The Ten Day Masters: Jia to Gui

The stem of the day pillar is the Day Master, the person the chart describes and the starting point of every reading. Each of the ten stems has an element and a polarity, and tradition describes its nature through images from nature.

Jia Wood · the towering tree

Jia is the timber tree — a clear trunk growing straight up. A Jia Day Master tends to be upright and self-directed, working from principle, hard to shift once a direction is set, and carrying responsibility by instinct. The flip side of standing that straight is difficulty bending: situations that call for going around rather than through tend to cost this person.

Yi Wood · the vine and grass

Yi is the creeping vine — soft but tough, climbing and winding its way to distance. A Yi Day Master is yielding on the surface and firm underneath, highly adaptable, good at reading a room and adjusting. The caution is that fine-grained thinking turns inward easily; decisions get turned over one time too many and arrive late.

Bing Fire · the sun

Bing is the sun, shining on everything without holding back. A Bing Day Master is warm, outgoing and open — feelings show on the face, arrive fast and pass fast — with a natural gift for lifting a room. The cost is impatience and bluntness; when the glare is strongest this person offends without meaning to.

Ding Fire · the lamp flame

Ding is candle and lamplight — it does not scorch, but it lasts. A Ding Day Master is gentle and finely attuned, considerate, observant, often the one actually taking care of people in a group. Underneath, though, is real sensitivity: feelings are not shown, and when things knot up they knot inward.

Wu Earth · the mountain wall

Wu is high ground and city wall — heavy, and able to bear weight. A Wu Day Master is steady and dependable, wide in tolerance, the sort people hand things to, good for a promise and durable under grinding. The other face is stubbornness: once a view sets it barely moves, and change is met slowly.

Ji Earth · the tilled field

Ji is garden soil — soft, moist, able to grow things. A Ji Day Master is practical and easy-going with a fine attention to others, patient, good at holding what has been built. The caution is over-thinking and over-considering; work lands on this person’s shoulders and the line is hard to draw.

Geng Metal · the blade and the ore

Geng is unworked ore and the weapon made from it — hard and sharp. A Geng Day Master is decisive and clean-cut, loyal, strongly attached to right and wrong, and does not dawdle when it is time to act. The cost is roughness: going straight at things leaves little room to turn.

Xin Metal · the polished jewel

Xin is jewellery and jade — metal that becomes itself through polishing. A Xin Day Master is refined, aesthetically sharp, demanding about quality and attentive to detail. Strong self-regard cuts both ways: slights go unspoken and stay remembered for a long time.

Ren Water · the river

Ren is the running river and the sea — broad, and not easily contained. A Ren Day Master is quick-witted and wide in outlook, able to accommodate all kinds of people, well-travelled in mind and full of ideas. The weakness is constancy: interests move on fast, and things get started more easily than finished.

Gui Water · rain and dew

Gui is rain, dew and the spring — it moistens without a sound. A Gui Day Master is inward and finely made, strong in intuition and imagination, often with depth others do not see. Thought runs long and feeling runs deep; the swings stay inside, and melancholy comes easily.