从格

Definition

Cong Ge (Follow patterns) are special structures: when the Day Master is extremely weak, rootless, and unsupported by Resource, it can no longer stand on its own and "abandons itself to follow" the strongest force in the chart. Here the rules reverse the usual support-and-restrain logic (strong body uses Wealth/Officer; weak body uses Resource/Companion) — going with the dominant force is fortunate, while a luck cycle that supports the self is harmful.

Main Types

• Follow-Wealth: Wealth fills the chart, the rootless Day Master follows it;
• Follow-Killing/Officer: Officer/Killing is overwhelming and unchecked;
• Follow-Output (从儿): Output (what the Day Master generates) dominates;
• Follow-Momentum (从势): Wealth, Officer, and Output are all strong and balanced;
• Follow-Strength / Dominant-Element (从旺/专旺): the other branch — Day Master and Resource/Companion form one overwhelming force with nothing to control or drain it (the five dominant-element patterns: Straight-Wood, Blazing-Fire, Harvest-Earth, Reform-Metal, Flowing-Water).

The Key to Formation

The Zi Ping Zhen Quan, on outer structures, holds that a Follow pattern must be "truly following": the Day Master has no root at all in the branches (no Salary/Blade, no residual qi, no Resource), and the followed force is pure and strong. With even a faint root or hidden Resource support, it is a "false follow" (假从), easily broken by a self-supporting cycle.

Common Misconceptions

1: A weak body means a Follow pattern. A weak body that still has a root or Resource is an ordinary weak-body structure, supported by Resource/Companion — not a Follow pattern; misjudging this reverses the whole reading. 2: Follow patterns are always prosperous. A true follow can be prosperous; a false follow is turbulent — it turns on "true vs. false" and whether the cycles go with the force.

Significance in Chart Analysis

The Follow pattern is a watershed — once identified, the Useful God and favorable/unfavorable elements fully invert. First judge strength and rooting precisely. Cast your chart with the free BaZi calculator and dig deeper in the BaZi learning center.

Worked example. The chart below is one the engine assigns to the Following structure.

Worked example (solar 1970-01-27 15:00, female, computed by this site's engine):

Pattern: 从儿格 · Strength: 偏弱 (engine verdicts)