The load: najia, the six relatives, and the focus line

The stems and branches come from the palace, not from a birth

Najia writes a stem and branch on each line from the inner and outer trigrams. The inner trigram covers lines one to three. The outer covers lines four to six. What is written is that line’s stem, branch, and element, not the asker’s year pillar or day pillar. Liu Yao does not ask for a birth time, and it does not borrow a day stem from one.

Shi He has Zhen inside and Li outside, so lines one to three use Zhen’s najia and lines four to six use Li’s. The changed hexagram Bi is loaded again from its own trigrams. Before two charts are compared, check that both used the same najia.

The six spirits start at the bottom from the day stem

The six spirits are Azure Dragon, Vermilion Bird, Hook Array, Soaring Snake, White Tiger, and Dark Warrior. They are ranked upward from line one by the day stem of the question, not by a birth day stem. Jia and Yi start with the Dragon, Bing and Ding with the Bird, Wu with the Hook, Ji with the Snake, Geng and Xin with the Tiger, Ren and Gui with the Warrior.

A spirit is a mark on the line. It does not change yin and yang, and it does not change the relative. If the day stem is off, the whole column shifts. Match the day pillar before the spirit’s name.

Five names taken from the palace element

The six relatives are five names: Siblings, Descendants, Wealth, Officer, and Parents. The palace element itself is Siblings. What it generates is Descendants. What it controls is Wealth. What controls it is Officer. What generates it is Parents. Shi He sits in the Xun palace, and Xun is wood, so wood is Siblings, fire is Descendants, earth is Wealth, metal is Officer, and water is Parents.

A relative is not a verdict on a person. Wealth can be money, or the kind of cost the question named. Officer can be the work. It is not a charge against someone. Match the name to the kind of question, then read the line.

The focus line follows the kind of question

The focus line is the line the question lands on. Your own side looks at Shi, the other person at Ying, money at Wealth, work at Officer, how you are holding up at Descendants, and documents or outcomes at Parents. The same hexagram can put the focus line on a different stroke if the question changes.

Shi and Ying are the two sides, not two people’s names. Shi is the condition on your side. Ying is the person or setting opposite. Shi He is the fifth generation of the Xun palace, so Shi is on line five and Ying is on line two. Name the line before you talk about strength. If the focus line is not written yet, do not compare two readings.

Illustration: what Shi He is loaded with

The same coin values as on the cast page. Shi He, Xun palace, wood, fifth generation. The day pillar is Jia Xu, so the spirits start with the Azure Dragon on line one. The question is about work, so the focus line is Officer: line four, Ji You, metal, and that line moves. Shi is line five, Ji Wei, earth, Wealth. Ying is line two, Geng Yin, wood, Siblings.

The changed hexagram is Bi, in the Gen palace, whose element is earth. Its stems are loaded from Bi’s own trigrams. Line four on Bi is Bing Xu, earth. The relatives follow the new palace, so the name Officer from the Xun palace is not carried across. The moving line opens a new condition. It does not transport the old relative name unchanged.

For what Liu Yao is, see what Liu Yao is. When one matter is already stated, go to the the chart page.