THE TWO MAIN SYSTEMS OF DESTINY ANALYSIS
THE ZIPING SYSTEM (THE FOUR PILLARS METHOD)
The Four Pillars (four pairs of Ganzhi for the year, month, day, and time of birth) or Eight Characters of our birth data written in Ganzhi are first examined in terms of the strength of the four pillars, whether the five elements of the Tiangan and Dizhi are compatible, then the compatibility amongst the four pillars, and whether the entire structure is balanced.
These determine the luck of the person in this lifetime. The next phase is to study the structure against the Ganzhi and Wuxing of any given time or time period to see the compatibility of the given time and the original structure to decide whether the given time is favourable to the individual concerned.
As there are different levels of compatibility between different Yin-Yang Wuxing of any given time (hours, days, months or years) against the structure formed by the birth date and time, a road map of the future for the entire life can be charted.
However, the application is not as straightforward when the overall structure of the Four Pillars is studied. Intricate relationships between the Five Elements in every different structure are to be studied carefully and the correct interpretation entails the profound understanding of Chinese philosophy as well as much common sense.
THE ZIWEI DOUSHU METHOD (EMPEROR ASTROLOGY)
It is an exquisite art of using 121 symbols to chart a destiny. Compared to the Ziping (Four Pillar) Method, however, it has not gained as much recognition in earlier days. First of all, as an 'astrology', not using real stars seems less convincing, and while the names of some real celestial bodies are used, they are used for their symbolic significance (e.g. the sun is hot and shining, the moon is cool and quiet, both are continuously on the move) rather than their astronomical relationships.
Secondly, while the concept of Yin-Yang Wuxing, which is the basis for the Ziping Method, was studied for almost the entire history of Chinese civilisation and has become an integral part of the Chinese philosophy, Ziwei Doushu, on the other hand, while also based on Daoist influence, was passed on by two original books that were written in an absolutely dogmatic manner that did not provide logic and explanation. This has hampered the scholastic study of the subject and its wide spread development.
Thirdly, the secrets of Ziwei Doushu were more guarded for hundreds of years, and it later became the exclusive rights of designated imperial officials to practise it to guide only the emperors.
In the 1970s, only after a Hong Kong Master well versed in Ziwei Doushu made some amazingly precise and specific predictions with the technique, which were well publicised, has Ziwei Doushu then begun to quickly gain recognition among other practitioners of Chinese Metaphysics. Its now well recognised ability to forecast specific events in the life of an individual has made it one of the two mainstream Chinese methodologies for destiny analysis.
A life chart is arranged with the 121 stars according to the birth date and time. The time of birth is critical for the input for this method. Life is detailed into twelve domains, namely, Self, Siblings, Love, Offspring, Wealth, Health, Travel, Peers, Career, Estates, Thinking and Parents.
