Yuanhai Ziping: Women's Destinies

Reading a woman's chart is vastly different from a man's. Master Ding Jinshi of Caotang composed the 'Eight Methods of Spirit and Interest,' covering illumination, return, ghost, submission, belonging, category, following, and transformation. For women's charts there are also eight methods: pure, harmonious, clear, noble, turbid, disordered, prostitute, and licentious. Take the Officer as the husband-star, the fortune star. When Wealth is strong and generates the Officer, the husband embraces fortune. The Seal and Food God bring fame and nobility, with a distinguished title. If the life-qi is the Seal, children are difficult to have. Seal, Wealth, and Officer together: born into a wealthy and noble family, with talent, beauty, virtue, and gentleness. Jia Day seeing Xin-You is the proper husband. Ding-Wu injures the proper husband. Geng-Shen is the secondary husband. If Geng-Shen and Xin-You appear repeatedly, this means injuring the husband and remarrying. If Wealth is too abundant and Officer-Killings are too strong, then many husbands gather both openly and in secret -- licentious and debauched. Too much Wealth leads to licentiousness. Therefore a woman should have thin Wealth, to prosper the husband and benefit the children. If the Officer finds favorable ground, the Seven Killings is suppressed, the Food God's Stem is strong, and the Seal carries Heavenly Virtue and Monthly Virtue: the husband prospers, the children are noble, and she receives an enfeoffment. In a woman's eight characters, if the Hurting Officer and Officer-Killings are mixed, and the Food God's Wealth is strong while the Self declines, such a person is jealous and harmful, lustful and greedy, fierce and fearsome. Hurting Officer seeing Officer: the husband is harmed and she remarries, body and mind in toil. Even if the husband is not harmed, there will be illness, and life is lacking in fortune with much unease. One greatly fears the Hurting Officer in the Year pillar -- this indicates birth complications and chronic illness; otherwise, shortened lifespan. The Hurting Officer makes a person intelligent, with beautiful and elegant appearance. Hurting Officer seeing Killing: wealthy. Without Wealth: poor. Rob Wealth, Defeat Wealth, Hurting Officer with a strong Self: poor and base, a lower pattern. The above fifteen patterns all involve Clashing the Officer while encountering Combination, all carrying the taboo of the Hurting Officer. Though wealthy and noble, the taint of licentiousness cannot be avoided. Seven Killings and Direct Officer: having just one is good. Too many Killings means too many husbands. When Officer-Killing is Combined away, servant girls or sisters compete for authority. For example: Jia uses Xin as Officer; Bing combining with Xin is such a case. Yi uses Geng as Officer; seeing Ding is such a case. Wu uses Yi as Officer; seeing Xin is such a case. In these, the Officer is Combined and seized. The rest follow this pattern -- the woman's marriages are unsettled. When the eight characters show Hurting Officer and Officer star both Dead and Extinct, with Solitary Spirit and Widowed Lodge, and the Day or Hour in Emptiness -- this is a chart of solitary hardship. If the Heavenly Stems expose Officer-Killing but the Earthly Branches have no Officer-Killing, and it further occupies positions of Rest, Imprisonment, Death, Extinction, or Retreating qi -- the woman extinguishes her husband's qi, and should be assessed as a concubine or secondary wife. If the chart has Heavenly Virtue and Monthly Virtue, there is no danger of childbirth complications or blood calamity, nor any taint of licentiousness. For women's charts, one prefers a weak Self -- this indicates a pure, gentle, and mild nature, able to serve the parents-in-law and assist the husband. A strong Self bullies the husband, is unfilial to parents-in-law, stirs up trouble, and has an irritable temperament. A weak Self can be illness; a strong Self is the same. The eight characters welcome nobility and should not have the Post Horse or Lustful Pool. One wants purity, harmony, gentleness, and weakness -- not rigidity, health, or excessive strength. Annual luck follows the same principle. Additionally, the Yin Error and Yang Error days, and the Lone Phoenix days, are unfavorable for marriage. All involve marriages without the wedding candle ceremony -- marriage through relatives, filling a deceased spouse's position, or marriages of mourning duty.

The 'Lone Phoenix Star' (guluan sha) says: 'The Wood Tiger: a widow without a groom. The Metal Pig: how could there be a husband? The red-yellow Horse sleeps alone. The black Rat guards an empty chamber.' This indicates that the woman is widowed and the man is solitary. If the Hour additionally Clashes, the woman has difficulty sustaining husband and heirs. Add Emptiness, with Day and Hour solitary and overcoming -- it goes without saying. If the eight characters have no Officer-Killing at all, but the Luck Cycle enters Officer-Killing and Wealth periods, then the husband-star gaining ground leads to solitude. If the eight characters have both Wealth and Officer, but the Luck Cycle enters Hurting Officer and Rob Wealth territory, the husband's palace is troubled. After the period passes, marriage occurs. Careful analysis proves very accurate. Verse: 'Wealth, Officer, and Seal -- these three things: / A woman's chart encountering them surely prospers the husband; / Not violating Killing excess, without mixture, / A strong Self with control earns a distinguished title. / A woman's chart with Hurting Officer: fortune is not true; / Without Wealth, without Seal, guarding lonely poverty; / If the Hurting Officer is exposed within the pattern, / She surely becomes a servant before the hall. / Having a husband with a Combination must still be proper; / Having Combination without a husband is certainly improper; / Officer-Killing coming heavily forms a lower pattern; / Hurting Officer heavily Combined need not be discussed. / Officer with Peach Blossom: fortune and longevity are long; / Peach Blossom with Killing: little auspiciousness; / Many Combinations especially taboo Peach Blossom violations; / Rob and Shoulder with Peach Blossom is greatly unfavorable. / A woman's chart fears the Hurting Officer pattern; / With Wealth and Seal accompanying, fortune becomes firm; / Where the Hurting Officer is strong, the husband is harmed; / Destroying the Hurting Officer damages the lifespan. / Flying Heaven, Salary-Horse, and Well-Fence Fork: / Women's charts encountering these lack fortune; / Only fit for concubinage or prostitution -- / With Wealth present, one can enjoy splendor.'

When observing a yin [woman's] chart, first examine the husband-star's flourishing or decline. Next discuss personal glory, and observe the strength or weakness of the children. Husband prosperous, children strong: certainly wealth, nobility, and splendor. Children dead, husband declining: only poverty, solitude, and baseness. Having a husband and children yet being poor: because the Self resides in a declining region. Without husband or children yet prospering: because the Self occupies a strong territory. If Noble Persons are few, if not wealthy then still prosperous. Combining with the Noble Spirit: if not a prostitute then a nun -- this is how licentiousness and baseness are determined. Four Pillars showing the Hurting Officer: secretly inviting financial loss. She who takes in a husband: the husband is prominent within the household gate. The secondary husband: the husband is strong at the Day and Hour positions. Husband declining, Self strong: a person of integrity and purity. Ghost strong, Self declining: surely a woman of cold solitude. When observing a yin chart's Five Phases, one must be precise and discerning in clear analysis.

Verse: 'Choosing a wife requires calm composure -- / Listen carefully as I explain in detail. / The husband's palace must be strong; / The Self's master must be even stronger. / If the Officer star does not combine, / The husband has nothing to rely upon. / Combine with Extinction, not with Nobility -- / This method few people apply. / Take the Day exclusively as the Year -- / This method few people transmit. / Carrying Salary into Generation and Strength: / Death in childbirth invites people's blame. / Post Horse with Noble Person: / Eventually falling into the dusty world. / Having Chen, do not see Xu; / Having Xu, do not see Chen; / If Chen and Xu see each other, / Most are licentious and base people. / Having the Killing, one need not fear Combination; / Without the Killing, one does fear Combination; / If Combining spirits are many, / If not a prostitute, then a songstress. / Noble Person in a single proper seat; / Two or three make a favored concubine. / Yang Blade with Hurting Officer: / Mixed and complicated, many troubles. / A chart full of Seals: / Losing children is a certainty. / Two Virtues sitting on Direct Wealth: / Wealth and nobility come naturally. / Four Pillars all in Rest and Imprisonment: / Enfeoffment, fortune, salary, and longevity. / Metal-Water meeting each other: / Surely attracting beautiful appearance. / Yin, Shen, Si, Hai all complete: / Solitary, licentious, with a sharp tongue. / Zi-Wu meeting Mao-You: / Certainly following another person. / Chen-Xu meeting Chou-Wei: / The greatest taboo of wifely duty. / Two Noble Persons with one Killing: / A household of authority, wealth, and nobility. / If Wealth-Officer are stored in the Treasury, / Clashing it open -- would that not bring riches? / Heavenly Stems with one character in a row: / Solitary ruin, disasters without end. / Earthly Branches with one character in a row: / Two marriages will be the outcome.'

To assess a woman's chart, first examine the Officer star. Officer accompanied by Killing: poverty and baseness. Officer obtaining the Command: peace and prosperity. Hurting Officer too heavy surely hinders the husband, and such a person's nature is overbearing. Reversed Food (Owl Spirit) encountered repeatedly reduces fortune -- how much worse if it additionally violates the Solitary Star. Killing heavy: she must enter a noble household. Many Combinations: surely damaging chaste reputation. Sitting on Salary, riding the Chariot: stable and substantial. Self being Clashed and steps being disturbed: light and frivolous. As for rolling Peach Blossoms and crashing waves: the shame of licentious elopement is unspeakable. Salary returning to the Hour: noble and weighty, respected by all. Heavenly and Monthly Virtues sitting on the natal chart: if encountering the Seal, nobility worthy of being enfeoffed over two domains. Day or Hour Yang Blade is inherently an inauspicious spirit -- not only unfavorable to the husband's palace, but also damaging to one's lifelong nature. If the Self's Stem is the master of auspiciousness -- Hour carrying a healthy and strong Food God requires examining the eight characters' overall strength. Devoted to the Food God, children prosper -- but one fears the Indirect Seal stealing the Self's strength. Guarding the inner chambers with proper stillness: this must come from a yin Day maintaining the Mean. Waiting upon the husband to manage affairs: this is when a yang Stem has a very strong Hour. In general, one rejoices to encounter the proper Salary. One fears violating the Lustful Pool. Pure nobility gains the support of Long Life. Mixed turbidity returns to the place of defeated qi. Four Pillars with many Defeats: one greatly taboos the Self being Clashed while encountering Combination. A lifetime of extreme busyness: if not a prostitute, then a nun. Seal damaged: jealousy between the woman and her parents-in-law. Food God devoted: fit for bearing children and heirs. Officer-Killing encountered repeatedly: one must guard against licentiousness and disorder. Sisters (Shoulder) exposed: competition for the husband is apparent. The Helmet Head has the potential for spiritual transformation. Day Nobility has the fortune of stable normalcy. Determining by Stems and Branches: if Officer-Killing prevails without control, one becomes either a prostitute or a nun.

In a woman's chart, using the Officer as husband, or the Killing: one welcomes having just one, and more harms the husband. If the chart is full of Officer stars, this is taboo. A chart full of Killing stars instead reverses into fortune. The Hurting Officer does not make one noble; a Hurting Officer period further harms the husband. Hurting Officer with control: the Self reaches Extinction. A woman's Hurting Officer: punishing children and harming the husband is the verdict. A woman with many Officer stars: the husband is harmed and she is base. Hurting Officer with Peach Blossom: a prostitute's chart, or primarily harming children. If one Noble Person appears in a single position, or one carries the Glory Spirit, or encounters the Extinct territory: mostly wealthy, noble, and chaste. Salary-Horse accompanying each other, Peach Blossom with Nobility, Lustful Pool meeting the Horse: much licentiousness, harming the husband and ruining the family. Having Chen without Xu: a solitary chart, with desolate twilight years. Much Xu without Chen: early years of toil, middle years are good. Does not harm the husband or the children -- but dissolute and licentious. Chen and Xu both present: licentiousness and disorder ruining the family, harming the husband, punishing children, shortened life, and disability.

Noble Patterns for Women: Proper-qi Officer star. Wealth and Officer both strong. Seal with Heavenly Virtue. Lone Killing with control. Hurting Officer generating Wealth. Sitting on Salary encountering Wealth. Officer star carrying Combination. Day Nobility encountering Wealth. Officer-Nobility encountering Officer. Officer star sitting on Salary. Officer star with Peach Blossom. Food God in generation and strength. Food God generating Wealth. Killing transforming into Seal. Two Virtues supporting the Self. Three Wonders in a complete bureau. Yang Blade with control. Embracing Salary, embracing Nobility. Returning Salary encountering Wealth.

Base Patterns for Women: Officer-Killing mixed. Officer-Killing without control. Killing star too heavy. Hurting Officer too heavy. Greedy Wealth destroying the Seal. Shoulder violated repeatedly. No Officer with Combination. No Seal with Killing. Hurting Officer with Seven Killings. Combination with Peach Blossom. Eight characters in Punishment-Clash. Wealth much, Self weak. Yang Blade Clash-Punishment. Metal Spirit with Blade. Many Officers, many Combinations. Inverted Peach Blossom. Self strong without support. Hurting Officer seeing Officer. Wealth-Officer meeting Seal. Seal meeting Rob Wealth.