Four Pillars of Destiny

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Term: Birth Chart
Chinese 生辰八字
Hanyu Pinyin shēngchén bāzì
Cantonese Jyutping saang1 san4 baat3 zi6
Literal meaning Birth Time Eight Characters
Term: Four Pillars
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese 四柱命理學
Simplified Chinese 四柱命理学
Hanyu Pinyin sì zhù mìnglǐ xué
Cantonese Jyutping sei3 cyu5 ming6 lei5 hok6
Literal meaning "Four Pillars of Life" Studies
Alternative Chinese name
Chinese 子平命理
Literal meaning Method Divination
Korean name
Hangul 사주
Hanja 四柱

Four Pillars of Destiny is a Chinese, Japanese and Korean conceptual term that describes the four components creating a person's destiny or fate. The four components within the moment of birth are year, month, day, and hour. The four pillars is used alongside fortune telling practices such as Zǐ wēi dòu shù within the realm of Chinese Astrology. It is pseudoscience just like astrology.

Contents

Etymology [edit]

The four pillars is an English translation of the Chinese dynastic phrase "Shēng Chén Bā Zì". The Chinese term (生辰八字, ShēngChén BāZì) translates to "The Eight Characters of Birth Time". This is also referred to by the Chinese term (四柱命理學, Sì Zhù MìngLǐ Xué) which translates to Study of "Four Pillars of Life" Principles.

Commonly referred to by the shortened terms, "Four Pillars" or "BāZì", one of the most frequently[citation needed] used alternate phrase is "Four Pillars of your birth time". It is called BāZì (八字), Eight Characters, because each of the four pillars (representing the year, month, day, and hour of one's birth respectively) is represented by two characters; one character for a Heavenly Stem and one character for an Earthly Branch. There are 10 Heavenly Stems (天干; TiānGān) and 12 Earthly Branches (地支; DìZhī). The 12 zodiac animal reference is a folkloric representation of the 12 Earthly Branches.

A good four pillars was that of Qianlong Emperor.

The Schools [edit]

The schools are the Scholarly School (學院派; XuéYuàn Pài) and the Professional School (江湖派; JiāngHú Pài).

The Scholarly School began with Xú ZiPíng 徐子平 at the beginning of Song Dynasty. Xu founded the pure theoretical basis of the system. Ever since then, scholars continued to do research work on the system and published their work for further development. Representatives of this school and their publications include

Song Dynasty (宋)
Ming Dynasty (明)
  • Dī Tiān Suǐ 滴天髓
  • Sān Mìng Tōng Kuài 三命通會, by Wàn MínYīng 万民英
  • Míng Wàn YùWú 明萬育吾
  • Míng Liú Jī 明劉基
Qing Dynasty (清)
  • Mìng Lǐ Yuē Yán 命理約言, by Chén SùĀn 陈素庵
  • Mìng Lǐ Tàn Yuán 命理探源, by Yuán ShùShān 袁树珊

The Professional School has the Chinese name JiāngHú Pài (江湖派) which has a negative implication[citation needed]. It refers to people who take Life Reading and Fortune Telling as a profession and is usually regarded as a business. The problem is that these professionals may not know the theory very well. Also, they may just memorize some formulas and also collect a lot of statistical results from their practices which gives a superficial and possibly not as accurate a result as something more in-depth[citation needed].

Another famous school[citation needed] is the Máng Pài 盲派 or Blindman School. It was said that the teaching could only be taught to blind people, hence no written text is passed down. It was known for its high accuracy of the life reading.[citation needed]

In Japan [edit]

Four Pillars of Destiny, the 傷官 or – in Japanese, Syō-Kan (pr: Show-can) – is a concept in Japanese astrology that involves calculating a person's destiny using the values of the birth year, month, day and hour. The Chinese equivalent is 背禄 (shang guan).

Four Pillars of Destiny is an important concept for a proper understanding of Japanese astrology. A study of the four components creating a person's destiny or fate is highly complicated and can be an extreme effector in the mechanisms of plotting destiny and prediction.

Definitions [edit]

Syō-Kan term is also the relative pronoun among the Heavenly Stems. When we have our birthday as 甲子, 甲戌, 甲申, 甲午, 甲辰, 甲寅, in the Chinese calendar, the Tei ,Hi no to (丁?) will belong to the Syō-Kan.

On the Other Heavenly Stems
  • When we have the Heavenly Stems as 甲 in our birthday, the 丁 acts as a Syō-Kan factor.
as follows
  • 乙 : 丙
  • 丙 : 己
  • 丁 : 戊
  • 戊 : 辛
  • 己 : 庚
  • 庚 : 癸
  • 辛 : 壬
  • 壬 : 乙
  • 癸 : 甲

Meaning [edit]

  • Generally speaking, Syō-Kan stands for our splendid talents, our brilliant appearances, our academic potential.
  • The freedoms: freedom of speech, freedom of thinking, freedom of expression are related to Syō-Kan.
  • When there is not the proper Syō-Kan in our daily life, we may be confused. Often we will be involved in anti-social acts such as terrorism.
  • Syō-Kan is also the symbol of a sword and slash. Consequently the Syō-Kan will be not preferred in normal society.
  • The figures with Syō-Kan is usually bright and beautiful, however true and real success in life is another aspect.

Example [edit]

  • Hirohito (also known as Emperor Shōwa), born April 29, 1901, died January 7, 1989. His birthday is 29 April 1901 a day called Shōwa Day in Japan.

The chart is as follows:

  • Year of birth : 1901 : 辛丑
  • Month of birth : April : 壬辰
  • Day of birth : 29th : 丁丑
  • Time of birth : a quarter past 10 at night (10.15 pm) : 辛亥

The main structure of his chart is 傷官 (Syō-Kan), 格.
The day of 丁 (in the Chinese calendar) meets April, the month of Do-Yo (土用?), the month of 戊 so that we get the Syō-Kan.

The most important elements and workers in his chart is the 甲 or 乙. The Inju is also the worker which controls Syō-Kan.

In 1945, in the year of 乙酉, the Inju has no effect. The Heavenly Stem 乙 is in Ku Bo (空亡 the workings are on hold?). Japan was defeated in World War II and suffered atomic bomb explosions and have been affected by these events ever since.

Additionally

The Dai Un (Japan's own long-term history) is as follows:

The beginning of April in Lunar calendar is the fifth day, so there are 24 days from day 5 to Hirohito's birthday. One month is equivalent to ten years in Dai Un, and the 24 days are equivalent to eight years. Looking at events in the historical timeline corresponding to his life from age eight to 18 shows as follows –

From the age of 8 to the age of 18 : 辛卯

  • 18 to 28 : 庚寅 : corresponding to the reign and beginning of Showa Period in 1926
  • 28 to 38 : 己丑 : beginning of Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937
  • 38 to 48 : 戊子 : World War II, 1939–1945
  • 48 to 58 : 丁亥
  • 58 to 68 : 丙戌
  • 68 to 78 : 乙酉
  • 78 to 88 : 甲申 : end of the Showa Period in 1989
  • 88 to 98 : 癸未

See also [edit]

References [edit]

External links [edit]

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