观易堂

Bone weight: sources and variants

Bone weight is attributed to the Tang-dynasty figure Yuan Tiangang, but neither the Old nor the New Book of Tang, nor the bibliography of the History of Song, records it. It is a later folk method passed down in almanacs. No early edition survives that we can cite, so we compared the versions in circulation against one another. Everything we relied on is set out below.

Four versions

  • lukyam.com (Hong Kong, traditional characters): full tables; each verse has a four-character verdict. www.lukyam.com
  • Ziwei Rensheng (Taiwan, traditional characters): separate men's and women's verses with notes. 211-75-223-181.hinet-ip.hinet.net
  • grandsutras (simplified characters): full tables; plain verses with more copying errors. www.grandsutras.org
  • Guanxiang Bazi (traditional characters): a compilation that shares a source with another site; it only helps decide when the first three versions all disagree. www.ba-zi.ai

How the text was settled

All versions were first converted to simplified characters, so differences of script do not count as variants. A line shared word for word by two of the first three versions was taken as it stands; otherwise we looked for two identical lines among all four. Where versions differ by only a character or two, each character follows the majority. Where the wording differs entirely, we never stitch characters together, which would produce a line no version contains.

The eight lines that remained were decided one by one, choosing the reading that rhymes and makes sense or correcting an obvious copying error. The basis for each decision is recorded.

Copies of the same version do not count as independent sources.

Where the tables disagree

Of the 114 values in the four tables, the versions differ in only three places, settled by majority:

  • The Ji Chou year: 7 qian (another version gives 8).
  • The Gui Hai year: 6 qian (another version gives 7; the versions split roughly evenly). Results for this year also show the total under 7 qian.
  • The 20th day: 1 liang 5 qian (another version gives 1 liang).

Rules for the calculation

Traditions differ on these points. We chose one reading for each and state it on every result:

  • The year turns on lunar New Year's Day. Births between New Year and the start of spring also get the result counted from the start of spring.
  • In a leap month, up to the 15th counts as that month and from the 16th as the next.
  • A birth between 11 pm and midnight stays on that calendar day (as in this site's BaZi charts); the next-day result is also shown.
  • The first two-hour period runs from 11 pm to 1 am, and so on.

What we left out

The four-character verdicts at the head of each verse differ between versions with no majority, so we do not use them. Some versions' notes state a lifespan or time of death; we include none of that.

Only one version records separate verses for women, so they cannot be cross-checked. They appear on the Chinese pages as old text for reference only.

Why there is no 7 liang 2 qian

The heaviest year is 1 liang 9 qian, month 1 liang 8, day 1 liang 8 and hour 1 liang 6, but these maxima never all fall on the same birth. Working through every combination of the four tables, the total only ranges from 2 liang 1 qian to 7 liang 1 qian: fifty-one steps. Many versions include a verse for 7 liang 2 qian anyway; it is generally thought to be a later addition. The old text reads as follows. It is not a result anyone can be weighed to:

Old text · 7 liang 2 qian

  • 此格世界罕有生
  • 十代积善产此人
  • 天上紫微来照命
  • 统治万民乐太平
  • Such a pattern is rarely born into this world;
  • Ten generations of good deeds bring forth this person.
  • The Purple Star of heaven shines upon this fate,
  • Ruling over the multitudes in peace and joy.

All fifty-one verses

2 liang 1 qian · 2 liang 2 qian · 2 liang 3 qian · 2 liang 4 qian · 2 liang 5 qian · 2 liang 6 qian · 2 liang 7 qian · 2 liang 8 qian · 2 liang 9 qian · 3 liang · 3 liang 1 qian · 3 liang 2 qian · 3 liang 3 qian · 3 liang 4 qian · 3 liang 5 qian · 3 liang 6 qian · 3 liang 7 qian · 3 liang 8 qian · 3 liang 9 qian · 4 liang · 4 liang 1 qian · 4 liang 2 qian · 4 liang 3 qian · 4 liang 4 qian · 4 liang 5 qian · 4 liang 6 qian · 4 liang 7 qian · 4 liang 8 qian · 4 liang 9 qian · 5 liang · 5 liang 1 qian · 5 liang 2 qian · 5 liang 3 qian · 5 liang 4 qian · 5 liang 5 qian · 5 liang 6 qian · 5 liang 7 qian · 5 liang 8 qian · 5 liang 9 qian · 6 liang · 6 liang 1 qian · 6 liang 2 qian · 6 liang 3 qian · 6 liang 4 qian · 6 liang 5 qian · 6 liang 6 qian · 6 liang 7 qian · 6 liang 8 qian · 6 liang 9 qian · 7 liang · 7 liang 1 qian

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