A shen month bazi birth places you in the Monkey month (申 Shēn), the seventh month of the Ba Zi (八字 bāzì) year and the start of autumn. In Ba Zi the month pillar (月柱 yuèzhù) is the season pillar, and it is the single strongest factor in whether your Day Master (日主 rìzhǔ) reads strong or weak. The Monkey month is where Metal takes over the year and the heat finally breaks.
The Monkey month opens at the solar term Li Qiu (立秋 Lìqiū), around 7 August, not on any calendar date. Ba Zi months turn on solar terms (节气 jiéqì), so an early-August birth may still belong to the Goat month. If your birth sits near the edge, confirm the exact solar-term moment with the free chart calculator before counting the pillar by hand.
Your shen month bazi pillar by year stem
The month stem follows from your year stem by the Five Tigers rule (五虎遁 wǔhǔ dùn). Read your year stem on the left and take the Monkey-month pillar.
| Year stem | Monkey month pillar |
|---|---|
| 甲 Jiǎ | 壬申 Rén Shēn |
| 乙 Yǐ | 甲申 Jiǎ Shēn |
| 丙 Bǐng | 丙申 Bǐng Shēn |
| 丁 Dīng | 戊申 Wù Shēn |
| 戊 Wù | 庚申 Gēng Shēn |
| 己 Jǐ | 壬申 Rén Shēn |
| 庚 Gēng | 甲申 Jiǎ Shēn |
| 辛 Xīn | 丙申 Bǐng Shēn |
| 壬 Rén | 戊申 Wù Shēn |
| 癸 Guǐ | 庚申 Gēng Shēn |
Under the rule, year stems pair — 甲/己, 乙/庚, 丙/辛, 丁/壬, 戊/癸 share columns — which is why only five distinct Monkey pillars exist. The mechanics behind the table run: first-month (寅) stem index = (year-stem-index mod 5) × 2 + 2; each later month adds 1, mod 10 — six steps on by the seventh month. See the complete month stem table for all five columns at once.
What the Monkey month does to a chart
Shen is the first month of autumn, so Metal is prosperous and rising. Like the Snake in early summer, the Monkey is layered: alongside its strong Metal it holds the birth of Water, the spring that autumn Metal begins to feed. This shapes each Day Master. A Metal Day Master born here is strong and clean-edged. A Water Day Master is not out of season at all, because it has a hidden source here and is fed by the Metal, so it reads surprisingly well. A Wood Day Master is now controlled by prosperous Metal and reads weak. Earth is drained as it produces the Metal, and Fire, past its season, is fading and no longer dominant.
The classic mistake with a Monkey month is to treat a Water Day Master as weak simply because it is not yet winter; in practice the hidden source here often makes it far more capable than the season implies. If your Day Master is Geng or Xin Metal, read this alongside Geng Metal born in autumn. For any other stem, the month is only the opening temperature; the final judgement of strong versus weak Day Master still depends on all four pillars together.
The five states as autumn opens (旺相休囚死)
Each element takes a graded state (旺相休囚死 wàng xiàng xiū qiú sǐ) from the ruling season. The Monkey opens the Metal season: Autumn = Metal season, branches 申酉戌, Aug 7 – Nov 6 (from Li Qiu 立秋 to before Li Dong 立冬).
| Element | State | Reading in a Monkey month |
|---|---|---|
| Metal | 旺 wàng — Prosperous | The season is your own element: maximum native strength; the chart usually needs outlets, not more support |
| Water | 相 xiàng — Supported | The season feeds your element: strong by backing; comfortable, resourced, sometimes over-sheltered |
| Earth | 休 xiū — Resting | Your element feeds the season: energy flows out; mild drain, the retired-general state |
| Fire | 囚 qiú — Confined | Your element controls the season: fighting uphill against the times; effortful, gritty |
| Wood | 死 sǐ — Dormant | The season controls your element: weakest baseline; support and timing matter more than effort |
Water’s Supported grade here is doubled by the branch itself, which carries Water’s birth — season and branch agree, which is why Monkey-month Water reads so well. Wood’s Dormant grade is the one to take seriously: prosperous Metal in its own season cuts hard.
What sits inside the branch
The Monkey branch hides Geng Metal as its main charge, with Ren Water at its point of birth and a trace of Wu Earth. The verbatim listing, first stem = main qi (本气 běnqì): Shēn 申 (Monkey): Gēng 庚 (Yang Metal), Rén 壬 (Yang Water), Wù 戊 (Yang Earth). That hidden Water is what makes Shen matter to Water Day Masters. See the Shen branch hidden stems for how the three are weighted.
The month palace
As the palace of career climate and of parents, a Monkey-month pillar often points to a sharp, capable, quick-witted early environment: resourceful and adaptable, with things turning practical fast. Read it as the season your working life started in, not a settled verdict. It opens the Metal season that the Rooster month will bring to its purest peak, and it stands opposite the early-spring Tiger month across the year.
Confirming the pillar in your chart
Any birth between Li Qiu (~7 August) and Bai Lu (白露 Báilù, ~7 September) takes 申 as its month branch. Then read the stem from your year stem: a 癸 year must show 庚申, checkable against the full Gui-year month stem table. Watch the two standard traps — early-August births that have not yet crossed Li Qiu still belong to the Goat month, and the year stem is fixed at Li Chun in February, never at New Year.
Monkey month FAQ
What clashes with the Monkey month?
The Six Clashes (六冲 liùchōng) list pairs 寅↔申, so a Tiger branch elsewhere in the chart strikes the month palace. Practitioners read that as movement or disruption around career and the early home, weighed against everything else in the chart.
Is a Fire Day Master finished in a Monkey month?
No — Confined means uphill, not out. Fire controlling Metal in Metal’s season is effortful, but Wood resource and companion Fire elsewhere can carry the chart to a strong verdict. The season grade is the opening bid.
Why does my calculator show a different month stem?
Almost always a year-stem error: births before Li Chun belong to the previous Ba Zi year and therefore a different column, and boundary births near Li Qiu may not be in the Monkey month at all. Re-run the chart with the exact birth time.
To see how your shen month bazi pillar tilts your own Day Master strength, plot your full chart free with the Butcher Boy calculator.