Canonical sourceTrust tier: Canonical source
Guest and Host Qi
Explore how fixed host qi and changing guest qi interact at each seasonal step.
Objective: Distinguish host, guest, and guest-host interaction without treating the model as a diagnosis.
Lessons
The interaction concept
Objective: Understand why host and guest qi are read together rather than in isolation.
Host qi is the relatively fixed sequence of the six steps. Guest qi shifts with the year. Guest-host conjunction (ke zhu jialin) is the educational idea of reading them together for each step.
Neither layer alone is the whole story. The model invites comparison—agreement, tension, or change across the year—without turning the table into a medical chart.
When TianJi shows a step grid, use this lesson to understand the columns before asking the guide about a single cell.
Reading the step grid
Objective: Use the six-step grid to compare host and guest qi across the year.
A six-step grid usually lists step number, host qi, guest qi, and sometimes a short note on their relationship. Read left to right: which step you are in, what is fixed, what is visiting, and what the sources say about that pairing.
Do not over-read a single step in isolation. The educational value is the pattern across steps and how it sits under the year’s movement and sitian/zaiquan frame.
If the grid is hard to parse, open the related glossary terms, then return here before using Ask.
Common questions
- If guest and host differ, is that “bad”?
- Difference is part of the model’s descriptive language, not a moral or medical verdict. Read sources and keep the wellness boundary.
- Why does the first step matter so much in examples?
- Pedagogical examples often start at step one for clarity. Real reading still considers the full six-step sequence and year frame.
Related Terms
Next lesson
Six Qi
Study the six climatic qi, their seasonal steps, and the Sitian-Zaiquan pattern.
Continue reading →