BaZi: four pillars, ten gods, and element strength
BaZi gives the year, month, day, and hour one stem and one branch each. The day stem is the day master. Everything else is read against it. This page maps that structure; a personal chart belongs in the tool.
- English name
- Four Pillars of Destiny
- Also called
- BaZi · Eight Characters · Four Pillars
Editorial review: 2026-09-22 · Reviewed by fateshow · Editorial method
Chart system
Year changes at Beginning of Spring, months follow the twelve solar terms, and hidden stems are weighted 1 / 0.5 / 0.3. The same birth details always rebuild the same chart.
Concept snapshot
Input
Birth date and time; true solar time is on by default
What is calculated
Four pillars, ten gods, hidden stems, element weights, luck cycles
What it is not
A dated event forecast, or a Zi Wei palace chart
Reading order
Restore the instant → set pillars → weight elements → then timing
Explore concepts
Overview
An overview of BaZi
BaZi cuts one birth moment into four stem-branch pairs. Name the day master, see how the other characters face it, and only then look at which ten-year step is laid on top.
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Pillars and the cuts
The four pillars and where they are cut
The four pillars are not a calendar date copied into eight characters. Year, month, day, and hour each have their own edge. Move an edge and the characters move.
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Ten gods and hidden stems
Ten gods and the hidden stems
Ten gods are five relations of other stems toward the day master, each split by whether the polarity matches. Hidden stems sit inside the branches and are weighted 1, 0.5, and 0.3 here.
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Elements and strength
Element weight and day-master strength
The five elements are a count after weighting. Day-master strength is whether that one stem stands up in the month, in its roots, and in what produces it. Neither is a rank.
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Void, stages, and nayin
Void branches, the twelve stages, and nayin
These three are traditional marks hung on the stems and branches. They supplement the pillars and the ten gods. They do not replace the day master, and none of them is lucky or unlucky by itself.
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Luck cycles and year markers
Ten-year cycles and the year markers
A luck cycle is a ten-year step laid on the four pillars. A year marker is a shorter layer inside that step. The person is still the original day master. A decade does not install someone else.
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BaZi match
BaZi match: branches, day masters, and element balance
A BaZi match sets two finished pillar charts side by side. The classic object is marriage matching. Romantic and family lenses are included. A business partnership is not, because this tool has no separate classical frame for it.
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Use and limits
What questions a BaZi chart can hold
BaZi fits structural questions: which element is heavier, how the day master is produced or controlled, and what this decade lays on top. It does not fit “what happens on a chosen day,” and it does not replace a medical, legal, or financial decision.
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What BaZi is
BaZi starts from one birth instant. That instant is restored through the historical timezone of the birthplace, then cut by three different boundaries: the year changes at Beginning of Spring, the month follows the twelve solar terms, the day follows the declared day boundary, and the hour covers two hours per branch.
Month pillars therefore do not line up with calendar months. Symbolic wording about personality or fortune sits on top of those pillars. It does not replace the stems, branches, and weights the engine actually printed.
What fateshow calculates
The chart lists four pillars, the ten gods of the day master, hidden stems inside each branch (primary, middle, and residual, weighted 1 / 0.5 / 0.3), element strength, day-master strength scored by season, rooting, and support, chart structure, seasonal adjustment, void branches, the twelve stages, nayin, and ten-year luck cycles with yearly markers.
True solar time is optional and can move the hour pillar. The day boundary defaults to 23:00 and can be switched to 00:00. Historical offsets, including mainland China’s UTC+9 summers from 1986 to 1991, are restored before the pillars are set. Every correction that changes the result is meant to stay visible on the chart.
What it is not
It is not a Zi Wei twelve-palace chart, and ten gods do not translate into palaces or Western aspects. It also does not answer “which day will this happen.” A useful question names a structure: which element is heavy, which stage the luck cycle has reached, what kind of environment the day master meets.
An unknown hour still produces a partial chart. The hour pillar and every ten-god relation that depends on it stay unreliable until the hour is known. Do not invent one.
Safety boundary
Element weights and luck cycles are a conditional reading frame. They are not medical, legal, or financial advice, and a strong or weak day master is not a verdict about a whole life.
Common mistakes
- Treating the month pillar as the calendar month of birth.
- Reading one ten god as a career or marriage outcome.
- Comparing two BaZi charts before checking timezone, true solar time, and the day boundary.
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Frequently asked questions
What questions fit a BaZi chart?
Structural ones: where element weight sits, how the day master is supported, and which ten-year cycle changes the topic. It is a poor tool for a specific event on a specific date.
Why can two calculators disagree?
They may split the year, the day, or the hour differently, or skip true solar time. Compare those settings before judging either chart.
Can I cast without an exact birth time?
You can, but the hour pillar and the ten-god structure that hangs on it will not hold. The closer the time is to the real instant, the more of the chart you can actually check.
Sources and editorial basis
- 1. fateshow BaZi chart rules
Supports only what the live chart prints: four pillars, hidden-stem weights of 1 / 0.5 / 0.3, strength scores, and the timezone and day-boundary settings stored with the result. It does not prove that one school of useful-god reading is the only valid one.