Structural Patterns: 식신제살, 살인상생 and 관살혼잡

What is a structural pattern?

One level above the individual Ten Gods (십신), a structural pattern here means a name given to a shape that several characters make together. Examples are whether something is present to restrain the pressure of the Seven Killings (편관), whether something takes that pressure and turns it into strength, or whether a certain role is missing from the chart altogether. Books on myeongni (the study of destiny that includes saju) list dozens of such names, but Halmeoni calculates only the fourteen whose conditions can be stated clearly.

The code finds patterns by fixed conditions. The AI that writes the reading receives only the patterns it found and their evidence (which character in which position). If a finished reading names a pattern that is not in the chart, a checker catches it and has it rewritten, and if it persists the sentence is removed. So when a Halmeoni reading says 관살혼잡 (mixed Officer and Seven Killings), it means that the chart's heavenly stems really do contain both the Direct Officer (정관) and the Seven Killings (편관).

Heavenly stems, surface characters and hidden characters

A few terms help before reading the conditions. Halmeoni divides the characters into three layers. The first is the heavenly stems, that is, the upper characters of the year, month and hour pillars (the Day Master (일간) is left out because it is "you"). The second is the main qi (정기), the force that stands for each of the four earthly branches. In this article, the heavenly stems plus the main qi of the branches are called the "surface characters." The third is the remaining forces hidden inside the branches, that is, the hidden stems (지장간) minus the main qi. The patterns that look for the Seven Killings (식신제살, 상관제살, 합살, 상관합살, 살인상생, 관살혼잡) check only whether the Seven Killings is among the heavenly stems, while the patterns that begin with 무 ("none") and too many companions (비겁과다) count the surface characters. A character found only among the hidden stems is treated as weaker than a surface character. Counting the main qi of the branches as surface characters is a rule Halmeoni set; depending on the school, some count only the heavenly stems, and some count all hidden stems with equal weight.

Eating God restrains the Seven Killings (식신제살), Hurting Officer restrains the Seven Killings (상관제살), pressure turned into support through Resource (살인상생) and the five patterns beginning with 무 also look into the hidden stems. If the needed character is found only among the hidden stems, "hidden stems only (지장간에만 있음)" is added beside the pattern name, and the reading treats it with one step less weight. For example, if there is no Wealth (재성) among the surface characters but an Indirect Wealth (편재) is hidden inside a branch, the result is "no wealth star (무재), hidden stems only," and it becomes plain 무재 only when no Wealth turns up even after searching the hidden stems. Too many companions (비겁과다), stem and branch of one element (간여지동), the Seven Killings bound by combination and its variants, mixed Officer and Seven Killings (관살혼잡) and contested combination (쟁합) carry no such label.

The fourteen patterns Halmeoni looks for

"Where it is used in the reading" lists the reading sections to which a pattern is passed along as evidence. Having a pattern does not mean the section always talks about it; it is weighed against the other facts and chosen from among them.

Eating God restrains the Seven Killings and Hurting Officer restrains the Seven Killings: skill that tames pressure

The Seven Killings (편관, also called 칠살) is, among the forces that press on the Day Master, the one that matches it in yin-yang and so comes in roughly. At work it is read as heavy pressure such as deadlines, competition and demanding superiors. The Eating God (식신) and Hurting Officer (상관) are forces that the Day Master gives birth to, and in the five elements they sit in the position that restrains the Seven Killings. So when a Seven Killings is among the stems and an Eating God or Hurting Officer is also present, the chart is seen as a structure in which pressure is tamed by talent.

In career readings, Eating God restrains the Seven Killings (식신제살) is read as working through difficult tasks with steady skill and ease, and Hurting Officer restrains the Seven Killings (상관제살) as overcoming pressure with a way with words and quick wit. However, Halmeoni's condition is a broad one that attaches the name wherever the Eating God or Hurting Officer is, so when it is found only among the hidden stems, "hidden stems only" is written alongside to make clear that the force is weak.

The Seven Killings bound by combination and Hurting Officer binds the Seven Killings: the character that ties pressure down

If another stem forms a stem combination (천간합) with the Seven Killings, the Seven Killings is considered bound. The combining partner is fixed: when the Day Master is yang that character is always a Rob Wealth (겁재), and when the Day Master is yin it is always a Hurting Officer (상관). Halmeoni calls the former the Seven Killings bound by combination (합살) and the latter Hurting Officer binds the Seven Killings (상관합살). For example, for a 甲 (gap, Yang Wood) Day Master the Seven Killings is 庚 (gyeong, Yang Metal), and the 乙 (eul, Yin Wood) that combines with 庚 is a Rob Wealth. For a 癸 (gye, Yin Water) Day Master the Seven Killings is 己 (gi, Yin Earth), and the 甲 that combines with 己 is a Hurting Officer.

In career readings, the Seven Killings bound by combination is read as colleagues and people beside you sharing the quarrels and pressure, and Hurting Officer binds the Seven Killings as using quick wit to win a difficult person over. The partner that combines with the Day Master is always a Direct Wealth or Direct Officer, so the Day Master itself never binds the Seven Killings.

Pressure turned into support through Resource: the road from pressure to skill

This is the flow in which the Seven Killings produces Resource, and Resource in turn produces the Day Master. Instead of the pressure striking you directly, it is seen as returning to you as your own strength by way of study, qualifications and help from superiors. Halmeoni records pressure turned into support through Resource (살인상생) when a Seven Killings is among the stems and Resource is anywhere in the chart. In career readings it leads on to someone who learns and grows in a heavy position of responsibility, or who opens a path through exams and qualifications, so it is also used in the study section.

If the Day Master is weak and, among the characters that drain the Day Master's strength (Output (식상), Wealth (재성) and Officer (관성)), Officer is the heaviest, Halmeoni also picks Resource as the first favourable element. This is because taking pressure through Resource and turning it into your own strength is seen as the way to restore balance. So pressure turned into support through Resource is used not only as a name but also directly in choosing the favourable element.

Mixed Officer and Seven Killings: when responsibility runs in several directions

The Direct Officer (정관) and Seven Killings (편관) both govern you, but the Direct Officer is closer to set rules and order, and the Seven Killings to rough pressure and challenge. When both appear together among the stems, it is read as having two standards to follow, which makes it hard to find your footing. In career readings it is described as a picture where, with several superiors or several duties, setting priorities becomes the task. Because Halmeoni counts only the stems, a mixture of Direct Officer and Seven Killings in the branches or hidden stems is not treated as mixed Officer and Seven Killings. Two of the three stems would have to be the Direct Officer and the Seven Killings, so it is not common.

No wealth star, and the other "none" patterns

No wealth star (무재) means there is no Wealth (재성: Indirect Wealth or Direct Wealth) among the surface characters. It is a pattern that connects directly to the money reading, but it does not mean a person without money. It only means there is no Wealth among the eight characters you were born with, and there are periods when Wealth arrives through the Luck Cycle (대운) or the characters of each year. Halmeoni reads no wealth star as "not a chart born with money force, but one filled in by luck," and talks about it together with the periods when Wealth arrives. If there is no Wealth even in the hidden stems, the suggested questions Halmeoni offers in the chat also change from "When will money come in well?" to "How should I save so that it gathers?"

In career readings, no officer star (무관) is used for a picture of moving without attachments because the workplace and rules force is absent from the surface characters, and no output stars (무식상) for a picture where it takes time to show talent and inner feelings outwardly. No companions (무비겁) is read as having few colleague forces to lean on and so tending to manage alone, and no resource star (무인성) as having few helpful elders and so tending to learn on your own.

Contested combination: when two contend for one

A contested combination (쟁합) is a shape in which two or more characters rush to combine with one character. Among stems the standard is stem combination (甲己 gap-gi, 乙庚 eul-gyeong, 丙辛 byeong-sin, 丁壬 jeong-im, 戊癸 mu-gye), and among branches it is six harmony (子丑 ja-chuk, 寅亥 in-hae, 卯戌 myo-sul, 辰酉 jin-yu, 巳申 sa-sin, 午未 o-mi); triple combination (삼합) and half combination (반합) are not considered. Stems and branches are also not compared with each other. The Day Master can be a party to a combination, so it is a contested combination also when the Day Master and another stem both try to combine with the same character. Whether the combination actually holds and transforms into a different element (합화) is not examined; only whether the contest exists is checked.

For example, someone born in Seoul on 10 January 1985 at 10:30 has the year pillar 甲子 (gap-ja), month pillar 丁丑 (jeong-chuk), day pillar 己酉 (gi-yu) and hour pillar 己巳 (gi-sa). The year stem 甲 is the partner that combines with 己, and both the Day Master 己 and the hour stem 己 try to combine with this 甲, so the contested combination "the Day Master and the hour stem contend to combine with the year stem" is attached. In the reading it is used only to the extent of talking in the character section about a heart pulled in different directions over one thing, and this structure does not mean that anything in particular will happen.

Too many companions and stem and branch of one element

Too many companions (비겁과다) is the case where, besides the Day Master, four or more Friends and Rob Wealths are among the surface characters (the surface characters number at most seven, leaving out the Day Master). With so many forces like your own, it is seen as strong competitiveness and stubbornness, and because Companions are traditionally regarded as characters that share out Wealth, it is also used in the money reading. In the money section it is read as a structure with many people dividing the same portion.

Stem and branch of one element (간여지동) is the case where the top and bottom of a pillar are the same element, such as 庚申 (gyeong-sin) or 甲寅 (gap-in), pillars that are both Metal or both Wood. Its condition is simple, so it is the most common. Twelve of the sixty pairs of the sixty-pair cycle (60 gapja) qualify (甲寅·乙卯·丙午·丁巳·戊辰·戊戌·己丑·己未·庚申·辛酉·壬子·癸亥), so the chance that one pillar is of this kind is one in five, and when calculated over a sample of more than ten thousand charts chosen from 1960 to 2005, five days each month and four hours each day, over half of the charts have at least one such pillar. Halmeoni uses stem and branch of one element only in the character section and the opening summary, and not as evidence for the career or money readings.

Example: five patterns in one chart

The chart of a person born in Seoul on 10 June 1980 at 10:30 has the year pillar 庚申 (gyeong-sin), month pillar 壬午 (im-o), day pillar 甲寅 (gap-in) and hour pillar 己巳 (gi-sa). The Day Master is 甲 (gap, Yang Wood), a big tree. The patterns Halmeoni finds in this chart are as follows.

The 庚 in the year stem is the Seven Killings that presses on 甲, and the year branch 申 also has 庚 as its main qi, so the force of pressure is concentrated in the year pillar. But the Hurting Officer in the month branch 午 and the Eating God in the hour branch 巳 restrain this Seven Killings, and the 壬 in the month stem takes the Seven Killings' strength and acts as Resource nourishing 甲. It is a chart with both a way of taming pressure with skill and a way of turning it into study. There is no Direct Officer 辛 (sin, Yin Metal) among the stems, so it is not mixed Officer and Seven Killings, and since there is a visible Wealth (the Direct Wealth 己 in the hour stem), it is not a no-wealth-star (무재) chart either.

This chart has a weak Day Master (신약) and its structure (격국) is the Direct Wealth structure (정재격). For a career reading it supplies a picture of holding on with skill and a way with words even in a high-pressure environment, and for a study reading a picture of turning pressure into strength through qualifications or learning. Patterns become clear when they are read together with the Day Master's strength and the structure in this way.

When several patterns overlap

Patterns do not always appear singly; several can be attached together. As in the example above, Eating God restrains the Seven Killings and pressure turned into support through Resource can appear together, and no wealth star can overlap with a chart that has a pillar of stem and branch of one element. If one Seven Killings combines with several characters, the Seven Killings bound by combination is attached that many times too. In such cases each is read as a separate fact, and when there are helpful and burdensome sides together, Halmeoni does not settle on one side but speaks of both. There are also charts in which none of the fourteen applies. And the "absent" patterns (no wealth star, no officer star and so on) are not read only as weaknesses, but also as being less tied to that force.

Where it may differ from other places

• Eating God restrains the Seven Killings and Hurting Officer restrains the Seven Killings: many books use these names only when the Eating God or Hurting Officer is visible among the stems and has strength. Halmeoni attaches the name wherever it is, but states that it is weak when found only among the hidden stems.
• Mixed Officer and Seven Killings: some places also count the Direct Officer and Seven Killings in the branches. Halmeoni counts only the stems.
• The Seven Killings bound by combination and contested combination: many places look more strictly at the conditions under which a combination holds (whether the characters sit close together, whether it transforms). Halmeoni checks only whether the pair of characters exists.
• The "none" patterns such as no companions and no output stars, and the "four or more" standard for too many companions, are rules Halmeoni set. Other places may call the same chart something different.
• "None" patterns such as no wealth star: in places that do not count hidden stems, Halmeoni's "hidden stems only" is simply no wealth star.

A pattern is only a short name for one aspect of a chart, not a verdict of good or bad. Even the same pattern shows itself differently depending on the Day Master's strength and the Luck Cycle, and for real decisions about work and money, rely on your own circumstances and the advice of a professional.