Myeongni — the academic root of saju

Myeongni is the East Asian academic system reading human life through yin-yang, five elements, and stem-branch time. The framework has stood since Xu Ziping in the Song dynasty.

Birth of Ziping Myeongni

Xu Ziping centered analysis on the day stem in late Northern Song. Before that, year-stem (Tang saju) was dominant.

Three branches of myeongni

Three classical branches: Ziping (day-stem), Qiongtong Baojian (season/调候), and Diqiansui (ten-gods/格局). Modern practice integrates all three.

Fortune-telling vs myeongni

Divination interprets randomness; myeongni interprets a determined birth coordinate, so it’s reproducible — hence "studies."