Day pillar type
White Rat (Geng Zi): Personality and Matches
Hongsimdang Editorial Team · Last updated
White Rat (Geng Zi) is the day pillar where forged iron and an axe (庚) rests on water in the deep of night (子). In short, it sends inner strength outward and gives it a form others can receive.
What decides the White Rat: day stem and day branch
Your day pillar is the stem and branch of the day you were born: the upper character is the day stem and the lower one is the day branch. For White Rat (Geng Zi), the day stem is 庚 (Yang Metal) and the day branch is 子 (Rat). The “White” in the name is the color of the day stem’s element, and “Rat” is the zodiac animal of the day branch. Both are Hongsimdang’s own labels.
The day stem 庚 is likened to forged iron and an axe. You cut through hesitation and sort what to keep from what to drop. The day branch 子 is water in the deep of night. The Rat is popularly pictured as quick, well informed and always a step ahead, but that is the folk image of the zodiac. The actual reading comes from the element relationship and life stage that follow.
Read as elements, your stem and branch form an output pair, in which the stem pours into the branch. Your stem’s strength flows out toward the branch, so what you carry inside naturally wants to be expressed and given a form. The branch 子 also holds the hidden stems 壬, 癸, which lay another side beneath the one that shows.
Seen from your day stem 庚, the day branch 子 sits at the Death (Si) stage of the twelve life stages. It is the stage of stopping to think, and your focus on digging into a single matter deepens.
How the White Rat shows up at work
Your strength goes out as expression, skill and teaching, so your standing tends to follow the volume and quality of what you produce. Producing nonstop also wears you out faster, so schedule recovery time from the start.
Preparation and information are your edge, and the gap shows in groundwork nobody else sees. Your words and decisions come out sharp and quick, and the other person may put up a guard before you have finished.
When you feel cornered, you think several steps ahead alone and end up carrying everything without telling anyone.
Try putting part of the time you spend preparing into putting your work out and watching how people respond.
How the White Rat shows up in relationships and love
You tend to be the one who gives, through words, gifts and attention. Before you start feeling that nothing comes back, say specifically what you want. The relationship will be steadier for it.
With people you trust you are attentive, and you keep ties going through thoughtfulness, but you do not hand over your deeper feelings easily.
You tend to be most at ease with someone who shares information and plans ahead with you, and who speaks plainly instead of leaving you to guess.
How the White Rat handles money
What you make or express easily turns into income, so talent converts straight into earnings. Money also leaves quickly, so set aside a share the moment it comes in.
You are clear-cut about money. You take a loss early rather than drag it out, and you do not let feelings stretch a bad deal, though lending on goodwill alone makes you uneasy.
Your money decisions follow the quality of the information you get, so moving funds bit by bit on solid information suits you.
Day branches that harmonize with the White Rat and ones that clash
The day branch of White Rat (Geng Zi) is 子 (Rat). Which day branch the other person has decides the relation between your two branches, as shown below. A day branch that is not listed has no direct harmony or clash with yours.
| Their day branch | Relation between branches | How it reads |
|---|---|---|
| Rat (子) | Same day branch | like with like |
| Ox (丑) | Six Harmony | pulls together and fills in |
| Dragon (辰) | Triple Harmony partner | moves in the same direction, and the group is complete once a third branch joins |
| Monkey (申) | Triple Harmony partner | moves in the same direction, and the group is complete once a third branch joins |
| Rabbit (卯) | Punishment | rubs, so friction is likely |
| Horse (午) | Clash | head-on opposition |
| Goat (未) | Harm, Resentment / Ghost Gate | small misunderstandings pile up; attracts yet irritates |
| Rooster (酉) | Break | cracks are likely |
Harmony, Clash, Punishment, Harm, Break and Resentment are relations fixed mechanically by the pair of branches. They say nothing about anyone’s character being better or worse.
2027 (Ding Wei year) and the White Rat
2027 is a Ding Wei year. The year’s stem and branch change over at the start of spring, around February 4, 2027. The Ding of 2027 gives your day stem a frame of role and evaluation, so there are more moments when your position and credibility are asked about, and you put things in order within the rules. The year branch Wei forms a Harm relation with your day branch, so small misunderstandings tend to pile up, and checking in early works. Wei also forms a Resentment relation with your day branch, so attraction and irritation tend to show up together, and how you set distance becomes the focus.
What the day pillar alone cannot tell you
The day pillar is one of the four pillars of a chart. The year, month and hour pillars, the ten-year luck cycles, and Zi Wei Dou Shu and Western astrology readings are not included on this page. Two people with the same White Rat can show it differently depending on their other pillars, and your day pillar alone does not settle personality or fate.
To see all four pillars, use the free BaZi calculator. To read a specific question through to timing, a personal reading is the next step.
See the whole chart with the free BaZi calculator →Personal readings →Day Pillar Types →
Frequently asked questions
How do I find out whether I am a White Rat?
The day of White Rat (Geng Zi) comes around once every 60 days, and people born on a 庚子 day belong to this type. Enter your birth date on the day pillar type index to check.
Why am I a White Rat if my birth-year animal is not the Rat?
The birth-year animal comes from the year branch, while the Rat in White Rat comes from the day branch 子. They are two separate calculations. Even if your birth year belongs to another animal, a day branch of 子 makes your day pillar a Rat.
Which types match the White Rat?
Looking only at day branches, the Six Harmony partner of 子 is the Ox (丑), and the clash comes from the Horse (午). That is one narrow view. How well two people fit depends on all four pillars and on how they treat each other.
See other types
Same color
- White Horse (Geng Wu)
- White Goat (Xin Wei)
- White Dragon (Geng Chen)
- White Snake (Xin Si)
- White Tiger (Geng Yin)
- White Rabbit (Xin Mao)
- White Ox (Xin Chou)
- White Dog (Geng Xu)
- White Pig (Xin Hai)
- White Monkey (Geng Shen)
- White Rooster (Xin You)
Same animal