Historical Figures歴史的人物

The Tang-dynasty founder of destiny analysis. He established the three-pillar (year, month, day) system.

Li Xuzhong (c. 761-813) was a mid-Tang dynasty official and the traditionally acknowledged founder of destiny analysis. That Han Yu (韓愈) wrote Li Xuzhong's epitaph confirms his historical existence — a rarity among ancient practitioners. Li Xuzhong's achievement lies in systematizing the reading of human destiny through three pillars (six characters): year, month, and day. Earlier destiny analysis had read only by the year pillar. Li Xuzhong added the month and day pillars, establishing the three-pillar, six-character structure. The three-pillar core of Bazen Sanmei stands in the tradition of Li Xuzhong. Later, Xu Ziping of the Song would add the hour pillar to complete the four pillars (BaZi), but the skeletal structure of the chart was already set by Li Xuzhong.

A Northern Song destiny analyst. He systematized Day-Master-centered reading, becoming the ancestor of the Zi Ping method.

Xu Ziping (10th–11th century, Northern Song) is the decisive innovator of destiny analysis. He added the hour pillar to Li Xuzhong's three-pillar system, completing the four-pillar form of BaZi. More importantly, he established Day-Master-centered reading. Until then, destiny analysis had often centered on the year pillar. Xu Ziping declared that "the Heavenly Stem of one's day of birth is one's very self," and he systematized the method of reading all other stem-branches in relation to the Day Master. Since then, this method has been called the Zi Ping method (子平術), and it forms the foundation of all contemporary BaZi and Sanmei practice. Xu Ziping's name is inscribed in the titles of classical works such as Yuanhai Ziping and Zi Ping Zhen Quan, standing as a synonym for destiny analysis itself.

A Southern Song destiny analyst. He compiled Yuanhai Ziping and left the foundational systematic text of the Zi Ping tradition.

Xu Dasheng (Southern Song) was a destiny analyst who inherited the stream from Xu Ziping. He is sometimes also known by the name Xu Ziping. His work Yuanhai Ziping is known, from the standpoint of textual scholarship, as the earliest systematic treatise of destiny analysis. Xu Dasheng's achievement lies in organizing, in book form, the Day-Master-centered reading method that Xu Ziping had opened. The foundations of the ten Heavenly Stems and twelve Earthly Branches, the judgment of the Ten Gods, the classification of Structural Patterns, the derivation of the Major Luck Pillars — nearly every element of the Zi Ping method is gathered in Yuanhai Ziping. The text was later expanded and re-edited in the Ming dynasty, establishing the form transmitted today. All the foundations of contemporary Zi Ping and BaZi begin here.

The chief military strategist and statesman of the Ming dynasty's founding. Traditionally the author of Di Tian Sui.

Liu Ji (1311-1375), courtesy name Bowen. The supreme military strategist and statesman who supported the founding of the Ming dynasty. In Zhu Yuanzhang's process of unifying China, Liu Bowen's strategy played a decisive role. He stands in Chinese history as a strategist comparable to Zhuge Liang. In destiny analysis, he is traditionally recognized as the author of Di Tian Sui. A statesman and military strategist who left behind the poetic peak of destiny analysis — this shows the multi-faceted nature of Liu Bowen. Not merely a practitioner of divination, but a scholar involved in the governance of a state who crystallized into poetry the deep laws of humanity and nature. The posture of Di Tian Sui — "seeking the true principles of destiny without attachment to structural patterns" — reflects the practical wisdom, transcending formalism, that Liu Bowen cultivated in the actual terrain of governance.

A Ming-dynasty destiny analyst. He compiled San Ming Tong Hui, leaving behind the encyclopedic work of destiny analysis.

Wan Yuwu (万育吾), original name Wan Minying (万民英). A Ming-dynasty destiny analyst. His work San Ming Tong Hui is a vast treatise that can be called the encyclopedia of destiny analysis, and stands as one of the monuments of the field. Wan Yuwu's achievement lies in organizing comprehensively the vast accumulated knowledge of destiny analysis up to the Ming dynasty. Foundational concepts, applied techniques, theories of auspicious stars, collections of case studies — nearly every subject in the field is gathered in San Ming Tong Hui. If Liu Bowen represents the poetic peak and Shen Xiaozhan represents the system of the Ten Gods and Structural Patterns, Wan Yuwu represents the breadth of destiny analysis. To know the thickness of the classical tradition, he cannot be passed over.

A Minister of Rites in the early Qing dynasty and destiny analyst. The author of Ming Li Yue Yan.

Chen Suan (early Qing, late 17th to early 18th century) was a senior official who served as Minister of Rites in the early Qing, and a destiny analyst. Holding a state office that governed national rites, he was deeply engaged in the study and writing of destiny analysis. His work Ming Li Yue Yan is known as a concise synthesis of the essentials of destiny analysis. Chen Suan is known for his evaluation of Di Tian Sui: "To exhaust the feelings of stems and branches, to penetrate the transformations of Yin and Yang, to seek the true principles of destiny without attachment to structural patterns — this path's depth stands supreme among the arts of fate-reading." This evaluation reveals a face of Chen Suan's thought — the grasping of destiny analysis as philosophical inquiry. Bazen Sanmei takes this evaluation seriously. "Seeking the true principles of destiny without attachment to structural patterns" — this is precisely the heart of the method of Classical Return.

A Qing-dynasty jinshi scholar and destiny analyst. The author of Zi Ping Zhen Quan.

Shen Xiaozhan (18th century, Qing) was a jinshi scholar who passed the imperial examinations. His work Zi Ping Zhen Quan is one of the canonical texts of destiny analysis, re-crystallizing the system of the Ten Gods and Structural Patterns from a Qing-dynasty vantage. Shen Xiaozhan's achievement lies in reorganizing, through Qing-dynasty intelligence and building upon Ming-dynasty accumulation, the Zi Ping method that had begun with Xu Ziping of the Northern Song. The qualities of each of the Ten Gods, the classification of Inner and Outer Patterns, the derivation of the Favorable Element within each Pattern — these were precisely systematized in Zi Ping Zhen Quan. Much of the contemporary understanding of the Ten Gods in destiny analysis rests on Shen Xiaozhan's framework. Bazen Sanmei, too, places the foundation for reading the Ten Gods in Shen Xiaozhan.

A Qing-dynasty destiny analyst. He added detailed commentary to Di Tian Sui, leaving behind Di Tian Sui Chanwei.

Ren Tiejiao (c. 1763-1838, Qing) added detailed commentary and numerous case studies to the original text of Di Tian Sui, traditionally attributed to Liu Bowen of the Ming. Ren Tiejiao's Di Tian Sui Chanwei (滴天髓闡微) stands as the definitive version of Di Tian Sui transmitted to the present. Liu Bowen's original text is poetic expression of extreme density. As it stands, it is difficult to apply to actual charts. Ren Tiejiao added commentary to each passage of the original and offered many case studies (charts of famous figures and clients), restoring Di Tian Sui as a work that can be practically read. If the philosophical depth of Di Tian Sui is Liu Bowen's achievement, the bridge to its practical reading is Ren Tiejiao's.

The founder of modern Japanese Sanmeigaku. Doctor of Letters.

Takao Yoshimasa (1924-1994) is the founder of modern Sanmeigaku in Japan. As a Doctor of Letters, he sought to systematize divinatory practice as scholarship. He left behind many works, beginning with Gentensanmeigaku Taikei. Takao Yoshimasa's achievement lies in systematizing northern Chinese Sanmei in his own distinct way in Japan, and establishing it as scholarship. The Ten Major Stars, the Twelve Vice Stars, the Void Period, Phase Methods — the skeletal structure of contemporary Japanese Sanmeigaku was arranged by Takao Yoshimasa. Yet his Sanmeigaku is a system that developed distinctively in Japan, and it shares some elements with BaZi (Four Pillars of Destiny) while diverging in others. Bazen Sanmei honors the lineage of Takao Yoshimasa as the modern establishment of Sanmei in Japan, while taking the further posture of returning to the classics (Di Tian Sui, Zi Ping Zhen Quan, and others) for a renewed reading.

The figure traditionally credited with transmitting Sanmeigaku from China to Japan.

Wu Renhe (first half of the 20th century, details unclear) is said to have fled from China to Nagasaki, Japan, during the turmoil of the Communist revolution after the Second World War. Takao Yoshimasa is said to have received the transmission of Sanmeigaku from this Wu Renhe. Yet historical records on Wu Renhe are extremely limited, and in some views he is regarded as a partly legendary figure. He holds a symbolic position in the narrative of Japanese Sanmeigaku as "transmitted from China." The historical reality of Wu Renhe awaits further research. But the consciousness that Sanmeigaku inherits the legitimate wisdom of China has been supported by this narrative.