Following Wealth or Killings differs from following Output

从得真者只论从，从神又有吉和凶。

从儿不管身强弱，只要吾儿又得儿。

— Di Tian Sui, “Following” and “The Favorable Sequence”

A weak Day Master surrounded by Wealth or Authority does not automatically form a following pattern, 从格. The first verse asks whether following is genuine. The second introduces 从儿, following the “child,” with a different emphasis. Treating the two as identical loses the chapter's argument.

Weakness alone cannot establish following

Ren Tieqiao describes following Wealth or Authority through a Day Master without an effective independent foundation or useful supporting route. For Jia Wood, functioning Yin or Mao roots and effective Water Resource must therefore be examined before following is considered. Numerous Metal or Earth presences cannot simply erase them.

Following Wealth centers on Wealth's established concentration; following Killings centers on Killings. Earth is Wealth for Jia, while Geng Metal is Seven Killings. In a Wealth direction, examine Fire feeding Earth and peers competing for it. In a Killings direction, examine Earth feeding Metal and Output damaging that Metal. Conflicting external forces and surviving support for the Day Master cannot be covered by a single label.

The life interpretation concerns how a person can work through an established environment, its resources, and its responsibilities. Following a useful direction suggests understanding rules and finding an effective place within them. It does not establish whom someone will depend on or marry.

The child means the element the Day Master generates

In “The Favorable Sequence,” the child is Output, 食伤. Output's child is Wealth, 财. Jia generates Fire, and Fire generates Earth: Wood–Fire–Earth gives a clear way to read the metaphor.

Ren places importance on Output at the month command and Output forming an effective concentration. He explains that peers can continue generating Output. Their visible presence is therefore not an automatic obstacle to following Output. This differs from the examination of independent Day Master support in following Wealth or Killings.

Yet abundant Output alone is insufficient. It needs an appropriate seasonal basis, the ability to operate, and Wealth to receive what it generates. Effective Resource suppressing Output or Authority creating conflict can interrupt the route. Fire without effective Earth receiving its generation does not complete “the child having a child.”

Similar generation can have a different center

An ordinary Output-generating-Wealth arrangement begins with the chart's pattern and cooperation, including the Day Master's capacity to sustain depletion. Ren's following-Output reading centers on Output's concentration, Wealth receiving its production, and the sequence remaining coherent. A shared local relationship does not make the whole judgments interchangeable.

Following Wealth gives Wealth the main place and Output the role of feeding it. Following Output first considers Output's development, then Wealth as its destination. If modest Earth receives strong Fire, damage to Earth can prevent results from being retained. If Resource suppresses Fire, Earth may also help by restraining that Resource and protecting the source.

In study or work, this can be read through expression, craft, or creation finding useful recognition. Reading and producing extensively without finished work, examination results, or practical use leaves the sequence incomplete. The children and grandchildren in the verse are elemental imagery; they do not establish the number or fortunes of actual children.

Follow the active cooperation through luck periods

Once a Wealth direction is supported, Output feeding Wealth favors resources being developed and income finding a source. Peers competing for Wealth directs attention to rivalry and distribution. Wealth already excessive still requires judging what improves its use; more is not automatically better.

In a supported following-Output direction, Output and Wealth periods that preserve generation favor work finding expression and use. Resource suppressing Output points toward constrained expression; Authority redirecting Wealth or conflicting with Output points toward tension with rules and assessments. The strength and restraint of the incoming actor determine the degree.

When choosing education, work, or cooperation, look for a setting where the relevant skill can develop continuously and its results can earn recognition or payment. In a stricter setting, clarify assessment standards and how to express disagreement. The chapter asks what this arrangement relies on to accomplish things.