Whether the five elements are 'balanced' is not a question of compatibility
There is a method of measuring whether the five energies are evenly distributed by combining the two people's five elements. However, the question of compatibility is not that. Does the counterpart have what I need?
The degree of balance is symmetrical, but complementarity is inherently asymmetrical. This is because what A needs is different from what B needs. Therefore, we measure each side separately and average — since it is an average, the total score remains symmetrical.
Supporting Element — Reduce if excessive, add if insufficient
The Supporting Element (用神) is 'the energy this person needs right now'. There are several methods to determine it (suppressing, supporting, illness, and communication), but it can be translated into rules, and the most widely used is suppressing (抑扶). If the day master is strong, it is seen that the energy to reduce is needed, and if weak, the energy to add is needed.
| Judgment | What is needed | How many |
|---|---|---|
| Strong day master (身强) | Diminishing energy — 食傷 (sik-sang) · 財星 (jae-seong) · 官星 (gwan-seong) | Three |
| Weak day master (身弱) | Adding energy — 印星 (in-seong) · 比劫 (bi-gyeob) | Two |
| Balanced (中和) | Cannot be covered by the supporting element, so it is the thinnest energy | Two |
Threshold values for strength and weakness
The day stem side is 印星 and 比劫 — the energy that gives birth to me and the energy that is like me. Since two out of five, if the energy is completely balanced, it becomes 40%. A range is set above and below that value.
| Proportion | Judgment |
|---|---|
| 45% or more | Strong day master |
| 35% or more and less than 45% | Balanced |
| Less than 35% | Weak day master |
Power is not the number of characters
When counting the power of the five elements, we do not simply count the eight characters as they appear. We use a value that reflects the hidden heavenly stems (地藏干) within the earthly branches and the season of the energy of the month (月令) in which one was born.
If we only count the surface characters, we miss the fact that even two characters of 木 can have completely different strengths depending on the season. The 木 of spring and the 木 of autumn, although they are the same character, have different powers.
Scoring the degree of filling
We look at the proportion of my supporting element in the opponent's power. However, we do not use that proportion directly but divide the expectation by the size of the supporting element. When strong, the supporting element is three (expectation 60%), and when weak, it is two (expectation 40%), so using the proportion directly would mean that a strong person always receives a higher score.
If filled to the expected level, a score near 78 points is obtained, and if filled much more, it reaches 100 points, while if it is significantly lacking, it goes towards 55 points. Here, too, the bottom is not set at 0.
This is a preliminary judgment
Actual saju analysis considers the formation and seasonal climate (the warmth and humidity of the season) to determine the supporting element, and conclusions can vary depending on the method used. Inyeon-Link only uses the supporting elements that can be measured by power values. This is due to the principle of only using what can be translated into rules, so the same input will always yield the same answer.
Instead, the result screen also presents each person's strength and weakness along with the currently needed energy as reading material. This is to avoid hiding the basis of the score.