Indirect Officer偏官

Indirect Officer belongs to the element that holds the Day Master in check, and it shares the Day Master's polarity. With matching polarity there is nothing to soften the clash, so this seat has long been read as pressure that lands hard. Its other name, Seven Killings, comes from counting the stems in order from the Day Master: this character is the seventh, and the word Killings was added to capture how fierce that pressure feels. Present-day readings take the same force as the strength to shoulder heavy responsibility, push through hard tasks, and decide at a crossroads.

• 偏leaning one way (Korean reading: pyeon)
• 官official post, officer (Korean reading: gwan)

A post that leans one way: an office that governs hard from one side.

In the controlling cycle, the element that controls the Day Master is Officer, and its same-polarity member is Indirect Officer. Metal overcomes Wood, so for a Wood Day Master Metal is Officer, and yang Wood gets yang Metal as Indirect Officer. In stem order it is the stem six places after the Day Master, in every case. Branches are checked in exactly the same way, through their main hidden stem.

A clear Indirect Officer is often taken to describe someone who brings out their best under a heavy load. A strong sense of duty and no habit of putting decisions off are part of the reading, and making room to rest is what keeps that strength going for the long run. Without it, the reading leans toward doing well at your own pace in a setting free of pressure. Tradition also says Eating God in the same chart handles the rough edge of Indirect Officer more gently.

When 甲 (Jia) is the Day Master, Indirect Officer takes the form of the stem 庚 (Geng) and the branch 申 (Shen). Counting from 甲, the seventh stem is 庚, which fits the name Seven Killings.

• A common idea

  Seven Killings in a chart means rough events ahead.

  How we read it

  The worry grew out of the tradition that warned against an unchecked Seven Killings. This service does not use the character as a forecast of events; it describes the capacity to carry a heavy role.

• A common idea

  Indirect Officer points to a person who torments you.

  How we read it

  It is not read as a marker for any particular person. It points broadly to the conditions and tasks that toughen you up.

One tradition treats Indirect Officer as a character to be wary of, while another prizes it as authority and drive once Eating God reins it in or Resource eases it. This service does not assign a verdict either way and explains only the nature of the character.