Ba Zi (八字 bāzì, “eight characters”) is the Chinese system that maps your birth moment — year, month, day and hour — into a working chart of strengths, cycles and timing. Each pillar carries a heavenly stem and an earthly branch; read together, they describe how you are built and when to move.
No mysticism required: a chart is a map, not a verdict. Here is the reading order we teach.
Start here
- How to read your Ba Zi chart, step by step — the whole method in five moves
- The free calculator — plot your eight characters from exact solar-term boundaries
The four pillars 四柱
The architecture: what each pillar governs, and the 22-character alphabet they are written in.
- Heavenly stems and earthly branches
- The five elements: a cycle, not a scoreboard
- What your birth hour actually changes
- Browse the full Four Pillars archive
Your Day Master 日主
The character that anchors the chart — you, in the system’s own terms.
- Day Masters, explained
- The ten Day Masters at a glance
- Strong vs weak: what it actually means
- All ten profiles — from Jiǎ Wood to Guǐ Water
- Browse the full Day Masters archive
Timing 大运
The part people come for: decades, years, and when to move.
- Luck pillars: why Ba Zi reads life in decades
- 2026, the Bǐng Wǔ Fire Horse year
- Browse the full Luck Cycles archive
When you want it read for you
A reading is one hour on your chart: the shape of it, the current luck pillar, and the twelve months ahead — with a written summary you keep.