The Yang Blade structure

In Four Pillars of Destiny (BaZi), a chart has a Yang Blade structure when a yang Day Master is born in its Blade month: the branch one place past its Prosperity, where its element is at its peak. The Blade is strength past its height and needs to be held in check, so the structure uses the Officer or Seven Killings. A yin Day Master has no Yang Blade structure.

The True Interpretation of Ziping (子平真诠; Qing dynasty, 18th century) defines it:

禄前一位，惟五阳有之，故为阳刃。

Our translation: The place one step past the Prosperity: only the five yang stems have it, and so it is called the Yang Blade.

Yang Wood’s Prosperity is in the Tiger, so the Rabbit is its Blade. The Blade of Yang Fire and Yang Earth is in the Horse, of Yang Metal in the Rooster, and of Yang Water in the Rat. The Blade belongs to the five yang stems only; The Deep Sea of Ziping (渊海子平; Ming dynasty, 16th century) and Commentary on the True Interpretation of Ziping (子平真诠评注; ROC, 1936) say the same. A yin stem born on its own peak stage is taken as Rob Wealth and belongs to the Month Prosperity structure. Yin Earth is the exception: its peak is the Snake, whose main stem, Yang Fire, is Yin Earth’s Resource, so it is taken as Resource; see the lesson on the Month Prosperity structure. Commentary on the True Interpretation of Ziping also explains that the Blade is defined on the month: a Yang Wood Day Master born in a Rabbit month has the Blade; if it is born in another month, a Rabbit on the year, day or hour branch, or Yin Wood revealed on the stems, is called Rob Wealth. The Blade here is a position in the structure, set by the Day Master’s relation to the month, not a symbolic star.

The True Interpretation of Ziping · On the Yang Blade; Commentary on the True Interpretation of Ziping · On the Yang Blade; The Deep Sea of Ziping · On the Yang Blade

See also: The twelve life stages

What holds it up

The Blade is energy past its height and should be held in check. The Officer and Seven Killings can both check it, so the Yang Blade structure uses one or the other. The Deep Sea of Ziping cautions against calling a Blade adverse on sight: a chart with a Blade welcomes Seven Killings, for Seven Killings without a Blade does not show, and a Blade without Seven Killings carries no authority.

Using Seven Killings in a Yang Blade structure differs from other structures. Elsewhere, Seven Killings attacks the Day Master, so it must be checked, and Wealth and Resource feeding it are unwelcome. In a Yang Blade structure, Seven Killings is there to check the Blade and is no threat to the Day Master, so Wealth and Resource are welcome instead, and checking Seven Killings further is not. When the Officer or Seven Killings is revealed and rooted, it has the force to check the Blade, and the structure is large. When it is hidden and not revealed, or revealed with shallow roots, the structure is small.

The True Interpretation of Ziping · On the Yang Blade; Commentary on the True Interpretation of Ziping · On the Yang Blade; The Deep Sea of Ziping · On the Yang Blade

What can unsettle it

• No Officer or Seven Killings: the Blade is strong and unchecked.
• The Officer or Seven Killings held in check by the Hurting Officer or Food Star, so it can no longer check the Blade.
• Using Seven Killings while the Blade’s stem is revealed and combines Seven Killings away. For example, a Yang Fire Day Master born in a Horse month reveals Yang Water as Seven Killings, and also Yin Fire: Yin Fire and Yang Water combine, and Seven Killings no longer checks the Blade. When the Officer is used, a revealed Blade stem is no concern.
• Using Wealth: the Blade and Wealth contend.

The True Interpretation of Ziping · On the Yang Blade; The True Interpretation of Ziping · On the Useful Element: Formed, Broken and Remedied

What restores it

• When the Hurting Officer or Food Star checks the Officer or Seven Killings, heavy Resource checks them in turn and protects the Officer or Seven Killings.
• When Seven Killings is too heavy, the Food Star trims it a little. When the Officer and Seven Killings are both revealed, combine away the Officer and keep Seven Killings, so Seven Killings is pure and not mixed. The Yang Blade structure favors keeping Seven Killings.
• When Wealth is used, the Food Star or Hurting Officer turns the Blade’s energy toward generating Wealth.

The True Interpretation of Ziping · On the Yang Blade; The True Interpretation of Ziping · On the Useful Element: Formed, Broken and Remedied; Commentary on the True Interpretation of Ziping · On the Yang Blade

Decade phases

The True Interpretation of Ziping, on decade phases for the Yang Blade, says: when the Officer is used, decade phases that help the Officer suit; if the Officer is deeply rooted, Resource and Peer decade phases are good too; Output, or a combination taking the Officer, does not suit. When Seven Killings is used and is not too strong, decade phases that help it suit; when it is too heavy, a strong Day Master and Resource suit, and Output does no harm. When the Officer and Seven Killings both come out, decade phases that check them suit, a strong Day Master helps, and Wealth and Officer decade phases do not suit. The details are in the lesson on decade phases and your structure.

The True Interpretation of Ziping · On Decade Phases for the Yang Blade

Try it on your chart

1. Confirm the Day Master is a yang stem: Yang Wood, Yang Fire, Yang Earth, Yang Metal or Yang Water. A yin Day Master has no Yang Blade structure.
2. See whether the month branch is the Day Master’s Blade: Yang Wood in the Rabbit, Yang Fire and Yang Earth in the Horse, Yang Metal in the Rooster, Yang Water in the Rat.
3. Look for the Officer and Seven Killings: are they present, revealed, rooted?
4. See whether the Officer or Seven Killings is held by the Hurting Officer or Food Star, or bound by a combination; if so, see whether Resource protects it.
5. If there is Wealth, see whether the Food Star or Hurting Officer stands between to link it.

See also: Two kinds of handling: nurture and restrain

See also: The Seven Killings structure

See also: The Month Prosperity structure

See also: How a structure forms, breaks and recovers