In the theoretical system of Bazi (Eight Characters) fortune-telling, the mutual combination of heavenly stems and earthly branches, as well as the generation and overcoming relationships among the elements they contain, are the keys to interpreting one’s destiny. For example, in the Five Elements theory, wood generates fire, fire generates earth, earth generates metal, metal generates water, and water generates wood, forming a cycle of generation; while wood overcomes earth, earth overcomes water, water overcomes fire, fire overcomes metal, and metal overcomes wood, constituting the relationships of overcoming. These relationships of generation and overcoming are used in the analysis of Bazi fortune-telling to judge the auspiciousness or inauspiciousness of various fortunes.
The origin of Feng Shui and Bazi can be traced back to the Tang Dynasty or even earlier periods. Archaeological findings indicate that there are many records of stems and branches used for timekeeping in oracle bones, with one Shang Dynasty oracle bone containing a complete set of the sixty Jiazi and numerous contents using the stem-branch method for dating years and days. The method of using stems and branches to determine dates evolved over time, adding uses for determining years, months, hours, divination, and various forms of fortune-telling and calculations.
During the Tang Dynasty, an official named Li Xuzhong proposed that one’s destiny could be predicted based on the year, month, and day of birth, which can be regarded as the early form of Bazi fortune-telling, but at that time it could only be called “six-character” fortune-telling. Later, in the Five Dynasties and early Song Dynasty, Xu Zi Ping, building on the works of Li Xuzhong, added the “hour” factor, forming the complete “eight-character” fortune-telling system, which was recorded in the book “Yuanhai Zhiping”. To commemorate Xu Zi Ping’s contribution, Bazi fortune-telling is also called “Zhiping Method” by later generations. The application of Bazi fortune-telling is mainly based on the principles of Yin and Yang and the Five Elements, using the generation and overcoming relationships of the heavenly stems and earthly branches to calculate a person’s character and destiny. It is believed that one’s destiny throughout life can be derived from the “conflicts, punishments, generations, overcomings, and combinations” of the Five Elements. Therefore, Bazi not only reflects the ancient Chinese people’s profound understanding of time, but also reflects their unique cognition of the relationship between the universe and human beings.
