In this Shoptalk segment, we examine what happens when we place Bazi side-by-side with Chinese medicine and explore where they overlap, where they diverge, and how each helps us understand the unfolding of human life.
Medicine and Bazi are both part of the Five Arts of Chinese metaphysics, and each is rooted in the core principles of Daoist philosophy.
Bazi belongs to the “Life Arts” and is known as the “Four Pillars of Destiny.” These four pillars are based on the year, month, day, and hour of birth.
The upper portion of the chart contains the Ten Heavenly Stems—the five elements expressed through yin and yang, similar in flavor to the paired relationships we see in medicine, although more directly tied to the rhythms of nature.
The lower portion of the chart contains the Twelve Earthly Branches. The two additional characters arise from the doubling of one element, and this is where we begin to see a distinction between Bazi and Chinese medicine.
In medicine, we’re looking through the lens of the meridian system, where fire appears in a paired expression as Imperial Fire and Ministerial Fire, pointing us toward the movement of shen and its earthly embodiment.
In Bazi, the framework is tied to a solar–lunar calendar that begins around February 4th. It is an extraordinarily accurate system that tracks time, place, seasonal cycles, and the rhythmic changes of the earth. With Earth placed at the center, we can observe not only the progression of the seasons, but also how qi returns to Earth between each seasonal phase.
This creates a far more nuanced and sophisticated calendar than the familiar Gregorian solar calendar—and it helps explain why, during a period we call “summer,” the felt sense in nature may resemble autumn.
After completing my education, at UC Berkeley and University of Iowa, in Biochemistry, I returned to the Bay Area and worked in Medical Research at UCSF. From academia, I moved onto genetic engineering and worked for several biotech companies. I became a formulation chemist. My last job in the field was as a project manager at Genentech. All during my scientific career, I received acupuncture treatments that proved very beneficial. Worsley Five Element Acupuncture was especially profound and I became enamored with the idea of treating the constitution rather than the condition.
I went into acupuncture practice and while treating a cardiologist, whose infant son was having febrile seizures, I discovered Korean Sasang. The doctor, himself, had atrial fibrillations which would only resolve temporarily. The cure for both of them was their Korean Sasang Constitutional diet. Now, 20 years later, father and son are still following their diet and are well. During this time, I learned the Bazi diagnostic system to determine Sasang Constitution and have been prescribing individualized diets for over 20 years. Two years ago I began teaching this system to small groups of acupuncturists through a 4-month Mentorship Program.
Of course there is a tremendous amount of information to be garnered from the Bazi. You can find some of this on my website, www.qibalance.net , where you can learn more about the Bazi and Korean Sasang. Sign-up for a dietary analysis for yourself, or send patients for a consultation on how to use food for healing.
Curious for more? Explore Tracy Stewart’s other Qiological podcasts: #062 – Constitution, Korean Medicine and the Power of Food
Learn more about Tracy’s offerings at qibalance.net.
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