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 would suit them. In fact, the Chinese astrology art of ZWDS and Bazi is able to accurately determine the type of career that suits a person the most 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 which profession is really suitable 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 elemental categories consisting of Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water by matching the key traits of the works with the metaphysical elemental properties of these 5 elements. During those medieval times, they had at most 72 job types 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 elements is straightforward.

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

Unfortunately, most of these Bazi practitioners are copying such 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 we are missing because the general principle of 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 they 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 their favorable element scores lower 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 did former Bazi practitioners advocate 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 it means a lower quality of life brought on by a hectic work schedule.

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

As such, I hope that both Bazi practitioners and believers 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 to decide the favorable occupation based on the birth data of a person. Stay tuned.