Dear Karin,
I was just looking at a preview of the text: ‘Calculating the BaZi’, at Amazon on Kindle, and I am wondering if they made electronic mistakes somehow, or if your text has editing mistakes, or is there more than one tradition?
For example, in the Preview via Kindle at Amazon, the table of the 12 Earthly Branches states the first branch (Zi) as being Yin Water, but all of the literature I have seen states that Zi is Yang Water. Also the 6th branch is labeled as Yang fire, but I have only seen it labeled as Yin fire. The 7th branch is labeled as Yin fire but I understood it as Yang fire. The 12th branch is labeled as Yang water, but I understood it to be Yin Water.
Also, the Sample Exercise 1: for 18 November 1979 states #56 and JiWei but the table of the sexagenary cycle chart, shortly before it lists #56 as Yin fire, but I understood it as double Yin earth.
Also, the sample exercise 2: for 26 July 1980 gives #57 and GengShen, but the table shortly before it lists 57 as Yang Wood, but I understood it as double Yang metal.
Are these editing mistakes with the Kindle preview Amazon feature, or are they in the physical book? Or?
Thank you,
Paul
Dear Paul,
Thank you for your email!
This is actually a common question among readers who are coming to my workbook with some experience with the BaZi behind them. I have actually posted a similar question and my response to the Q & A forum:
https://calculatingthebazi.com/2019/04/06/yin-and-yang-qualities-of-the-earthly-branches/
In case you don’t wish to follow that link, I will copy and paste the answer below, in hopes that it helps clarify things for you a bit:
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“Thank you for another thoughtful question! The Yin and Yang qualities of the Earthly Branches is much more complicated than noting the simple Yin or Yang characteristics of the Heavenly Stems. The Earthly Branches have three YinYang classification systems – each Branch may be classified as both Yin and Yang, depending on context.
The summary charts provided in Calculating the BaZi are intended to be helpful when learning this calculation method. In order to gain more insight into what the calculations mean (i.e. interpreting the BaZi) however, it is essential that we use other resources to study the meanings of the Stems and Branches in greater depth.
From your questions, it sounds like you are interested in diving deeper into this knowledge! My husband and I discuss the subtleties of each of the 22 GanZhi symbols in detail in our Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches book. Both of this book and my workbook are required study material for participants of our GanZhi Advanced Daoist Arts training program.”
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For example, to quote from my husband and my book, Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, chapter 3.1 Zi 子：
“…The Earthly Branches have three YinYang classification systems—each Branch may be classified as both Yin and Yang, depending on the context.
The physical body of Zi Water is Yang and its energetic function is Yin. This means that we are using Zi in the context of the Chinese calendar, its physical quality is Yang, and when we are using Zi in the context of an astrological chart or Chinese medicine, its energetic quality is Yin.”
I hope this helps!
Calculating the BaZi 