Geng Shen · 庚申
Geng Shen pairs 庚, a Yang Metal Day Master, with 申 (the Monkey), a Metal branch. Read the upper character first, then the branch and the stems it contains.
The Day Master on top
Yang Metal · 庚 — Geng (庚) is Yang Metal. Raw metal and a cutting tool are familiar images, used to express separation, form, and standards. These associations do not select a career or determine how assertive someone is.
Learn this Day Master's image and relationships →The branch and its hidden stems
申 (the Monkey) contains 庚, 壬, 戊 in the traditional hidden-stem table. Each stem receives a ten-god label by comparing its element and polarity with 庚. The day branch is also traditionally called the spouse palace; that name does not identify a partner's character.
庚
Peer
Yang Metal · 庚 → 庚
壬
Output (Gentle)
Yang Water · 壬 → 庚
戊
Indirect Resource
Yang Earth · 戊 → 庚
Na Yin
Geng Shen has the Na Yin label 石榴木, "Pomegranate Wood". Thirty names are shared by the sixty pairs. This is a separate classification from the Day Master's element.
Stage of the cycle
Taking office · This is the traditional twelve-stage label for the day stem 庚 in branch 申. Read it as a stem–branch classification, not a person's age or state of health.
The two unpaired branches (Xun Kong)
庚申 belongs to the ten-pair group beginning with 甲寅. Its ten stems pair with ten of the twelve branches, leaving 子丑 outside that group. Those two are called Xun Kong, or "void branches".
Keep the Day Master, change the branch
These day pillars share the same upper character. Compare their hidden stems to see why a Day Master alone cannot describe all the chart relationships.
Is Geng Shen actually your day pillar?
Calculate all four pillars from your birth details, then check the day column. Near the day boundary, birth time and the calculator's time conventions can affect the result.
This reference describes one of four pillars. The calculator shows the full chart and the birth details used to produce it.