八字 · Method · 四柱

Method and sources
how a reading is built here

We work within the classical Ziping school (子平) — the Four Pillars of Destiny. Everything on this site is calculation from the date, time and place of birth, followed by interpretation according to rules that come from the tradition. Nothing is invented along the way.

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The school

The classical Ziping school 子平

The method took shape in China around the 10th century and is linked with Xu Ziping (徐子平). Its core idea is simple and strict: a chart is read from the Day Master — the Heavenly Stem of the day of birth — and from the balance of the five elements around it. Not from the animal of the year, which is only one of the eight characters.

What we calculate

Four pillars, eight characters

For the year, month, day and hour we build a pillar: a Heavenly Stem (天干) and an Earthly Branch (地支). From there come the hidden stems of each branch, the Ten Gods (十神), the strength of the Day Master, the favourable and unfavourable elements, the Useful God (用神), the ten-year Luck Pillars (大運) and the annual pillar (流年).

How we calculate

Astronomy first, interpretation second

The month is set by the solar terms (24 節氣), not by the calendar month — the year turns at Li Chun, not on 1 January. The hour pillar is built on true local solar time for the coordinates of the birthplace, with the time zone and any daylight-saving shift taken into account. The direction of the Luck Pillars depends on sex and on the polarity of the year stem. Every statement in a reading is derived from a rule in the knowledge base and can be traced back to it.

Sources

Classical texts and their modern presentation

The knowledge base is built on primary sources and on modern handbooks that set the same tradition out in contemporary language. Schools with incompatible logic are deliberately not mixed.

The tradition as set out in modern times by the classical Ziping school, and by the classical texts — 子平真詮 Zǐ Píng Zhēn Quán, 滴天髓 Dī Tiān Suǐ and 窮通寶鑑 Qióng Tōng Bǎo Jiàn.

What this is not

The limits of the method

This is not fortune-telling and not a promise of events. A chart shows tendencies, seasons and probabilities — not verdicts. The service is informational and educational; it does not replace a doctor, a lawyer or a financial adviser, and it makes no medical, legal or investment decisions for you.