Basics · polarity

Yin and Yang in BaZi

Polarity looks like the simplest thing in the system and it does the most work. It halves the pair space, it splits each group of ten gods into a direct and an indirect family, and it decides whether the twelve stages run forwards or backwards from the birth stage.

The polarity of your own eight characters

The output labels the polarity of each of the eight characters, counts them, then gives the polarity of the day master and the direction its stages run.

Five and five, six and six

Stems and branches split evenly, without exception.

ComponentYangYin
Heavenly stems (10)甲 丙 戊 庚 壬乙 丁 己 辛 癸
Earthly branches (12)子 寅 辰 午 申 戌丑 卯 巳 未 酉 亥

Stem polarity alternates: Jia, Bing, Wu, Geng and Ren are yang, and Yi, Ding, Ji, Xin and Gui are yin. Branch polarity alternates the same way: Zi, Yin, Chen, Wu, Shen and Xu are yang, the rest yin. Both follow from position and never vary by chart, which is a fact you can check letter by letter on this page.

How polarity splits the ten gods into two families

Under the same element relation, a stem of the same polarity as the day master gives the indirect family and the opposite polarity gives the direct family.

Ten godPolarity against the day masterFamily
比肩
Peer		same polarityindirect family
劫财
Rival		opposite polaritydirect family
食神
Eating God		same polarityindirect family
伤官
Hurting Officer		opposite polaritydirect family
偏财
Indirect Wealth		same polarityindirect family
正财
Direct Wealth		opposite polaritydirect family
七杀
Seven Killings		same polarityindirect family
正官
Direct Officer		opposite polaritydirect family
偏印
Indirect Resource		same polarityindirect family
正印
Direct Resource		opposite polaritydirect family

The five relations are same element, what I generate, what I control, what controls me and what generates me; in each group the same-polarity god comes first (Peer, Eating God, Indirect Wealth, Seven Killings, Indirect Resource). This is step two of the ten-god derivation, card 29 on the methodology page.

Polarity decides which way the stages run

Yang stems run forward from their birth stage and yin stems run backward, on the same table of twelve stages.

StemPolarityBirth stage atDirectionProsperity lands on
甲 JiaYang亥 Haiforward卯 Mao
乙 YiYin午 Wubackward寅 Yin
丙 BingYang寅 Yinforward午 Wu
丁 DingYin酉 Youbackward巳 Si
戊 WuYang寅 Yinforward午 Wu
己 JiYin酉 Youbackward巳 Si
庚 GengYang巳 Siforward酉 You
辛 XinYin子 Zibackward申 Shen
壬 RenYang申 Shenforward子 Zi
癸 GuiYin卯 Maobackward亥 Hai

Frequently asked

These are the questions specific to this page; broader conventions live on the methodology page.

Is yang always better than yin?
No. Polarity is a position, not a grade. It decides which family a ten god falls into and which way the stages run, and nothing else on this site treats it as quality.
Why does polarity reduce 120 pairs to 60?
Because stem and branch must match in polarity. Five yang stems against six yang branches gives 30, five yin stems against six yin branches gives the other 30.
What are the indirect and direct families?
Same-polarity gods are named indirect (indirect wealth, seven killings, indirect resource) and opposite-polarity gods direct. The names come from the tradition; the rule that produces them is published here.
Can a chart be too yin or too yang?
The count is computable, and this page shows it. Whether a count is a problem depends on the month command and the rest of the chart, so this site prints the count without judging it.

Reference index

Every enumerable component of ba zi has its own page here. Each page is computed by the same engine and can be checked item by item — none of it is a personality table.