The Six Relations (Yukchin) — Family and Bonds Read Through Your Four Pillars
Your Four Pillars chart reflects more than wealth or career — it also mirrors the bonds you share with others. The thread that reveals this is the Six Relations (yukchin), a method that takes the other characters' relationship to your Day Master and maps them onto family roles: parent, sibling, spouse, child. When the ten branches of the Ten Gods are retold in the language of family, your chart suddenly reads like the story of a life lived among people.
Retelling the Ten Gods as Family
The Six Relations is a framework that reinterprets the Ten Gods of the chart as human relationships — family roles above all. The Ten Gods divide the other characters into ten strands based on how they relate to the Day Master that represents you: whether they support you, are produced by you, or control you. These strands are then paired again with sibling, parent, spouse, and child. So reading the Six Relations reveals which bonds run deep in your chart and which run thin. It is a lens for examining the grain of affection and connection — a different view from wealth or work.
Companions — Siblings and Peers
Companion stars, sharing the same element as you, symbolize those who stand shoulder to shoulder with you: siblings, friends, colleagues. When Companions are well balanced, they bring the blessing of dependable allies and cooperation; when excessive, they can show up as rivalry, conflict, or wealth being scattered. They wear two faces — a comrade to join forces with, and at times a competitor you must share your portion with. How the Companion stars sit in your chart is the first clue to the texture of your relationships.
Output — Expression and Children
Output stars, the element your Day Master produces, symbolize your expression, talent, and activity; in relational terms they represent children for a woman, as well as juniors and subordinates. When Output is well formed, your gifts flow outward freely and your generosity is ample, but in excess it can lead to talking ahead of yourself or straying from the rules. It is the creative, generative energy that makes, expresses, and passes something on — the place of the bonds that reach outward from you.
Wealth and Officer — Money, Spouse, Career
Wealth stars, the element your Day Master controls, symbolize money along with the spouse for a man and the father. The Officer stars, the element that controls you, stand for rules, career, and honor, and represent the spouse for a woman and children for a man. If Wealth is what delights and draws you, the Officer is the force that governs you and helps you find your place. How these two axes balance in a chart greatly shapes the grain of both work and home.
Resource — Mother and Learning
Resource stars, the element that produces and supports your Day Master, symbolize the mother, elders and teachers, and also scholarship, documents, and benefactors. When Resource is well balanced, the blessings of learning and the help of others are abundant and the heart is steady; in excess it can tip into dependence or sluggish follow-through. It is the place of nurture and wisdom that holds you up and fills you in. Seen all together, the Six Relations read like a single painting of where your bonds run thick and where they run faint.
The Six Relations is a warm perspective that translates the Ten Gods of your chart into the language of family and connection, reading the grain of the ties between people. If you are curious about the pattern of bonds in your own chart or the compatibility between two people, explore it directly through the Four Pillars and compatibility readings.