The Seven Killings — The Second Pattern
In Lesson 14 we met the Direct Officer (正官), the upright authority a chart stands on. Now the study turns to the chapter's mirror image — the Seven Killings (七殺), the god that controls the Day Master with the same polarity, the one that attacks the body and does not ask permission. The classic opens with a surprise: “The Killings attack the body. They do not look like a fine thing — and yet most greatly noble Patterns hold Seven Killings.” The Officer is authority given; the Killings are authority taken. This lesson works through the chapter's own eight charts, asking the same six questions of each: how it is fixed, what god it uses, what god assists it, whether it forms or fails, how high it stands, and which luck it wants.
The Killings, and what they want
The classic's first move is a comparison: “Controlled well, the Killings work for me — like a great hero, hard to ride, but handled with skill, the earth-shaking deed is suddenly done. That is why kings and generals mostly hold Seven Killings.” Everything that follows is about control, and the chapter lists the ways in order of worth. Controlled by Eating God is the highest (煞用食制者，上也): the Killings strong, the Eating God strong, and the body sound — “the utmost nobility”. The example the classic gives is a single skeleton, not a full chart: Yi Hai, Yi You, Yi Mao, Ding Chou. Yi Wood born in You month, the Killings Xin hidden in the month branch, Ding Eating God revealed in the hour stem — strong Killings, strong Eating God, a sound body.
But control by Eating God has a rule and two exceptions. The rule: do not reveal Wealth, do not reveal Resource — Wealth turns Eating God into a feeder of the Killings, and Resource takes Eating God away to protect the Killings. The exceptions are where the chapter shows its hand. Wealth first, Eating God after: the Wealth feeds the Killings and the Eating God then controls them, and the Pattern is greatly noble. Resource first, Eating God after, with Eating God too strong: the Resource trims the excess, and again the Pattern is greatly noble. Prime Minister Tuotuo's chart is the example: Ren Chen, Jia Chen, Bing Xu, Wu Xu. The Killings hide in the Chen tombs, Ren reveals them in the year stem, Wu Eating God is heavy in five places, and Jia Resource stands before it to cut the excess. “Is this not a noble Pattern?” the classic asks. But if the Killings are strong and the Eating God drains them, and Resource is revealed, the Pattern breaks — that is the line that must not be crossed.
Control is not only by Eating God. Resource can transform the Killings — not the natural use, the classic says, “but when Resource has feeling, it is a noble Pattern.” Counsellor He's chart is the proof: Bing Yin, Wu Xu, Ren Xu, Xin Chou. Wu Killings and Xin Resource both draw on the Xu month branch — “the Killings and the Resource share the month, and that is feeling.” And when the Killings are heavy and the body light, so that Eating God cannot be borne, turn instead to Resource: even if the Resource does not root in the month branch, it is “feeling inside the unfeeling” — the Pattern is allowed to be noble, “but not greatly”. Wealth can serve the Killings too, though Wealth feeds the Killings and is not naturally welcome: when Eating God is controlled and cannot subdue the Killings, and Wealth removes Resource to keep Eating God, the Pattern is noble. Prime Minister Zhou's chart is the example: Wu Xu, Jia Zi, Ding Wei, Geng Xu. Wu Eating God is held back, Geng Wealth in the hour stem removes Jia Resource, “feeding the Killings is controlling the Killings — both uses served at once, and most greatly noble.” And when the body is heavy, the Killings light, and the Killings have already turned to Resource, Wealth is borrowed to clarify the Pattern — Envoy Liu's chart, Jia Shen, Yi Hai, Bing Xu, Geng Yin, is noble on that ground. There are two more ways in: tomb Killings, where the month is a tomb and no Wealth is revealed in the stems to muddy the use, can also take nobility; and the Blade meeting the Killings, where no Eating God controls and no Resource transforms, and the Blade itself stands against the Killings.
Mixed with the Officer, and the question of order
When the Killings appear beside the Direct Officer, the chart is mixed and must be made clear — either the Officer goes or the Killings go. General Yue's chart is the example of removing the Officer and keeping the Killings: Gui Mao, Ding Si, Geng Yin, Geng Chen. Ding Officer is revealed in the month stem, and Gui Wounding Officer in the year stem controls it away. “The Officer is noble qi — why remove the Officer rather than the Killings?” the classic asks, and answers its own question: “The month branch is the Seven Killings, so the Killings are the use and the Officer is not the use. Each follows its weight.” The mirror case is Secretary Shen's chart: Bing Zi, Jia Wu, Xin Hai, Xin Mao. Zi clashes with Wu, and Gui controls Ding — the Killings are removed and the Officer kept, so the chart is read as an Officer Pattern and this chapter says no more about its rank. And then the rule of order, the one the classic asks about Wealth and Eating God together: which came first? A Ji Day Master born in Mao month, with Gui Wealth first and Xin Eating God after — the Wealth assists the use, and then the Killings are controlled by Eating God: greatly noble, without fail. But Xin first and Gui in the hour — the Killings meet Eating God's control, and then the Wealth turns Eating God into a feeder of the Killings: “not only not noble, but the later luck withers, and long life is hard to keep.” One position in the stems, and the whole life turns.
Luck: six bureaus, one rule
The chapter on taking luck (論偏官取運) divides the road by the bureau the chart belongs to. Controlled by Eating God: if the Killings are heavy and Eating God light, help Eating God; if the Killings are light and Eating God heavy, help the Killings; if the two are even and the Day Master's root is light, help the body. It fears the Officer mixed in, and dreads Resource taking Eating God away. Transformed by Resource: Wealth luck is unhelpful, the Wounding Officer is beautiful, and Resource luck and a strong body are both fortunate ground. Using Wealth to remove Resource and keep Eating God: it dislikes Peer luck, Expression is all fortunate, it loves Wealth and fears Resource, and the Killings revealed are smooth. Using Wealth because the Killings are underfed: when Wealth is already enough, it loves Eating God, Resource and helping the body; when Wealth is not yet enough, it loves Wealth flourishing and the Killings revealed. Carrying the Officer: whether the Officer is removed or the Killings are, a light body loves help for the body, and light Eating God loves help for Eating God. Never remove what clarified the chart, and never harm the god that controls the Killings. Met by the Blade: when the Killings are light and the Blade heavy, help the Killings; when the Blade is light and the Killings heavy, control and subdue. With no Eating God to take away, Resource luck does no harm. Over all six bureaus stands the last line: “Once the Killings are pure, the Officer mixed in is unhelpful.”
The checker: six questions, asked together
The checker reads a chart in the chapter's own order. Fixing: five ways qualify — the straight Pattern; tomb Killings through a branch combination; the month-qi-as-the-rule, where the month branch's own qi is the Killings even though another god is revealed in the stems, as in Envoy Liu's and General Yue's charts; hidden Killings revealed, where a tomb month hides the Killings and a stem of the same element reveals them, as in Prime Minister Tuotuo's chart; and the Blade meeting the Killings, where the Blade stands in the month or the day branch, the Killings are revealed, and there is no Eating God and no Resource. Anything else is “not applicable” — the 1949 chart, an Officer Pattern, is answered with that blank, and the blank is recorded, not hidden. Control: only a revealed stem or a combination god counts — a god that merely hides in a branch, never reaching a stem or a combination, is treated as no control at all; the Wounding Officer can control the Killings too, though Eating God controls them better. Heaviness: Eating God is heavy at three places or more, counted by revealed stems and branch roots; the three conditions of the utmost nobility — strong Killings, strong Eating God, a sound body — are counted on the same scale. Wealth and Resource: in a control-by-Eating-God chart, Wealth or Resource revealed breaks the Pattern, except for the three named exceptions — Wealth before Eating God, Resource before Eating God with Eating God too heavy, and Wealth removing Resource to keep Eating God. Mixed Officer: the Officer revealed is a mixture, cleared by removing the Officer or removing the Killings, and a mixture with no clearing is a failure. Clash: unlike the Officer, the Killings can meet clash and punishment — it is recorded as a flaw, never as a failure. The verdict is fourfold — formed, formed with a flaw, failed but rescued, or failed — and a rescue only counts for the flaw it actually rescues: Resource trimming excess Eating God does not save a chart whose Officer is still mixed in, and a chart whose Killings have no control at all is failed however many other things it carries. Rank is judged only for charts that stand; luck follows the bureau the chart belongs to; and the climate table from Lesson 11 is checked alongside.
Eight charts, worked through
The utmost nobility — Yi Hai, Yi You, Yi Mao, Ding Chou. Yi Wood born in You month: the Killings Xin hide in the month branch, Ding Eating God is revealed in the hour stem, the Killings are strong, the Eating God is strong, and the body is sound. The verdict is formed with a flaw, and the rank is the utmost nobility — the chapter's own highest case. The flaw is noted: You and Mao clash in the branches, and only the two half-combinations, Hai–Mao and You–Chou, answer it; the checker records the clash as a flaw rather than settling it itself.
Prime Minister Tuotuo — Ren Chen, Jia Chen, Bing Xu, Wu Xu. Bing Fire born in Chen month, a tomb month: the Killings hide in Chen, Ren reveals them in the year stem. Wu Eating God is heavy in five places — the hour stem and the four branch roots — and Jia Resource stands in the month stem, before the Eating God, to trim the excess. Failed but rescued, and the rank is great: “Eating God too heavy, and Resource revealed to cut the excess — is this not a noble Pattern?” The eighth lesson's checker agrees, calling it failed but rescued on its own table.
Counsellor He — Bing Yin, Wu Xu, Ren Xu, Xin Chou. Ren Water born in Xu month: the Killings Wu are revealed, and Xin Resource in the hour stem. Wu and Xin both draw on the Xu month branch — “the Killings and the Resource share the month, and that is feeling.” Formed with a flaw, and the rank is great. The flaw is noted: Wealth stands in the year stem and Resource in the hour stem, far apart with the Day Master between them, so Wealth cannot harm Resource — the classic's own remark, kept as a flaw rather than a failure.
Prime Minister Zhou — Wu Xu, Jia Zi, Ding Wei, Geng Xu. Ding Fire born in Zi month: the Killings Gui hide in the month branch, Wu Wounding Officer is revealed in the year stem to control them, Jia Resource stands in the month stem — and Geng Wealth in the hour stem removes the Resource, keeping the Eating God. Failed but rescued, and the rank is the chapter's highest praise for this road: “feeding the Killings is controlling the Killings — both uses served at once, and most greatly noble.”
Envoy Liu — Jia Shen, Yi Hai, Bing Xu, Geng Yin. Bing Fire born in Hai month: the month's own Ren is the Killings, though Yi Resource is revealed in the month stem — read by the month-qi-as-the-rule. The body is heavy, the Killings light, the Killings have turned to Resource, and Geng Wealth in the hour stem is borrowed to clarify the Pattern. Formed with a flaw, and noble on that ground: “the body heavy, the Killings light, the Killings turned to Resource, and Wealth borrowed to clarify — also a noble Pattern.”
General Yue — Gui Mao, Ding Si, Geng Yin, Geng Chen. Geng Metal born in Si month: the month's own Bing is the Killings, though Ding Officer is revealed in the month stem — read by the month-qi-as-the-rule. Gui Wounding Officer in the year stem controls the Officer away, keeping the Killings. Formed with a flaw, and noble: “remove the Officer, keep the Killings — when it is made clear, it is noble.”
Secretary Shen — Bing Zi, Jia Wu, Xin Hai, Xin Mao. Xin Metal born in Wu month: the month's own Ding is the Killings, Bing Officer is revealed in the year stem. Zi clashes with Wu, and Gui controls Ding — the Killings are removed and the Officer kept. The checker records the clearing and then stops: the Killings are gone, so the chart is read as an Officer Pattern, and this chapter says nothing about its rank.
Officer Zhao — Wu Chen, Jia Yin, Wu Yin, Wu Wu. Wu Earth born in Yin month: the Killings Jia are revealed, and Yin and Wu join in a half-combination whose god is Resource, transforming the Killings. Formed, clean — a chart with the Killings met by Resource and nothing to rescue. The half-combination is noted as such: the chapter's own example, and the weight of a half-combination is left for a human eye.
And the running anchors: Mao Zedong's chart — Gui Si, Jia Zi, Ding You, Jia Chen. Ding Fire born in Zi month, a Seven Killings Pattern: Jia Resource revealed in the month and hour stems transforms the Killings and feeds the body. Formed with a flaw, and the ninth lesson's rank is high — the two lessons agree on this chart. The 1949 chart — Ji Chou, Gui You, Jia Zi, Ren Shen — is an Officer Pattern, and this chapter has nothing to say about it.
Five honest caveats. First, reading a Pattern by the month's own qi, as this chapter does for Envoy Liu and General Yue, sits against the earlier chapter's rule that a revealed middle qi takes charge when the own qi does not show itself — both rules are kept, and the question is left open for a later lesson. Second, the ninth lesson's ranking checker calls the utmost-nobility example a low Pattern, because it does not count the worth of Killings controlled by Eating God — the two lessons disagree, and the disagreement is recorded. Third, the classic's rule for a formed Pattern asks for a strong body, and Prime Minister Tuotuo's chart counts as weak on the transparent scale — the Pattern is judged formed, and the weakness is written beside it rather than hidden. Fourth, when Resource and Eating God stand far apart — Resource in the year stem, Eating God in the hour — the checker counts the harm as light, by its own stated rule borrowed from the Officer chapter; a human eye should confirm it. Fifth, removing the Killings to keep the Officer is read by this chapter and not by the earlier forming-and-failing table, which calls Secretary Shen's chart a failure — the two tables are kept side by side.
What this means in a reading
The Seven Killings are the Pattern most readers get wrong, because they read the name as a warning. The chapter's lesson is the opposite: a chart with no Killings at all is often a chart with no force in it, and the greatest ranks in the book are built on Killings that are handled, not avoided. What matters is never the Killings alone. It is what meets them — Eating God strong enough to control them, Resource with feeling enough to transform them, Wealth placed early enough to feed them and late enough to be controlled, or the Blade standing its ground. And it is the order they arrive in: the same Wealth and the same Eating God make a great noble or a withered life, depending on which stands first. That is why the chapter matters for readings: it stops the reader from calling a chart bad because the Killings are present, and makes them ask what is holding the Killings. Next on the desk is the chapter's third Pattern — the Direct Resource, the god that turns attack into protection.
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