What is Da Hao?

Da Hao (Major Drain) is the tenth of the Twelve Erudite Gods (Bo Shi). It is about outflow: things and effort tend to go out faster than they come in. Unlike the scattered losses of Xiao Hao, Da Hao is about larger sums going out, so think it through before you commit. There is another Da Hao with the same name in the Twelve Year Gods (Sui Qian); this page is about the Bo Shi one. To see which palace your Da Hao is in, draw your chart.

How Da Hao is placed

The Bo Shi set starts with Bo Shi in the Lu Cun palace; count to the tenth and you reach Da Hao. Men born in yang years and women born in yin years count forward, so Da Hao is nine palaces ahead of Lu Cun; men born in yin years and women born in yang years count backward, so it's nine palaces behind.

The palace opposite Da Hao always holds Xiao Hao, one large and one small facing each other across the chart. Its trines hold Li Shi and Zou Shu.

What the classics say, and how to read it now

When volume two of the Zi Wei Dou Shu Quan Shu (The Complete Book of Zi Wei Dou Shu), in the An Shi Er Gong Tai Sui Sha Lu Jue section, first lists the order, it ends with "Tian Hao, Fu Bing, on to Guan Fu"; Tian Hao is Da Hao. The verse in the same section goes on, "Bing Fu brings illness, Hao wastes the inheritance," and where volume two lists each star's element it is clearer still:

The greater and lesser Hao are Fire. Xiao Hao is money and goods; Da Hao wastes the inheritance.

"Wasting the inheritance" is the old phrasing for family wealth handed down from the ancestors slipping away instead of being kept. Read for today, Xingge takes Da Hao to mean that in this palace large amounts flow out easily: money, time and effort leave in big chunks. It doesn't mean you can't hold on to things. It's a reminder to sleep on big decisions in this area before you make them.

Da Hao in key palaces

• Life Palace: you're willing to invest yourself fully, and you're generous with people. Before you commit, ask yourself whether what you get back is what you actually want.
• Wealth Palace: big expenses tend to go out in one go, such as a new car, renovations or impulsive investments. Budget large purchases first and give yourself a cooling-off period.
• Career Palace: at work you tend to pour in a lot of resources at once, or often get handed big, demanding projects. Weigh the cost first, then decide how much to take on.
• Spouse Palace: you give a lot to your relationship, in money and in effort. Along with giving, look at your own needs too, so the two of you go the distance.
• Health Palace: your energy can drain all at once, leaving you completely flat after a busy stretch. Build rest into the middle of big projects; don't wait until you can't keep going.

Telling it apart from the Sui Qian Da Hao

There are two Da Hao on the chart. The Bo Shi Da Hao follows your birth-year Lu Cun and stays in the same palace for life; it shows the area where large outflows come naturally to you. The Sui Qian Da Hao follows Tai Sui and moves one palace each year; it shows which palace's spending and social obligations may suddenly grow this year. One looks at the natal chart, the other at this year.

Natal chart and Annual Luck

The Bo Shi Da Hao is natal and doesn't change with the Annual Luck on the Xingge chart; the sets that change each year are the Twelve Year Gods (Sui Qian) and the Twelve General Gods (Jiang Qian). If the annual Sui Qian Da Hao also lands in this palace, that year the large expenses here are even more worth thinking over.