How to Read Patterns — A Pattern Analysis Guide Starting from Zero
Faced with a bazi chart, where does pattern analysis begin?
For those new to the pattern method, the biggest difficulty when facing a chart is not knowing where to start. Pattern analysis has a standard process — it doesn't require talent, just step-by-step execution. This article starts from the most basic operations and teaches you how to read patterns when you get a bazi chart.
Five steps to read a pattern: cast the chart → locate the month branch → determine the pattern → examine coordination → deliver a conclusion. Every step has a standard operation; no guessing or intuition needed.
Step 1: Cast the Chart and Confirm the Day Master
After receiving a birth time, the first step is to correctly cast the chart — lay out all four pillars (year, month, day, hour) with their stems and branches. Confirm which Heavenly Stem is the Day Master (the stem of the Day Pillar); this is the core of all analysis. When casting the chart, note three common pitfalls: True Solar Time correction (the time difference between birthplace and standard time, which within China can be around half an hour), lunar-to-Gregorian calendar conversion (especially the year boundary — times before Li Chun belong to the previous year), and the early/late Zi hour issue (Zi hour spans 23:00–1:00, with the first half belonging to the previous day and the second half to the following day). After casting the chart, label all four Heavenly Stems with their Ten God relationships to the Day Master — what Ten God is the Year Stem to the DM, what is the Month Stem, what is the Hour Stem. Then label the Ten Gods hidden in all four Earthly Branches as well. Only after completing Ten God annotation should you proceed to pattern analysis. Chart casting may seem like manual labor, but it is the bedrock of all analysis — if the chart is cast wrong, everything that follows will be wrong.
Steps 2 & 3: Locate the Month Branch and Determine the Pattern
Step two of reading a pattern: see what Earthly Branch occupies the month pillar. The month-branch Earthly Branch determines the basic direction of the pattern. Example: Day Master is Jia Wood, month branch is You Metal (You hides Xin Metal, which is the DM's Direct Officer) — the pattern direction is Direct Officer Pattern. Month branch is Chen Earth (Chen hides Wu Earth, Yi Wood, Gui Water; for Jia DM, Wu is Indirect Wealth, Yi is Robwealth, Gui is Direct Resource) — this is a mixed-energy month branch; further analysis of which stem penetrates and which branch combination forms is needed to determine the pattern. Step three: determine the pattern. First check whether it is a special pattern — is one Five Element absolutely dominant throughout the chart? It could be a Monopolistic Pattern or a Follow Pattern. If it is a special pattern, analyze according to special-pattern rules. If it is not a special pattern, follow the standard-pattern procedure: if Killing is present, address Killing first (does Seven Killings appear and require priority handling?); if no Killing, determine the pattern directly from the month-branch Ten God (whatever Ten God is the primary qi of the month branch, that is the pattern). After determining the pattern, give it a name — Direct Officer Pattern, Wealth Pattern, Resource Pattern, Eating God Pattern, Hurting Officer Pattern, etc. The pattern's name is not important (it is merely a communication label); the pattern's structure is the substance.
Steps 4 & 5: Examine Coordination and Deliver a Conclusion
After determining the pattern, proceed to step four: examine the pattern's coordination — is the yongshen present? Is the pattern pure or turbid? Are there break-point factors? First, look at the yongshen — following the pattern direction, check whether a suitable yongshen is present. For an Officer Pattern, is there Wealth producing Officer or Resource protecting Officer? For a Wealth Pattern, is there Output producing Wealth or Officer-Killing protecting Wealth? Does the yongshen have a root? Is it being restrained? A yongshen that is affectionate and forceful = the pattern has strong structural substance. Second, examine purity vs. turbidity — has the pattern's core Ten God been mixed (Officer-Killing mixing, Direct-Indirect Wealth mixing, etc.), restrained to destruction, or combined away? A turbid pattern loses points on its level. Finally, check for break-point risk — is there a direct threat positioned next to the pattern's core Ten God (Hurting Officer restraining Officer, Companion robbing Wealth, etc.)? If there is a threat, the pattern faces future break-point risk. Step five: deliver a conclusion integrated with luck cycles. After examining the natal-chart pattern, add dynamic luck-cycle analysis — during which luck cycles does the pattern perform well, and during which is it challenged? The final pattern-analysis conclusion should include: pattern type, pattern level (high/medium/average), yongshen direction and remedial advice, and critical periods within the luck cycles.
Five-Step Pattern Reading Method
Career & Wealth
Love & Relationship
Personality
Health
Classical Support
Practical Application Points
- Follow the five-step process without skipping : Cast chart → locate month branch → determine pattern → examine coordination → deliver conclusion. Each step depends on the correctness of the previous step. No skipping means no missing critical information.
- The pattern's name is not important; structure is the substance : Don't get hung up on what the pattern should be called. The difference between a Direct Officer Pattern and a Wealth Pattern is not in the name but in the different month-branch Ten God and the different yongshen direction.
- The luck-cycle conclusion is what clients care about most : Don't just give a pattern label. What clients truly care about is 'what am I suited to do' and 'when is the best time to do it.' Pattern analysis must translate into practical advice.
Common Follow-up Questions
Q: Do I need to memorize a lot of rules to learn the pattern method?
A:
At the start, you do need to memorize some basic rules (Ten God production-restraint, pattern classification, yongshen directions). But you don't need rote memorization — once you understand the core logic of the pattern method, the rules become natural deductions.