BaZi: Four Pillars of Destiny

BaZi (八字, “eight characters”) describes your birth moment with four pillars, for the year, month, day and hour, each made of a heavenly stem and an earthly branch. The day stem is your Day Master, the element that represents you. The Chinese solar calendar is used: the year begins at Lichun (around 4 February) and months change at the solar terms, not on the 1st of the month.

How BaZi works

The ten heavenly stems (Jia to Gui) and twelve earthly branches (Zi to Hai) combine into a 60-pair cycle used for years, months, days and hours. Each stem and branch carries one of the five elements, and branches also hold “hidden stems”. Comparing every element with your Day Master gives the ten gods (Friend, Wealth, Officer, Resource and Output stars), which describe relationships, money, career and support. Luck pillars change every ten years, starting at an age set by the distance from your birth to the nearest solar term.