TL;DR: Tòng Cách is the configuration in which the day master is extremely weak, with no remaining root, seal or peer support to stand on its own, and is forced to abandon its fate and follow the force of the element that is overwhelmingly strong in the chart, usually wealth, officer or seven killings, or output and eating. Chuyên vượng cách is the opposite: one element occupies almost the entire chart, and the day master is so strong that it cannot be controlled, so one must go along with that element's flow of generation and transformation. Both configurations demand very strict conditions regarding the month command, branches, stems and the sequence of luck cycles, so one cannot judge on the basis of a few visible stems and branches alone.
What Are Tòng Cách and Chuyên Vượng Cách?
Tòng cách and chuyên vượng cách are two special configurations of a Bát Tự chart, established when the day master is either too weak to stand on its own, or too strong to be suppressed. In the first case, the situation forces the day master to abandon its own mệnh and follow the element that is dominant, hence the name tòng (following). In the second case, one element occupies nearly all four pillars and the flow of sinh hóa is closed, forcing the chart to comply with that force, hence the name chuyên vượng (exclusively flourishing).
Both are conditional configurations, not labels to be attached to every weak or strong chart. The Tam Mệnh Thông Hội cites an old saying: "棄命從煞須要會煞" and "棄命從財須要會財", meaning that to abandon one's mệnh and follow sát, one must actually assemble sát; to abandon one's mệnh and follow tài, one must actually assemble tài[1]. This sets a very specific standard: it is not enough to see a weak self and call it tòng; there must be a genuine hội hợp that makes that element the master of the chart.
When Is a Chart Considered to Abandon Its Mệnh and Follow the Force?
A chart is considered to abandon its mệnh and follow the force when the day master has no remaining point of support to resist, and at the same time the dominant element has gathered enough strength to lead the whole chart. The Trích Thiên Tủy opens its Thông Thần Luận section with the line: "欲識三元萬法宗，先觀帝載與神功", meaning that to understand the root of all methods in the three nguyên, one must first observe the operation of heaven and earth and the function of the five elements[2]. Placed in the context of tòng cách, this line reminds us that one must read which element holds the leading power in the chart, not merely count the number of can and chi belonging to each element.
The Four Core Conditions of Tòng Cách
- The day master has no root in the chi. If the địa chi contains even one hidden ấn or tỷ kiếp strong enough, the day master still has a path to survive and cannot be called tòng.
- The element being followed must have command at the nguyệt chi, or must assemble a tam hợp or tam hội to form a force. The Tòng tượng (從象) entry of the Tam Mệnh Thông Hội quotes the Ngọc tỉnh: "自身無氣，從局變象，在支三合所屬同也", meaning that when the self has no qi it follows the cục and changes its image, judged by the tam hợp of the địa chi[1].
- There is no ấn generating and supporting the day master in the can or chi, because ấn is the mother that nurtures the day master, and as long as ấn remains, the ability to turn the force remains.
- The pillars contain no tỷ kiếp aiding the self, or if they do, those tỷ kiếp are combined, clashed, or controlled to the point of being ineffective.
If any one of these four conditions is missing, the chart falls into ordinary weak self, which must use ấn and tỷ kiếp to support the self, and must not be read as tòng cách. This is where most readers go wrong, because they see a weak self and hastily assign tòng.
Conditions of Chuyên Vượng Cách
Chuyên vượng cách moves in the opposite direction. The day master has command, has position, has force, one element occupies nearly all four pillars, and the chart contains no quan sát strong enough to control it. The Trích Thiên Tủy calls this the độc tượng (single image): "獨象喜行化地，而化神要昌", meaning that the single image favours luck that moves to the ground of its hóa thần, and the hóa thần must flourish; the original note explains that one element alone is "single", as in khúc trực and viêm thượng, and that the hóa thần is the element it generates[2]. Nhậm Thiết Tiều lists all five names: a Wood day master whose chi complete a direction or a cục with no Metal mixed in is khúc trực; Fire with no Water mixed in is viêm thượng; Earth with all four storehouses and no Wood mixed in is giá sắc; Metal with no Fire mixed in is tòng cách (從革, where cách means "to change", a different character from the cách 格 of tòng cách); Water with no Earth mixed in is nhuận hạ; and all five must be in season and hold the command of the month[2]. Book 6 of the Tam Mệnh Thông Hội records the same five patterns, for example khúc trực: "甲乙日得亥卯未局，柱中須有亥字"[1].
In his commentary on the Tòng tượng section, Nhậm Thiết Tiều also separates two cases close to chuyên vượng. Tòng vượng is a chart whose four pillars are all tỷ kiếp, with no quan sát to control them and with ấn generating them: luck of tỷ kiếp and ấn thụ is favourable, luck of quan sát is called "offending the flourishing", and in luck of tài the kiếp fight over it. Tòng cường is a chart with ấn and tỷ kiếp piled up, the day master holding the command of the month, and not a trace of tài or quan sát[2]. He states plainly that the four names tòng vượng, tòng cường, tòng khí and tòng thế are his own and were not recorded in earlier books[2].
Common Types of Tòng Cách in Classical Texts
The Tam Mệnh Thông Hội has the two entries on abandoning the mệnh to follow sát and to follow tài, and the Tòng tượng entry[1]. Tòng nhi is the term of the Trích Thiên Tủy, and tòng thế is a name coined by Nhậm Thiết Tiều in his commentary[2].
| Type of tòng | Element followed | Main conditions | Favourable luck direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tòng sát | Quan sát | Sát is too heavy, the day master has nowhere to return, the four pillars hold not one tỷ kiên or ấn thụ | Luck of strong sát and the ground of tài |
| Tòng tài | Tài tinh | Tài assembles a cục, the day stem has no qi and does not meet its root again | Luck of strong tài; on quan sát luck the book records two different views |
| Tòng nhi | Thực thương | Thực thương holds the month command and forms a force, with tài in the chart; regardless of whether the self is strong or weak | Luck of tài |
| Tòng thế | Tài, quan sát and thực thương all strong | Day master has no root, no tỷ kiếp or ấn to support it, and cannot follow a single one of them | Luck of tài is best, then quan sát, then thực thương; luck of tỷ kiếp or ấn thụ is unfavourable |
The Tam Mệnh Thông Hội quotes the Độc bộ: "從煞喜財，從財忌煞，會逢根氣，命損無猜"[1]. This means that tòng sát favours tài, tòng tài avoids sát, and once the chart follows, meeting its root again (tỷ kiếp or ấn thụ) harms the mệnh. On the clause that tòng tài avoids sát, the same book in its entry on abandoning the mệnh to follow tài gives the example of a Đinh stem born in the Dậu month, which enters the pattern only when luck moves north to the ground where tài and quan are strong, and records the verse "運旺財官皆富貴，如逢根助反為災"[1]. The two passages in the same book therefore do not fully agree; what both say is that a chart that follows fears meeting its root again.
Chuyên Vượng Cách and Other Chuyên Types
The word chuyên also appears in several other pattern names in Book 5 of the Tam Mệnh Thông Hội, and these are not chuyên vượng. "專煞無制" is sát in a flourishing state with nothing in the pillars to control it, the day master seated on its own strong ground and the luck leading to the ground of a strong self; "專祿要制" is a Canh day meeting the Tỵ hour, where the pillars need Nhâm or Quý to control Bính; "專財" is a Bính day meeting the Bính Thân hour, or a Giáp day meeting the Kỷ Tỵ hour[1]. These three names concern one factor standing alone in one pillar, not one element occupying the whole chart, so they are not read together with chuyên vượng.
The Tam Mệnh Thông Hội cites a classic: "身強煞淺假煞為權，煞重身輕終身有損"[1]. This line applies in both directions: when the self is strong and sát is shallow, one may borrow sát as authority; when sát is heavy and the self is light, there will be harm throughout life. Placed beside chuyên vượng cách, this shows that the ancients did not absolutise any single force, but always weighed the relationship between the self and the opposing element.
Why Are Tòng Cách and Chuyên Vượng Cách So Easily Misread?
Tòng cách and chuyên vượng cách are easily misread because readers often look only at the number of can and chi and ignore the nguyệt lệnh, the hội hợp, and the luck cycle. The Trích Thiên Tủy, in its Thuận cục section, has four lines on tòng nhi: "一出門來只見兒，吾兒成氣構門閭，從兒不管身強弱，只要吾兒又得兒"; Nhậm Thiết Tiều comments that thực thương must sit at the month command and that the chart must contain tài for the sense of generation to be complete, which is to say one must see whether the flow of sinh hóa is unobstructed[2]. A chart may appear to be tòng but actually contains one hidden ấn in a chi, or one tỷ kiếp that is combined but not entirely gone; then it is not tòng. Conversely, a chart may appear to be chuyên vượng but contains a quan sát that has command; then it must be read as a force of opposition, not of compliance.
The Trích Thiên Tủy also discusses the force of clash: "天戰猶自可，地戰急如火". The original note explains that the clash of earth means chi such as Dần and Thân or Mão and Dậu clashing, where the heavenly stems cannot help and misfortune comes quickly[2]. By extension, a strong clash of chi can break the tòng force or the chuyên force. When địa chi clash violently, the flow of sinh hóa is cut, the configuration is no longer pure, and one must read it anew from the beginning.
Nhật Nguyệt's Advice When Reading These Two Configurations
Nhật Nguyệt's suggestion: before assigning tòng cách or chuyên vượng cách to a chart, one should check in four steps. Step one, determine the nguyệt lệnh and the element that has command. Step two, check whether the day master has a root in the chi, including hidden can. Step three, check the hội hợp and xung khắc among the chi. Step four, compare with the luck cycle to see whether the force is maintained or broken. If step two shows the day master still has a root, or step three shows a hội hợp breaking the force, then one should read it as an ordinary configuration, not as tòng cách or chuyên vượng cách.
It must be stressed that this is Nhật Nguyệt's understanding based on the classical texts cited, not an immutable rule. Different Bát Tự schools may assign different weights to the nguyệt lệnh, to exposed can, or to hidden chi, leading to different conclusions on the same chart. Readers should verify for themselves across multiple translations and multiple books before applying.
