Self & Stars

Guides

What Is BaZi? The Four Pillars of Destiny

BaZi, or the Four Pillars of Destiny, is one of the most respected systems in Chinese astrology. It turns your birth moment into eight characters that describe your nature and fortune.

Why 'eight characters'

BaZi means 'eight characters.' Your birth year, month, day and hour each become a pillar of two characters — a Heavenly Stem and an Earthly Branch — for eight in total.

The Day Master

The stem of your day pillar is the Day Master — it represents you. The rest of the chart is read in relation to it.

The five elements in BaZi

Each of the eight characters maps to an element. Their balance — which elements are strong, weak or missing — is central to a BaZi reading.

Calculate your chart

Enter your birth date and time in our BaZi calculator to see your four pillars and element balance.

Try it yourself

Calculate your BaZi