People usually ask for auspicious dates as if there were a single list somewhere with the answer on it. In Chinese practice the work is called 择日 (zérì), “choosing the day”, and the emphasis is on the choosing. A date is narrowed down in layers: first the day itself, then your own chart, then the other people the event involves. This page explains that method. It deliberately does not give you a list of good dates, because a list that ignores your chart cannot do the job.
Why no date is auspicious for everyone
Every day carries one pillar from the sixty-day cycle, and every pillar has an earthly branch. That branch clashes with one of the twelve animals: a 未 (wèi, Goat) day clashes with the Ox, a 午 (wǔ, Horse) day with the Rat, and so on round the circle. The clash is fixed by the six clashes, 六冲 (liùchōng): 子↔午, 丑↔未, 寅↔申, 卯↔酉, 辰↔戌, 巳↔亥.
So on any day, one animal in twelve is told to keep the day light, and the same day can sit quietly or even helpfully in another person’s chart. A day that suits a wedding in general can still be the wrong day for this couple. That is the core reason a published “auspicious dates for everyone” list is a starting point at best. Chinese date selection was never meant to work without the person in it.
Layer one: the generic day
The first filter is the almanac entry, the same information a printed tong shu gives. Two parts matter most:
- The day officer. One of the 12 officers, 建除十二神 (jiànchú shí’èr shén), each with activities it favours and activities to avoid. Some officers list weddings or signing among what they favour; others list them under avoid. The tong shu page has the full table and how the officer is derived.
- The clash animal. The animal whose branch sits opposite the day branch.
To illustrate, not to recommend: 2026-10-12 is a 己未 (Jǐ Wèi) day with the officer 收 (shōu, Receive), which favours collecting debts, harvesting and storing and lists funerals and starting journeys under avoid, and the day clashes with the Ox (丑). 2026-12-22 is a 庚午 (Gēng Wǔ) day under 破 (pò, Destruction), a classical caution day for most purposes, clashing with the Rat (子). Reading a single day this way is covered step by step on Chinese calendar today.
Layer one removes days. It does not choose one. In practice this is where you strike out the officers that list your activity under avoid and keep a shortlist of the rest.
Layer two: your own chart
Here the method becomes personal. We look at the day’s branch against two branches in your Ba Zi chart.
Your day branch
The branch under your Day Master is the spouse palace, the seat of your own life and closest relationship. If the candidate day’s branch clashes with it, the day pulls directly against you. Someone born on a 丑 day, for example, would set aside the 2026-10-12 未 day for anything important, whatever its officer says. The six clashes guide explains why a clash on this pillar is felt most closely.
Your year branch
The year branch is your zodiac animal, and it is the one the almanac’s “clash animal” line speaks to. A day that clashes with it is the day the almanac tells you to keep light. This check is coarser than the day branch, but it is the one most families already know.
Your favourable elements
Finally, a day’s stem and branch carry elements. A day whose elements support what your chart needs is preferred over one that piles on what it already has too much of. Working this out depends on the strength of your Day Master, which is why it sits after the clash checks; our strong vs weak Day Master guide covers the judgement.
Layer three: everyone involved
Most events that need a date involve more than one chart. For a wedding, both partners are checked, and a day that clashes with either one’s day branch or year branch is set aside. Our page on day branch compatibility shows how two day branches relate to each other, which is the same reasoning applied to the couple rather than the calendar.
For a business opening, the owner’s chart leads, and partners with a real stake are checked too. For a move, the household head’s chart leads, and many families also check the other members. The more charts in the room, the shorter the final list becomes. That is normal, and it is why date selection tends to start months ahead.
How to choose auspicious dates for yourself
A workable order for doing this yourself:
- Open the almanac tool. It shows each day’s pillar, its officer with the favourable and avoid lists, the clash animal, and the week ahead as rows. Note the days whose officer suits your purpose and whose clash animal is not yours or your partner’s.
- Plot each person’s chart with the free calculator and strike out any day whose branch clashes with someone’s day branch.
- Bring the shortlist to a reading for the element check and the final choice.
The almanac tool is a filter: it shows the lunar date, the officer and the clash for any day from 1930 to 2035, and you can browse a month at a time. It does not show hour pillars or dates personalised to you, so steps two and three remain your work or ours.
The same method, applied to every day of 2027, gives three shortlists: wedding dates 2027, moving house dates 2027 and business opening dates 2027. Each is the first layer only: the day, then you, then everyone else.
If you have an event to date and a shortlist to test, book one of our readings: one hour, every chart involved on the table, a written summary of the dates that hold up and why, and no fear-selling.