Volume 2: The Six Relations (Liu Qin Lun) · Chapter 39
How Do We Know? (He Zhi Zhang)
Attributed to Jing Tu (Song); commentary tradition by Liu Bowen (Ming)
Eight questions, eight structural answers
The most famous passage in the book asks its questions in everyday language — how do we know a person is rich, honoured, poor, low, fortunate, unlucky, long-lived, short-lived? — and answers each one structurally rather than morally. Wealth is not a sum of money but whether the wealth qi actually reaches the day master's gate; honour is whether the officer star is coherent and connected; poverty is a wealth star that is present but false. Fortune and misfortune turn on whether the favourable or the hostile spirit has the upper hand; and lifespan is read from the steadiness of the nature and the thickness of the original spirit.
Classical Verse & Annotated Translation
Line-by-line alignment between Classical Chinese and precise English translation.
何知其人富，财气通门户。
Note: 门户：日主之门（日、时之位，一说为全局通气之处）。谓财星与身相通、能为我用，方为真富。
How do we know a person is wealthy? The wealth qi runs through the gate.
何知其人贵，官星有理会。
Note: 理会：有安置、有照应（得财生、得印化、不与伤官相战）。谓官星有用而非孤立。
How do we know a person is honoured? The officer star has a coherent connection.
何知其人贫，财神反不真。
Note: 财神反不真：财星虽见而无根、被劫、被合去，或身弱不能任财。
How do we know a person is poor? The wealth spirit turns out not to be true.
何知其人贱，官星还不见。
Note: 不见：官星缺而无所立（或伤官旺而无制、身旺无官）。传统以「贵贱」指社会地位，非人格评价。
How do we know a person is held low? The officer star is still not to be seen.
何知其人吉，喜神为辅弼。
Note: 喜神：用神及其相神。辅弼：左右扶持、得力相助。
How do we know a person is fortunate? The favourable spirit acts as the supporting minister.
何知其人凶，忌神辗转攻。
Note: 忌神：所忌之行。辗转攻：连环相克而无救援（如前忌去、后忌又来）。
How do we know a person is unfortunate? The hostile spirit attacks through one channel after another.
何知其人寿，性定元神厚。
Note: 性定：性情安定、格局不摇。元神厚：根气深厚、五气流通而不偏枯。
How do we know a person is long-lived? The nature is settled and the original spirit is thick.
何知其人夭，气浊神枯了。
Note: 气浊：全局杂乱相碍。神枯：无气无生发。⚠️ 本条为古典文献对格局的表述，产品文案不得据此作寿命断言（合规红线）。
How do we know a person dies young? The qi is turbid and the spirit is withered dry.
Does your natal chart carry this sacred energy?
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