GLOSSARY
Bazi Glossary
Plain-English definitions of the main Bazi (Four Pillars of Destiny) and I Ching terms, written by Master Mandy Lim.
Bazi terms in plain English
- Bazi (八字)
- A Chinese system that reads the year, month, day and hour of birth as four pillars of two characters each. Also called Four Pillars of Destiny. Ba means eight and zi means character.
- Four Pillars
- The Year, Month, Day and Hour pillars of a Bazi chart. Each pillar has a Heavenly Stem and an Earthly Branch.
- Heavenly Stems (天干)
- Ten characters (Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, Wu, Ji, Geng, Xin, Ren, Gui) that represent the five elements in yang and yin forms. They form the top character of each pillar.
- Earthly Branches (地支)
- Twelve characters linked to the zodiac animals (Zi/Rat to Hai/Pig). They form the bottom character of each pillar and also mark months and two-hour periods.
- Day Master (日主)
- The Heavenly Stem of the Day Pillar. It represents the person and is the reference point for reading the rest of the chart.
- Five Elements (五行)
- Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water. They are used to describe the quality of each stem and branch and how they support or restrain each other.
- Yin and Yang (阴阳)
- Two polarities. Each element has a yang and a yin stem, for example Jia is yang Wood and Yi is yin Wood.
- Ten Gods (十神)
- Ten relationship labels that describe how each stem relates to the Day Master: Friend, Rob Wealth, Eating God, Hurting Officer, Indirect Wealth, Direct Wealth, Seven Killings, Direct Officer, Indirect Resource and Direct Resource.
- Luck Pillar (大运)
- A ten-year cycle in life derived from the month pillar. Luck Pillars run forward or backward depending on gender and the polarity of the birth-year stem.
- Annual Pillar (流年)
- The stem and branch of a given calendar year, for example Ding-Wei for 2027. Readers compare it with the natal chart and the current Luck Pillar.
- Useful God (用神)
- The element or elements a reader judges will best balance the chart. Schools differ in how they choose it.
- Lichun (立春)
- The solar term at the start of spring, around 3 to 5 February. The Bazi year changes at Lichun, not at Chinese New Year.
- Solar term (节气)
- One of 24 points in the sun's yearly path. Bazi months begin at the twelve major terms, called jie.
- Sexagenary cycle (六十甲子)
- The 60-step cycle formed by pairing the ten stems with the twelve branches. It is used for years, months, days and hours.
- Zi hour (子时)
- The two-hour period from 23:00 to 01:00. Schools differ on whether births from 23:00 to 24:00 count toward the next day.
- Clash (冲)
- A traditional opposition between two branches six places apart, for example Ox and Goat.
- Combination (合)
- A traditional pairing of branches or stems, such as the Six Harmony (for example Horse and Goat) or Three Harmony groups.
- Punishment (刑)
- A traditional tension pattern between certain branches, such as Ox, Dog and Goat.
- Spouse Palace (夫妻宫)
- The Day Branch, traditionally associated with close partnership.
- True solar time
- Local time adjusted for longitude. Some readers adjust the birth time to true solar time for precision.
- Rectification
- The practice of estimating a missing or uncertain birth time by checking known life events against possible charts.
- I Ching (易经)
- The Book of Changes, a Chinese classic of 64 hexagrams used for divination and reflection.
- Hexagram (卦)
- A figure of six lines, each broken (yin) or solid (yang). The I Ching has 64.
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