Geng Metal is the seventh of the ten Heavenly Stems in Chinese style fortune telling. What are the Heavenly Stems and what do they show us? They don’t give any information about life or our circumstances—instead, they show us our ideas. Geng Metal is the seventh archetype in Chinese cosmology. It is the analyst and the revolutionary. If you want to check to see if Geng Metal represents your personality in Chinese astrology, find a bazi chart calculator and look for your day stem. Your day stem is the anchor of your day and represents your personality.

(I titled this article “day master” because the day stem of your chart is often translated as “day master” and this is the most common search term related to the concept. However, you can call your day stem your day destiny, your chart ruler, or simply your day stem.)


Geng Metal is yang metal. What is the difference between yang metal and yin metal?

Modern astrologers will say that yang metal is just big metal—cars, trains, and airplanes. Yin metal is small metal so it’s things like scissors and needles and jewelry. That’s actually not the traditional readings of yin and yang in metal. Polarity in the metal movement has been tempered for modern sensibilities. I’ll go over what yin and yang used to be and how they have changed so that you can make your own decision about how you want to think about internal and external metal.

The character for Geng Metal is 庚. This character is actually an ax that is used for striking, breaking, and killing. You can use 庚 to kill some living being. Xin Metal, on the other hand, is 辛. This character is a plow or some kind of archaic farming utensil. You can use 辛 to plow a field or to harvest crops. This is the old difference between yin metal and yang metal. Yang metal is metal that is used for killing. It is used for slaughter—hunting and battles. Yin metal is used for foraging or agriculture. Yang usually refers to external actions and yin refers to internal nurture.

Modern astrologers use yin and yang metal very differently. Geng is just big metal. Cars, planes, trains. Yin metal has become small metal. Pretty jewelry. I think that this method of accounting for yin and yang in metal is more digestible to people. However, I wanted to mention the older method of accounting for polarity in metal because I think that it helps explain why Geng Metal is characterized the way it is.

In some poems about the ten heavenly stems, Geng Metal is said to possess a killer’s instinct. Geng Metal is someone who is willing to xiashou or to put their hand down when it counts. I don’t really know how to explain this virtue in English but having the ability to put your hand down is the willingness to do brutal things. If a Geng Metal person says that they are going to cut something or someone off, they will do it. If some difficult truth needs to be spoken, then Geng Metal will say it. If an animal must be slaughtered so that people can eat, then Geng Metal will commit the deed.

That’s Geng Metal. Geng Metal is principled, steadfast, and focused. They do what needs to be done when it counts, not a moment sooner and not a moment too late. Metal is the spirit of grief and courage.

I also like to think about Geng Metal as a storm wind. Metal arrives in the autumn which is storm season. Geng Metal is found inside Monkey branch because monkeys tear up and destroy trees just like storms. Why does a monkey peel a tree? A lot of the time, they are just having fun. They want to see what is inside. Geng Metal has this kind of behavior too. They like to deconstruct something just for kicks.

I actually think that both grief and courage have this deconstructive energy. When we grieve someone, we deconstruct our relationships with that person completely. We fixate on every single little thing we once said to them. Random details arrive. We try to describe our relationships from every single angle possible when we grieve.

Courage is a bit different. Once we have deconstructed a scary idea that seemed too big to handle, we are able to tackle that thing with more courage. I think that this is why so many thinkers become obsessed with studying and analyzing coloniality. We are trying to tame our fear of the monster by dissecting its monstrosity.

As you can probably see by now, Geng Metal people are not people who will take something at face value. They prefer to cut it up instead. Geng Metal people transform dead ideas. They innovate. An ax may be destructive when around young and tender trees but it is exactly what we need when we are trying to work with dead wood. When Geng Metal encounters an idea, they have to deconstruct it and make it their own. They remake the ideas that they tinker with using their startlingly bright powers of analysis.

Metal has focus. If you look at the molecules of metals, you’ll notice that they are extremely constrained. Metal forms when the earth is put under a huge amount of pressure. Geng Metal people have an extreme amount of focus. They can go at something and go at it pretty hard for a long, long amount of time.

You might be thinking now—Geng Metal is a tough guy. Geng Metal seems kind of hard, like someone who normally wouldn’t want to mess with.

That is true. I wouldn’t mess with Geng Metal. They are tough. However, Geng Metal is only yang on the outside. Metal is yin. The old poems say that Geng Metal is hard or yang on the outside but soft or yin on the inside.

No one should mess with Geng Metal people. These are resolute people. They are willing to commit some acts of brutality. However, Geng Metal is softhearted. They appear to have a steely exterior, an iron will, but they are actually incredibly easily influenced by other people.

Geng Metal will always advocate for the underdog. They will always try to protect the weak or emerging against the strong and the tired. Geng Metal’s resolute principles actually come from its desire for revolution. Metal trims away old wood or dead wood and ignores what is vital and growing. Metal’s role is to overturn the old or current order and to make more room for the new.

Geng Metal is soft hearted with children, with the small and with the young. It is tired of the tyranny of adults.

This is why Geng Metal is actually so easily influenced by other people. They’re not influenced just by anyone. Geng Metal is easily influenced by anyone who needs their help. If Geng metal hears a cry for help, they will come running. They do not honor the opinions of those who do not need help but the opinions of those who do? Those opinions cut Geng Metal very deeply.

Geng Metal wants a revolution. A revolution is an overturning of the world and the stars, of our very perspectives. It’s just change. Geng Metal wants revolution and it knows that change is nurtured in the children.

An ax works best if it has an aim. If you have ever handled a sword, you’ll know that it just kind of flounders if you don’t aim. A sword can only cut if you hold it right and if you aim. Geng Metal needs a purpose. They need a direction in life so that they can commit all of their focused energy into that direction. If Geng Metal hasn’t found a direction, then they can become self critical and self wounding.

Geng Metal is critical. Sometimes, it can be self critical. Metal contains a huge amount of constrained energy that must be put into use. Geng Metal transforms dead ideas and teaches us how to use analysis to make courage. It cares for the young and believes that a final day will come for everyone who has become old.