Every year in the weeks leading up to Chinese New Year, many shopping centres in Singapore would put up exhibits of the annual forecasting of the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac. These exhibits would usually draw crowds of people who are curious to learn about their prospects for love, wealth and health, forecasted according to our birth year.
However, many did not realise that the information we read, based on our birth year, is only telling a fraction of that year’s forecast of us. There is, in fact, another three more animal signs that we should also take into consideration.
This forecasting concept actually originates from one of the five Arts (五术 wu shu) under the umbrella of Chinese Metaphysics – the Life 命 (ming). In this study, the practitioners use a system or tool to analyse a person’s destiny based on the influences of stars and planets exhibited at that point of time he/she is born.
This popular system in Chinese Astrology is known as the Four Pillars of Destiny or “Eight-character” technique or Bazi (八字) technique. It uses a person’s birth year, month, day and hour (from the Gregorian/western calendar) to get an unique chart – commonly known as a natal chart or Bazi destiny chart. It is very much like our identity card or National Registration Identity Card (NRIC) or birth certification, but with more information on our character/nature/opportunities in life.
As the information system is encrypted in chinese characters (a few but simple ones, not to worry) and/or combinations of simple symbols, you need some knowledge to decrypt the information to make sense of them.
In summary, the exhibits that are put up in shopping centres provide information broadly for a particular year of birth. Hence, sometimes you may feel like certain information speaks true, while you question why some other information does not apply to you. This is one of the reasons why, at times, the expected outcome can be different from what is forecasted in those exhibits.
In your own Bazi destiny chart, there are many more interactions and interplay of information that are unique to only yourself. With this tool, it can be readily used to understand one’s character/nature, and identify the opportunities in life.