The Generating and Controlling Cycles in Order
In the generating cycle, each element feeds the next: wood, fire, earth, metal, water, then back to wood. The controlling cycle skips one each time, so wood controls earth, earth controls water, water controls fire, fire controls metal and metal controls wood.
People remember both cycles through everyday images. Burning wood makes a fire, so wood generates fire. Water puts a fire out, so water controls fire.
BaZi uses your Day Master to stand for you. It is the Heavenly Stem of the day you were born. Enter your birth date and time in the free BaZi calculator, and the field labelled "Day Master Element" shows your element.
Calculate your BaZi chart
Enter your birth details to discover your Day Master, elemental balance, and how these concepts apply to your Four Pillars.
Quick Reference: What Generates Metal, What Controls Earth
Earth generates metal, and wood controls earth. For any other pair, find the element in the first column and read across.
| Element | Generated by | Generates | Controlled by | Controls |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wood | Water | Fire | Metal | Earth |
| Fire | Wood | Earth | Water | Metal |
| Earth | Fire | Metal | Wood | Water |
| Metal | Earth | Water | Fire | Wood |
| Water | Metal | Wood | Earth | Fire |
What Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water Stand For
Each element goes with a direction and a season, and is also used to describe temperament. BaZi records your birth with Heavenly Stems and branches, and each of those belongs to one element too.
| Element | Direction, season | Stems / branches | Tendency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wood | East, spring | Jia, Yi / Yin, Mao | Kind, ambitious |
| Fire | South, summer | Bing, Ding / Si, Wu | Warm, outgoing |
| Earth | Center, end of each season | Wu, Ji / Chou, Chen, Wei, Xu | Steady, trustworthy |
| Metal | West, autumn | Geng, Xin / Shen, You | Decisive, principled |
| Water | North, winter | Ren, Gui / Zi, Hai | Clever, adaptable |
The earth Earthly Branches each mark the last month of a season, so earth stands for the change between seasons. The tendency column is only a traditional analogy. Your chart has eight characters, each with its own element, so nobody belongs to just one.
Generating Is Not Always Good, Controlling Is Not Always Bad
Whether it helps depends on how strong the side being fed or controlled already is. A young tree needs water, but too much rots its roots. When the branches grow too thick, pruning helps the tree grow better.
BaZi first checks how strong your Day Master is, which is called Day Master strength. If yours is strong, being controlled or drained a little brings balance. If yours is weak, you tend to need feeding and support.
The elements that work in your favor are your favorable elements. They may be ones that feed you, or ones that control you.
From Elements to Ten Gods: Why Wood Is Wealth for Metal
For a metal Day Master, wood counts as Wealth. Whatever you can control and manage is a resource you can use.
Every other character in your chart relates to your Day Master in one of five ways. Each stem is also yin or yang, so Geng is yang metal and Xin is yin metal. Splitting each of the five relations by polarity gives the Ten Gods (Shi Shen). Take a Geng Metal Day Master:
| Relation | Group | For Geng Metal | Ten Gods |
|---|---|---|---|
| Same element as you | Peers | Geng Metal, Xin Metal | Friend, Rob Wealth |
| Generates you | Seal | Wu Earth, Ji Earth | Indirect Seal, Direct Seal |
| You generate it | Output | Ren Water, Gui Water | Eating God, Hurting Officer |
| You control it | Wealth | Jia Wood, Yi Wood | Indirect Wealth, Direct Wealth |
| Controls you | Officer and Killings | Bing Fire, Ding Fire | Seven Killings, Direct Officer |
Ziwei Doushu Uses the Five Elements Too: The Element Bureau
Ziwei Doushu uses the Five Element Bureau (Wu Xing Ju) to set when your first ten-year period begins. Each of these periods is a Decade Cycle (Da Xian), Ziwei's ten-year stretch of luck.
There are five bureaus: Water-2, Wood-3, Metal-4, Earth-5 and Fire-6. The free Ziwei Doushu calculator shows yours in Chinese at the top of the chart, such as 水二局 for Water-2. The number is the age your first Decade Cycle starts, counted the traditional way with birth as age one, so Water-2 starts at 2.
