What Is Bazi? Four Pillars, Inputs, and Interpretation

Understand the Four Pillars, Day Master and birth-time assumptions. Learn which parts are calculated and which are traditional interpretations.

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Eight characters in four pillars

Bazi (八字) means eight characters. A chart has year, month, day and hour pillars, each pairing a Heavenly Stem with an Earthly Branch. The Day Master is the stem of the day pillar. These are calendar-derived labels used in a traditional interpretive system, rather than measurements of personality.

Start with the recorded birth details

Have the birth date, local clock time and place ready. The form also requests male or female for the traditional calculation convention. Verify the recorded time and location before interpreting a chart. If the hour is unknown, the current form still requires an hour: an assumed value should be treated as a scenario, not as a known birth time.

Why calendar boundaries matter

The Bazi year convention uses Li Chun rather than January 1 or Lunar New Year, while month pillars follow solar terms. Births near a boundary need the relevant year, location and time conventions checked. Calculators can also differ in their day-boundary convention. Compare settings before concluding that one chart is wrong.

Clock time and solar-time correction

Our chart request enables true-solar-time correction when longitude is available. A correction can move a birth across an hour boundary. Check the correction information returned with the chart; do not assume that a city name alone proves the location or correction was resolved correctly.

Day Master and Ten Gods

Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water, each with yin or yang polarity, define the ten stems. The Ten Gods label relationships between a stem and the Day Master. For example, for Jia 甲 (yang Wood), Wu 戊 (yang Earth) is Indirect Wealth and Ji 己 (yin Earth) is Direct Wealth. These labels do not measure income.

Strength and favorable elements

Our interpretation considers support, season and relationships within the chart. Strong and weak are technical classifications in this system, not judgments of character or health. Favorable-element conclusions depend on the method and assumptions; they are not experimentally established prescriptions for a career, purchase or relationship.

Read the calculation and explanation separately

The chart is computed before an AI writes the narrative. Check that the narrative refers to the displayed pillars and identifies uncertain inputs. Use it to explore the traditional framework, not to establish facts about your future. The zodiac animal represents the year branch only, so it is not a substitute for the full chart.

FAQ

Can I use the calculator without a known birth hour?

The current form requires an hour. If you compare assumed hours, label them as scenarios and avoid treating the hour pillar as confirmed.

Why do two calculators disagree?

Compare birth inputs, location, solar-time settings, solar-term boundaries and day-boundary conventions before comparing interpretations.

Does a Bazi chart predict what will happen?

A chart supports traditional symbolic interpretation. It does not establish that a particular career, relationship or financial event will occur.

Is the chart reading free?

The site offers a free chart and AI interpretation. Separate paid home reports have their own scope and checkout.

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