Day pillar type
Black Tiger (Ren Yin): Personality and Matches
Hongsimdang Editorial Team · Last updated
Black Tiger (Ren Yin) is the day pillar where a great river or the sea (壬) rests on a great tree at dawn (寅). In short, it sends inner strength outward and gives it a form others can receive.
What decides the Black Tiger: 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 Black Tiger (Ren Yin), the day stem is 壬 (Yang Water) and the day branch is 寅 (Tiger). The “Black” in the name is the color of the day stem’s element, and “Tiger” is the zodiac animal of the day branch. Both are Hongsimdang’s own labels.
The day stem 壬 is likened to a great river or the sea. You take a wide view and like to see which way the current runs before you move, and your thinking is large in scale. The day branch 寅 is a great tree at dawn. The Tiger is popularly pictured as bold, independent and happy to lead from the front, 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 寅 also holds the hidden stems 戊, 丙, 甲, which lay another side beneath the one that shows.
Seen from your day stem 壬, the day branch 寅 sits at the Illness (Bing) stage of the twelve life stages. It is the stage where energy takes a breath, and a deep empathy for other people’s pain grows.
How the Black Tiger 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.
You come alive at launches and in new fields, and you do better with room to decide than with a list of orders to wait for. Your thoughts keep branching out, decisions get slower, and some days your mood sinks deep.
When someone takes the lead from you, irritation shows all at once, and you may feel like changing a job or a relationship on impulse.
Start fewer things, and promise yourself not to add the next one until one is finished.
How the Black Tiger 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.
When people rely on you, you answer in full and come across as dependable, though the urge to hold the lead tends to surface.
Someone who counts on your decisiveness and tells you straight when it is time to stop will suit you well.
How the Black Tiger 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 prefer money to keep moving rather than sit in one place. The range of openings is wide, but without a clear purpose it tends to run off like water.
Money tends to go first into new ventures. A hit can be big, but watch the habit of moving before you have any picture of how it pays back.
Day branches that harmonize with the Black Tiger and ones that clash
The day branch of Black Tiger (Ren Yin) is 寅 (Tiger). 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Tiger (寅) | Same day branch | like with like |
| Horse (午) | Triple Harmony partner | moves in the same direction, and the group is complete once a third branch joins |
| Dog (戌) | Triple Harmony partner | moves in the same direction, and the group is complete once a third branch joins |
| Pig (亥) | Six Harmony, Break | pulls together and fills in; cracks are likely |
| Snake (巳) | Punishment, Harm | rubs, so friction is likely; small misunderstandings pile up |
| Monkey (申) | Clash, Punishment | head-on opposition; rubs, so friction is likely |
| Rooster (酉) | Resentment / Ghost Gate | attracts yet irritates |
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 Black Tiger
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 is the income and belongings your day stem handles steadily, so the more you build in plain steps, the more it shows, and the footing of daily life tends to settle. The year branch Wei has no direct Six Harmony or Clash with your day branch, so the color of this year shows mainly in its relation to your day stem.
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 Black Tiger 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 Black Tiger?
The day of Black Tiger (Ren Yin) comes around once every 60 days, and people born on a 壬寅 day belong to this type. Enter your birth date on the day pillar type index to check.
Why am I a Black Tiger if my birth-year animal is not the Tiger?
The birth-year animal comes from the year branch, while the Tiger in Black Tiger comes from the day branch 寅. They are two separate calculations. Even if your birth year belongs to another animal, a day branch of 寅 makes your day pillar a Tiger.
Which types match the Black Tiger?
Looking only at day branches, the Six Harmony partner of 寅 is the Pig (亥), and the clash comes from the Monkey (申). 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
- Black Monkey (Ren Shen)
- Black Rooster (Gui You)
- Black Horse (Ren Wu)
- Black Goat (Gui Wei)
- Black Dragon (Ren Chen)
- Black Snake (Gui Si)
- Black Rabbit (Gui Mao)
- Black Rat (Ren Zi)
- Black Ox (Gui Chou)
- Black Dog (Ren Xu)
- Black Pig (Gui Hai)
Same animal