Official — 建祿 (臨官)
A grown man takes office and draws his own salary: standing on his own feet at last.
What Official means
Official is the fourth stage, also called Lin Guan, coming to office, and in Korean geonrok, establishing one's stipend. The picture is an adult who has taken a post and earns his own keep. Nobody carries him now and nobody needs to. On the table this is the branch whose main hidden stem is the Day Master itself: Jia 甲 on the Tiger 寅, Yi 乙 on the Rabbit 卯, Bing 丙 on the Snake 巳, Ding 丁 on the Horse 午, Geng 庚 on the Monkey 申, Xin 辛 on the Rooster 酉, Ren 壬 on the Pig 亥, Gui 癸 on the Rat 子, with Wu 戊 and Ji 己 following Bing and Ding.
The light of Official is independence. Because the branch holds the stem as its main qi, the Day Master has a root of its own kind directly beneath it, and as a Ten God that branch is a Friend. The energy is steady, self-sufficient and diligent; it earns what it spends and takes responsibility for what it earns. Readers call this the most reliable of the twelve. The shadow is that self-sufficiency can shade into self-enclosure. An Official stem does not lean, and so it may not let others lean either, and it may prize the salaried, safe path over the larger risk that would have suited it.
Official is a strong stage, and it is where the twelve stages meet the question of Day Master strength most directly. A day branch or month branch in Official is one of the clearest signs that the Day Master is well rooted. That is not the same as saying it is good. A chart already heavy with the Day Master's element becomes heavier still, and the balance then wants Output, Wealth or Authority to give the strength somewhere to go. The misreading is the automatic one: seeing Official and announcing wealth and rank. It announces a root. What grows from it depends on the rest of the chart.
Which branch is Official for you
Each Day Master reaches Official on one branch. Find your Day Master; wherever that branch appears in your chart — year, month, day or hour — that pillar is in Official.
| Day Master | Official branch | Day pillar sitting on it |
|---|---|---|
| 甲Yang Wood | 寅Yin | 甲寅 |
| 乙Yin Wood | 卯Mao | 乙卯 |
| 丙Yang Fire | 巳Si | — |
| 丁Yin Fire | 午Wu | — |
| 戊Yang Earth | 巳Si | — |
| 己Yin Earth | 午Wu | — |
| 庚Yang Metal | 申Shen | 庚申 |
| 辛Yin Metal | 酉You | 辛酉 |
| 壬Yang Water | 亥Hai | — |
| 癸Yin Water | 子Zi | — |
Personality when it sits under you
Four day pillars sit on Official, and they are among the best known in the sixty: Jia Yin 甲寅, Yi Mao 乙卯, Geng Shen 庚申 and Xin You 辛酉, four of the pillars in which stem and branch share one element. If yours is one of them, you are self-made in temperament whatever your circumstances. You dislike owing, you do your own work, and you would rather be paid for what you do than be provided for. People trust you with responsibility because you visibly carry your own. The task is softness. Because you need nobody, you can forget that you are needed, and partners in particular may find the seat beside you a little formal. Being reliable is your gift; being reachable is the practice.
With Official on the month branch, the self-sufficient energy goes into your work and public standing. This is the classic placement for a professional who earns by skill and effort rather than by connections or windfalls: doctors, engineers, craftspeople, anyone whose income follows their own labour. The career is usually steady and the reputation solid. Readers note two cautions. First, the month branch as a Friend can mean sharing: colleagues, siblings or partners who claim a piece of what you earn, or a life in which you support others. Second, the safe salary can hold you in place when the chart would have rewarded a leap. An Official month does best when it builds something of its own on top of the steady base.
In each pillar
In a luck pillar or a year
A luck pillar or year in your Official stage is a season of standing on your own. Work is steady, effort pays in proportion, and it is a good time to become independent, to start earning from a skill, or to take over responsibility for something. It is less a season of windfalls than of wages. In 2026, the Horse year, Ding 丁 and Ji 己 Day Masters are in Official; for them the year rewards diligence and self-reliance. Because the Official branch is a Friend, the same year can also bring people who share, compete or ask for support.
Day pillars in Official
甲寅 Jia Yin乙卯 Yi Mao庚申 Geng Shen辛酉 Xin You
FAQ
Is Official the same thing as a strong Day Master?
It is one of the main signs of it, not the whole judgement. Official on the day or month branch gives the Day Master a root of its own element. Day Master strength weighs all eight characters, the season and the hidden stems together. A stem can sit on Official and still be outnumbered elsewhere.
Why is the Official branch counted as a Friend?
Because its main hidden stem is the Day Master itself, or its Fire twin for the Earth stems. The Tiger holds Jia as main qi, so for a Jia Day Master the Tiger is both the Official stage and a Friend. The two systems describe the same branch from different sides.
Does Official mean I will be an official or earn a salary?
No. The name is a picture of self-earned income, and the reading is independence and diligence. Many with Official run businesses or practise a craft. What it does suggest is that your money tends to follow your own effort rather than inheritance, marriage or luck, which most people find a workable arrangement.
All twelve stages and the full table · 60 Day Pillars · Luck Pillars explained · 한국어 12운성
