: 9.9%; heavy Fire and no Chen: 7.4% of all Jia charts |
| 水宕騎虎 (when Water floods, it mounts the Tiger) | When Water runs heavy, is Yin in the branches? | Heavy Water: 10.7%; heavy Water and no Yin: 7.5% of all Jia charts |
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.
Jia Wood meets the other nine stems
| Meets | Element | Relationship | Combine / clash |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yi Wood | Wood | Same element, opposite polarity | — |
| Bing Fire | Fire | I produce it | — |
| Ding Fire | Fire | I produce it | — |
| Wu Earth | Earth | I control it | — |
| Ji Earth | Earth | I control it | Combine (transforming to Earth) |
| Geng Metal | Metal | It controls me | Clash |
| Xin Metal | Metal | It controls me | — |
| Ren Water | Water | It produces me | — |
| Gui Water | Water | It produces me | — |
"I" in the table means Jia Wood. For the full rules on stem combinations and clashes, see the Ten Heavenly Stems and stem and branch relations. When Jia Wood is the day stem, these relationships become the Ten Gods; see the Ten Gods.
Jia Wood on the year, month or hour stem
When Jia Wood is not on the day pillar, it speaks about the area of life its position stands for: on the year stem, the great tree quality in your family and early surroundings; on the month stem, the great tree 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 Jia Wood needs in each birth month
The Di Tian Sui describes Jia Wood's general nature. The Qiong Tong Bao Jian goes further and sets out, month by month, what Jia Wood takes for climate adjustment in each of the twelve months; see Jia Wood 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 Jia Wood 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.
Jia Wood (Heavenly Stem) FAQ
What is the Di Tian Sui verse on Jia Wood?
甲木參天，脫胎要火，春不容金，秋不容土，火熾乘龍，水宕騎虎，地潤天和，植立千古。 In English: "Jia Wood towers to the sky; to shed its husk it needs Fire. In spring it cannot bear Metal; in autumn it cannot bear Earth. When Fire blazes, it rides the Dragon; when Water floods, it mounts the Tiger. With moist earth and a gentle heaven, it stands planted for a thousand ages." Eight lines in all.
What does "Jia Wood towers to the sky; to shed its husk it needs Fire" mean?
Jia is yang Wood, a great tree growing upward. To shed its husk, grow into timber and shine, it needs Fire (Bing or Ding) to draw its life out: Wood produces Fire, and that gives the Wood's energy an outlet.
What does "In spring it cannot bear Metal; in autumn it cannot bear Earth" mean?
In spring the Wood is at its strongest and stiffest, and Metal coming to cut it only hurts both sides. In autumn Metal is strong and Wood is fading, barely able to look after itself, so it should not wear itself out controlling Earth as well.
What is the imagery of Jia Wood?
Jia Wood is yang Wood, usually pictured as a towering tree, timber for beams. The other Wood stem is Yi Wood; with the opposite polarity, it behaves quite differently.