Gui Water (癸) in Bazi
Gui Water (癸) is stem 10 of ten, classified as Yin Water. Learn its sequence, pair, chart role, traditional correspondences, and reading limits.
Overview
Gui Water (癸) is the Yin member of the Water stem pair. It is a chart symbol, not a fixed personality label, and must be read with season, roots, pillar position, relationships, and timing.
At a glance
- Character and reading
- 癸 · Guǐ
- Sequence position
- 10 of 10
- Polarity
- Yin
- Five Phase
- Water
- Same-phase pair
- Ren Water (壬)
- Traditional correspondence
- North · Winter
- Stem combination
- Wu Earth (戊) → Fire, only when transformation conditions are met
Definition and place in the cycle
Gui completes the Water pair and the ten-stem sequence; the cycle then returns to Jia.
Gui Water (癸) and Ren Water (壬) share the Water phase and differ by Yin-Yang polarity. That classification does not, by itself, establish temperament, strength, or outcome.
How it appears in a Four Pillars chart
A Four Pillars chart displays one Heavenly Stem above each Year, Month, Day, and Hour Branch. When 癸 occupies the Day Stem, it is the Day Master; in any other pillar, it is interpreted in relation to the Day Master.
Check the month-command season, roots in Earthly Branches, support and control, combinations, pillar position, and active timing before deciding how 癸 functions. Presence, strength, and usefulness are separate questions.
Traditional correspondences and stem combination
Traditional correspondence systems place the Water pair with North and winter. These are inherited classification relationships, not physical properties or stand-alone predictions.
Gui Water (癸) is traditionally paired with Wu Earth (戊), with Fire named as the conventional transformation result. In Bazi, seeing both stems is not proof of transformation; the complete chart must support it.
Common reading errors
Use Gui Water (癸) as one piece of a relational chart, not as a shortcut for identity or fortune.
- Do not turn 癸 into a fixed personality type.
- Do not treat Yang and Yin as better and worse, or automatically stronger and weaker.
- Do not assume that a visible combination has transformed or that one symbol decides the whole chart.
Sources and editorial basis
- Hong Kong Observatory: Heavenly Stems and Earthly BranchesAn official modern reference for the canonical stem and branch orders, the sexagenary cycle, and calendrical use.
- 《御定星曆考原》卷一A historical source for stem and branch Yin-Yang, Five Phase, direction, seasonal, and calendrical correspondences.
- 《圖書編》卷二十三A historical source listing the five stem pairings and their conventional transformation phases.
- 《子平真詮》 (True Explanations of Ziping)A major reference for month-command, structure, and contextual Bazi interpretation.
- OpenFate Editorial MethodologyOpenFate separates deterministic chart calculation, traditional interpretation, and modern editorial explanation.