Difference between Bazi and Zi Wei Dou Shu – Part II
This is a continuation of my previous article on the differences between Bazi and Zi Wei Dou Shu (ZWDS).
Naturally, it’s harder to do a Bazi reading at the level of intricate detail that a ZWDS reading can offer because Bazi collapses many aspects of human relationships, eg spouse and wealth into 1 item. If we can conceptualize the difference between a folding bike and a non-folding bike, we’ll understand that Bazi works best for convenient and quick reading, while ZWDS makes the cut for cumbersome but powerful reading.
Another difference between the 2 is that Bazi can give us a reasonably accurate indicator (around 70%) of a person’s character and luck if we have the date of birth without the time of birth. For ZWDS, it will not be possible to come close to having a good idea of a person’s character and fortune without information about the day and time of birth.
Due to the above differences, we can also conclude that Bazi is more appropriate for a general review of a person’s luck because it is easier and faster to read a Bazi chart. ZWDS is more suitable for reading intricate details, including sexual attitudes, how one behaves at home, in the workplace, during leisure activities, etc. and informative even to the point of identifying one’s profession as a prostitute. This is such a complex level of detail that Bazi practitioners have trouble reading. The reason ZWDS can read intricate details of one’s life is because it requires many layers and perspectives of analysis, and as a result takes much longer. As such, Bazi is more useful for spotting a trend, while ZWDS is more appropriate for analyzing the individual events that make up the trend. We can use the analogy that Bazi is like radar, more apt to detect presence, while ZWDS is like X-rays, more useful for analyzing the content of a present object.
Throughout my practice with both tools, I’ve noticed that Bazi has a much higher chance of running into a blind spot when analyzing the fate of the average Joes. Many Bazi teachers and authors use Bazi charts from celebrities like Donald Trump as examples to illustrate the accuracy of their Bazi reading. Well, high profile people like Donald Trump will naturally lead a life of extremes and because Bazi is good at general review, he will naturally be able to spot such extremes in luck. But using a big picture tool that looks at the lives of average Joes (who don’t go through such extremes) is bound to run into patches of ambiguity.
Bazi shares many of the same fundamentals (Yin and Yang theory, 5 element theory, trigram images, etc.) as other topics in Chinese metaphysics such as Fengshui, Chinese date selection. ZWDS, on the other hand, only uses these foundations sporadically, but more of its unique foundations. As a result, knowledge of Bazi is critical as a stepping stone to mastery of other Chinese metaphysical subjects, while knowledge of ZWDS is not as critical. By the same reasoning, Bazi can be used for other aspects, including event prediction or divination, while ZWDS is strictly a personal destiny reading tool.
The million dollar question one might ask would be “Is Bazi or ZWDS a better Chinese astrology tool?” I won’t say one is better than the other, but why limit your reading range when we can have both? Any self-respecting Chinese astrology or fengshui practitioner should use both methods instead of one. Fate analysis becomes very clear if we switch between a general analysis and a multilevel microanalysis.