Saju: Marital harmony

One of the most frequently asked questions during a saju reading is about married life. Some wonder about love because their spouses do not satisfy their yearning to be loved, or the other party is not faithful. Others are concerned about happiness. Happiness is a major desire, which is fulfilled sometimes by financial stability. But most importantly, it is realized more by sentimental intimacy. It is a chemical connectedness, not a physical bonding. A marital relationship is not easy to describe only with superficial conditions. The seemingly abundant environment, such as a nice house, wealth, prestigious cars or prospective jobs does not always lead to devoted love between a husband and wife.

In reading “gunghap,” or the marital compatibility of a couple, saju masters differentiate superficial harmony (“geot gunghap”) from inner one (“sok gunghap”). The sok gunghap is often described as what their partners are like in bed in its secular meaning. However, its actual significance is the inner or true compatibility of a couple compared to the superficial external conditions. It could mean a sexual chemistry in some sense, but it’s more about the couples’ true love.

When, a party’s saju is plotted, it can be read what one’s spouse is like, because there is an element that refers to one’s spouse. Meanwhile the day pillar itself explains married life.

For example, if a woman’s day master is a wood element, her husband is metal, which is the element that restrains the day master.




On the other hand, if a man’s day master is wood element, his wife is earth, which is the element that is restrained by the day master.


The next step is to compare the year branches of the couple and read the day pillars.






Traditionally people have read their gunghap by the zodiac signs of their birth years.

Especially the relationships between sheep and rat, cow and horse, rooster and tiger, rabbit and monkey, pig and dragon, and snake and dog are most shunned in marriage.

Rat years 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996
Cow years 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997
Tiger years 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998
Rabbit years 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999
Dragon years 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000
Snake years 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001
Horse years 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002
Sheep years 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003
Monkey years 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004
Rooster years 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005
Dog years 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006
Pig years 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007

If you pay a little attention, you may easily figure out that there is a four-year difference in good gunghap, while five years difference in bad gunghap. This simple concept of gunghap, however, cannot tell the real truth of a married life. So we may call them just geot gunghap, or superficial compatibility. If you want to know more about reality, you should read the letters in your partner’s day pillar and see if they make good relations with those in your saju. Other than the above branch relations, there are good combinations between day masters (heavenly stems)

Yang wood (gap) Yin earth (gi)
Yin wood (eul) Yang metal (gyeong)
Yang fire (byeong) Yin metal (sin)
Yin fire (jeong) Yang water (im)
Yang earth (mu) yin water (gye)

The geot gunghap can be seen by the birth years (or your ages) however sok gunghap can only be read by heavenly stems and earthly branches of your day pillars. You may confirm if your counterpart, which can be your friends, business partners as well as spouse, have those compatible letters for your saju.

And the other factors you need to confirm is whether the other party has some favorable energy that you need. For example, if your saju is too cold, you need someone whose saju is warm. If you are lacking wood element, it is recommended that you meet someone who has fluent wood energy. It is just like you design your fengshui that may improve your fortune. Marriage is a turning point in your life, by which your destiny may go in either a fortunate or unfortunate direction.

Info : Are you interested in learning more about the ancient Chinese teaching about the “Four Pillars of Destiny”? For further information, visit Janet’s website at www.fourpillarskorea.com and contact Janet at 010-5414-7461 or email janetshin@hotmail.com.