Vượng tướng hưu tù tử: How Are the Five Elemental States of the Seasons Calculated?

What Is Vượng Tướng Hưu Tù Tử?

Vượng tướng hưu tù tử are the five states of qi strength of the five elements according to the seasons. The simplest calculation: take an element and compare it to the ruling season, and see whether the relationship between them is same kind (tương tỷ), generation (tương sinh), or control (tương khắc); whichever relationship applies gives the corresponding state. The Lục Nhâm text, volume 1, introductory section, calls this group the five qi and states clearly: "Tỷ thời vi vượng, thời sinh vi tướng, sinh thời vi hưu, khắc thời vi tù, thời khắc vi tử"^[1]. Book 2 of the Tam mệnh thông hội explains the same rule with the example of spring: "盛德乘時曰旺，如春木旺，旺則生火，火乃木之子，子乘父業，故火相", then Water generates Wood so Water is hưu, Metal is restrained by Fire so Metal is tù, and Wood controls Earth so Earth is tử^[4]. In other words, this is a five-level scale for knowing whether an element is strong or weak in the weather context it finds itself in.

One thing must be said at once to avoid misunderstanding: this is a convention of divination arts, not a natural law measurable by instruments. It is used to judge good or bad fortune in disciplines such as Lục Nhâm, Tử Vi, and phong thủy, and says nothing about physics or biology.

What Is the Calculation Mechanism for Vượng Tướng Hưu Tù?

The original rule fits in five lines, and every later lookup table derives from it:

• Tỷ thời vi vượng: an element of the same kind as the season is vượng. Spring belongs to Wood (Mộc), so Wood meeting Wood is vượng.
• Thời sinh vi tướng: an element generated by the season is tướng. Spring's Wood generates Fire (Hỏa), so Fire is tướng.
• Sinh thời vi hưu: an element that generates the season is hưu. Spring's Wood is generated by Water (Thủy), so Water is hưu.
• Khắc thời vi tù: an element that controls the season is tù. Spring's Wood is controlled by Metal (Kim), so Metal is tù.
• Thời khắc vi tử: an element controlled by the season is tử. Spring's Wood controls Earth (Thổ), so Earth is tử.

Here "thời" is understood by the Lục Nhâm text as season, including both the four seasons and the four transitional periods (Tứ quý); this method is not limited to elements but applies to any Can, Chi, or Thiên tướng: compare it to the season to determine generation, control, or same kind, and from that determine its qi^[1]. This point matters because it shows vượng tướng hưu tù tử is not a table reserved for elements, but a method of assigning a state to any specific object when it falls into a season.

The good or bad meaning of each qi is also discussed in the Lục Nhâm text: vượng is the time of extreme prosperity, suited to officials and mandarins because it is the point needed for official rank; tướng is fairly prosperous and moving toward extreme prosperity, corresponding to thriving business and gaining wealth; hưu is freedom from affairs, retirement and rest, corresponding to illness and decline, also called thoái khí^[1].

What Is the Table of the Five States by the Four Seasons?

The table below sets out in cells what the Tam mệnh thông hội and the Ngũ hành đại nghĩa of Tiêu Cát (Sui dynasty) state in sentences: in spring Wood is vượng, Fire tướng, Water hưu, Metal tù, Earth tử, and so on for the following seasons^[4][5]. Those two books label the last row as the sixth month; the table uses the name Tứ quý, following the division explained in the next section.

This table matches the five-line rule above exactly. Take summer as an example: Summer belongs to Fire, so Fire is vượng; Fire generates Earth, so Earth is tướng; Wood generates Fire, so Wood is hưu; Fire controls Metal, so Metal is tử; Water controls Fire, so Water is tù. Compared to the table, the "Summer" row records exactly that.

Tứ quý are the last months of the four seasons, that is the 3rd, 6th, 9th and 12th lunar months, corresponding to the branches Thìn, Mùi, Tuất and Sửu. Book 1 of the Hiệp kỷ biện phương thư explains: each of these months gives twelve days back to the element of its season, and the remaining eighteen days are "Earth ruling" (thổ vương dụng sự), so that each element has seventy-two days^[6]. The Tam mệnh thông hội likewise quotes: Metal, Wood, Water and Fire are vượng across the four seasons with seventy-two days each, and Earth is vượng in the Tứ quý with eighteen days each, three hundred and sixty days in all^[4]. These are the last eighteen days of each season, just before lập xuân, lập hạ, lập thu and lập đông. This is a point to watch when consulting the table, because if one remembers only the four seasons and forgets the transitional period, one will miss the phase when Earth holds power.

Why Is Earth Often Placed Differently Among Books?

This is a point where books do not agree, so it should be stated clearly which convention this article follows. Earth has no season of its own. The Ngũ hành đại nghĩa makes Earth vượng in the sixth month, between summer and autumn: "六月則土王，金相，火休，木囚，水死"^[5]; the section on vượng tướng hưu tù tử in the Tam mệnh thông hội records the same^[4]. The second way divides Earth among the last months of the four seasons, eighteen days each time, as in the Hiệp kỷ biện phương thư and the words of Túy Tỉnh Tử quoted by the Tam mệnh thông hội^[6][4]. The table above follows the second way.

Another presentation calls this group the five elements' growth and decline and uses the word "tuyệt" instead of "tử", then lists by each element that is vượng. For example, when Wood is vượng then Metal is tù, Earth is tuyệt, Fire is tướng, Water is hưu; when Fire is vượng then Water is tù, Metal is tuyệt, Earth is tướng, Wood is hưu^[2]. This way of writing gives results that match the four-season table for the four elements Wood, Fire, Metal, and Water, differing only in calling the last level tuyệt and not separating a Tứ quý phase for Earth.

So when reading documents, if you see the word "tuyệt" where "tử" would be expected, understand it as the same level in the scale, only a different name. And when you see a document that records Earth as vượng only in the sixth month, that is the way the Ngũ hành đại nghĩa and the Tam mệnh thông hội write it, as noted above, not a misprint.

How Does Qi Determine Fast or Slow in Lục Nhâm Application?

In Lục Nhâm, vượng tướng hưu tù tử is used to judge whether matters are fast or slow, successful or not. Book 3 of the Lục Nhâm đại toàn has the line: "旺相氣發必欲速，休囚死氣皆遲延", meaning that when vượng or tướng qi is the one that starts the reading the matter is fast, and with hưu, tù or tử qi it is always delayed; the note explains that in spring Wood is vượng and Fire tướng, and the four seasons are worked out by analogy^[3].

The Lục Nhâm text, volume 1, also places qi at the center when interpreting wealth: if Thanh long and its accompanying deity receive vượng tướng qi, or are in a vượng tướng direction, and also generate each other with the Can and Chi or form a triple harmony or six harmony, then it is a sign of seeking and obtaining wealth; conversely, if they receive hưu tù tử qi or are in control, forming a triple punishment, six harm, or six clash, then it is a sign of seeking but not obtaining wealth^[1]. This also notes a technical detail: being in a vượng direction means sharing the same five element as the earthly plate, while being in a tướng direction means being generated by the five element of the earthly plate's direction^[1].

Is an Element Being Vượng Always Good?

Not necessarily. Vượng only says the qi is at its peak, while good or bad depends on the matter asked and the position. The Lục Nhâm text, when interpreting qi, notes that vượng suits officials and mandarins because it is the point needed for official rank, but that is said in the direction of seeking office and rank, not a general statement for all matters^[1].

The Tam mệnh thông hội gives the same caution: seeing birth and vượng one need not judge it good, and seeing hưu, tù, tử or tuyệt one need not call it bad; where birth and vượng are excessive they should be restrained, and where tử and tuyệt fall short they should be supported^[4]. Thus vượng tướng hưu tù tử is a scale of qi strength, not a fixed ranking of good and bad. Misunderstanding this easily leads to rejoicing at the word "vượng" and fearing the word "tử", while the correct interpretation is to place it in the specific question.

What Are Nhật Nguyệt's Suggestions for Using This Table?

Nhật Nguyệt's suggestion: when you look up an element in a chart or hexagram, follow three steps. One, determine the ruling season by solar terms, not by the solar calendar month, because solar terms are the markers the books use. Two, check whether that time falls within the eighteen days before a lập solar term, because that is when Earth holds power according to the division in the Hiệp kỷ biện phương thư^[6]. Three, state clearly which convention you are following regarding Earth and regarding the word "tử" or "tuyệt", to avoid confusion between the two presentations.

Nhật Nguyệt's suggestion: do not use this table to conclude about the health or finances of a real person. In the books, it is a tool of interpretation within the discipline; for life, it should only be a reference view, not a substitute for practical decisions.

What Is the Summary for Memorization?

The most concise way to remember is still the original five lines: same as the season is vượng, generated by the season is tướng, generates the season is hưu, controls the season is tù, controlled by the season is tử^[1]. From that, the entire four-season table can be derived without memorizing each cell. Just remember two easily mistaken points: Earth is attached to Tứ quý with the marker of eighteen days before the four lập solar terms^[6], and some books call the last level tuyệt instead of tử^[2].