定日主 · Find the Day Master
日柱天干是命主本人。这张盘的日干是庚，庚为阳金——古人说是天上的太白，带煞而刚健。往后每一步都以庚金为中心来看。
The stem of the day pillar stands for the person, and it is called the Day Master. Here it is Geng (庚), yang Metal. The classics compare it to Tai Bai (太白), the planet Venus: martial and hard. Every step that follows reads the chart from Geng Metal's point of view.
庚金帶煞，剛健為最。得水而清，得火而銳。土潤則生，土乾則脆。能贏甲兄，輸於乙妹。
《滴天髓阐微》· 通神论 · 天干 · 庚金
Geng Metal carries a killing edge, and hardness is its whole nature. Water makes it clear, and fire makes it sharp. Moist earth gives it life, and dry earth makes it brittle. It can beat its elder brother, Jia (甲) Wood, but it loses to its younger sister, Yi (乙) Wood.
看月令 · Read the month
月支酉是庚金的帝旺之地，也是庚的羊刃。生在酉月的庚金，得令而旺，锋芒未退——先要知道它太强，才知道它需要什么。
The month branch is You (酉), the Rooster. It is where Geng Metal is at its strongest, its Zenith (帝旺) among the twelve growth stages. It is also Geng's Blade Star (羊刃). Geng born in a Rooster month is in season and has lost none of its edge. You have to see that it is too strong before you can see what it needs.
陽刃者，劫我正財之神，乃正財之七煞也。祿前一位，惟五陽有之，故為陽刃。不曰劫而曰刃，劫之甚也。刃宜伏制，官煞皆宜，財印相隨，尤為貴顯。
《子平真詮》· 論陽刃
The Blade is the god that robs my Direct Wealth: it is the Seven Killings of that wealth. It sits one place past the Prosperity position (禄), and only the five yang stems have it, which is why it is called the yang blade. It is called a blade, not a robber, because it robs so hard. A Blade wants to be restrained, and the Direct Officer and the Seven Killings can both do it. With Wealth and Resource alongside, the honor is greater still.
断身强弱 · Weigh the Day Master
月令当旺，年干辛金帮身，地支酉金再助；四柱里金的力量占了上风。判为身强。身强的命，不怕克，反而要有东西来克，才成器。
The season backs the Day Master. The year stem, Xin (辛), is Metal too, and the month branch, the Rooster, is Metal again. Metal dominates the pillars, so the Day Master is strong. A strong chart is not afraid of being controlled. It needs something to control it before it becomes useful.
取用神 · Choose the Useful God
强金要火来炼，这张盘取丁火为用：月干丁火是正官，紧贴日主，正好煅庚；时干丙火是七杀，也透了出来。拿《穷通宝鉴》八月庚金这一条来对，只合一部分。丁透、丙见，这两条合；“用甲”这一条不合：四柱的天干和藏干里都没有甲木，唯一的木是年支卯里藏的乙木。后半段的“羊刃驾杀”也不能照搬：书里要的是丙杀藏在地支、羊刃无刑克，这张盘的丙透在时干，地支又有子卯相刑和子午、卯酉两冲。这张盘真正具备的，是羊刃有官、杀两头来制，合的是第二步《子平真诠》那句“刃宜伏制，官煞皆宜”。
Strong Metal wants Fire to forge it, so this chart takes Ding (丁), yin Fire, as its Useful God. The month stem is Ding, the Direct Officer, right beside the Day Master, where it can temper Geng. The hour stem, Bing (丙), yang Fire, is the Seven Killings, and it shows on the chart as well. Checked against the Qiong Tong Bao Jian (穷通宝鉴) rule for Geng Metal in the eighth month, the chart matches only in part. The rule asks for Ding to show and for Bing to be present, and both of those hold. It also asks for Jia (甲) Wood, and that fails: there is no Jia Wood anywhere in the chart, on a stem or hidden in a branch. The only Wood is the Yi (乙) hidden in the year branch, Mao (卯), the Rabbit. The second half of the rule, the Blade riding the Killings, does not apply as written either. It asks for the Bing Killings to be hidden in a branch, and for the Blade to be free of punishment and clash (刑克). Here Bing shows on the hour stem, Zi (子) and Mao punish each other, and there are two clashes, Zi with Wu (午) and Mao with You. What the chart does have is a Blade held in check by both the Direct Officer and the Seven Killings. That is what the Zi Ping Zhen Quan line in step 2 asks for (刃宜伏制，官煞皆宜): a Blade wants to be restrained, and the Officer and the Killings can both do it.
八月庚金，剛銳未退，用丁用甲，丙不可少。若丁甲透，又見一丙，功名顯赫，且見羊刃，無刑剋，丙殺藏支，名為羊刃駕殺，主出將入相，直介忠臣。
《穷通宝鉴》· 论庚金 · 三秋庚金（八月庚金）
Geng Metal in the eighth month still has its hardness and its edge. Use Ding, use Jia, and Bing cannot be left out. If Ding and Jia show on the stems and a Bing appears as well, fame and office will be great. If the Blade is there too, with no punishment or clash, and the Bing Killings sit hidden in a branch, it is called the Blade riding the Killings. Such a person leads armies abroad and serves as a minister at court, an upright and loyal servant.
排十神 · Lay out the Ten Gods
以庚金为我：辛为劫财，丁为正官，丙为七杀；地支卯是正财，酉是劫财（羊刃），午藏丁己是正官与正印，子藏癸是伤官。官杀、财、印俱全，是这张盘的格局所在。
Take Geng Metal as "me". On the stems, Xin is the Rob Wealth, Ding the Direct Officer and Bing the Seven Killings. Among the branches, Mao, the Rabbit, is the Direct Wealth, and You, the Rooster, is the Rob Wealth (the Blade). Wu, the Horse, hides Ding and Ji (己) Earth: the Direct Officer and the Direct Resource. Zi, the Rat, hides Gui (癸) Water, the Hurting Officer. Officer and Killings, Wealth and Resource are all present, and that is the structure of this chart.
看合冲 · Check the combinations and clashes
地支子、午、卯、酉四正俱全，两两相冲：子冲午，卯冲酉；子与卯之间还有一层相刑。照直觉，两冲一刑该是一张动荡的盘，可是任铁樵在《滴天髓阐微》里讲“顺逆之机”，举的正是这张盘：子午相冲，水制住火，午火就伤不到酉金；卯酉相冲，金制住木，卯木就不再去生火。两冲各自把对日主不利的一方压住，整段的结论落在“八方宾服，四海攸同”，说的是一统天下的命。任氏还说这张盘五行无土，虽生秋月，“不作旺论”，和第三步按月令判身强不同；本页照本站的方法走，这处分歧照实列在这里。下面一句是本站的评注，不是古书的断语：冲本身不分好坏，要看冲掉的是什么；若没有这样的制伏，两冲一刑才是变动多、不安稳的信号。
All four cardinal branches are here: Zi (子) the Rat, Wu (午) the Horse, Mao (卯) the Rabbit and You (酉) the Rooster. They clash in pairs, Zi against Wu and Mao against You, and Zi and Mao also punish each other. At first glance, two clashes and a punishment should make an unsettled chart. Yet this is the very chart Ren Tieqiao uses in the Di Tian Sui Chan Wei (滴天髓阐微) to teach when a clash helps. In the clash of Zi and Wu, Water holds Fire down, so the Horse's Fire cannot hurt the Rooster's Metal. In the clash of Mao and You, Metal cuts the Wood, so the Rabbit's Wood stops feeding the Fire. Each clash holds back something that would have worked against the Day Master. His verdict ends on "the eight directions submit, the four seas are one": the chart of a ruler of the whole realm. Ren also says the chart has no Earth and, although born in autumn, should not be read as strong. That differs from step 3, which judges strength from the month, as this site's method does. The page follows the site's method and shows the disagreement here. One note of our own, not the classic's: a clash is neither good nor bad in itself, so ask what it knocks out. Where nothing is held in check like this, two clashes and a punishment do point to a restless chart.
天干庚辛丙丁，正配火炼秋金；地支子午卯酉，又配坎离震兑。支全四正，气贯八方，然五行无土，虽诞秋令，不作旺论。最喜子午逢冲，水克火，使午火不破酉金，足以辅主；更妙卯酉逢冲，金克木，则卯木不助午火，制伏得宜。
《滴天髓阐微》· 通神论 · 知命（任铁樵所举命例）
The stems Geng, Xin, Bing and Ding are fire forging autumn metal. The branches Zi, Wu, Mao and You answer to the trigrams Kan (坎), Li (离), Zhen (震) and Dui (兑). All four cardinal branches are present, and the qi reaches every direction. Yet there is no Earth among the five elements, so although the chart is born in autumn, it is not to be read as strong. Best of all, Zi clashes with Wu. Water overcomes Fire, so the Horse's Fire cannot break the Rooster's Metal, which is left free to support the Day Master. Better still, Mao clashes with You. Metal overcomes Wood, so the Rabbit's Wood no longer feeds the Horse's Fire. Each force is held in check exactly where it should be.
排大运 · Set the luck pillars
年干辛为阴，男命阴年生，大运逆排：从月柱丁酉倒推，依次为丙申、乙未、甲午、癸巳、壬辰、辛卯……起运岁数按出生到上一个节气（白露）的天数，三天折一年。
The year stem, Xin, is yin and the chart is male, so the luck pillars run backward from the month pillar, Ding You (丁酉): Bing Shen (丙申), Yi Wei (乙未), Jia Wu (甲午), Gui Si (癸巳), Ren Chen (壬辰), Xin Mao (辛卯), and so on. The starting age comes from the number of days between the birth and the previous month-opening term, White Dew (白露), counted at three days to a year.