(103) Yu Gwan-sun: Patriotism comes from Water energy

By Janet Shin

Korean patriot Yu Gwan-sun, who organized the March 1st movement against Japanese colonial rule, was just a high school student in 1919. After being imprisoned by Japanese police, she continued to protest for Korean independence until she died while being tortured in 1920.

Yu lived a short but fierce life. According to records, her deep faith in God and education at a Methodist school, gave her courage to do the right thing and abide by her faith, despite fear and social pressure.

Now it is 2010, 100 years since Japan’s forced annexation of Korea in 1910. Up until

Korea declared independence on Aug. 15, 1945, there were several intellectual and physical movements for freedom. The March 1st movement in 1919 is included among these, but it also signified the uprising of an entire nation.

As a high school student during the colonial period, Yu chose the toughest path in becoming a patriot, and even had to anticipate the prospect of death for her bold actions.

Let’s review her saju.

Yu was born with a yin water day master in the month of water. Overall, one can easily see the coldness of the saju ― the color of the water is black. Those who are born in the friend star month and/or with lots of friend stars (meaning the same element) in either the stems or branches, dare to act when they trust that it is the right thing to do. Although judgment and logic may disagree with the act, those with friend stars simply plow ahead with faith. The presence of metal in her day branch also denotes coldness, as well as resolution, although it is different from the black of water. Metal, as a knowledge star, generates water, which accelerates the confidence of a day master.

We don’t have her birth time, but based on her life history, we may assume that neither fire nor earth energy would have been positioned in her time pillar.

When saju is unbalanced ― for example when there is no warmth for the water day master, or when there is no cooling for the fire day master ― there is a higher possibility of health problems and/or a short life expectancy. A well-balanced saju signifies a harmonized energy structure between the hot and cold, the dry and wet among the eight letters of saju.

The expression star (wood, green) that was generated by strong water energy denotes fierceness in her life from around the ages of 15 to 19. The year pillar expresses the fate of those until the age of 15 (or 19). However, without fire and earth, wood is unable to grow or take root in the ground. Wood in the year branch was the only warmth in her saju that may have changed the environment of her life even a little bit, but it was fairly weak.

Having no earth suggests that nothing could stop her. The earth energy restricts the water from flooding. So the restricting energy, (for example, water to distinguish fire, metal to chop wood) is not always harmful for one’s fate, if not excessively powerful.

In the case of Yu’s saju, we cannot see any earth element. If so, the power of the earth energy would have been strong enough to overcome the flourishing power of water.

The fact that no earth element in Yu’s saju made her continue to fight against injustice, however painful the torture was, eventually closed her life path from growing to full blossom.

Yu’s deep faith is shown by the metal in her day branch, which is a knowledge star and means learning from her teacher and books.

In 1920, a year of metal, she died after enduring harsh torture. It was the year when the metal ax chopped the wood of her saju. The one warm, expressive and vulnerable sprout was cut off by the sharp and cold metal.

Her patriotic sacrifice became one of the foundational stones for the country’s independence and future generations, and youths have learned from her noble philosophy. Gain confidence from faith and do not hide from external fears.

Are you interested in learning more about the ancient Chinese teachings of the “Four Pillars of Destiny?’’ Private sessions are available in English at basic, intermediate and advanced levels. Contact Janet at 010-5414-7461 or email janetshin@hotmail.com. The writer is the president of the Heavenly Garden, a saju research center in Korea, and the author of “Learning Four Pillars” For more, visit her website at www.fourpillarskorea.com