格局
pattern — classifying the whole chart
Once you can judge strength, the next question is shape: what KIND of chart is this? 格局 gé jú, "pattern" or "structure," is the tradition's classification system — a chart is read as belonging to one dominant pattern, usually named for whichever 十神 governs the month branch (the chart's single most powerful seat, per module 9's 得令).
Patterns matter because they set the chart's agenda before you ever pick a favorable god (module 11): a 正官格 chart wants its officer protected and fed; a 食神格 chart wants its output unblocked; a 从格 chart (below) inverts the whole strength question. Classify first, then choose.
the eight regular patterns — 八格 — 八格
The classical eight patterns are named directly for the 十神 that the month branch's 主气 (module 4's "presiding stem") represents to the day master. Two of the ten 十神 are excluded by convention (比肩 and 劫财 — "peer" patterns are handled separately, below, as 建禄/羊刃), leaving eight:
Each pattern carries its own agenda, in brief: 正官格 wants the officer protected from 伤官's attack and fed by 财; 七杀格 wants the pressure controlled (by 食神 or 印) rather than left to run wild; 正财/偏财格 want the wealth guarded from 比劫's theft; 正印/偏印格 want the resource neither drowned by excess 财 nor starved; 食神格 wants its output unblocked by 枭神 (module 7's owl pattern); 伤官格 is the most contested pattern in the whole system — brilliant but rule-breaking, and schools disagree sharply on whether it wants 官 controlled, avoided, or fed by 财 as a release valve.
| pattern name | the month's presiding 十神 |
|---|---|
| 正官格 | 正官 — the discipline, crossed register |
| 七杀格 | 七杀 — the pressure, same register (also called 偏官格) |
| 正财格 | 正财 — the wealth, crossed register |
| 偏财格 | 偏财 — the wealth, same register |
| 正印格 | 正印 — the resource, crossed register |
| 偏印格 | 偏印 — the resource, same register |
| 食神格 | 食神 — the output, same register |
| 伤官格 | 伤官 — the talent, crossed register |
when the month is a peer — 建禄 and 羊刃 — 建禄格 · 羊刃格
When the month branch's presiding stem IS the day master's own element (a 比肩 or 劫财 relation), the eight-pattern table above does not apply — the tradition names two special patterns instead. 建禄格 jiàn lù gé ("establishing the salary") is the yang-polarity case: the day master sits on its own 禄 (module 12's "salary" star) in the month. 羊刃格 yáng rèn gé ("sheep blade") is the yin-adjacent case, named for a stem sitting on its own blade-branch (also module 12) — read as raw, cutting strength that needs the 七杀 or 官 to discipline it, the way a blade needs a sheath.
Both patterns describe a day master already at its structural peak from the month alone — read them as "extremely strong by 得令" cases, and go straight to asking what controls or channels that strength (module 11's 扶抑 logic, in its "抑" direction).
when the chart refuses balance — 从格 — 从格
Every pattern above assumes the day master is a real player worth balancing FOR. 从格 "following patterns" are the exception: charts so lopsided that the day master gives up the fight and "follows" whatever dominates instead. These are read only after strength (module 9) comes back extreme in one direction, with no real root or support to counter it — a 从格 misread as a normal chart inverts every subsequent judgment.
从旺格 cóng wàng gé ("following abundance") — the day master is extremely strong (heavy 得令+得地+得势, no controlling 官杀 present) and simply leans into its own strength rather than seeking balance. 从弱格 splits into direction-specific names by what the chart follows: 从儿格 cóng ér gé ("following the child") when the chart is dominated by what the day master generates (食伤); 从财格 cóng cái gé when dominated by wealth (财); 从杀格 cóng shā gé when dominated by the pressure (七杀/官). The common thread: the day master has essentially no root and no support, so instead of resisting the dominant force it "follows" it — and the favorable god (module 11) flips to STRENGTHEN the dominant force rather than rescue the day master.
Honest caution: 从格 is real doctrine but the single most argued-over judgment call in the whole system — different schools set different thresholds for "no root at all," and a marginal case read as 从格 by one reader is a normal weak chart to another. Treat a 从格 call as a hypothesis to hold loosely, not a settled fact — this is exactly the kind of judgment the app deliberately does not automate.
the rarest patterns — 化气格 — 化气格
A pattern condition tied directly to module 3's 五合 (stem combinations): if the day stem itself combines with an adjacent stem (甲己, 乙庚, 丙辛, 丁壬, 戊癸) AND the resulting transformed element is strongly supported by the month and the rest of the chart, some schools read the day master as having transformed entirely into that new element — 化气格, "transformed-qi pattern." This is the rarest and most disputed pattern classification; many readers require near-perfect support (the transformed element commanding the season, no competing element present) before accepting it.
Honest note: the app's engine computes branch interactions (module 8) but, per module 3's honesty note, does not yet compute stem combinations or their transformations — 化气格 is taught here as doctrine you will encounter in books and other readers, not something the app can currently detect in your own chart.
classifying the worked example
Back to 己卯 · 丙子 · 戊午 · 戊午. Day master 戊 (earth), month branch 子 (water, 主气 癸). 癸 to 戊: opposite polarity, water controls earth (戊 restrains, so 戊克癸 is not the direction — 癸 is what generates the day master's controller; check via module 7's table: 戊 vs 癸, opposite polarity, "generates me" position → 正印). So the month's presiding god is 正印 — this chart classifies as 正印格.
A 正印格 wants its resource neither drowned by excess 财 (financial pressure) nor left to over-shelter the day master into passivity. Paired with module 9's finding (this day master is 身弱 but not collapsed), the pattern and the strength judgment agree: a chart that leans on its resource for real support, which module 11 will now confirm as the favorable direction.