八字 · About · 四柱

Destiny analysis grounded in
an ancient Chinese science

We study BaZi (八字 — “Eight Characters”) — a method born more than 1,200 years ago in the Tang dynasty. The system rests on three cornerstones: time, place and the movement of the elements. No guesswork — only calculation from birth date and place.

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八字 — The Eight Characters of Destiny

The Chinese term 八字 (BāZì) literally means “eight characters.” Every person is born in a specific year, month, day and hour — each of these four parameters is recorded with two characters (天干, the “Heavenly Stem,” and 地支, the “Earthly Branch”). In total: eight characters that make up the birth chart.

年柱 Year Pillar The Ancestral Pillar
Ancestry, karma, early years
月柱 Month Pillar The Social Pillar
Family, career, society
日柱 Day Pillar The Personal Pillar
Identity, partner, marriage
時柱 Hour Pillar The Legacy Pillar
Descendants, career legacy

At the core of the chart is the 日主 (Rì Zhǔ), the Day Master. It is one of the ten Heavenly Stems of the Day Pillar: it represents you — your nature and your resources. All seven remaining characters are interpreted relative to the Day Master.

知命者不立乎巖墻之下 “He who knows his destiny does not stand beneath a crumbling wall” — Mencius (孟子), 4th century BCE

五行 — Wu Xing: The Cycle of Generation and Destruction

At the heart of BaZi lie the 五行 (Wǔ Xíng) — the Five Elements: Wood (木), Fire (火), Earth (土), Metal (金) and Water (水). These are not physical elements — they are archetypes of movement, transformation and the interplay of energies.

木 Wood (Mù)
火 Fire (Huǒ)
土 Earth (Tǔ)
金 Metal (Jīn)
水 Water (Shuǐ)

The elements form two cycles. The Generating Cycle (相生 Xiāng Shēng): Wood feeds Fire → Fire creates Earth (ash) → Earth gives rise to Metal → Metal gathers Water (condensation) → Water nourishes Wood. The Controlling Cycle (相克 Xiāng Kè): Wood loosens Earth → Earth dams Water → Water extinguishes Fire → Fire melts Metal → Metal chops Wood.

Our system automatically calculates the percentage weight of each element in the chart, identifies the dominant and the missing ones. The Useful God (用神 Yòng Shén) — the element that supports the chart — is published only after separate method verification, so it is not part of the readings yet.

十神 — The Ten Heavenly Gods

Each of the seven remaining characters in the chart (aside from the Day Master) defines a 十神 (Shí Shén) — one of the Ten Gods: an archetypal mode of interaction with the Day Master's element. This is the key to understanding career, love, health and resources.

比肩
Friend (Bǐ Jiān)
Friend — same element, same polarity
劫財
Rob Wealth (Jié Cái)
Rob Wealth — same element, opposite polarity
食神
Eating God (Shí Shén)
Eating God — generated by the Day Master, same polarity
傷官
Hurting Officer (Shāng Guān)
Hurting Officer — generated by the Day Master, opposite polarity
偏財
Indirect Wealth (Piān Cái)
Indirect Wealth — controlled by the Day Master, same polarity
正財
Direct Wealth (Zhèng Cái)
Direct Wealth — controlled by the Day Master, opposite polarity
七殺
Seven Killings (Qī Shā)
Seven Killings — controls the Day Master, same polarity
正官
Direct Officer (Zhèng Guān)
Direct Officer — controls the Day Master, opposite polarity
偏印
Indirect Resource (Piān Yìn)
Indirect Resource — generates the Day Master, same polarity
正印
Direct Resource (Zhèng Yìn)
Direct Resource — generates the Day Master, opposite polarity

Interactions Among the Earthly Branches

The twelve Earthly Branches (地支 Dì Zhī) mark the year, month, day and hour; each branch is symbolized by one of the 12 animals of the Chinese calendar. They not only mark time — they also enter into dynamic interactions with one another, forming the chart's hidden forces.

Branch Relationships (刑沖合會害)
六冲 Liù Chōng Six Clashes — opposing branches create conflict and instability. A catalyst for change.
六合 Liù Hé Six Harmonies — six fixed pairs of branches combine: 子丑, 寅亥, 卯戌, 辰酉, 巳申, 午未. Synergy and union.
三合 Sān Hé Triple Harmony — three branches form an elemental alliance of the highest power (局 Jú).
三会 Sān Huì Triple Meeting — three neighboring months of one seasonal element. More powerful than the Triple Harmony.
相刑 Xiāng Xíng Punishments — hidden tension that surfaces in health and relationships.
相害 Xiāng Hài Harm — a mild disruption that undermines the chart's positive formations.

大運 and 流年 — Luck Pillars and Annual Pillars

BaZi views life as a continuous succession of energetic phases. 大運 (Dà Yùn) — the Luck Pillars: every ten years, destiny comes under the influence of a new Heavenly Stem and Earthly Branch. The cycles are calculated individually, based on the chart's polarity and direction of movement.

流年 (Liú Nián) — the Year in Review — the annual pillar that acts on everyone at once. Its interaction with a person's own pillars and the current Luck Pillar determines the quality of that specific year for that specific person.

The system also works with 小運 (Xiǎo Yùn) — the Minor Cycles (one year each) for a detailed analysis of transitional periods, and with 流月 (Liú Yuè) — the Solar Month when choosing a favorable moment for important decisions.

How Our Analysis Works

True Solar Time (TST)

Before building the chart, we correct the date to True Solar Time. Standard time zones can create a discrepancy of up to ±2 hours relative to the sun's true position. Our engine calculates the longitude correction (4 min/°) and the equation of time — critical for the accuracy of the Hour Pillar and the Luck Pillars.

Determining the Day Master's Strength

We use a weighted-sum method: each branch holds Hidden Stems with influence coefficients (主气 60%, 中气 30%, 余气 10%). The resulting strength is classified on a scale: 旺 (Peak) → 相 (Rising) → 休 (Resting) → 囚 (Confined) → 死 (Fading). A seasonal adjustment of ×1.5 adds the influence of the month's qi.

Detecting Formations and Interactions

The engine checks all 8 characters for 六冲, 六合, 三合, 三会, 相刑, 相害, and Stem combinations (天干五合). Formations change the strength — and sometimes the very nature — of the pillars, which fundamentally affects the interpretation.

16 Chapters of In-Depth Analysis

The finished chart is analyzed against a canonical knowledge base of more than 7,405 BaZi rules, drawn from classical sources. The system generates a personal analysis: personality, career, money, love, health, purpose, the year ahead, the Luck Pillars, and much more.

Our Method and Sources

Every text on Bazi Cards — readings, articles and Oracle answers — is original: it is written by our own team and is not copied or translated from any book.

We work in Classical Zi Ping BaZi (子平八字), the school that goes back to Xu Ziping (徐子平, 10th century): a chart is read from the Day Master and the balance of the five elements around it. To judge the climate of a chart — whether it is too cold, hot, dry or damp for its season — we use the seasonal balance method of 《窮通寶鑑》 (Qióng Tōng Bǎo Jiàn).

Classical foundations

What We Don't Promise

BaZi is a tool for self-knowledge and navigation, not a prediction of a fixed future. The system describes tendencies and potentials, not hard events. The quality of the calculation is limited by the precision of the birth time (±15 minutes can change the Hour Pillar), the accuracy of historical data, and the depth of interpretation.

We do not practice magic, religion or pseudoscience. BaZi is a mathematically formalized system of correlations between time and human patterns, passed down through generations of Chinese scholars and masters.

命由天定,運由己造 “Fate is set by heaven, but the path of life is shaped by the person themselves” — Chinese proverb

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A precise calculation from your date, time and place of birth. 16 chapters of personal analysis.

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