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How to Read a BaZi Chart
The example chart
- 丙 Rob Wealth
- 庚 Direct Wealth
- 戊 Hurting Officer
- 癸 Seven Killings
- 己 Eating God
- 丁 Friend
- 乙 Indirect Resource
- 丁 Friend
- 己 Eating God
| Wood | 0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Fire | 5 | |
| Earth | 2 | |
| Metal | 0 | |
| Water | 1 |
Before you start
A BaZi (八字, Four Pillars of Destiny) chart is built from the four pillars of a person's solar birth date and hour: year, month, day and hour. Each pillar has a Heavenly Stem (天干) and an Earthly Branch (地支), giving eight characters in total. This guide walks through one real chart step by step so you can see how to read a BaZi chart in practice.
The example chart used throughout belongs to a person born 13 December 1989. The birth hour was not recorded; the Horse (午) hour is a prediction. Keep in mind that the whole chart decides how anything lands: no single pillar, stem or interaction tells the full story on its own.
The chart is a map of tendencies, not a script. As you go through each section, you will see how the pieces fit together for this one person. Your own chart would be read the same way, with its own unique balance.
The four pillars
The Year Pillar (年柱) represents your early environment, family roots and the generation you were born into. In the example, the year pillar is 己巳 (Yin Earth on Snake). The stem 己 (Yin Earth) is the Eating God (食神), and the branch 巳 (Snake) holds hidden stems that add more detail.
The Month Pillar (月柱) shows your career path, social circle and the energy of your birth season. Here it is 丙子 (Yang Fire on Rat). The stem 丙 (Yang Fire) is a Rob Wealth (劫財), and the branch 子 (Rat) contains only 癸 (Yin Water), which acts as Seven Killings (七殺).
The Day Pillar (日柱) is the centre of the chart: the day stem is the Day Master (日主), the self, and the day branch reflects your inner world and partner. This chart has 丁未 (Yin Fire on Goat). The hour pillar (時柱) speaks to your later years, projects and children. It is 丙午 (Yang Fire on Horse), with a Rob Wealth stem and a branch full of Fire and Earth.
The Day Master
The Day Master (日主) is the Heavenly Stem of the day pillar. It represents you: your core nature, temperament and how you tend to respond to life. Every other stem and branch in the chart is read in relation to this one character. For this example, the Day Master is 丁 (Yin Fire).
Yin Fire is like a candle flame, a lamp or a hearth: warm, steady and illuminating. It does not roar like Yang Fire (丙); it glows and attracts. People with a 丁 Day Master often have a gift for expressing themselves in a way that reaches others, and they tend to care about beauty, comfort and connection.
The day branch, 未 (Goat), is Earth. Fire sits on Earth, which means the Day Master is grounded by the branch but also spends energy producing Earth. This relationship between stem and branch is one of the first things to notice in any chart.
Season and strength
The birth month tells you the seasonal energy that the Day Master was born into. In BaZi, each element has a seasonal state: for example, Fire is at its peak in summer and weakest in winter. This example was born in the month of 子 (Rat), which is mid-winter. Water is at full strength, and Fire is in the Dead (死) state.
A Day Master that is Dead in its birth month is considered weak in seasonal terms. That does not mean the person is weak; it means the chart tends to need support from other pillars. For 丁 Fire born in the Rat month, the cold Water season holds Fire down, since Water controls Fire, unless other parts of the chart provide warmth.
The overall verdict for this chart is that the Day Master is weak. The favourable elements are Wood and Fire, which would nourish and strengthen the Day Master. Earth, Metal and Water are unfavourable because they tend to drain or overwhelm it. This assessment always depends on the full chart, not just the month.
The Ten Gods
The Ten Gods (十神) are the roles that each Heavenly Stem plays in relation to the Day Master. They describe tendencies in career, relationships, resources and challenges. For a 丁 (Yin Fire) Day Master, each stem in the chart is assigned one of ten labels.
The year stem 己 (Yin Earth) is the Eating God (食神), which tends to bring creativity, enjoyment and a relaxed approach to expression. The month stem 丙 (Yang Fire) is a Rob Wealth (劫財), a friend-type energy that can mean strong bonds with peers but also competition. The hour stem 丙 is another Rob Wealth, doubling that influence.
The day branch 未 (Goat) contains hidden stems: 己 (Eating God), 丁 (Friend 比肩) and 乙 (Indirect Resource 偏印). The year branch 巳 (Snake) holds 丙 (Rob Wealth), 庚 (Direct Wealth 正財) and 戊 (Hurting Officer 傷官). The month branch 子 (Rat) holds only 癸 (Seven Killings 七殺). The hour branch 午 (Horse) holds 丁 (Friend) and 己 (Eating God). Each hidden stem adds a layer of tendency to the pillar.
Hidden stems and interactions
Every Earthly Branch contains hidden Heavenly Stems. These are the energies that live inside the branch, not visible on the surface but active in the chart. For example, the Snake (巳) branch in the year pillar holds three hidden stems: 丙 (Rob Wealth), 庚 (Direct Wealth) and 戊 (Hurting Officer). They influence the pillar from within.
Interactions between pillars also matter. This chart has a Directional Combination (三會) of 巳 (Snake), 午 (Horse) and 未 (Goat) toward Fire. That means the year, day and hour branches work together to strengthen Fire energy, which supports the Day Master. There is also a Six Combination (六合) between 未 and 午, the day and hour branches.
A Clash (六沖) occurs between 子 (month branch) and 午 (hour branch). Clashes tend to create tension or sudden shifts in the areas those pillars represent. A Harm (六害) between 子 (month) and 未 (day) adds another layer of friction. These interactions are read together, never in isolation.
Favourable elements
Every chart has elements that tend to support the Day Master and elements that tend to drain or overwhelm it. These are called favourable and unfavourable elements. For this chart, the Day Master 丁 Fire is weak and born in a cold Water month, so Wood and Fire are favourable.
Wood produces Fire, so Wood in the chart would tend to nourish the Day Master. Fire itself strengthens the Day Master directly. The Directional Combination of 巳, 午 and 未 toward Fire is a strong internal source of support, even though the month is cold.
Earth, Metal and Water are unfavourable here. Earth drains Fire by consuming its energy. Metal is what Fire has to work to control, which tires it. Water directly controls Fire. The month branch 子 (Water) and the hidden 癸 (Water) inside it are the main sources of this challenging energy. The whole chart decides how these tendencies actually play out.
Luck pillars
Luck pillars (大運) are ten-year periods that move through a person's life, starting from a calculated age. Each luck pillar has a Heavenly Stem and an Earthly Branch, and it adds new energy to the chart for that decade. The first luck pillar begins at age 8 for this example, on 24 July 1997.
The first luck pillar is 丁丑 (ages 8 to 17, 1997 to 2006). The stem 丁 (Friend 比肩) supports the Day Master, and the branch 丑 (Ox) is Earth. The second is 戊寅 (ages 18 to 27, 2007 to 2016). The stem 戊 (Hurting Officer 傷官) brings expressive, creative energy, and the branch 寅 (Tiger) is Wood, which produces Fire.
The third luck pillar is 己卯 (ages 28 to 37, 2017 to 2026). The stem 己 (Eating God 食神) tends to bring ease and enjoyment, and the branch 卯 (Rabbit) is Wood, again supporting Fire. Each new luck pillar shifts the balance of the chart. For a full explanation of how luck pillars are calculated and read, see the luck pillars guide.
The other guides
Your own chart
Now read your own: your four pillars, your Day Master and the decade you are in.
The Natal Reading reads your whole chart: free for your first chart, then $4.99.