Outer structures: when the month offers no structure

In Four Pillars of Destiny (BaZi), an outer structure is a structure taken only when the month branch offers none that can be used. It is an adaptation, not the first step: if the month has a structure of its own, the chart stays with it.

The earlier lessons all take the structure from the month. Only when the month yields nothing usable does The True Interpretation of Ziping (子平真诠; Qing dynasty, 18th century) take another kind of structure, called an outer structure.

外格者，盖因月令无用，权而用之，故曰外格也。

Our translation: It is called an outer structure because the month branch offers nothing to use, and another is used instead, as an adaptation.

The True Interpretation of Ziping · On When to Use Outer Structures; The True Interpretation of Ziping · On Miscellaneous Structures

First, see whether the month offers something

The same chapter asks why anyone would look for an outer structure when the month has a useful element of its own. When the month offers a structural pivot, use the month’s structure. The book’s examples of a month with nothing to use are Wood born in spring, Water born in winter, and Earth born in a Dragon, Dog, Ox or Goat month: the Day Master and the month share one element, so what the month gives is the Day Master itself, and it can hardly serve as the pivot.

Even then, if Wealth, the Officer or Seven Killings is revealed on the stems, it is still used, not set aside for an outer structure. The True Interpretation of Ziping, on miscellaneous structures, is more specific: an outer structure stands only when the stems show no Officer or Seven Killings; with Wealth revealed it can still be taken, but if the Wealth is deeply rooted or revealed twice, Wealth still leads.

A month with nothing to use is also not the same as a damaged pivot. Wealth that is robbed or an Officer that is hurt is no reason to drop the structure for an outer one. Commentary on the True Interpretation of Ziping (子平真诠评注; ROC, 1936) says to look then for a remedy in the four pillars; without one, the structure is broken.

The True Interpretation of Ziping · On When to Use Outer Structures; Commentary on the True Interpretation of Ziping · On When to Use Outer Structures; The True Interpretation of Ziping · On Miscellaneous Structures

The outer structure sits on top

This series reads it as the lesson on combined and overlay structures does: an outer structure is one kind of overlay structure. First take the structure from the month and write down its name; then see whether the chart also meets an outer structure. If it does, the outer structure is a layer on top of the month’s structure, which is still written first.

The outer structures the books list

The True Interpretation of Ziping, on when to use outer structures, lists eight: Kindred Image (类象), Affiliated Image (属象), Clashing for Wealth (冲财), Gathering Prosperity (会禄), Punishment and Combination (刑合), Distant Welcome (遥迎), Well Railing (井栏) and Facing the Sun (朝阳). Its chapter on miscellaneous structures goes through this family one by one. Among them are the refinement of one direction, for example a Yang or Yin Wood Day Master born in spring with a complete Pig, Rabbit and Goat, or Tiger, Rabbit and Dragon, in the branches; following and transformation; and abandoning the self to follow Wealth or Seven Killings. Transformation has its own lesson on transformation structures, and abandoning the self to follow is covered in the lesson on following structures. Each structure has its own conditions in the book, not covered here.

The True Interpretation of Ziping · On When to Use Outer Structures; The True Interpretation of Ziping · On Miscellaneous Structures

Single-element and two-element structures

Dripping Heavenly Marrow (滴天髓), in its chapter on form and image, treats two kinds of chart shaped by the momentum of the five elements.

A single-element structure, which Dripping Heavenly Marrow calls a single image, is a chart whose whole energy returns to the Day Master’s own element. Dripping Heavenly Marrow Elucidated gives five: a Wood Day Master with a complete seasonal combination or three harmony of Wood in the branches, and no Metal mixed in, is called Bending and Straight; Fire with no Water mixed in, Blazing Upward; Earth with all four storage branches and no Wood, Sowing and Reaping; Metal with no Fire, Yielding and Changing; Water with no Earth, Soaking Downward. Each must be born in the season when its element is in command. Commentary on the True Interpretation of Ziping, on miscellaneous structures, groups these five as the refinement of one direction. Such a chart has concentrated force, and it welcomes a strong element generated by the Day Master, so that the full energy has an outlet.

Dripping Heavenly Marrow · Form and Image, original notes; Dripping Heavenly Marrow Elucidated · Form and Image; Commentary on the True Interpretation of Ziping · On Miscellaneous Structures

A two-element structure is a chart split evenly between two elements. Dripping Heavenly Marrow says an image formed by two energies must not be broken. The original notes to Dripping Heavenly Marrow give the example of Wood on the stems and Fire in the branches, or Fire on the stems and Wood in the branches, which Metal or Water would break. Dripping Heavenly Marrow Elucidated says the two can be a generating pair, such as Wood and Fire, Fire and Earth, Earth and Metal, Metal and Water, or Water and Wood; or a controlling pair, such as Wood and Earth, Earth and Water, Water and Fire, Fire and Metal, or Metal and Wood, and a controlling pair must be evenly matched, with neither side heavier. In such a chart, be mindful of the elements that would break it; it does best when both sides stay whole.

Dripping Heavenly Marrow · Form and Image; Dripping Heavenly Marrow · Form and Image, original notes; Dripping Heavenly Marrow Elucidated · Form and Image

Try it on your chart

1. Take the structure you found in the lesson on taking the structure from the month. If the month offers a structural pivot, do not look for an outer structure.
2. If the month is the Day Master’s own element, see whether the year, month or hour stem reveals Wealth, the Officer or Seven Killings. If one does, look at the chart as in the lesson on the Month Prosperity structure or the Yang Blade structure.
3. A pivot that is robbed or hurt does not make the month empty; go back to the lesson on how a structure forms, breaks and recovers, and look for a remedy.
4. If the stems offer no Officer or Seven Killings, see whether the branches form the Day Master’s seasonal combination or three harmony and the whole chart returns to its one element, and compare with the single-element structure; see whether the chart is split evenly between two elements, and compare with the two-element structure.
5. If the Day Master is very strong or very weak, or the day stem combines, keep the chart for the lessons on following structures and transformation structures.
6. If the chart meets an outer structure, write the month’s structure first, then the outer structure as a layer on top of it.

See also: Chart structure starts from the month

See also: The Month Prosperity structure

See also: The Yang Blade structure

See also: How a structure forms, breaks and recovers

See also: Combined structures, overlay structures and “transforms into”

See also: Following structures

See also: Transformation structures