The annual phase and its decade phase

In Four Pillars of Destiny (BaZi), a decade phase spans ten years and an annual phase spans one. A given year is weighed by first finding the decade phase it falls in, then setting the year against both that phase and the natal chart, as two influences rather than one.

One verse, three layers

Dripping Heavenly Marrow (滴天髓) gives the subject a single verse:

休囚系乎运，尤系乎岁，战冲视孰降，和好视孰切。

Our translation: Whether an element is out of season rests on the decade phase, and still more on the year. In battle and clash, see which side gives way; in union and affinity, see how close they are.

The original notes go on: a decade phase is like the place you have reached, so its branch weighs more; the year is like the person you meet, so its stem weighs more, though its branch counts too. The order is to be clear about the Day Master first, set it against the other seven characters and weigh them, then see which decade phases it welcomes and which it does not; when the year arrives, how things go shows.

Dripping Heavenly Marrow · Annual and Decade Phases; Dripping Heavenly Marrow · Annual and Decade Phases, original notes

Dripping Heavenly Marrow Elucidated (滴天髓阐微; Qing dynasty, 19th century) goes a step further and treats the year separately from the decade phase: the year should be in harmony, and it is not to be judged as one with the decade phase. A good decade phase does not mean a good year. The book says that even in a favorable Wood decade phase, a year that also brings Wood can go badly if its Wood battles or clashes with the phase. So the annual phase is weighed inside its decade phase, as a layer of its own.

Dripping Heavenly Marrow Elucidated · Annual and Decade Phases

Commentary on the True Interpretation of Ziping (子平真诠评注; ROC, 1936) takes ten years as the unit of a decade phase, and adds in the same chapter that even in a good decade phase, a year that clashes it does not go smoothly.

Commentary on the True Interpretation of Ziping · On the Decade Phases

First find the decade phase the year falls in

An annual phase turns at the Start of Spring: a year runs from its own Start of Spring to the next, as in the lesson on setting up the four pillars. By this series’ convention, a year belongs to the decade phase running at the moment of its Start of Spring.

If a year’s Start of Spring comes before the first decade phase begins, that year has no decade phase. Set it straight against the natal chart, and note that it falls before the first decade phase.

The annual phase against the natal chart

The year’s stem and branch are set against the natal chart the same way as a decade phase’s: find their relationships, find any combination, clash, punishment or harm with the four pillars, see whether the year adds a root to the Day Master or clashes one, and whether it supports or damages the structure; see the lesson on how a decade phase meets your chart. The difference is that an annual phase weighs more in its stem.

The annual phase against its decade phase: battle, clash, union, affinity

The original notes sort the year and the decade phase into four relations:

Dripping Heavenly Marrow · Annual and Decade Phases, original notes; Dripping Heavenly Marrow Elucidated · Annual and Decade Phases

What most calls for care is a year whose stem controls the decade phase’s stem while its branch clashes the phase’s branch, stem control with branch clash (天克地冲), as when a Yang Wood Rat phase meets a Yang Metal Horse year. Dripping Heavenly Marrow Elucidated says that a strong Day Master often comes through unharmed; when the Day Master has little force, that year calls for more care, and it is worth looking in the chart and the decade phase for characters that can bring harmony. A year that does the same to the day pillar is weighed the same way.

Dripping Heavenly Marrow Elucidated · Annual and Decade Phases

Try it on your chart

1. Pick a year and write down its stem and branch. If what you want to look at falls in January or early February, check by the Start of Spring which year it belongs to.
2. See which decade phase is running at that year’s Start of Spring. If the year falls before your starting age, note that it is before the first decade phase, and set the year straight against your chart.
3. The annual phase against your chart: find the relationships and any combination, clash, punishment or harm with your four pillars (a three-branch punishment counts only when the annual branch completes the trio with two of your branches), then look at the roots and the structure. The annual phase weighs more in its stem.
4. The annual phase against its decade phase: see whether their stems and branches battle, clash, unite or share an affinity. Where they battle or clash, see which side your Day Master favors and which has more helpers.
5. Where there is stem control with branch clash, look at your Day Master’s strength, and at anything in your chart or the decade phase that can bring harmony.
6. Write the year under its decade phase: the decade phase is the broad direction of ten years, and the annual phase the ups and downs of one year within it.

See also: Decade phases: which way they run and when they start

See also: How a decade phase meets your chart

See also: Decade phases and your roots: support supplied, support struck

See also: Decade phases and your structure

See also: Setting up the four pillars: solar months, the year boundary and the midnight hour