The Five Elements Alone Are Not Enough
There are ways to measure whether the five elements are evenly distributed. However, what is truly needed is what is lacking and what is excessive in this saju.
A saju that is evenly distributed is not always comfortable, nor is a saju that is skewed always difficult. The direction of the skew and whether there is an element to alleviate it is the crossroads.
Balancing Element — Reduce If Excessive, Add If Lacking
The balancing element (用神) is the energy currently needed by this person. There are several methods to determine it (suppress-and-support, seasonal balance, affliction, mediation), and the one that can be expressed as rules — and is most widely used — is suppress-and-support (抑扶). If the day pillar is strong, it is believed that an energy to reduce is needed; if weak, an energy to add is required.
| Judgment | What is Needed | Number of Types |
|---|---|---|
| Strong Day Pillar (身强) | Energy to drain — Output, Wealth and Officer | Three |
| Weak Day Pillar (身弱) | Energy to Add — Resource, Companion | Two |
| Balanced (中和) | Cannot be decided by suppress-and-support, so the thinnest energies | Two |
Threshold for Strength and Weakness
The day pillar side is Resource and Companion — the energy that gives birth to me and the energy that is like me. Since two out of five are involved, the complete balance will be 40%. The width is set above and below this 40%.
| Ratio | Judgment |
|---|---|
| 45% or more | Strong Day Pillar |
| 35% or more and less than 45% | Balanced |
| Less than 35% | Weak Day Pillar |
Strength Is Not the Number of Characters
When counting the strength of the five elements, the eight characters are not counted as they appear. The values reflect the hidden heavenly stems (地藏干) within the earthly branches and the season of the energy of the month (月令) in which one was born.
Counting only the surface characters misses the fact that even the same 木 characters can have completely different strengths depending on the season. The 木 of spring and the 木 of autumn, while the same character, have different strengths.
Where to Use the Balancing Element
The determined balancing element is used in two places. One is the result screen's 'currently needed energy', and the other is today's fortune — whether today's energy corresponds to the balancing element is the item that moves the score the most on that day.
This Is a Simple Judgment
Actual destiny analysis considers the formation and seasonal conditions (the warmth and humidity of the season) to determine the balancing element, and conclusions may vary depending on the method. Saju-Link only uses reducing that can be measured by strength values. This is due to the principle of using only what can be converted into rules, so the same input will always yield the same answer.
Instead, the result screen also presents the strong and weak day pillar along with the currently needed energy as reading material. This is to avoid hiding the basis of the score.