At a glance
- Key step
- Choose criteria before classification
- Terms
- Formation, disruption, rescue
Definition and terminology
A pattern identifies a structure and its qualifying, supporting or disrupting conditions rather than a single fortune score. Sanming Tonghui explains categories through resource, output, office and wealth and records many names. A single authority or wealth label does not by itself establish a whole-chart pattern, especially for exceptional types.
Structure and rules
Some methods begin with the commanding month stem and its visibility, then assess support and related Ten Gods. Others emphasize dominant tendencies or special combinations. Ordinary, following and transforming patterns require different conditions. Formation, disruption and rescue are internal judgments that depend on a rule chain, not one isolated aphorism.
Worked reading
In a teaching chart with Jia as Day Master and relevant Xin metal from the month command visible above, one method considers an Officer-pattern candidate. It then checks resource mediation and output interference. Candidate is essential: the complete chart and criteria are missing. Xin alone cannot establish a prediction of official employment.
Context and limits
Pattern names reflect historical office, status and family institutions. Translating them into modern abilities or careers introduces new assumptions. Commentators may classify the same chart differently, without an independently validated winner. Compare the derivation and preserve disagreement; historical rankings of nobility and poverty should not become judgments of a person’s worth.
References & further reading
Historical sources document ideas and rules of their time, not empirical proof of predictive accuracy. Source notes identify the nature and scope of each reference.
- 《三命通会》（四库全书本）Primary / tradition source
Public-domain natal-divination compilation with historical editorial criticism; rule documentation, not modern validation.
- 《三命通会》卷五：论印食官财名义Primary / tradition source
Public-domain text explaining Day Stem relations, resource, output, office, wealth and patterns.