Ba Zi/Date Selection

=Date Selection=

Introduction
In Chinese divination, the selection of an auspicious date is based on the Hsia Calendar. Auspicious dates are selected for marriages, job applications, business transactions, signing of agreements and other important events. The general strategy to select a good or auspicious day is to follow these steps:


 * 1) For a particular period (week/month/year), first strike off the days that are generally inauspicious, such as [Danger] or Three Killings days.
 * 2) By comparing with a person's Ba Zi, strike off those days that are personally inauspicious, such as Extinction Star (pX-) days.
 * 3) After narrowing down the search, the remaining days are probably usable if not auspicious. Select the remaining days that auspicious, such as [Success] or Good Asset days, and/or those that are personally advantageous, such as Combination (pGC-) and/or Heavenly Doctor (pGH-) days.

Column Headings
The signs/symbols (Three Killings, Good Asset, Success, etc) that indicate whether a day is auspicious or inauspicious may appear under any Column Heading (Year, Month, Day, Season, etc) in a table for convenience of representation only. As a calendar with listings by date, all signs/symbols refer to the day itself, and may not indicate any relationship whatsoever with the column under which it appears. For example, the personal Extinction Stars are put into the Season column for convenience only, as it makes the table more compact; the Extinction Stars do not have any relationship with the Season. If an Extinction Star is to be put into a column that represents a person's Ba Zi, namely one of the 10 Heavenly Stems, an additional 10 columns will have to be included, making the table unwieldy. This problem will be compounded if the same logic is applied to the Earthly Branches, and 12 additional columns will need to be included. Column proliferation is avoided by simply enclosing the signs/symbols within round or square brackets, then putting them into existing columns in the tables, with the understanding that all signs/symbols have meaning only within the context of the date (row) itself. In other words, these signs/symbols within brackets can be put under any other column without altering their meanings.

Years
The following is a list of Gregorian calendar years that may be used for the selection of auspicious dates in the Hsia Calendar system:

Abbreviations, Signs And Symbols Used
The use of abbreviations, signs and symbols is to minimise the size of the date selection calendar, whilst facilitating understanding without bloat.

Brackets

 * 1) [] - Square Brackets are used to indicate effects that are solely dependent on the date itself, and are independent of a person's Ba Zi. Within square brackets, capital letters are acronyms for the Pillar and Stem / Branch of the Date. For example, "MH" refers to the Month Heavenly Stem of the Date, and "YE" refers to the Year Earthly Branch of the Date.
 * 2)  - Round Brackets are used to indicate effects that are dependent on BOTH the date and a person's Ba Zi. Within round brackets, the small letter "p" implies that the effect is "personal" to a person's Ba Zi. The other small letters are acronyms for the Pillar and Stem / Branch of a person's Ba Zi chart. For example, "mh" refers to the Month Heavenly Stem, and "de" refers to the Day Earthly Branch of a person's Ba Zi.

The use of square and round brackets, together with the use of capital and small letters, are designed to help a reader to rapidly decipher and understand the usefulness of a day in date selection.

Prosperity Stars
"GPS-" represents a Good Prosperity Star, and is an auspicious day for investments. For any particular Date, the Properity Star is computed using the Heavenly Stem of the Year and the Earthly Branch of the Day. For example, "GPS-DE5" means there is a Prosperity Star on that day, where the Day Earthly Branch has a value of 5 (representing Dragon).

Year Asset or Storage Star
"GA-" represents Good Asset (Year Asset or Storage Star) days. For example, [GA-DE2] represents a Year Asset Day, with a Day Earthly Branch of 2 (representing Ox).

Heavenly Doctor (天医星)
"pGH-" are days of the Personal Good Heavenly Doctor, when the Month Earthly Branch (the Earthly Branch of the Month of Birth in a person's Ba Zi), combines with the Heavenly Doctor Star in the Day Earthly Branch (the Earthly Branch of the Day in the respective Date). For example, "pGH-me12" represents an auspicious date for a person whose Ba Zi has a Month Earthly Branch with a value of 12 (representing Pig).

The Earthly Branch Of The Personal Year Pillar
"pGC-ye1" (2, 3,... 12) : This is the Personal Good Combination day for someone with an Earthly Branch of 1 (2, 3,... 12) in a Ba Zi's Year Pillar. It indicates that the combination between the Earthly Branch of the Day (for the respective Date) and the Earthly Branch of Year (in a person's Ba Zi) is auspicious. For example, "pGC-ye6" is an auspicious day for a person whose Ba Zi has a Year Pillar where the Earthly Branch is 6 (representing Snake).

Clashes With The Year
"XY-" : These inauspicious days, also known as Year Breaker days, are days where the Earthly Branch of the Year clashes with the Earthly Branch of the Day. For example XY-10 means that the Earthly Branch of the Day is 10 (representing Rooster), and this clashes with the Earthly Branch of the Year, resulting in an inauspicious day.

Clashes With The Month
"XM-" : These inauspicious days, also known as Month Breaker days, are days where the Earthly Branch of the Month clashes with the Earthly Branch of the Day. For example XM-9 means that the Earthly Branch of the Day is 9 (representing Monkey), and this clashes with the Earthly Branch of the Month, resulting in a bad day.

Three Killings
"X3-" : These inauspicious days are known as Yearly Three Killings Days, and represent the clash of the Element of the Day with the 5-Element Structure of the Year. For example, X3-Wood means the clash of the Day Element of Metal against the Wood Structure of the Year. These are inauspicious days.

There are four frames (structures) of the Three Harmony Combination of the 12 Earthly Branches:
 * 1) Water Structure - consisting of Dragon (E5), Monkey (E9) and Rat (E1). The Water Structure clashes with all Fire Elements, namely Snake, Horse and Goat (E6, E7, E8).
 * 2) Wood Structure - consisting of Goat (E8), Pig (E12) and Rabbit (E4). The Wood Structure clases with all Metal Elements, namely Monkey, Rooster and Dog (E9, E10, E11).
 * 3) Fire Structure - consisting of Dog (E11), Tiger (E3) and Horse (E7). The Fire Structure clashes with all Water Elements, namely Pig, Rat and Ox (E12, E1, E2).
 * 4) Metal Structure - consisting of Snake (E6), Ox (E2) and Rooster (E10). The Metal Structure clashes with all Wood Elements, namely Tiger, Rabbit and Dragon (E3, E4, E5).

For example, on 1st Jan 2012, the year is a Rabbit Year, and this belongs to the Wood Structure. All days with Metal in its Earthly Branch will clash with the year Wood Structure. 1st Jan 2012 has an Earthly Branch of 10 (Rooster - Yin Metal) and this clashes with the Wood Structure. The 3 Killings [X3-Wood] is indicated for this day.

"X4-" : These are the Three Killings Days of the Month, and represent the clash of the Element of the Day with the 5-Element Structure of the Month. These are inauspicious days. For example, [X4-Metal] means that the Day Earthly Branch clashes with the Metal Structure of the Month Earthly Branch.

The Three Killings Days are obtained from the following table, by comparing the Earthly Branch of the Year or Month against the Earthly Branch of the Day:

Extinction Star (絕星)
"pX-" : This is known as the Extinction Star Day when the Qi in a person's Ba Zi is old and worn out. For example "pX-dh8" represents an Extinction Star Day for a person whose Ba Zi has a value of 8 (representing Xin - Yin Metal) in his Day Heavenly Stem (also known as the Heavenly Stem of the Day Pillar), and this represents an inauspicious day for the person.

No Wealth Days (无禄日)
"XX-10Bad" : These very inauspicious days are known as the No Wealth Days, the Big Disaster Days or Ten Ferocious Days. These are generally inauspicious days for everybody.

Four Separating Days
These four days are best avoided for important matters. They are March 20, June 20, September 22 and December 21. The Four Separating Days are one day before:
 * 1) Spring Equinox 春分
 * 2) Summer Solstice 夏至
 * 3) Autumn Equinox 秋分
 * 4) Winter Solstice 冬至

Four Extinct Days
These four days should not be used for important matters. They are February 3, May 5, August 8 and November 7. The Four Extinct Days are one day before:
 * 1) Coming of Spring  立春
 * 2) Coming of Summer Solstice 立夏
 * 3) Coming of Autumn Equinox 立秋
 * 4) Coming of Winter Solstice 立冬

Relationships of Heavenly Stems
Heavenly Stems have relationships with each other. The positive relationships are known as combinations, and the negative relationships as clashes. Combinations result in auspicious days, and clashes result in inauspicious days.

Combinations of Heavenly Stems (合)

 * 1) Yang Wood combines with Yin Earth
 * 2) Yin Wood combines with Yang Metal
 * 3) Yang Fire combines with Yin Metal
 * 4) Yin Fire combines with Yang Water
 * 5) Yang Earth combines with Yin Water

Clashes of Heavenly Stems (剋)

 * 1) Yang Wood clashes with Yang Metal
 * 2) Yin Wood clashes with Yin Metal
 * 3) Yang Fire clashes with Yang Water
 * 4) Yin Fire clashes with Yin Water

Relationships of Earthly Branches
Earthly Branches have relationships with each other. The positive relationships are known as combinations, and the negative relationships as clashes. Combinations result in auspicious days, and clashes result in inauspicious days.

The 12 Day Officers
The 12 Day Officers (建除十二神) refer to the 12 types of Qi or energies that may exist in that day. These generic energies are common to everybody on that day.
 * 1) Establish (建) - suitable for getting engaged/marriage proposal, starting a new job/school term, business transactions, medical treatments. NOT for funerals.
 * 2) Remove (除) - suitable for cleansing activities, ending a relationship, dieting, medical excisions, demolition or repair works. NOT for marriage, adoption, official openings, starting a new job, travel.
 * 3) Full (满) - suitable for bountiful outcomes e.g. official openings, house-warming party, install new equipment. NOT for marriage, legal settlements/lawsuits, starting a new job.
 * 4) Balance (平) - suitable for outcomes that are favourable for both parties (win-win) e.g. marriage, travels, situations where one needs to balance against a more dominating power. NOT for lawsuits.
 * 5) Stable (定) - suitable for activities with lasting effects (long-term) e.g. marriage. NOT for projects to be completed quickly, jobs with no prospects.
 * 6) Initiate (执) - suitable for activities that commence something (new beginnings). NOT for travel and moving house. Not a superior day.
 * 7) Destruction (破) - suitable for destroying something e.g. building demolition.
 * 8) Danger (危) - to be generally AVOIDED.
 * 9) Success (成) - MOST auspicious, POSITIVE and has MULTIPLIER effect. Suitable for all activities that require positive outcomes e.g. marriages, move into new house, start construction. NOT for lawsuits.
 * 10) Receive (收) - suitable to attain something/rewards. NOT for medical treatments or visiting the sick.
 * 11) Open (开) - suitable for office opening, house-warming, starting work, marriage, starting a new job/school. NOT for groudbreaking.
 * 12) Close (闭) - to be AVOIDED for activities of significance.