BAZI KNOWLEDGE BASE
Stem–Branch Dual Link: Adjacent Pillars, Noble Pairs and Qi Direction
Stem–Branch Dual Link describes adjacent complete pillars: both stem and branch advance one place, as Jia-Zi is followed by Yi-Chou. It first describes an arrangement. Combinations, noble-person references and other support must be checked separately rather than assumed from adjacency.
How do the five source pairs connect?
These are pairs illustrating a relationship, not preassigned Day/Hour combinations. Both steps must occur in the same pair; a stem step elsewhere cannot supply a missing branch step.
| Full pair | Stem step | Branch step |
|---|---|---|
| Jia-Wu (甲午), Yi-Wei (乙未) | Jia → Yi | Wu → Wei |
| Bing-Shen (丙申), Ding-You (丁酉) | Bing → Ding | Shen → You |
| Wu-Xu (戊戌), Ji-Hai (己亥) | Wu → Ji | Xu → Hai |
| Jia-Zi (甲子), Yi-Chou (乙丑) | Jia → Yi | Zi → Chou |
| Geng-Wu (庚午), Xin-Wei (辛未) | Geng → Xin | Wu → Wei |
How do the two noble-person pairs work?
In Jia-Zi / Yi-Chou, Jia’s noble branches are Chou/Wei and Yi’s are Zi/Shen, so each receives a noble branch from the other. In Geng-Wu / Xin-Wei, Geng uses Chou/Wei and Xin Yin/Wu; the same reciprocal relationship appears.
The passage compresses these references into grouped wording. Keep the individual lookup: Yi’s other noble branch is Shen, Xin’s is Yin. The pooled phrase does not assign Zi/Wu to both stems.
Are adjacency, combination and a valid birth-hour pair interchangeable?
Jia/Yi are adjacent but do not form a Five Combination; Jia combines with Ji. Wu/Wei branches combine, while Shen/You do not. Dual Link is therefore not the same as Heaven–Earth Union.
Jia-Wu Day with Yi-Wei Hour fails the hour-stem (the upper symbol in the birth-hour column) rule: a Jia Day’s Wei Hour is Xin-Wei. Jia-Zi/Yi-Chou and Bing-Shen/Ding-You are compatible Day/Hour pairs. Unspecified source positions should not be invented as birth data.
Why can a forward step be called receding qi?
The source calls Bing-Yin → Ding-Mao receding qi and the reverse advancing qi. These labels are not synonyms for rising or falling cycle numbers. The passage illustrates one qi judgment without supplying a universal directional table.
First establish adjacency, then ask for the separate noble, Lu/Horse and qi evidence. Favorable historical names do not erase other chart relationships or guarantee achievement.
Continue reading
- Special patterns overview
Distinguish local configurations, whole-chart methods and source cases.
- Heaven–Earth Union: the actual double combination
Compare two distinct sets of conditions.
- Officer and actual authority relations
Return the placement to the month and whole chart.