Hi everyone! First of all! Happy Mid-Autumn Festival! I wrote an article for 99.co recently on the origins of the Mid-Autumn Festival and also touched on why the lunar 8th month is a significant month of the year. You can check out the article here. Special thanks to the company for allowing me to contribute blog posts on their website!

I’d like to discuss noblemen and benefactors today. The terms “noblemen” and “benefactors” are usually interchangeable in Chinese metaphysics, although the slightly more accurate term would be ” noblemen” because it literally translates to ‘gui ren’ (贵人). Benefactors, noblemen, or ‘gui ren’ are people who uplift our lives and provide opportunities, some of which can be life-changing.

Many of my clients often ask me if they will have benefactors coming to their aid and help them achieve the progress they’ve always wanted in life. I speak from experience: having benefactors and noblemen in your life is extremely important and makes things much easier for you. Most of the successful people you see around you did not get to where they are today by themselves – there is always a group of behind them to give them a lift. That’s the power of having a nobleman or benefactor.

Any BaZi consultation will always lead to the topic of benefactors and noblemen. Yes, they can be seen in the charts, but due to clients’ over-enthusiasm to get a reading and the poor understanding of Chinese metaphysics by some practitioners, we often don’t get the full picture of what it means to have a nobleman or benefactor in our lives.

As you analyse more charts, you’ll gradually find your mind opening up to a very different perspective of understanding and interpreting metaphysics, the meaning behind them and how phenomena manifest in real life. I hope to share some of the insights I’ve gained through my work as a practitioner, and I’ve organised them into sections below to help me convey my thoughts. Do note that these are my views and insights from my experience as a practitioner, and they’re not taken from the Chinese classics.

Common Myth: Finding Noblemen via Zodiac Signs

In some ways, you can, but only after you find out what a BaZi chart truly needs. But the mainstream popular theory about who your noblemen’s zodiac signs are is a complete misapplication of the theory.

The popular belief is that your benefactors are identified by the Zodiacs, which form a Three Harmony (三合) or Six Harmony (六合) relationship with yours. Do remember that the 12 Stems in BaZi are associated with the Zodiac animals. For example, for a Tiger (寅) like myself, by popular theory, Horse (午) and Dog (戌) are considered my benefactors. Why? Because yin, wu, xu (寅午戌) forms what we call a Three Harmony Fire combination. Pig (亥) is also considered a “secret friend” (whatever that means) because of yin and hai’s Wood combination (寅亥合木). I have no idea why the term “secret friend” is used, because there’s nothing secretive about it.

I don’t buy into such theories because it doesn’t make sense to me at all. Perhaps let me list down some reasons why I feel so in point form:

• So let’s say I’m a Tiger, but after analysing my chart, I realised that Fire is a destructive element – are people under the Horse and Dog Zodiac still considered my benefactors even if they are part of the Fire combination (寅午戌三合火局)?
• Similarly, if my chart does not welcome Wood, are people under the Pig Zodiac still considered my benefactors even if they are part of the Wood combination (寅亥合木)?
• What if someone belonging to my so-called benefactor Zodiac possesses a bad BaZi chart? Do they even have the capacity to be your benefactors?
• Metaphysics aside, my personal experience is that the people who have helped me the most in my life or given me the most joy are not all under the benefactor Zodiacs associated with the Tiger.

So what’s going on here? If I were to give my objective input on this, identifying who your benefactors are by their Zodiac signs is really hogwash. It’s perpetuated as a popular theory because, as I’ve always said, it generates buzz and brings business. You could say it’s similar to the issue of having fake news spreading like wildfire these days, thanks to social media. No one wants to hear deep theories or what our ancestors thought about when Chinese astrology was developed. We live in an era of instant gratification – people want to know who can help them fulfil their desires, and they want it now. I think my close followers know I’m more of a contrarian in this field, but not because I want to be a contrarian for its own sake; I really do want people to delve into the history and theory of metaphysics and see things from another perspective.

If your chart is meant to have benefactors, they will come naturally. You don’t have to actively hunt for them. You’re only going to put people off if you go around looking for benefactors, and I think we all can agree that this is common sense.

The Myth: If you are a Tiger, a Horse person is automatically your benefactor. The Reality: This is false. If Fire (Horse) is a negative element in your BaZi chart, a Horse person may actually bring you harm. True noblemen depend on your Useful God (Yong Shen), not just animal signs.

BaZi Analysis Is Not About Auxiliary Stars (神煞)

Yes, in BaZi, there is a thing we call Auxiliary Stars (神煞), and some of these very stars are the “Nobleman Stars” everyone is looking for in their charts. In an article that I have written long ago regarding myths and misconceptions about Zodiac forecasting, the core of BaZi theory and analysis is really not on these stars, but rather, by the theory of Yin Yang & The 5 Elements, seasonal changes, the position of Earth around the sun and the cycle of birth and death of all phenomena you can witness on Earth.

One should not touch Auxiliary Stars if the foundation of BaZi analysis is not there. I know it’s tempting, and it’s fun because it’s probably the only thing in the BaZi chart you can understand. I’ve been there. But please resist the urge to jump to conclusions.

The Noblemen Stars In BaZi

There is a huge list of Noblemen stars in BaZi. The three most common ones you’ll hear about and want in your chart are:

• Heaven’s Grace (天德贵人): General blessings and protection
• Lunar Grace (月德贵人): Very similar to Heaven’s Grace, although it involved money matters.
• Tian Yi (天乙贵人): Known as the best nobleman star in BaZ,i as this nobleman star grants life-changing events.

There are a few other Noblemen Stars which don’t get as much attention but still bring a lot of fortune to one’s life:

• Tai Ji Gui Ren (太极贵人): What I call the Primordial Grace is that’s what Tai Ji means. People under these stars do very well in religion and spiritual pursuits.
• Abundance God ‘Lu Shen‘ (禄神): Representing wealth and abundance in general. You’ll be getting a lot of support from others and do financially well if this appears.
• San Qi Gui Ren (三奇贵人): This is the rarest of all Noblemen Stars because the conditions in which they appear are the strictest and most complex. Often, for the most successful and meritorious of people.

Please remember that having any of these stars appearing in a chart means nothing without first deducing what your BaZi chart needs. You don’t get to enjoy the positive effects of these stars by their mere appearance, and a lot of beginners in BaZi don’t actually know this. There are prerequisites before the true positive nature of the nobleman stars can manifest. In fact, having too many of them can be a problem sometimes, too, especially in the case of the Tian Yi Nobleman Star.

The Noblemen Stars In Zi Wei Dou Shu

There are quite a number of nobleman stars that appear in Zi Wei Dou Shu, but for the purpose of this entry, I will only focus on 4 of them. They are:

• Zuo Fu 左辅， You Bi 右弼: They represent noblemen around the same age and title.
• Tian Kui 天魁， Tian Yue 天越: They represent elder benefactors or those of a higher title.

The difference here is that the former pair of noblemen stars represent help and assistance – they make hard work a lot easier. If you are a manager with the first two Noblemen Stars, you might find that your subordinates will go all out for you, and it makes your job as a manager a lot easier. But give yourself some credit because having these two Noblemen Stars also means you are a good people manager. Some trivia: Zuo Fu, You Bi are the two stars that move along with the Big Dipper (you can’t see the Big Dipper in Singapore), which is why, when you plot a Zi Wei Dou Shu chart, these two stars tend to move around a lot whenever the lunar month changes.

The latter pair represents elder benefactors who will bring you life-changing opportunities because they are in positions higher than yours. If you find yourself under the influence of these two Noblemen Stars, then expect to be in the good books of those in positions of power. There’s something about you that they like.

The best-case scenario for a Zi Wei Dou Shu chart is to encounter these stars as a pair, and it must either be in the Life Palace (命宫) or the critically-linked sectors in the Three Harmony Positions (Career, Finance). It is only when they appear as a pair in these Palaces that their full positive effects will show up. The effects they have are dependent on which sector they land in. There is another structure, which we call, where benefactor stars are adjacent and ‘clipping’ the Life Sector.

There are other positive stars in Zi Wei Dou Shu that don’t exactly refer to noblemen and benefactors. They are:

• Wen Chang & Wen Qu (文昌，文曲)
• Stars like Sky Horse (天马) and
• 禄存(Abundance’s Keep)

These are also very good stars to encounter, but they often refer to one’s innate talent and efforts, and don’t really refer to other people in your life. In some cases, you are your own biggest benefactor.

Of course, the very best Zi Wei Dou Shu charts will be under the influence of all these stars. It’s possible, but it is extremely rare.

Difference Between Noblemen Stars In BaZi And Zi Wei Dou Shu

There are some differences when assessing the effects of Noblemen Stars using BaZi and Zi Wei Dou Shu. If you are learning BaZi or you occasionally read up on it, my suggestion is to focus on the Five Elements first and figure out how to interpret a BaZi chart properly. The Auxiliary Stars should come later because you won’t actually know how these stars affect you until you figure out what’s going on with the 10 Heavenly Stems and 12 Earthly Branches.

It’s a little different for Zi Wei Dou Shu because it is a method derived from observing the position of the stars, which is fundamentally different from BaZi. Remember, BaZi is not about the position of stars, but rather the position of Earth around the sun. Zi Wei Dou Shu is a study of the stars themselves, so when a Noblemen Star lands in one of your critical sectors, like your Career or Finance sector, you can expect some positive manifestations. Even more so if you are under the influence of both stars within a pair. That said, there are special cases in Zi Wei Dou Shu where a Noblemen Star can have detrimental effects as well, but I won’t go into that here.

In summary, if you can’t resist the temptation and want to read up on Noblemen Stars yourself:

• For BaZi: Don’t get distracted by Auxiliary Stars if you are using BaZi. Focus on understanding Yin Yang & the 5 Elements. You need to get this right before knowing what the auxiliary ‘gods’/stars can do.
• For Zi Wei Dou Shu: Have a very thorough understanding of what the Noblemen Stars are and where they should appear. Their positions and which stars they appear with make a huge difference.

I think the core message I want to deliver is that you need to understand that these methods are very different, and BaZi was never meant to be a method based on stars per se. To jumble up the theory or two fundamentally different methods and form your own theories about it is a trap you should avoid. The inclusion of stars in BaZi was a result of the development of astrology, and also due to the fact that the position of the Earth does give some hints on where it would be in relation to the stars. It’s not that the Auxiliary Stars aren’t useful for BaZi analysis, but this layer of analysis does not come until the very end, when the chart structure has been thoroughly assessed.

Some People Will Have Noblemen Throughout Life And Others Not

The best charts are those where noblemen stars are permanently in their natal charts, but even these have certain caveats. For other people, noblemen stars appear during different 10-year “Luck Pillars”/Elemental Phases or Annual Phases.

Naturally, you’ll always want to be under their influence, so having them in your natal chart is the best because that provides a great uplift to your chart quality. If not, these benefactors will only appear in certain periods of your life governed by your Elemental Phases.

For example, in Zi Wei Dou Shu, 天魁 and 天钺 have their 10-Year Phase and Annual Phase versions, but the best is to always have them in the critical sectors of your natal chart, such as your Career (事业), Wealth (财帛), and Travel (迁移) sector.

There are other subtle differences that the next few sections will discuss.

The ‘Luck’ Behind Having Benefactors & Noblemen

This section is going to deliver the crux of the point I’m going to drive across, and the most important section. Yes, one would assume that people with Noblemen Stars in their charts get a lot of help from others, have access to more opportunities and things generally just go a lot smoother for them. In Zi Wei Dou Shu, it’s critical to encounter these stars in the chart in order to acquire wealth and status, and a chart that lacks these stars would not be regarded as a high-quality one.

Now, the question is: why are these people so lucky and not me? If you want to know why, we need to go back to the theory of cause and effect.If I were to put it bluntly, if you’re asking yourself, “Why don’t I have any benefactors?” you’ll first need to ask yourself whether you deserve them. Like I always tell my clients, things do not happen arbitrarily and for no reason. There is always a cause; there is always an effect. There is a reason some people always have benefactors who assist them throughout life.

People With Noblemen Stars Are Not “Lucky” – They Are Likeable.

If you studied Chinese metaphysics long enough, seen enough charts and spoken to enough people, you’ll begin to notice a few things. I’ll share what I’ve noticed over the years as a practitioner.

Let’s first establish one objective truth about the world: People choose who they want to help and give a lift to.

If you were to ask me if I just help anybody, I don’t. I choose someone who not only needs help but also deserves it. This gets a bit philosophical, but compassion and kindness, when executed poorly, are just foolishness. Helping the wrong person will only cause harm to others, and I don’t need to give examples of how that might happen. Common sense will tell you why. It’s not just about not wanting to harm others, but would I want to help someone who doesn’t appreciate it or let it go to waste? I wouldn’t.

Noblemen and benefactors appear in the lives of people who deserve it. Seeking them out is pointless and will only annoy people. I know there is a belief that you can actually ‘seek’ out your noblemen and benefactors, but I think there is something we are missing out here. If the process is too artificial, I’m quite sure it will backfire. Just imagine yourself in the position of being someone else’s noblemen or benefactor.

Let’s do a thought-experiment: Suppose you find two people with similar charts. Their BaZi or Zi Wei Dou Shu chart structures are similar, but one of them has the influence of Noblemen Stars and the other doesn’t, what’s interesting is that you will realize they have completely different dispositions and ways of looking at the world. Their mindsets will be very different. In other words, by identifying whether someone has Noblemen Stars in their chart, we can assess their character. People will be drawn towards those with noblemen stars because deep down, these people know they are the ones who deserve help. That’s all there is to it, and it has nothing to do with like.

People born under the influence of Zuo Fu You Bi (左辅右弼) are very warm and generous people, and they give off very good vibes. This is not just my opinion or observation; it is also written in the Chinese classics. On the other hand, people born under Tian Kui Tian Yue (天魁天越) can connect well with authority figures and are highly respectful of them. People with Noblemen Stars in their charts have benefactors in their lives because the core of their being attracts them. It’s not about “luck” because there is no such thing as luck in Chinese metaphysics. Only cause-and-effect. The word “luck” should never appear in Chinese metaphysics, but society thinks otherwise.

Be Careful Of Others Masking Themselves As A Nobleman

This goes without saying. But please be careful of people who mask themselves as noblemen when they are not. I believe we have all learned this lesson at some point.

I would say the people with the weaker charts will need to be a bit more careful, as they are more prone to being influenced and manipulated, as their foundation is a bit weaker, and it’s easy to waver when someone dangles hope in front of you.

I don’t know about you, but I absolutely hate it and detest practitioners who declare that, “I am your nobleman.” It’s something true noblemen will not say, and I hope I don’t have to explain why. Real noblemen are wise, and they are humble, and they will not utter such disgraceful, self-absorbed words.

Whatever it is, please just be careful in such scenarios. It happens. Life does not mark out true noblemen to you so clearly, and quite often, they appear and do their work even without you knowing.

Imagine Yourself Being Someone Else’s Noblemen

Now imagine you were in a position to help someone and could be someone else’s benefactor. What kind of person would you go out of your way to help? Personally, I would help someone who helps themselves, is respectful, and possesses admirable qualities. These are the people who inspire others to reach out to them for help, because by helping them, more good is achieved and everyone benefits.

The main message I am trying to deliver is that, while it’s fun to try to decipher if your chart has the effect of Noblemen Stars, it’s even more important to ask yourself why some people get benefactors, and some people don’t. Because if you don’t get what I’m trying to convey here, you will never be able to appreciate what a good chart is like and learn from people with high-quality BaZi and Zi Wei Dou Shu charts.

I have to apologise if my blog posts always seem to have such sobering messages, but remember, BaZi and Zi Wei Dou Shu isn’t everything, and there’s more to life’s wonders than metaphysics. The whole point of metaphysics is to become more self-aware so we can develop ourselves, and I hope this blog can help me continue my efforts to educate people about this field and avoid mental traps that can have serious repercussions on one’s life.

I’m pretty sure we all embarked on the study and practice of metaphysics to lead better lives, but it won’t happen if we are idle or if we only wish to hear good things. If you want a benefactor to appear in your life, you really don’t have to rely on the stars for that.

– Sean