Reference
BaZi Glossary — Every Term Defined
All ~81BaZi terms in one place. Search by English, Chinese, or pinyin — or browse by category. Plain-English definitions, cross-referenced and linked back to the deeper learning pages.
- Calendar
BaZi rolls the day pillar at 23:00 local true solar time, not midnight, because the first 子 (zǐ) hour begins at 11 PM. Someone born at 23:30 already belongs to the next day's pillar.
- Stars
Derived from the Day Stem. Marks aptitude for study, writing, exam performance, and intellectual work. Practitioners flag it on the charts of students, academics, and analytical professionals.
See alsoSymbolic Stars - Luck
The stem-branch pair for any given calendar year, layered on top of the natal chart and the current luck pillar. Practitioners read the interactions between the annual pillar and the natal chart to gauge themes for the year.
- Foundation
Literally "eight characters" — the classical Chinese four-pillars system that converts a birth datetime into eight symbols (a Heavenly Stem and an Earthly Branch for each of the year, month, day, and hour). It is the input language for everything else in a BaZi reading.
- Stars
Derived from the Day Stem. Indicates aggressive determination and the willingness to push through resistance — useful in competitive fields, dangerous when uncontrolled. A double-edged marker.
See alsoSymbolic Stars - Stars
Derived from the Year or Day Branch. Marks artistic, contemplative, and solitary inclinations — the chart owner often does their best work alone and may feel disconnected from mainstream social rhythms.
See alsoSymbolic Stars - Advanced
The overall pattern a chart fits into, classified by which Ten God dominates the Month Pillar. Géjú-based reading is one of the two main classical schools (alongside strength-based analysis) and is central to Joey Yap's teaching.
- Foundation
The Chinese zodiac animal — your year branch's animal. There are 12: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig. The shēngxiào is what most Western audiences know about Chinese metaphysics, but in BaZi it is just one of eight characters in the chart, not the central identity.
- Advanced
The principle that a chart born in an extreme season (deep winter or peak summer) needs the opposite element for warmth or cooling, regardless of pure strength scoring. A frozen chart needs Fire; a scorched chart needs Water.
- Interactions
The process by which a combination actually changes the elements involved into a new dominant element. Transformation requires the resulting element to already be strong in the chart and the combining elements to be unobstructed by clashes.
- Elements
The restraining sequence in which each element controls another: Wood breaks Earth, Earth dams Water, Water quenches Fire, Fire melts Metal, Metal cuts Wood. Used to identify which elements drain or restrain a Day Master.
- Structure
The Earthly Branch of the Day Pillar, also called the Spouse Palace. It is read as the closest indicator of partnership style and what the chart owner looks for in a long-term relationship.
- Structure
The Heavenly Stem of your Day Pillar — the single most important symbol in a BaZi chart. It represents your core identity, and every other element in the chart is interpreted relative to it.
- Foundation
The pillar derived from the birth day. The Day Stem is the Day Master — the chart's central anchor — and the Day Branch is the spouse palace, traditionally read for partnership patterns.
- Ten Gods
A stem that controls the Day Master, with opposite polarity. Represents legitimate authority, structure, rules, career titles, and (for female charts) a stable husband. The disciplined form of pressure.
- Ten Gods
A stem that produces the Day Master, with opposite polarity. Represents nurturing support, formal education, mentors, and the mother. Read as steady, official knowledge and protection.
- Ten Gods
A stem the Day Master controls, with opposite polarity. Stable, earned income and steady assets — the salary, the spouse (for male charts), and the consistent flow of wealth.
- Elements
The stabilizing element. Associated with the seasonal transitions, the center, yellow, and the spleen/stomach system. Earth produces Metal and is controlled by Wood.
- Foundation
One of twelve cyclical symbols (子丑寅卯辰巳午未申酉戌亥) corresponding to the Chinese zodiac animals and the twelve two-hour blocks of the day. Each branch carries a primary element, a season, and one to three hidden stems.
- Ten Gods
A stem the Day Master produces, with the same polarity. Represents output, creativity, enjoyment, and steady self-expression — the calm, productive form of the output element.
- Structure
An astronomical correction (between roughly −14 and +16 minutes across the year) that accounts for the difference between mean clock time and the actual position of the sun. Required input for calculating true solar time.
See alsoTrue Solar Time - Advanced
The single element a chart most needs to come into balance. Choosing the correct yòngshén is the key analytical decision in classical BaZi — it determines which luck pillars will favor the chart owner.
- Elements
The expansion element. Associated with summer, the south, the color red, and the heart/circulatory system. Fire produces Earth and is controlled by Water.
- Elements
The five energetic phases — Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water — that every stem and branch maps to. The Five Elements are the substrate everything in a BaZi chart runs on; reading a chart is mostly analyzing how they interact.
- Advanced
The classical formula for deriving the hour stem from the day stem. The starting hour (子 Rat) of each day follows a five-day cycle. Day stems 甲/己 → hour stem 甲 (子), 乙/庚 → 丙, 丙/辛 → 戊, 丁/壬 → 庚, 戊/癸 → 壬.
- Advanced
The classical formula for deriving the month stem from the year stem. The starting month (寅 Tiger) of each year follows a five-year cycle, hence "Five Tigers." Year stems 甲/己 → month stem 丙 (寅), 乙/庚 → 戊, 丙/辛 → 庚, 丁/壬 → 壬, 戊/癸 → 甲.
- Ten Gods
A stem with the same element and same polarity as the Day Master. Read as siblings, peers, and self-reinforcement; supports the Day Master and brings competition and shared resources.
- Foundation
The combined term for Heavenly Stems (天干 tiāngān) and Earthly Branches (地支 dìzhī). When practitioners say "a 干支 pair," they mean a stem-branch pair like 甲子 — the fundamental building block of every BaZi pillar.
- Advanced
A "chart structure" or "pattern" — the classical typology that categorizes a chart by its dominant Ten God configuration. Examples: 正官格 (Direct Officer pattern), 七杀格 (Seven Killings pattern), 食神格 (Eating God pattern). Practitioners use 格局 as a high-level summary of what kind of chart they're looking at. (This site's engine doesn't yet implement structure detection.)
- Stars
A symbolic star marking leadership and command authority. Derived from the day or year branch's 三合 group: 申子辰 → 子, 寅午戌 → 午, 巳酉丑 → 酉, 亥卯未 → 卯. People with this star in a prominent pillar are often natural commanders or end up in roles that require battlefield-style decision-making.
- Elements
The productive sequence in which each element nourishes the next: Wood feeds Fire, Fire makes Earth, Earth bears Metal, Metal carries Water, Water grows Wood. Used to identify which elements support a Day Master.
- Stars
Derived from the Day Stem. Indicates that helpful people — mentors, allies, well-placed contacts — appear in the area of life governed by the pillar where it lands. Considered the most useful auspicious star.
See alsoSymbolic Stars - Foundation
One of ten cyclical symbols (甲乙丙丁戊己庚辛壬癸) that pair an element with a polarity. The ten stems combine with the twelve branches to form the 60-cycle that BaZi runs on.
- Advanced
The supporting element that strengthens the favorable element or otherwise improves the chart's balance. Practitioners look for both the yòngshén and the xǐshén when assessing a luck pillar's quality.
- Foundation
The pillar derived from the two-hour block of birth. Read for inner motivations, late-life themes, and the relationship with children. Without an accurate birth time, the hour pillar cannot be determined and two of the eight characters are missing.
- Ten Gods
A stem the Day Master produces, with opposite polarity. The intense, expressive form of output: talent, performance, brilliance, and a tendency to clash with authority figures.
- Ten Gods
A stem that produces the Day Master, with the same polarity. Unconventional knowledge, intuition, esoteric or technical expertise, and the stepmother archetype (in classical readings; modern readers can substitute 'unconventional caregiver'). Helpful but more conditional than Direct Resource.
- Ten Gods
A stem the Day Master controls, with the same polarity. Variable income — windfalls, investments, deals, and entrepreneurial wealth — where the upside and the volatility are both higher.
- Calendar
The Start of Spring solar term, occurring around February 4 each year when the sun reaches 315° ecliptic longitude. Lìchūn is the BaZi year boundary — a baby born February 3 belongs to the previous year's pillar, even though their passport says otherwise.
- Luck
Forward direction (顺行 shùnxíng) or backward direction (逆行 nìxíng) — refers to which way the luck pillars step from the natal month pillar. Determined by gender and year-stem polarity: yang year stem + male = forward, yang + female = backward, yin + male = backward, yin + female = forward.
- Luck
A 10-year window with its own stem and branch, layered on top of the natal chart. Each person has a sequence of luck pillars beginning at a calculated start age; the direction (forward or backward through the cycle) is set by gender and year-stem polarity.
- Structure
The primary hidden stem of an Earthly Branch — the one that defines the branch's dominant element. The main qi carries the most weight in strength scoring; secondary and tertiary hidden stems carry less.
- Elements
The contraction element. Associated with autumn, the west, the color white, and the lungs/large intestine. Metal produces Water and is controlled by Fire.
- Structure
A reading's overall structural picture: the four pillars together with the relationships among them. Practitioners use "mìngjú" to refer to a specific person's chart as a unified object — "his 命局 has a strong wealth pattern."
- Foundation
The pillar derived from the solar term in effect at birth — not the calendar month. It is the most influential pillar for Day Master strength because it sets the season, and is read for career style and the parental environment.
- Luck
The stem-branch pair for any given solar-term month, used for finer-grained timing. Most useful when an annual pillar already shows a significant interaction and the practitioner wants to narrow it to a specific window.
- Advanced
An element in your chart that is neither favorable (用神) nor unfavorable (忌神) — it does no harm but provides no help. Practitioners track xiánshén because they can be "activated" positively or negatively by luck pillars.
- Stars
Derived from the Year or Day Branch. Marks attractiveness, charisma, and romantic activity. Common on charts of performers and people whose work depends on personal appeal.
See alsoSymbolic Stars - Advanced
When a hidden stem inside a branch also appears as a visible Heavenly Stem somewhere in the chart. A penetrating stem is much more active than a stem that stays hidden, and is treated as a working force in the reading.
- Foundation
One of the four stem-branch pairs that make up a BaZi chart. Each pillar — year, month, day, and hour — has one Heavenly Stem on top and one Earthly Branch below it, for two of the eight characters.
- Stars
Derived from the Day Stem. Marks the branch where the Day Master's element peaks naturally, read as a position of natural income, salary, and steady livelihood.
See alsoSymbolic Stars - Structure
The "residual qi" — the third and weakest hidden stem in an earthly branch. Carries the least weight in element-balance scoring. Branches with only one hidden stem (子, 卯, 酉) have neither 中气 nor 余气.
- Ten Gods
A stem with the same element as the Day Master but opposite polarity. Like Friend but more competitive; classically read as a rival who can support you in difficulty but compete for your wealth.
- Interactions
When a Heavenly Stem finds support from a hidden stem of the same element inside one of the four branches. A rooted stem is significantly stronger than an unrooted one and is the main reason a stem can act on the chart.
- Structure
The "middle qi" — the second-most-prominent hidden stem in an earthly branch, after the main qi. Carries less weight in element-balance scoring than the main qi but more than the residual qi (余气 yúqì).
- Interactions
When the same branch repeats in the chart from the set 辰, 午, 酉, or 亥. Read as self-defeating patterns the chart owner falls into without external pressure.
See alsoThree Punishments - Ten Gods
Also called Indirect Officer. A stem that controls the Day Master, with the same polarity. Aggressive pressure, intense competition, military and entrepreneurial drive — the unfiltered form of authority that can build empires or burn out the chart owner.
- Interactions
Six fixed pairs of Earthly Branches (子午, 丑未, 寅申, 卯酉, 辰戌, 巳亥) that sit directly opposite on the branch circle and destabilize each other. Clashes signal change, movement, and conflict in the affected pillar.
- Interactions
Six fixed pairs of Earthly Branches (子丑, 寅亥, 卯戌, 辰酉, 巳申, 午未) that bond and may transform into a single resulting element. The transformation only happens when supporting conditions are present in the chart.
- Interactions
Six branch pairs (子未, 丑午, 寅巳, 卯辰, 申亥, 酉戌) that create friction by breaking up combinations the other branches were trying to form. Read as small, persistent annoyances rather than large clashes.
- Calendar
An astronomically defined point in the solar year. There are 24 solar terms; the 12 "jié" terms (Lìchūn, Jīngzhé, etc.) mark the boundaries between BaZi months. A chart's month pillar is determined by which jié term most recently passed before the birth datetime, not by the calendar month.
- Structure
The exact moment a new BaZi month begins, marked by one of the twelve jié solar terms (立春, 惊蛰, 清明, etc.). A birth even one minute before the boundary belongs to the previous month pillar.
- Stars
A library of named markers derived from formulas applied to the stems and branches. They are not literal stars; they are shorthand labels for specific patterns practitioners noticed and catalogued. Used as flavor on top of the core five-element analysis, not as the main reading.
- Ten Gods
The ten relational labels used to describe how every other stem in the chart relates to the Day Master. Each god is defined by two questions: does it produce, drain, or control the Day Master, and does it share the Day Master's polarity?
- Interactions
Four three-branch groupings by season (寅卯辰 spring/Wood, 巳午未 summer/Fire, 申酉戌 autumn/Metal, 亥子丑 winter/Water). When all three appear in a chart, that element dominates more decisively than even Three Harmony.
See alsoThree Harmony - Interactions
Four three-branch combinations (申子辰 → Water, 寅午戌 → Fire, 亥卯未 → Wood, 巳酉丑 → Metal) that pool into one dominant element. The strongest combination type in BaZi when all three branches are present.
- Interactions
Three-branch sets (寅巳申 the ungrateful, 丑戌未 the uncivilized) that signal betrayal, legal trouble, or stubborn conflict. Less common than clashes but read as more drawn-out when active. A fourth class is the two-branch 子卯 (Rude Punishment), which marks abrasive conduct and disrespect inside close relationships.
- Stars
Derived from the Year or Day Branch. Signals movement, travel, relocation, and change of environment. Often shows up before international moves and career relocations.
See alsoSymbolic Stars - Structure
Birth time corrected to where the sun actually is at the birth longitude, with the Equation of Time applied. Two people born at the same clock time in different cities have different true solar times — and potentially different day or hour pillars. Calculators that skip this produce wrong charts for anyone not on their standard meridian.
- Advanced
The element that worsens the chart's balance — typically by over-strengthening what is already excessive or attacking what is already weak. Periods dominated by the jìshén are read as harder to navigate.
- Stars
Derived from the Day Pillar's position in the 60-cycle. Branches that fall into the Void are read as hollow — the matters they govern feel insubstantial or harder to actualize without extra effort.
See alsoSymbolic Stars - Calendar
"Ten Thousand Year Calendar" — the canonical Chinese reference book mapping Gregorian dates to BaZi pillars (year, month, and day pillars precomputed). Practitioners use one to verify chart calculations; this site uses an internal solar-terms table that produces the same results.
- Elements
The descending element. Associated with winter, the north, the color black, and the kidneys/bladder. Water produces Wood and is controlled by Earth.
- Elements
The growth element. Associated with spring, the east, the color green, and the liver/gallbladder system. Wood produces Fire and is controlled by Metal.
- Elements
The active, expansive, outward-facing polarity. Five of the ten Heavenly Stems and six of the twelve Earthly Branches are yang. A Yang Wood Day Master, for example, behaves differently from a Yin Wood Day Master even though both share the same element.
- Foundation
The first of the four pillars, derived from the birth year. Practitioners read it for ancestry, early childhood, and the public-facing self — the part of you the world meets first.
- Elements
The receptive, contracting, inward-facing polarity. Five of the ten Heavenly Stems and six of the twelve Earthly Branches are yin. Polarity affects how an element expresses itself and is critical for deriving the Ten Gods.
- Interactions
"True transformation" — when a 六合 (six combination) actually transforms into the new element rather than just bonding. Requires specific conditions: the result element must be present and rooted, no clash interferes, and the polarities align. Most combinations bond but don't transform.
- Foundation
The lineage name for the Day-Master-centered school of BaZi, named after Xu Zi Ping (徐子平), the Song dynasty practitioner credited with shifting the focus from the year pillar to the day pillar. Almost all modern BaZi practice is "Zi Ping BaZi."
- Foundation
Purple Star — a separate classical Chinese metaphysical system that maps the same birth datetime onto a 12-palace chart of stars and constellations. Distinct from BaZi: same input, completely different machinery. Often used alongside BaZi by serious practitioners.
See alsoBaZi
Missing a term? This glossary is the canonical reference for the rest of the site. If you found a Chinese character somewhere on the site without a definition here, that’s a bug.