Glossary

The eight characters of your birth — a Heavenly Stem and an Earthly Branch for each of the Year, Month, Day and Hour pillars. Together they map the energy of your birth moment.

The ten stems (甲乙丙丁…), each tied to one of the five elements and a yin/yang polarity. They sit on top of each pillar.

The twelve branches (子丑寅…亥), matching the twelve zodiac animals. They sit below each stem and hold one to three "hidden stems" inside.

Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water — five phases that generate and control one another. Every stem and branch belongs to one.

The Heavenly Stem of your Day pillar — "you" in the chart. Every other character is read in relation to it.

One of 24 seasonal markers set by the sun’s position. A BaZi month turns on a solar term — and the year turns at 立春, not New Year’s Day.

Two branches sitting directly opposite each other (180° apart), like 子 and 午. Zi Ping Zhen Quan calls a clash no good thing, but Xu Lewu’s commentary adds that a clash on a favourable element hurts while a clash on an adverse one can make the pattern — what it strikes decides.

Two opposed stems, like 甲 meeting 庚. Later books call this a stem clash, but Xu Lewu’s commentary says opposed stems are a 煞 (the Seven Killings relation), read through the Ten Gods rather than as a separate clash. This app does not list it among the pillar relations.

The three punishments: 子–卯, 寅–巳–申 and 丑–戌–未. Zi Ping Zhen Quan lists punishment among the four relations, though even its author leaves the origin open; as with a clash, whether it hurts depends on what it strikes in the chart.

One of 辰, 午, 酉 or 亥 meeting its own kind (Xu Lewu’s commentary: 辰午酉亥自刑). A kind of punishment, read the same way.

Two branches in a harm relation, like 子 and 未. Zi Ping Zhen Quan’s text does not use it; Xu Lewu’s commentary lists the six harms and calls punishment and harm the lighter relations.

Two branches in a break relation, like 子 and 酉. Neither Zi Ping Zhen Quan nor Xu Lewu’s commentary uses it — it is later practice, and this app does not list it among the pillar relations.

The same branch appearing twice (other than 辰, 午, 酉 and 亥, which are self-punishment). Neither Zi Ping Zhen Quan nor Xu Lewu’s commentary reads it; this app does not list it among the pillar relations.

Two branches combining, like 子 and 丑, with an element the pair can turn into (子–丑 to Earth); see 合化. Zi Ping Zhen Quan says a combination can undo a clash, but it can also bind away a character the chart needs — good or bad by what it binds.

Two of the three branches from a triad, pulling the same direction — helpful, but only about half the strength of the full formation. 申 and 子 (without 辰), for instance.

Three branches completing one formation, like 申子辰 forming Water (Zi Ping Zhen Quan calls this 會). Whether the formation’s element is favourable or adverse to the chart decides whether it helps or weighs.

Three branches sharing one season and direction, like 寅卯辰 all belonging to Spring Wood. Even more concentrated than a triad.

Two stems combining, like 甲 and 己, which can turn into an element (甲–己 to Earth). Zi Ping Zhen Quan: a combination can bind away a favourable or an adverse character, so it is good or bad by which one it takes.

When two combining stems or branches fuse into a different element — 卯 and 戌 combine, and the Fire hidden inside 戌 is drawn out, so the pair transforms into Fire. This is the ideal outcome of a combination, though real transformation needs the right conditions to fully happen (see 合而不化).

Also called 合絆 (bonded, not fully transformed): most combinations don’t actually transform — they just bond, tugging at each other’s strength without becoming a new element. Real transformation usually needs the branches to sit right next to each other, seasonal support, and a rooted target element. Treat the transformed element shown on the chart as a tendency, not an absolute fact.

三會/三合/半合 all outrank 六合. When the same branch is pulled into both, its energy goes to the stronger formation first, and the 六合 "yields" — the bond is still there, but its transformation usually doesn’t happen. Different from 合而不化: yielding means losing out to a stronger formation, not simply lacking the right conditions.

Ten roles describing how another stem relates to your Day Master — set by element (generating / controlling) and polarity. They name the "flavour" of a day or a pillar.

Same element, same polarity — peers, self-reliance, teamwork.

Same element, opposite polarity — rivalry, shared resources, money slipping away.

You generate it, same polarity — creativity, enjoyment, easy output.

You generate it, opposite polarity — sharp expression, talent, breaking the rules.

You control it, same polarity — windfalls, lively money, wide contacts.

You control it, opposite polarity — steady earnings, practical assets.

Controls you, same polarity — pressure, challenge, decisive force.

Controls you, opposite polarity — order, duty, status, rules.

Generates you, same polarity — unconventional learning, introspection, deep study.

Generates you, opposite polarity — support, nourishment, study, protection.

In folk practice, the year’s “Grand Duke” — the year’s branch, its zodiac animal. Folk tables set your birth animal against it (same, clash, punishment, harm, break, combination); the entries below are that folk reading. Neither Zi Ping Zhen Quan nor Xu Lewu’s commentary mentions Tai Sui: the book reads a year’s pillar against the whole chart’s favourable and adverse elements.

Your birth-year branch as an animal (Rat, Ox…). In BaZi it’s set by 立春, so a late-January birth may belong to the previous animal.

Also 值太歲: a year whose animal matches your own — "Tai Sui sits overhead." Unsettled; keep a low profile.

Your animal is opposite the year’s — the biggest swings in work, relationships and health.

Your animal punishes the year’s — disputes and stress are likelier.

Your animal harms the year’s — guard against hidden friction; read the fine print.

Your animal combines with the year’s — a harmonious, well-supported year for collaboration.

Your animal sits in the year’s elemental triad — supportive energy, good for teamwork and expansion.

Your fixed birth chart — the Four Pillars and everything read from them. Unlike the daily view, it never changes.

The one to three Heavenly Stems concealed inside each Earthly Branch — a branch’s inner elements and Ten Gods.

The Ten God of a pillar’s visible stem (vs your Day Master). The Day pillar’s own stem is the 日元 — you.

The Ten God of each hidden stem inside a branch — the inner influences a pillar carries.

Ten-year luck periods that unfold through life — each a stem-branch that flavours the decade, read alongside your natal chart.

Between each decade of 大運, an even finer year-by-year stem-branch pair quietly shapes things too — most noticeable in childhood, before the first decade pillar begins.

The stem-branch of a given year — the "weather" laid over your chart. Its 太歲 reading lives on the Today screen.

The age your first 大運 begins, counted from birth to the nearest solar term. 順行/逆行 = whether the decades run forward or backward.

Auspicious or inauspicious markers (天乙貴人, 桃花, 驛馬…) found by special stem/branch rules — colourful highlights on the chart. See the next section.

The theme of a chart, set by the Ten God held in the month branch — e.g. Direct Resource or Eating God pattern. Zi Ping Zhen Quan reads a chart through its pattern, and so do this app’s reports, its favourable/adverse elements and the daily insights.

The concrete combination a pattern forms with the rest of the chart — e.g. “Resource using the Officer”, “Eating God with Killings”. The same pattern can form different structures, each with its own likes and fears; the report’s favourable and adverse elements are read from it.

The Ten God that sets the pattern — its lead role. Too weak and it needs support; too heavy and it needs an outlet or a check, which is why its own element can be listed as adverse when it is already overweight.

The branch of the month pillar — the season you were born in. It sets the pattern, weighs most in Day Master strength (being “in season”), and the two-year outlook checks whether a year clashes it.

A stem hidden in a branch that also appears among the four pillar stems is “revealed”. A revealed star’s force is visible, and setting the pattern looks first at which of the month branch’s hidden stems is revealed.

How much backing the Day Master (the character that stands for you) gets: whether it is in season, rooted in the branches, and joined by same-kind stems. Zi Ping Zhen Quan reads the pattern first and uses strength only as a condition inside some pattern rules (on the Wealth pattern: “if the body is light, it welcomes peers and resource”), so the report explains it inside the Pattern section instead of giving a separate verdict (the scores are this app’s own). A weak Day Master is not bad luck, and weak does not simply mean “add your own element”: the favourable elements follow the pattern.

Favourable elements help your pattern work — lean into them; adverse ones damage it — keep them light. Following Zi Ping Zhen Quan they come from the pattern, so they may not include your own element. The directions, colours and trades in the report’s practical tips all come from the favourable list.

Choosing favourable elements from Day Master strength alone: support it when weak, restrain it when strong. This app uses it only when a chart has no usable formed structure; normally the pattern decides, so the two can disagree.

A separate view that balances heat, cold, dryness and damp by birth season, from Qiong Tong Bao Jian. The report lists it for reference only; it does not change the favourable or adverse elements.

The most auspicious star — mentors and benefactors who help you and turn trouble aside.

A star of intellect and learning — favourable for study, writing, exams and research.

A bright, curious mind drawn to philosophy and the metaphysical — sees things through and inherits ancestral grace.

The Day Master’s "academy" — a quick, studious mind; favourable for scholarship, teaching and learning.

The Day Master’s "salary" branch — steady livelihood, self-reliance and tangible gain.

The "golden carriage" — comfort, a good marriage, wealth and a smooth ride through life.

The Day Master at peak vigour (yang stems only) — brave and decisive, but prone to impulse when overdone; traditionally a prompt to temper the edge. See the Blade analysis on the chart.

Also 咸池 — charm, popularity and romance; magnetism in love and the arts.

Allure and passion — magnetic in love, but tangled affairs come easily.

Movement — travel, relocation and change; fortune found by going outward.

Aloof talent — art, religion and deep thought; wisdom drawn from solitude.

Leadership and command — authority that others follow; suited to positions of charge.

Sudden loss — theft, drained resources and being pressured by others.

Also 白虎 — traditionally linked with accidents, illness and mishap; a star that counsels care.

Hidden scheming and unease — quiet loss through one’s own calculations and worries.

A star of romance and weddings — favourable for love and marriage.

Celebrations and good news — births, joyful events and an optimistic spirit.

Isolation — a certain distance from family and spouse (felt more by men).

Aloneness — a leaning toward solitude in the heart (felt more by women).

Quiet grace — kindness and unseen protection that dissolves misfortune.

Heaven’s blessing — protection and support that brings help in adversity.

The stem that combines with Moon Virtue — deepening its protective, benevolent grace.

The stem that combines with Heavenly Virtue — reinforcing its blessing and protection.

An auspicious god among 太歲’s twelve (taken from the year branch) — misfortune turned aside, lasting blessing and noble help.

An auspicious god among 太歲’s twelve (taken from the year branch) — blessing, prosperity and ease that dissolves misfortune.

An inauspicious god among 太歲’s twelve (taken from the year branch) — mourning, bereavement and grief.

The Shattering star (taken from the year branch) — petty losses and breakages, things left half-finished.

Per 三命通會, from the year stem — its Eating-God as a full pillar (陽 on 寅/子, 陰 on 亥/丑; e.g. 甲 year → 丙寅/丙子). Peace, blessing and plenty.

A sign of groundless worry and quiet drain — also called 大耗, calculated from the year branch’s polarity and your gender (+7 or +5 branches along the cycle).

Traditionally a sign of sudden conflict and change — the branch directly opposite the Blade (taken from the day stem); fiercer still if the Blade itself is also present.

A sign of holding things inward rather than showing them — the Day Master’s "tomb" stage in its twelve-phase life cycle. If the Day Master is strong enough, this becomes a vault of stored wealth instead.

Marks a branch whose power is hollowed out: worked out from the Day pillar, everyone has two branches that fall 'void'; wherever they land in the chart, that pillar turns weak and unanchored. Oddly, a malefic star landing in the Void softens, while a benefic one there loses some of its shine.

A benefic taken from the month branch — health and a healer’s affinity; sickness finds relief.

The Day Master’s Eating-God emolument — abundant food, comfort and a steady provision.

A sign of rare brilliance and talent — the three "marvel" stems appearing in order across adjacent pillars (甲戊庚 / 乙丙丁 / 壬癸辛), marking uncommon learning and gift.

A sign of sharp, decisive intelligence with a forceful temperament — four especially strong day pillars (庚辰·庚戌·壬辰·戊戌); commanding, but a clash can turn the fortune sour.

A sign of extra bumps on the road to marriage — specific day/hour pillars linked to friction with a spouse or in-laws.

Ten "numinous" day/hour pillars — cleverness, intuition and quick, gifted minds.

Six "refined" day pillars — bright, talented and good-looking, if a touch self-regarding.

Certain yang-stem day pillars — a generous, kindly nature that softens hardship.

A sign that effort can come to nothing and gains slip away — specific day pillars whose "salary" branch falls into the Void, prone to reversal.

A sign of low vigour and follow-through that fizzles out — a day pillar whose element is at its weakest point in the current season.

A sign that plans can shift course midway — specific day pillars that reverse against the season’s peak energy (春乙卯·夏丙午·秋辛酉·冬壬子).

The earthly counterpart of Heaven Reversal — unsteady footing and a higher chance of upheaval or loss, from another seasonal day-pillar set (春辛卯·夏戊午·秋癸酉·冬丙子).