Target-First Filtering, Not a Dominant Line
Last updated 10/7/2026
This course does not ask, “Which moving line is strongest?” It asks, “Which moving lines have a demonstrated relation to the selected target?”
That is a UAYA workflow decision, not a claim that every lineage uses the phrase “dominant line” or rejects it in the same terms.
Strength and relevance answer different questions
| Check | Question it answers |
|---|---|
| Strength | How supported or constrained is this line in the declared calendar model? |
| Movement | Does this row transform or qualify as active under the declared rule? |
| Relevance | Does this line materially enter the selected target system? |
A line can be strong and irrelevant to the current target. A weaker line can be relevant because it directly generates or controls the target. Neither fact alone decides an outcome.
Correction procedure
- Cover any “dominant” label in your notes.
- Restate the target and its line position.
- List every active line.
- Write the exact target-system relation for each line.
- Rank only the lines with demonstrated relations.
- Add strength and transformation condition inside that relevant subset.
Counterexample
Example type: invented learner exercise; no outcome.
Two lines move:
- line 5 is seasonally vigorous but has no documented relation to the target, its support, obstacle, World, or Response;
- line 2 is seasonally weak but directly generates the selected target.
The target-first table reads line 2 before line 5. It does not call line 2 stronger. It calls line 2 relevant. Line 5 stays background until another rule establishes a connection.
Now change one fact: line 5 directly controls the target. Both lines become relevant. The result is not “line 5 wins”; the record now contains competing support and obstruction, which later judgment must weigh.
What would falsify the shortcut
The shortcut fails whenever the visually strongest line has no defensible path to the selected target while another line does. A reader who cannot state that path should not promote the line by rhetoric such as “loudest,” “central,” or “most powerful.”
Trap and stopping condition
Do not use “target-first” as a new slogan that ignores the rest of the chart. It is a sequence rule: establish relevance first, then evaluate the relevant lines with calendar, movement, and transformation evidence.
Stop when the target is unresolved. A relevance hierarchy cannot be built around an undecided center.
Source position: the centrality of Yong Shen and its Yuan/Ji/Chou relations is supported by Zengshan Buyi, “Yong Shen, Yuan Shen, Ji Shen, Chou Shen,” checked composite printed pp. 21–22. The explicit rejection of a “dominant line” shortcut and the target-first correction procedure are UAYA teaching conventions.
Next, inspect lines between World and Response only when an intermediary is actually part of the task: Jian Yao.