The Origin and Development of Bazi Numerology

Bazi numerology is a discipline that predicts fate through a person's birth date and time, which are composed of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches of the year, month, day, and hour, totaling eight characters, hence the name "Four Pillars and Eight Characters." Based on the theories of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements, as well as Yunqi (Destiny and Qi), it interprets a person's fortune, character, and fate by analyzing the relationships among the Five Elements in the Bazi, such as mutual generation, mutual restriction, prosperity, success, decay, imprisonment, and death. Its origin can be traced back to ancient times.

In the Xia Dynasty, the combination of Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches was already used to record time, laying the basic framework for Bazi numerology. During the Shang Dynasty, there was the divination method of burning turtle shells. In the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, numerology was prevalent, but a mature theory of predicting fate based on birth time had not yet been formed.

Bazi numerology was formally established in the Tang Dynasty. Li Xuzhong, based on the principles of the Five Elements' generation and restriction in the I Ching, combined the Ganzhi (Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches) of the four pillars (year, month, day and hour) to deduce life's fortunes and misfortunes. He is known as the originator of Four Pillars fortune-telling, and his Li Xuzhong's Book of Destiny is the earliest existing work on numerology.

The Song Dynasty was an important stage in the development of Bazi numerology. Xu Ziping added the Ganzhi of the hour pillar to Li Xuzhong's three pillars, forming a complete "Four Pillars and Eight Characters" model, which was later called the "Ziping Technique." Xu Dasheng compiled Yuanhai Ziping based on his research results, marking the maturity of Bazi numerology.

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, a large number of numerology classics emerged. Wan Minying's Sanming Tonghui (Comprehensive Collection of Three Destinies) integrated the achievements of previous dynasties, while Shen Xiaozhan's Ziping Zhenquan (True Interpretation of Ziping) focused on the selection of "Yongshen" (useful gods). By this time, Bazi numerology had formed two major branches: one emphasizing "practical application" and the other "theoretical research."

Since modern times, masters such as Yuan Shushan and Xu Lewu have collated and annotated ancient numerology classics, enabling them to be better inherited. At the same time, new-school numerology theories have gradually emerged, further enriching the system of Bazi numerology.