Chart Structure — the Chart's Main Framework

This is where things turn properly intermediate. pattern classifications (格局) is the framework for reading a chart's main structure. It captures "how does this person function out in the world" in a single term. If a BaZi chart is a house, the structure is that house's blueprint.

The structure is usually drawn from the month branch (月支), since the month branch is the season and carries the most force. The order goes like this — open up the hidden stems inside the month branch, take whichever character has projected (透出, surfaced openly) to the stems first, and if there's none, take its main qi (本氣) instead. Whatever the Ten Gods that character forms decides the structure's name.

The representative structures are these — Direct/Seven-Killings Officer, Direct/Indirect Wealth, Eating God/Hurting Officer, Direct/Indirect Resource, and Established-Fortune / Blade-of-Yang structure when the Friend group is strong. For example, if Direct Officer comes out of the month branch, that's a Direct Officer structure, read as upright and recognized within rules and responsibility. If Hurting Officer comes out, it's a creative, critical type that makes talent stand out.

There's something worth keeping in mind, though. Schools of BaZi differ quite a bit in how they judge a structure. How much weight is given to a projected stem, and how mixed structures are read, changes the result. So Glowy suggests treating a structure as one strong candidate — looked at together with the grounds for the judgment, the confidence level, and other possible readings. A structure isn't a box that traps a person; it's the big picture for understanding yourself.