Expert: Bill Hajdu - 7/4/2011

Question
Hi Bill,

Can you please explain the compatibility of a water ox (1973 male) and an earth dragon (1989 female) ... when I'm reading the elements, they talk about generating and overcoming types.  I know that this relationship is a classified as an overcoming type but I have no idea what that means and if it's good or not

Answer
Hi Nam,

I'm sorry, but to be honest this looks like an extreme case of fatal attraction. In Chinese Astrology Ox and Dragon make an extremely difficult match, almost ensuring continuous clashes of will from these two, strong-willed signs. Also, Earth and Water have a destructive relationship to each other.

Now as to "generating and overcoming types," it's necessary to look at the element cycle in Chinese, Five Element Theory. Basically there are two, a constructive and a destructive cycle. The constructive cycle is Wood - Fire - Earth - Metal - Water - Wood. So, when two elements are adjacent, they are in a constructive/favorable/lucky/nourishing relationship. The destructive cycle is Metal - Wood - Earth - Water - Fire - Metal. The adjacent elements in this cycle drain each other's luck.

Your case is an example. The ground, Earth, sucks up Water, thereby "destroying" it. Now your question refers to overcoming, and that comes in here. Earth controls Water since it precedes it in the destructive cycle. This means the Earth person can control/overcome the Water one.

Now since Metal precedes Water in the constructive cycle, so it can be said Metal generates Water. Thus a Metal person is best for the Water female's luck.

The short answer to your question is no, the relationship is not good; although, it's worse for the male.

If you would like to learn more about Chinese Astrology and relationships, I highly recommend Shelly Wu's Chinese Sexual Astrology and Susan Levitt's Taoist Astrology. Also, please visit my web site, www.onlinechineseastrology.com. And, if you like the site, please "like" it on Facebook. If you would like a detailed analysis of this report, you can order one at the site for a modest charge.

Thank you for your question.