Eastern
Four Pillars · Ba Zi
Eight Characters
Your Five-Elements map
Four Pillars is the classical Chinese system, based on the four time pillars of birth — year, month, day, hour. Each pillar combines one Heavenly Stem and one Earthly Branch, totaling eight characters (hence Ba Zi).
History
- Took shape in the Tang dynasty (618-907) and was formalized in the Song dynasty by Xu Ziping.
- Widely used across China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Korea, and Japan.
- Trusted by professional astrologers for its precision and systematic approach.
Core components
Day Master
The Heavenly Stem of the Day pillar — represents you and is the focal point of the chart.
Five Elements
Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth — interacting in productive and controlling cycles.
Favourable Element
The element that brings balance to your chart — guides growth direction.
Major Cycles (Dai Yun)
10-year periods governing destiny phases. Roughly 8-9 cycles in a lifetime.
Annual Pillars
Year-by-year energetic readings, combined with major cycles.
What you'll learn
- Your elemental nature: where you are strong, where you are lacking.
- Personality, strengths, weaknesses, characteristic thinking style.
- Suitable careers and industries.
- Health tendencies: organs to care for.
- Love compatibility: ideal partners, golden phases, careful phases.
- Practical guide: colors, directions, activities to embrace and avoid.
Who it's for
Suitable for everyone, especially those who want a deep self-understanding and a lifetime map.
Limitations
Requires accurate birth time (within 1-2 hours; otherwise 25% of the chart shifts). Default timezone is GMT+7; international births require conversion.