How the four pillars are cut

BaZi cuts a birth into four stem-branch pairs: year, month, day, and hour. The four cuts are not the same line, so a calendar date is not yet a chart.

Editorial review: 2026-09-22 · Reviewed by fateshow · Editorial method

Four cuts, four different edges

The year pillar turns at Beginning of Spring, not on New Year’s Day. The month pillar follows solar terms: Beginning of Spring, Awakening of Insects, Clear and Bright. When the term passes, the month changes, so “March” is not a month pillar. The day pillar is one stem-branch day in a continuous count. The hour pillar slices the day into twelve branches of about two hours. The day master is the day stem. Every ten god later is read against that one character.

The hour branch and true solar time

True solar time is on by default for BaZi here. It shifts the clock by the birthplace longitude, and near a boundary it can push the hour pillar into the next cell. The setting is printed on the chart. If the hour was never known, leave the hour pillar empty. Do not invent the one that looks kind. The day master can still be read.

Zi Wei records 23:00 as late Zi. BaZi’s day change is a different rule. Do not borrow one system’s midnight for the other.

Reading across a solar term

Illustration: the calendar says 5 March. If Awakening of Insects has not arrived, the month pillar is still the previous term. “March” does not make it the Rabbit month. Copy the four pairs first, then name the day stem. The four pillars are not Zi Wei’s twelve palaces. The eight characters are also not a medical or legal identity.

Common mistakes

  • Taking the calendar month as the month pillar.
  • Filling an unknown hour with a flattering branch.
  • Treating the four pillars as another spelling of the twelve Zi Wei palaces.

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BaZi

Four pillars, ten gods and weighted element strength

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Frequently asked questions

Is the day master the year stem or the day stem?

The day stem. The year pillar supplies the year and its own ten-god relations. It does not supply the day master.

Born on Beginning of Spring: which year pillar?

It depends on the clock time of the solar term and the rule this chart uses. Read the year pillar on the report. Do not guess from the calendar year.

I have a date and no hour. Is the chart usable?

The year, month, and day pillars can be read. Leave the hour pillar empty. Do not choose an hour to complete the eight characters.

Sources and editorial basis

  1. 1. fateshow chart rule snapshot

    Each generated report stores the engine settings that produced it. Compare those settings before treating two charts as the same calculation.

  2. 2. fateshow interpretation dictionary

    Plain-language tendencies used in reports. They describe conditions and cautions, not fixed personality or inevitable outcomes.