Knowing the four frames is not enough. A frame can be fully formed, half-built, damaged, or only waiting for a calendar trigger.

The status tells you how much force the frame can carry.

Solid All three present, active, and clean

The frame carries full force and can dominate the reading. No member is void or Month-Broken.

Waiting Two present, one missing

The frame is waiting for the missing branch to arrive by time.

Partial All present, not fully active

The frame has shape and real force, but not maximum pressure.

Broken A member is void or broken

The frame is damaged and often carries a repair or timing signal.

Not formed No usable frame

The branches do not create a meaningful frame in this reading.

How to read status

Find members Which frame is present?

Identify whether the chart contains branches from one of the four frames.

Check condition Are they active?

Look for movement, void, break, and calendar activation.

Assign status Solid, waiting, partial, broken, or absent

The status tells you how strongly the frame participates.

Waiting frames

Waiting frames are especially important because they are both strength analysis and timing preview.

If two frame members are present and the third is missing, the arrival of the missing branch can complete the frame. That completion may support the target or pressure it, depending on the frame element.

Broken frames are also not nothing. If one member is void or broken, the frame cannot be weighed like a solid field, but the damaged member often becomes the repair point. Act 8 will turn that repair point into timing.

Dark Moving counts as activation when judging frame status. A clearly moving branch and a secretly active branch can supply enough motion for a frame to matter more than it appears to on the printed chart.

Common traps

Trap 1 Treating partial as solid.

A partial frame can matter, but it is not maximum force.

Trap 2 Treating broken as nothing.

Broken frames may still describe what needs repair or when something resolves.

Trap 3 Missing the waiting branch.

The absent third branch can become the timing key later.

Trap 4 Missing a broken member.

A solid-looking frame with one void or Month-Broken member is broken until that member is restored.

Source basis: Zengshan Buyi San He status rules. Waiting frames complete when the missing branch arrives; broken frames heal when the void or Month-Broken member is filled or restored.

What this module establishes

A frame is not just present or absent. Its status decides how seriously to weigh it.

-> 5.9 Harms and Punishments