Zengshan Buyi Volume 2: Divination Methods and Case Studies

The first month [destroys] Shen, the second Yao, the third Xu, the fourth Hai, the fifth Zi, the sixth Chou, the seventh Yin, the eighth Mao, the ninth Chen, the tenth Si, the eleventh Wu, the twelfth Wei. The monthly establishment clashes with these to create monthly destruction -- these are the destruction days of each successive month. All books state that when the useful spirit coincides with monthly destruction, it is as if at odds with the time -- like a withered rootstock that, even when encountering generating forces, cannot revive, and when encountering damaging forces, suffers even more. Though it appears in the hexagram, it is visible yet effectively absent. Hidden within the hexagram, it can never emerge. Even when the day-officer generates it, that generation has no effect. When it moves as a taboo spirit, it cannot cause harm; as a changed line, it cannot overcome the moving line. The Wild Crane says: I have verified this through experience -- when it moves, it can indeed damage other lines; when it changes, it can indeed damage the moving line. Why? The spirit gives its portent through movement. If a matter has neither fortune nor misfortune, there would be no movement. Once movement occurs, there is the foundation of fortune or disaster. Although broken today, outside the month it will no longer be broken; although broken right now, on the day that corresponds to the actual destruction, it will no longer be broken; on the day of combination, it will no longer be broken -- the near response is in days, the distant response in months and years. Only when it does not move and has no day-officer or moving line to generate and assist it is it truly destroyed through and through.

Case: In the Hai month, Ji-Chou day, divining whether one will have an official post in the future. Obtained: Dui transforming to Song hexagram. [Hexagram layout with six lines, their five-phase assignments, and world/response positions.] In this hexagram, the official line moves and generates the world line. The world line moves and transforms into an advancing spirit. Although there are signs of having an official post, the official line encounters monthly destruction and the world line encounters decadal void. However, void can be countered when the day-officer clashes with it -- clashing void makes it real, so it is not truly void. But the destroyed line has no day-officer or moving line to generate it. I was puzzled: if the official line is useless, why does it move and generate the world line? I asked him to divine again, and he obtained the Water-Earth Bi hexagram. Judgment: Even if one's fate lacks an official post, the official line would not generate and hold the world line. Now the first hexagram shows the official generating [the world], and the second hexagram shows the official occupying the world position -- receiving Heaven's salary is something that will certainly happen. He asked: In which year? I said: The previous hexagram's official line coincides with monthly destruction; it will certainly be in the year of actual destruction. Indeed, in the Si year, he inherited the hereditary position of eldest son. If one takes monthly destruction as permanently useless, the difference would be as vast as between Heaven and Earth.

[This section contains multiple detailed case studies on divining for civil service examination success, official appointments, and career advancement. Each case includes the specific date, the hexagram obtained, the line arrangement with five-phase assignments, and the Wild Crane's analysis showing how to correctly interpret the interactions between the official line, the world line, the useful spirit, and their relationships with the month and day rulers.] Key teaching: For career divination, the official-ghost (官鬼) line is the primary indicator. When it is prosperous and generating or combining with the world line, success is indicated. When the offspring (子孫) line is active, it overcomes the official line and predicts failure. However, monthly destruction and other weaknesses must be assessed dynamically -- temporary weakness may resolve in the corresponding period.