The eight characters: elements, stems and branches
Every BaZi chart is built from one small kit. It has five elements, ten stems and twelve branches.
This page lays them out once, so the rest of Learn reads easily. It also explains the idea most pages use without stopping: a branch keeps other characters hidden inside it.
Five elements, and two ways they act
The five elements are wood (木, mù), fire (火, huǒ), earth (土, tǔ), metal (金, jīn) and water (水, shuǐ). They are not substances. They are five kinds of energy, and a chart is read by how they act on each other.
They act in two ways. One element can feed another, called 生 (shēng). One element can check another, called 克 (kè). Each element feeds one and checks one.
feeds (生) wood → fire → earth → metal → water → wood checks (克) wood → earth → water → fire → metal → wood
Seen from any one element, there are only five possible relations. Another element can be the same as it, feed it, be fed by it, check it, or be checked by it. Those five relations are where the Ten Gods come from.
Yin and yang
Each element comes in two forms: yang (阳, yáng) and yin (阴, yīn). Yang is the outgoing form, like a tall tree. Yin is the inward form, like a vine. Neither is better.
Polarity matters in two places on these pages. It decides whether two characters share a form, which splits each relation in two. It also decides which way your ten-year stretches run, forward or backward.
The ten stems
The stems (天干, tiān gān) are the top character of each pair. There are ten: each element in its yang form, then its yin form.
甲 jiǎ wood yang 乙 yǐ wood yin 丙 bǐng fire yang 丁 dīng fire yin 戊 wù earth yang 己 jǐ earth yin 庚 gēng metal yang 辛 xīn metal yin 壬 rén water yang 癸 guǐ water yin
The twelve branches
The branches (地支, dì zhī) are the bottom character of each pair. There are twelve, and each carries an animal. As months, they also carry the seasons: three branches to each.
branch animal month from hidden stems 寅 yín Tiger early February 甲 丙 戊 spring 卯 mǎo Rabbit early March 乙 辰 chén Dragon early April 戊 乙 癸 巳 sì Snake early May 丙 庚 戊 summer 午 wǔ Horse early June 丁 己 未 wèi Goat early July 己 丁 乙 申 shēn Monkey early August 庚 壬 戊 autumn 酉 yǒu Rooster early September 辛 戌 xū Dog early October 戊 辛 丁 亥 hài Pig early November 壬 甲 winter 子 zǐ Rat early December 癸 丑 chǒu Ox early January 己 癸 辛
The year starts at 寅, the Tiger, at 立春 (lì chūn), the start of spring. That is why your Chinese year starts in early February, not at New Year.
What a branch hides
A branch is not one thing. It holds one to three stems inside it, called hidden stems (藏干, cáng gān). They count in the chart even though they do not show on top.
The first hidden stem is the main qi (本气, běn qì). It counts most. 午, the Horse, holds 丁 fire first and 己 earth second, so it is a fire branch with some earth in it.
Two more words follow from this. A stem has a root (根, gēn) when its element is hidden in a branch of the chart. A hidden stem shows (透, tòu) when the same stem also stands on top of a pillar. A rooted stem is stronger. A stem that shows is easier to see at work.
The chart the other pages use, decoded
Here is one real chart, read with everything above.
year month day hour
stem 庚 metal 壬 water 辛 metal 乙 wood
yang yang yin yin
branch 午 Horse 午 Horse 亥 Pig 未 Goat
hidden 丁 fire 丁 fire 壬 water 己 earth
己 earth 己 earth 甲 wood 丁 fire
乙 woodFrom here, the path goes to the one character that stands for you, your Day Master, and then to how much support it has: strong or weak.
What this page is not saying
Not that an element is a personality. Being “a metal person” is not a reading. A chart is read as a whole.
Not a claim about physics. The cycles are a classical model of how the elements relate, not chemistry.
Not that more of an element is better. What matters is what the chart needs, which the later pages work out.
Common questions
- What are the heavenly stems and earthly branches?
- Two sets of characters the Chinese calendar counts with. There are ten stems (天干, tiān gān) and twelve branches (地支, dì zhī). Every year, month, day and two-hour block is named by one stem and one branch. Your chart is four of those pairs: eight characters.
- Which element am I?
- The short answer is the element of your Day Master, the stem of your day pillar. The fuller answer is that a chart is read as a whole. All eight characters, and the stems hidden in the branches, decide how that element fares.
- Why does metal feed water?
- It is a classical image, not chemistry. Cold metal gathers water on its surface, and the old texts use that picture. The two cycles are a model of how the elements relate. They are not a claim about physics.
- What is a hidden stem?
- A branch holds one to three stems inside it. They count in the chart even though they do not show on top. The first one, the main qi (本气, běn qì), counts most.
Next in the reading order
Your Day Master — and why it is not your personality type →