Fate and Luck,
Ming and Yun
Lorraine Wilcox, L.Ac.
July 1999
The Chinese concept of fate and luck is different from the Western view. The other day, I had dinner with a friend whose father is Chinese and mother is American. During our conversation, he said to me, "You are using the word luck, just like my father used to. I never thought he used it properly." My reply was, "But the Chinese look at fate and luck in a different light than we in the West do." This essay comes from that conversation.

My English dictionary defines fate as the power which is supposed to determine the outcome of events, destiny. It defines destiny as 'the seemingly inevitable succession of events'.

In modern Western culture we don't like to feel fettered to fate, an outside power controlling our lives. We want to be a 'master of our own destiny.' Therefore, we don't often try to discern our fate. Astrology and other divination arts are not seriously used by the general modern population.

When a child is born, many parents do not pay attention to the time, much less have any kind of astrology done for their newborn. It is a commonly held belief in the West that nothing is sealed at birth. It is believed that the child will become what we make of them, or what the child will make of him or herself. It is believed that the factors in development are heredity, education, environment, diligence, etc, but not fate or astrology. It is believed that even the poorest child can become president of the United States.

'Yes,' the Chinese would answer, 'but let me see the birth chart to know if this particular child has a chance at it.'

To the Chinese, fate is real and knowable. Knowing your fate will save you from trying to move down a road that is blocked for you.

We are born at a certain time. The energies present at that time, pictured as stars and/or the stems and branches, have a profound impact on us. Perhaps we are imprinted with this energy, or perhaps we are born at a particular time due to its resonance with our fate.

The Chinese word most commonly used for fate is Ming (ming4). Ming means:
1. Life
2. Fate, Destiny
3. The ordinances of Heaven
4. Order, Command
5. Assign (a name, title, etc.)

Let us examine how these meanings are related. One must have life to have a destiny. Destiny is perhaps the ordinance of Heaven. From this, we can expand the meaning to any order or command.

We can also expand the meaning to assigning a name or title, just as we are named at birth or given a title by someone of a higher rank. In China, children are often given names with meanings that concur with what the parent’s hope the child's fate will be. Some names are even given to counteract a problem seen in their astrological chart, in hope of influencing fate. Adults also will take a new name at an important milestone of their life.

In the Chinese language, astrology is often called Ming Shu (ming4 shu4)or fate calculation, as fate is seen to be set at birth, but knowable and predictable.

This brings us to another aspect of Ming or fate: Ming belongs to pre-heaven. It is fixed at birth and impossible or difficult to modify. It is what you start with. It is the car that you drive (but not the road that you take it down). If you want to keep your car in good condition and get to your destination, you need to know a little about the model of car that you have. A person's birth chart is like the owner's manual for a new car. It gives the specs and the operating instructions.

Here is another analogy: You are hungry. You go to a restaurant. You can order anything you want from the menu. You can even order something that is not on the menu, as long as they have the ingredients in the kitchen. You notice that some things are expensive and some things are cheap. Once you enter a particular restaurant, there is choice, but there are limits. You cannot order breakfast if you are given the dinner menu. You cannot order pizza in a Chinese restaurant.

This is Ming or fate. Birth is like entering a particular restaurant. The menu is like your astrological chart; you have choices in your life, but there are limits. Some options cost too much if you are not willing to work for them, yet are still available on the menu in case you are highly motivated. But isn't it better to know what is on the menu than to always be asking for lobster at a fast food restaurant?

If fate is pre-heaven, then luck, in the Chinese view, is post-heaven.

The Chinese view luck as variable with time and at least as predictable as the weather or the stock market. Probably more so. If you can know the condition of your luck, you can base your actions on how strong it is at that time.

On the other hand, Westerners tend to believe that luck is random. The English dictionary defines luck as, 'the seemingly chance happening of events which affect one.' Chance is defined as, among other things:
1. The occurence of events without apparent cause, luck
2. An unpredictable event
The word chance comes from the Latin 'cadere' - to fall [as in dice]. It is random, and therefore unpredictable.

The Western science of luck and chance is statistics and probability. But this study is based on large groups. There is no 'scientific' ability to predict an individual's level of luck. To believe that luck is random by definition means that you cannot predict it for an individual.

People often say that luck involves being in the right place at the right time. The Chinese would not disagree. However, the Chinese have ways to predict the right time, and also to make the place right. They call this, the latter, 'feng shui.'

People in the West believe that there is no way to know your luck, except perhaps an intuition ('I am feeling lucky today. I think I will buy a lottery ticket'). Or by an omen (seeing a black cat is unlucky). The only way to improve luck is with a talisman (lucky penny, rabbit's foot, or a personal object). Luck is passive, unpredictable, unknowable, random.

The Chinese word most frequently used to mean luck (in general, not specifying if it is good luck or bad luck) is Yun (yun4) which means:
1. Carry, transport
2. To move, to revolve
3. Use, wield, utilize
4. One's luck or fortune

Chinese luck is not nearly so passive as its Western counterpart. Because of its meanings of carry, transport, move, and revolve, it is used in phrases to do with shipping, sports, and even the orbit of planets. This then presents the concept that, like the orbit of planets, luck is cyclical and predictable. An orbit is not random movement. To orbit or to move means to pass through space and time in a specific pattern. Therefore, it is subject to the laws that govern time and space. This makes it knowable.

The third meaning of Yun is to use or to wield. No passivity here. If we can know our luck, we can also use it to our advantage. When it is good, go out and take risks, take advantage of opportunities. When it is poor, stay home and be still, to lessen exposure to problems.

There is one more meaning of Yun. In feng shui and Chinese astrology, it has the meaning of a period of time.

In feng shui, the twenty-year construction periods are called yun. They are related to the nine flying stars. These repeat in 180-year cycles (9 stars times 20 years each).

In four pillars and zi wei dou shu (two types of Chinese astrology), the yun are related to the stems and branches (which belong to a cycle of sixty):
1. The ten-year periods of time are called da yun, the big luck.
2. Annual cycles are called xiao yun, the small luck.

In this context, big and small refer to the quantity of time, not the quantity of luck. Luck refers to the characteristic of the time. It does not imply good or bad, which varies with the cycle. By the way, Chinese who have not studied astrology or feng shui do not generally know this meaning of yun because it is a technical term in the Chinese calculation methods. Neither is it generally in Chinese dictionaries.

So these periods of time (yun) transport the energy of the time, which moves and revolves. Our relationship to this energy defines our fortune or luck for that period of time. If we know what it is we can use it to our advantage.

Yun or luck is post-heaven. It is the road we drive our car on. A road map (in the form of a birth chart) helps us get to our destination smoothly. We can decide where we want to go (within limits) and choose the best road to get there.

Let's go back to the restaurant analogy. Luck is like this: sometimes you order off the breakfast menu. Sometimes it is a lunch menu. Later it is a dinner menu. You may also get the menu for Sunday brunch. It all depends on the time. The menu is modified with the time of day. But for the restaurant (the life you were born into), the style of food remains the same, even though the menu changes with time. If you have a steak house, breakfast will be steak and eggs. Lunch will be a steak sandwich. Dinner will be steak and potatoes. So luck is limited by fate, but varies with time. Choices can be made on any menu, but within limitations.

The Chinese believe that success is based on these five areas of influence, in order of importance:
1. Ming – (ming4) , fate, destiny, decided at birth and cannot be changed, but can be known.
2. Yun – (yun4), luck, which fluctuates with time, and can be predicted.
3. Feng Shui – (feng1 shui3), environment. We can manipulate this to reach the higher levels of what our fate and our luck allow.
4. Dao De – (dao4 de2), virtue and character. This brings us good karma and good will from others.
5. Du Shu – (du2 shu1), education and effort. Even with the best luck, if we sit at home and wait, we will miss out. We must do the footwork.

Knowing our fate is the owner's manual for the car. Knowing our luck is the road map and a weather report for the trip. Feng shui is giving the car the best maintenance and tune up. It increases the performance. But a Cadillac is still a Cadillac, and a Jeep is still a Jeep. Virtue and character is courteous driving. This way, no road rage will be directed at you. Education and effort allows you to drive safely, without having an accident or damaging the car.

If all these factors are satisfactory then we can go far. But if we don't have the owner's manual or the weather report, we can get stranded and not arrive where we want to go.

Lorraine Wilcox, © 1999, All Rights Reserved
[Editors Note: Lorraine Wilcox is a Licensed Acupuncturist and an instructor of Xuan Kong Feng Shui and Zi Wei Dou Shu Astrology. For further information, Lorraine welcomes contact at xuankong@yahoo.com or at lorraine@amfengshui.com in affiliation with The American Feng Shui Institute as Assistant to Master Larry Sang.]

[Acknowledgements: English definitions provided courtesy of Webster's New World Dictionary; Warner Books; NY;1990. Chinese definitions provided courtesy of Far East Chinese-English Dictionary; The Far East Book Co., LTD.; Taipei; 1992.]