The date in which a family moves into a new home hold great significance in Chinese culture.
So much so that various metaphysical arts have delved into the subject in a detailed manner. Some are singular systems that are solely focused on moving in alone.
One of the over-reaching concepts of moving in date selection is the yin error (陰錯) and yang error (陽錯). They can sometimes also be termed as yin mistake and yang mistake.
This rule states that a person (regardless of gender) depending on the polarity of the yearly heavenly stem in bazi, should avoid certain days where a particular heavenly stem and earthly branch pair is the governing pillar.
The pair of ganzhi in question depends on the monthly earthly branch as identified by the Hsia calendar.
The there are 12 branches for 12 months of the year, a table can be generated to indicate these yin-yang error days.
Take note that a person with a yang yearly stem would be concerned with the yang error. And a person with a yin yearly stem would be afflicted by the yin error.
Month | Yin Error |
Yang Error |
寅 | 庚戌 | 甲寅 |
卯 | 辛酉 | 乙丑 |
辰 | 庚申 | 甲辰 |
巳 | 丁未 | 己巳 |
午 | 丙午 | 丙午 |
未 | 丁巳 | 丁未 |
申 | 申辰 | 庚申 |
酉 | 乙卯 | 辛酉 |
戌 | 甲戌 | 庚戌 |
亥 | 癸丑 | 癸亥 |
子 | 壬子 | 壬子 |
丑 | 辛亥, 癸亥 | 癸丑 |
For example if a man has Wu earth (a yang stem) as the heavenly stem on the year pillar, and intends to move into his new home in November when hai (亥) reigns supreme, then he has to be mindful in avoiding a day with the gui-hai (癸亥) pillar.
Since a yang stem can only be paired with a yang branch, it also means that one can identify his or her errors from the zodiacs.
People with the zodiacs of rat, tiger, dragon, horse, monkey and dog would be concerned with the yang error. Those of ox, rabbit, snake, goat, rooster and pig would be associated with the yin error.
Be mindful that in the broader application of Chinese date selection, there are other conceptual dates to avoid when moving house such as the 3 killings and grand duke, etc.