BaZi Follow Patterns (Cong Ge) Explained + Free Chart
Regular patterns use Day Master strength to choose support or control. Read it with the full chart and luck cycles. Learn the key context before applying it.
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Regular patterns use Day Master strength to choose support or control. Only when the Day Master is too weak to stand, or so strong that only one side remains, should the chart be read as a special pattern. The Follow pattern / Cong Ge (從格) is the most typical and the easiest to misjudge. See Useful God and BaZi Charting.
Conditions for a Follow pattern
The Day Master must be out of season and without roots, with no clear Seal or Friend support in the stems. One force dominates the chart, so the Day Master abandons itself and follows. The favorable force is the one being followed, not something that supports the Day Master. True Follow patterns are rare and strict.
Follow-weak patterns
- Follow Wealth: Wealth is overwhelming, with no root, Seal, or Friend to divide it. The month commands Wealth or the branches form a Wealth frame. It often relies on a spouse, investment, or others' resources. Output feeding Wealth is favorable; Friends are unfavorable.
- Follow Officer/Killings: Officer or Seven Killings is overwhelming and exposed, without Output to control it or Seal to transform it. It can show authority and management. Seal is most dangerous because it strengthens the Day Master and turns Killings against it.
- Follow Output: Food God or Hurting Officer is overwhelming, without Seal or Friend protection. It often favors creativity, technique, or performance. Wealth provides a bridge; Seal taking away Food is unfavorable.
Follow-strong, or dominant-element patterns
Friend and Seal dominate the entire chart while Wealth, Officer, and Output are powerless. These are Qu Zhi (曲直, Wood), Yan Shang (炎上, Fire), Jia Se (稼穡, Earth), Cong Ge (從革, Metal), and Run Xia (潤下, Water). Follow the dominant element and develop it deeply. Friend and Seal are favorable; Wealth and Officer may break the pattern.
There is also Follow Momentum: Wealth, Officer, and Output are all strong, while the Day Master has no root and cannot follow a single god. It follows the chart's overall force. Talent may be broad, but swings are larger.
True and fake Follow
True Follow: the Day Master has no root or support, not even residual qi in hidden stems or an implied Seal/Friend combination. The followed force forms a complete frame or combination. Luck can be extreme: rapid rise with the tide, rapid decline against it.
Fake Follow: the surface can follow, but a trace of Friend or Seal remains in a hidden stem, combination, or controlled branch. If a luck cycle removes that opposition, it may temporarily behave like True Follow. If luck supports the flaw, return to regular weak-pattern analysis. Many fake Follow charts run smoothly early and reverse in later luck.
Ask three questions: Does the Day Master have a living root? Is the followed force in season, exposed, and forming a frame? Is an opposing Ten God exposed or hidden? Yin stems tend to follow more easily than Yang stems. Do not rename ordinary weakness as Cong Ge.
Other patterns: first ask whether they form or break
- Jianlu: the month branch is the Day Master's Lu position, such as Jia seeing Yin month or Geng seeing Shen month. Sitting on Lu in the day branch alone is not Jianlu.
- Yang Blade: the month command is the Yang Blade; forceful and prone to impulsiveness.
- Kui Gang: one of the four Day Pillars 庚辰, 庚戌, 壬辰, or 壬戌; forceful and decisive.
- Jin Shen: on a Jia, Wu, or Geng day, the Hour Pillar is 乙丑, 己巳, or 癸酉. It favors decisive, disciplined work.
A fake Follow Wealth example
Male chart: 辛亥 乙未 丙申 己丑
Bing Fire is born in Wei month. Fire is confined and Earth is strong; Bing lacks a strong root, while Earth and Metal gather, so the chart appears to Follow Wealth. But Hai hides Jia Wood Seal, making it a fake Follow. Early life may benefit from investment or a spouse; an Officer/Killings cycle in midlife can control the Seal and revive the career. Later Friend cycles may bring money in and out, with added attention to relationships and health.
Follow the dominant force to borrow its strength; oppose it and the chart pulls apart. Do not apply one classical case to every chart.
Charting: Ming Ming Guan Zhi BaZi.
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