Every Chinese New Year, one key activity will be to looked up the zodiac analysis by various Feng Shui masters. The analysis would highlight possible occurrences on topics such as personal finance, relationship and career etc.
In this article, we explore the basis for this annual Chinese zodiac analysis, what it represents from a Bazi [Chinese astrology based on your birth date and time] perspective and its reliability.
In Chinese Zodiacs, there are 12 animal signs. It is the actually the representation of the 12 Earthly Branches used in Bazi as highlighted in the table below.
The annual pillar presented actually represents one of the 60 sexagenary combinations (六十甲子) based on 10 heavenly stem and 12 Earthly Branches. It is a measurement of time in a cycle of 60 which starts with the 甲子 (Jia Zi) pillar and ends with 癸亥 (Gui Hai) pillar. For example, year 2022 is壬寅 pillar. This 60 sexagenary combinations also extend its representation for month, day and hour which form the 4 pillars of time.
What does annual Chinese Zodiac analysis mean from Bazi perspective?
There are basically 2 methods used for annual Chinese Zodiac forecast which are studying the influence of the annual pillar to your natal chart year pillar and the Auxiliary Stars(神煞).
Influence of the Annual Pillar to Your Natal Chart Year Pillar
The annual pillar is also commonly known as Grand Duke (太岁). The methodology which we discussed here is commonly known as Offending the Grand Duke (Fan Tai Sui - 犯太岁). It highlights the interaction between the annual pillar and the chart holder's year pillar as shown in the figure below.
There are four different types of (Fan Tai Sui - 犯太岁) as illustrated in the figure below, taking year 2022 as an example.
To understand the annual Chinese zodiac forecast, we need to first interpret what does the year pillar represents in Bazi chart. It can refer to your grandparents/parents/elders and external environment e.g., your country, government or anything that is outside your circle of life etc. Thus, if you offend the Grand Duke (犯太岁) for that particular year, it may imply that there may be some occurrences relating to people or matters represented by the year pillar.
Next, we will analyse the type of interaction between your Chinese Zodiac and the Grand Duke to understand the possible types of occurrences.
For Clash冲, it can represent opposition, change and sometimes, the loss or removal of something - or someone.
A Clash冲 can work out in many ways. It could be an incompatibility with a situation or path you’ve chosen. At other times, it could also cause a person to lose something, such as wealth, or a company. It can also mean physical harm or incompatibility with people.
As for punishment刑, it refers to situations where you offer someone help in goodwill but ended up getting into trouble or at the receiving end of the flak. Punishment normally involved family members.
A Harm害 usually involves the feeling or thought that you are put in a difficult or even dangerous situation due to someone else. However, for year 2022, the effect will be greatly reduced as Hai亥 and寅Yin also have a combination effect 六合.
Regarding Sitting on Grand Duke situation, it does not have much implication except if the Grand Duke element is unfavorable in your natal chart, it would start activating its influence.
Auxiliary Stars
The other method often used for annual Chinese Zodiac forecast is the Auxiliary Stars. It is a separate system used in complementary with Bazi analysis. The auxiliary stars can be interpreted as an add on influence towards the Bazi interaction. Take for example, the Chinese Zodiac of Snake. For year 2022, It has a punishment interaction with Grand Duke. However, it also has a highly positive Nobleman star天乙贵人. Thus, we can analyse that although there might be some unpleasant occurrence, a Samaritan may appear and help you to resolve the situation.
Conclusion – Is the annual Chinese Zodiac Forecast Reliable?
As highlighted earlier, the annual Chinese zodiac forecast only take into account the interaction of your year pillar, which only accounts for 25% of your Bazi Natal Chart. It left out the analysis of the remaining month, day, hour and the ten-year luck pillar which may alter the outcome of the interaction between the year pillar and the Grand Duke.
For example, as highlighted in the figure below, the ten-year luck pillar could have a combination effect with the Grand Duke. This would greatly reduce the influence of “Offending the Grand Duke”. If the combination provides favourable element, it may produce positive outcome for the chart holder during the year. Through this example, it helps to illustrate the common discrepancy felt by chart holders between annual Chinese Zodiac forecast and their experiences.
Thus, to get a holistic and reliable forecast, it would need to account for the whole Bazi Chart. However, notwithstanding the limitation of the annual Chinese zodiac forecast highlighted, it still can provide some insights on the possible occurrences based on what we have discussed earlier. The important attitude is not to take it too seriously and just have some good fun with it.
If you are interested to have more in depth understanding of yourself and the challenges ahead through Bazi, you can click on this link to get a free preliminary assessment first.