BaZi (Four Pillars of Destiny)
The eight characters of your birth year, month, day and hour, each written as a Heavenly Stem and Earthly Branch.
What BaZi means
BaZi (八字, literally "eight characters") is the classical Chinese birth chart. Your birth moment is converted into four pillars: year, month, day and hour. Each pillar has a Heavenly Stem on top and an Earthly Branch below, giving eight characters in total.
How the chart is built
- The year changes at Li Chun (the start of spring, around 4 February), not on 1 January.
- The month follows the twelve solar terms called jie.
- The day and hour use true solar time at your birthplace, which is why the city matters.
What to look at first
Start with the Day Master, the stem of the day pillar. It represents you. Then look at the balance of the five elements and the Ten Gods, which describe how the other characters relate to the Day Master.