Yang Earth Dog (Wu Xu, 戊戌) day pillar
A Yang Earth day master, the Mountain, sitting on the Dog.
Your day pillar is the pair of characters for the day you were born. The top one, the stem, is your day master — you. The bottom one, the branch, is what it sits on. The sixty pillars come round in turn, one a day, so about one person in sixty was born on a Wu Xu day.
Its sound element: Wood of the Plain (Ping Di Mu, 平地木)
The sixty pillars go in pairs, and each pair carries a sound element (Na Yin, 纳音) — an image, separate from the element of the stem. The classic San Ming Tong Hui (三命通会) describes each pillar by it:
Withered mugwort; likes Fire, and spring and summer.
蒿艾之枯者，喜火及春夏
What the Dog holds, and what it is to Yang Earth
Each branch holds one to three stems. The ones under your own day master are the closest things to you in the chart.
- Yang Earth (Wu, 戊), the main one — Friend (Bi Jian, 比肩). Same element, same polarity as you. A peer: someone standing where you stand, competing for the same thing and equally able to share the load.
- Yin Metal (Xin, 辛) — Hurting Officer (Shang Guan, 伤官). What you produce, opposite polarity. Output with an edge on it. The name means it injures the Direct Officer (正官), which is why the tradition reads it as talent that does not sit well with authority.
- Yin Fire (Ding, 丁) — Direct Resource (Zheng Yin, 正印). What produces you, opposite polarity. Straightforward support: what teaches, shelters and backs you.
A Wu Xu day at each birth hour: San Ming Tong Hui (三命通会)
Two volumes of this classic go hour by hour, and at each hour say something about this exact day pillar. These are its sentences on a Wu Xu day; what it says about the other five Yang Earth days is on the Yang Earth day master page. Hours are true solar time, not clock time.
Rat hour 23:00–01:00 · Yang Water Rat (Ren Zi, 壬子)
Tiger (寅), Snake (巳) and Horse (午) in year or month, putting away wealth and keeping the Resource (印) — third or fourth grade. The classic says: able to see right and forget profit, taking the Resource and putting aside wealth is this. Rat (子) and Rooster (酉), fifth grade, the academy. Pure Rooster with Water and Wood periods, the jade hall, extremely noble. It dislikes an Earth Horse (戊午) month, the branded face and an early death; a Metal Rabbit (辛卯) month, ruin and cruel punishment; a Water Ox (癸丑) month, taking punishment; a Metal Horse (庚午) month, poor and blind.
寅巳午年月，去财留印，三四品贵。经云：能见义忘利，取印舍财是也。子酉，五品翰林。纯酉，水木运，玉堂极贵。忌戊午月，刺面短夭；辛卯月，破败凶刑；癸丑月，受刑；庚午月，贫瞽。
Ox hour 01:00–03:00 · Yin Water Ox (Gui Chou, 癸丑)
born in summer with an eastern period, noble. Dragon (辰), Dog (戌), Ox (丑) and Goat (未) months, wealth and rank and holding authority, fond of flowers, wine and gallantry.
夏生，东方运，贵。辰戌丑未月，富贵操权，好花酒风流。化合南离局，财门日月开；柱中无冲破，福禄自然来。丑时戊癸化合柜，最喜刑冲忌锁闭；运行忽遇钥匙开，兴旺家门为活计。
Tiger hour 03:00–05:00 · Yang Wood Tiger (Jia Yin, 甲寅)
Dragon (辰), Dog (戌), Ox (丑) and Goat (未) months running Water and Wood periods, third grade. Ox and Goat in year or month running Metal and Water periods, wealth and rank both complete. Monkey (申) and Rat (子), or Rooster (酉) and Rat, in year or month, both noble, and the children flourish too. Snake (巳) and Horse (午), noble, with injury to the wife and harm to the children.
Rabbit hour 05:00–07:00 · Yin Wood Rabbit (Yi Mao, 乙卯)
spring, the officer strong. Summer, officer and Resource (印) both complete, conspicuously noble. Autumn middling. Winter noble. Dog (戌) and Ox (丑) in year or month, a regional post of the third grade. A Dog month running an eastern period, solitary and poor.
春官旺。夏，官印双全，贵显。秋平。冬贵。戌丑年月，方面三品。戌月，行东方运，孤贫。时上生官坐禄权，
Dragon hour 07:00–09:00 · Yang Fire Dragon (Bing Chen, 丙辰)
hour and day clash together — grief over wife and children. The Kui Gang days (魁罡), running a northeastern period, governs weighty authority and blessing coming out. A Rooster (酉) month, close to the noble but without blessing or the prosperity star (禄). Pig (亥), Rabbit (卯) and Goat (未) months, read as officer and Resource (印), noble.
时日并冲，忧伤妻子。魁罡，行东北方运，主权重发福。酉月，近贵无福禄。亥卯未月，以官印论，贵。丙辰时逢为倒食，库中财官锁闭门；不遇钥匙难发达，诛求劳碌度晨昏。
Snake hour 09:00–11:00 · Yin Fire Snake (Ding Si, 丁巳)
with nothing clashing or breaking, no wealth or officer in year or month, and no wealth or officer period run, noble. A Tiger (寅) month is read as Seven Killings (偏官), and running Goat (未) and Monkey (申) periods, noble. A Rat (子) month with Yang Wood (甲) showing is also noble. Pig (亥), Rabbit (卯) and Goat — though wealth and officer are seen, all favourable, for the Returning Prosperity (归禄) pattern does not dislike Killings (煞), officer or wealth: getting them with the self strong, they turn instead to blessing.
无冲破，年月不见财官，不行财官运，贵。寅月，作偏官论，行未申运，贵。子月，透甲亦贵。亥卯未，虽见财官，俱吉，盖归禄格不忌官煞与财，以身旺得之，反为福也。日干支禄喜归时，不见财官贵可期；无破禹门三级浪，伫看一跃上天池。
Horse hour 11:00–13:00 · Yang Earth Horse (Wu Wu, 戊午)
greatly ill. Rabbit (卯) and Horse (午) in year or month, an officer period, conspicuously noble. Tiger (寅), Direct Resource (印绶) carrying the Killings (煞), turning the ill into the favourable.
大凶。卯午年月，官运，贵显。寅，印绶带煞，变凶为吉。戊逢戊午火离乡，刃旺身强大显扬；运蹇时乖名未就，平常衣禄度时光。
Goat hour 13:00–15:00 · Yin Earth Goat (Ji Wei, 己未)
spring, the officer strong, noble. Summer, the Resource (印), settled. Autumn middling. Winter solitary and bitter. A Dog (戌) month, the Kui Gang days (魁罡) pattern, fifth or sixth grade. It needs Monkey (申), Rat (子) and Dragon (辰) in year and month gathering as wealth, Tiger (寅) and Horse (午) as Direct Resource (印绶), Yin Earth (己) and Rooster (酉) as Hurting Officer (伤官), Pig (亥) and Rabbit (卯) as officer and Killings (煞) — each making up its own face, and then it is favourable.
春，官旺，贵。夏印安稳。秋平。冬孤苦。戌月，魁罡格，五六品贵。须年月申子辰会财，寅午印绶，己酉伤官，亥卯官煞，各成局面方吉。未中戊己土成堆，刑害冲来事亦谐；先暗后明凶变吉，贵人提携出尘埋。
Monkey hour 15:00–17:00 · Yang Metal Monkey (Geng Shen, 庚申)
calamity and fever within; a Rat (子) month is also the bound-the prosperity star (禄) pattern, literary nobility of the third grade. Rabbit (卯) and Dragon (辰) in year or month, greatly noble.
灾疟内，子月，亦合禄格，文贵三品。卯辰年月，大贵。
Rooster hour 17:00–19:00 · Yin Metal Rooster (Xin You, 辛酉)
Dragon (辰), Dog (戌), Ox (丑) and Goat (未) months, noble. The ancients held that Water and Earth are spoiled at Rooster (酉), and so there is mostly no fruit in the end — either the name and merit retire early, or the children do not come to anything. Looking at the six days above, none is a destiny of high office: it may be seen that meeting Hurting Officer (伤官) at the hour is unfavourable.
辰戌丑未月，贵。古人以水土败在酉，所以多无结果，或功名早退，或子息不成。观上六日无大官命，可见伤官时遇不吉。
Dog hour 19:00–21:00 · Yang Water Dog (Ren Xu, 壬戌)
autumn, wealth and rank. Summer with a western period; spring with a northern period; winter with a southern period — all noble. Dragon (辰) and Ox (丑) months, better still.
秋富贵。夏，西运；春，北运；冬，南运，俱贵。辰丑月，尤吉。壬戌时财库内埋，要开专等钥匙来；运行财官生旺地，富贵荣华不用猜。戊时逢壬戌，柱中卯丑为欢。子辰乙贵显财官，出住高人相伴。开库填房就舍，无冲雁侣难完。先贫后富事团圆，不贵仓箱广满。
Pig hour 21:00–23:00 · Yin Water Pig (Gui Hai, 癸亥)
Tiger (寅), Rabbit (卯), Horse (午), Snake (巳), Ox (丑), Dog (戌) and Pig (亥) in year or month with Yin Wood (乙), Yang Metal (庚) or Yin Fire (丁) showing at the stems, pure, essential authority and rank; it should run Fire and Earth periods.
寅卯午巳丑戌亥年月，天干透乙庚丁字，清要权贵，宜火土运。戊癸化火亥时生，落照江湖暗复明；卯未月生三合吉，移屋换舍必安宁。
Named days in Yuan Hai Zi Ping (渊海子平)
These are decided by the day pillar alone, so everyone born on a Wu Xu day is in them. The work attaches conditions to most of them; the passage is given whole.
The Kui Gang (魁罡) days
The day pillar is one of Water Dragon (壬辰), Metal Dog (庚戌), Earth Dog (戊戌) or Metal Dragon (庚辰).
夫魁罡者有四：壬辰、庚戌、戊戌、庚辰日是也；如日位加临者众，必是福。运行身旺，发福百端；一见财官，祸患立至。
The ten unpardonable days
The day pillar is one of the ten whose prosperity star (禄) falls in its own decade's Void (空亡). The passage is explicit that it is not simply bad — 况犯者未必皆凶，若内有吉神相扶，贵气相辅，当为吉论 — so it is reported and not graded.
六甲旬中十个日值禄人空亡，如甲辰、乙巳，甲以寅为禄，乙以卯为禄，甲辰旬以寅卯为空亡……余如丙申、丁亥、庚辰、戊戌、癸亥、辛巳、乙丑等日皆仿此。命中犯者，当以日上见之为是，其余不论
The Dog and the other animals
When the day branch meets these — in a year, a ten-year luck period, or someone else’s chart — the classics read it by these relationships.
- Clashes with
- Dragon
- Pairs with (six harmony)
- Rabbit
- In a trine with
- Tiger, Horse
- Punishment with
- Ox, Goat
- Harms
- Rooster
- Breaks
- Goat
The next Wu Xu days: 20 November 2026, 19 January 2027, 20 March 2027. It returns every sixty days.
Famous people born on a Wu Xu day
- I. M. Pei Architect · the Louvre Pyramid, the Bank of China Tower
The Yang Earth day master · Before it: Ding You · After it: Ji Hai · All sixty day pillars