Bazi | Opposites Attract – Knowing Yourself and Your Personality (Traits)
Happiness and Sadness; Success and Failure; Light and Darkness; Night and Day; Male and Female; Brightness and Shadow; Yin and Yang
All these pairs of words will have no meaning without the existence or knowledge of the other.
With the existence of sadness, we are in search of happiness; without the experience of failure, we will not be able to appreciate the sweetness of success. Without the dark of night, we will not look as much forward to the brightness of the day. Similarly, without the loss of someone or something we love, we will never learn to fully appreciate what we currently have. In nature and our life experience, the existence of the opposites generate attraction for each other bringing out the intrinsic balance that we seek whether in our work, family or love life.
It is also intriguing to note that ancient Chinese started to observe the same when they discovered the concept of Yin and Yang.
In fact, the Yin-Yang symbol was derived through the measurement of the sun’s shadows in an attempt to record dates1 4000 years ago as shown in the figure below.
Figure 1 Below – Yin-Yang Symbol was formed with the measurement of Sun’s shadow when ancient Chinese recorded dates. As expounded in the thesis by National University of Singapore – Faculty of Science (Department of Mathematics) : GEM 1506K: Heavenly Mathematics -. Highlights of Cultural Astronomy. Grp: 73. Grp members: Chen Jiahui. Cheong Hui Sian. Koh Chiat Hua Lydia 1
“What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness.”
― John Steinbeck, Travels with Charley: In Search of America
In their studies and observation of nature and its characteristics vis-à-vis that when the Sun is strong (more Yang) or weak (more Yin); or when the Moon is strong (more Yin) or weak (more Yang), the ancient Chinese were able to explore the concept of “Yin and Yang” further.
This concept forms the basis of Chinese studies which is now commonly referred to in Traditional Chinese Medicine and Chinese Metaphysical Science – the theory of the Opposites – Sun vs Moon, Daylight vs Night time, Male vs Female, Expansion vs Contraction, Heat vs Cold. However as alluded above, where there are opposites, there will be an inherent need to find a balance as well.
Likewise, when studying our personality using the ‘8Characters’ or Bazi system, besides utilizing the Five Elements, it is crucial to understand the Yin and Yang nature of each element influencing our characteristics, motivations and interaction style.
In the video-link below, I explain how the Yin and Yang nature of the elements affect us. For instance, a person with more Fire (yang) element will tend to be more optimistic whereas someone who’s chart has more Water (yin) element will be more pessimistic.
In addition, in my experience, couples and friends are attracted to each other as one needed more optimism whilst the other needed to feel more grounded, reinforcing the notion that opposites attract, whilst looking for that balance.
As a recap:
- The 5 elements (Metal-Factual, Water-Flexibility, Wood-Nurturing, Fire-Passion and Earth-Trust)
- Combining the 5 elements with the Yin and Yang perspective, we have 10 different day elements that each person can be born on:
- Yang Wood, Yin Wood
- Yang Fire, Yin Fire
- Yang Earth, Yin Earth
- Yang Metal, Yin Metal
- Yang Water, Yin Water
I am re-attaching this video link, where I have more details on the concept of Yin and Yang and how it influences our characteristics.
Coming next in the pipeline of articles, I will share the characteristics and motivations of each of the individuals born on the day influenced by the different elements mentioned above or traditionally, we call it “Day Master”.
The different element of the day that we are born on, whether it is Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water and their Yin and Yang nature, influences our perception of the world; how we are motivated; how we interact with others and is a crucial component on how we would make choices and take actions.
Click on the links below where you can get the following personalized reports online:
- Your Brief Career Profile Report – https://happyandsuccess.com/product/brief-career-profile-report
- Your Career Profiling Report – https://happyandsuccess.com/product/career-suitability-report
- Your Personalized Good Directions for Success – http://bazicalculator.janetyung.com/
For more information and details about the 2000-year-old Bazi metaphysical study, you can click on this:http://happyandsuccess.com/about-bazi.
Janet Yung (amazon.com/author/janetyung)
Feng Shui and Bazi Consultant. Author. Harmony Adviser.
