English first · Chinese is a caption
Learn this without Mandarin
Read the English name. The line under it is how it is pronounced. The character is there if you want it later.
1 min
You do not need Mandarin
Every name on this site has an English heading. The Chinese character sits underneath as a caption, the way a Latin name sits under a plant. You can learn the whole system without reading a single character.
BaZi
bā zì八字
Four pillars from your birth date, time, and place. It is calendar math, not a personality quiz.
Qi Men
qí mén奇门
A timing map for the day. It says when to move, not who you are.
2 min
Four pillars
Your chart is eight characters: a stem and a branch for the year, the month, the day, and the hour. Same birthday, clock time, and city always produce the same pillars.
Year pillar
nián zhù年柱
The widest ring — family, era, and the backdrop you were born into.
Month pillar
yuè zhù月柱
Career, parents, and the season that colors the rest of the chart.
Day pillar
rì zhù日柱
You, and the closest relationships. Its top character is your Day Master.
Hour pillar
shí zhù时柱
Children, projects, and what you build later. If the birth time is unknown, we leave this blank rather than guess.
2 min
Your Day Master
The Day Master is the “you” the rest of the chart is read against. There are ten. Each one is an element (wood, fire, earth, metal, water) with a yang or yin style.
Day Master
rì zhǔ日主
Yang Wood is a tall pine. Yin Wood is a vine. Same element, different posture. Neither is better.
Strong or gentle
shēn qiáng身强
A strong Day Master has lots of support. A gentle one does well with structure and partners. Both are workable.
2 min
Five elements
Wood, fire, earth, metal, and water are the only vocabulary you need for “what kind of energy is this.” They feed each other in a circle: wood feeds fire, fire makes earth, earth holds metal, metal carries water, water grows wood.
Wood
mù木
Growth and starting. Reaches upward.
Fire
huǒ火
Expression and warmth. Shows the work.
Earth
tǔ土
Steadiness and holding. Keeps the center.
Metal
jīn金
Precision and a clean cut. Decides.
Water
shuǐ水
Depth and adapting. Finds the way around.
4 min
Ten relationships
The Ten Gods are not deities. They are ten ways any other sign relates to your Day Master: peers, output, money, authority, and support. Learn the English name. The character is optional.
Companion
bǐ jiān比肩
Peers, collaborators and mirrors — people who run alongside you.
Rob Wealth
jié cái劫财
Bold, competitive energy and rivals for your resources.
Eating God
shí shén食神
Creative output, gentle expression, talents — the most generative energy in the chart.
Hurting Officer
shāng guān伤官
Bold expression, rule-breaking and disruption — genius that breaks things.
Direct Wealth
zhèng cái正财
Steady earned money — regular, practical, built over time.
Indirect Wealth
piān cái偏财
Windfalls, social capital and sideways income — money through angles.
Direct Officer
zhèng guān正官
Legitimate authority, career discipline and structure.
Seven Killings
qī shā七杀
Pressure that forces growth — intense, competitive authority.
Direct Resource
zhèng yìn正印
Education, nurturing and support — the people who back you.
Indirect Resource
piān yìn偏印
Unconventional learning, niche expertise and alternative wisdom.
1 min
Your first morning
Enter a birthday. We compute the Day Master on your phone and explain it in English. Birth city and clock time make the month and hour pillars exact. You can add those after you see the first result.
Useful God
yòng shén用神
The element that brings your chart back toward balance. A lever, not a lucky charm.