One of the most common questions I receive as a Fengshui, Bazi, and Zi Wei Dou Shu (ZWDS) practitioner is what type of career or occupation suits them. In fact, ZWDS and Bazi’s Art of Chinese Astrology is able to pinpoint the type of career that suits a person best because it can tell us a person’s character, ability, interests, and luck.

However, I have observed that there are very few Bazi practitioners who can accurately advise their clients on what a profession is really right for them. How did such an accurate astrological tool end up in such a sorry state? The root of the problem stems from these Bazi practitioners not understanding the context for which the rules of this ancient art were established.

The Bazi practitioners of ancient China classified all works into 5 element categories consisting of wood, fire, earth, metal, and water by matching the key traits of the works to the metaphysical elemental properties of these 5 elements. During those medieval times, they had at most 72 types of work which can be grouped into 5 main types comprising businessmen, farmers, fishermen, government officials and academics. Therefore, classifying each occupation into 1 of the 5 items is straightforward.

They will proceed to read their client’s Bazi letters and determine their favorable elements. Finally, they will advise these clients to take a job that is listed in their favorable element category. Also keep in mind that the pace of life of the people who lived in ancient China is relaxed and the mentality then is not so much about making a lot of money but rather about leading a not so hectic life.

Unfortunately, most of these Bazi practitioners are copying these ancient Bazi practices without much understanding of the context and modifying them to suit the lifestyle and mindset of modern society, as well as the much more complex range of occupations. In Bazi, the favorable elements are usually the element that we lack because the general principle of the favorable elements is to balance the elemental inequality in one’s Bazi card.

If one’s favorable element is one that this person’s Bazi card has a shortage of, suffice it to say that it will be weaker in the qualities that particular element represents. For example, metal represents perseverance, and in general, it can be said that a person who has metal as the favorable element of him gets a lower score in terms of perseverance. As such, how can a person who lacks perseverance perform well in a job that is the epitome of perseverance?

Why were the former Bazi practitioners advocating that the client take up an occupation in which one is weak? This is partly because in ancient China, the pace of life is much slower and therefore it was more important to lead a sedentary lifestyle which can only be achieved by using one’s occupation to balance Bazi deficiency. . In modern society, the emphasis has shifted to excelling in one’s occupation, even if this means a lower quality of life brought about by a hectic work schedule.

The other problem that makes this industry-favorable element-based method of occupation advice inaccurate is that jobs have evolved in complexity and variety, making it difficult to classify them exclusively into any one of the 5 elements. For example, engineering is classified as wood, but electronics and mechanics are classified as fire and metal, respectively. So what then is the elementary classification of electronic engineering and mechanical engineering?

As such, I hope that Bazi practitioners and believers alike will assiduously consider context and relevance when practicing and following this art that has evolved since ancient times. Soon I will write an article about my method of deciding the favorable occupation based on a person’s birth data. Stay tuned.