What is BaZi? A practical map of the Four Pillars
Learn what a BaZi chart records, how the Four Pillars are formed, and how to read the system as a transparent cultural framework rather than a fixed verdict.
7 min readLearning library · 12 field guides
Learn the chart from evidence outward.
Start with calculation mechanics, then move into chart relationships. Every guide names its method, sources, limits, and related next step.
Foundations
2 guidesHow to use a BaZi calculator without hiding uncertainty
A step-by-step guide to entering birth date, time, birthplace, and method settings in a BaZi calculator while handling unknown time and boundary warnings honestly.
8 min readTime rules
4 guidesWhy BaZi calculators give different results
See the concrete reasons two BaZi calculators can produce different pillars, from historical time zones and solar terms to True Solar Time and Zi-hour conventions.
9 min readTrue Solar Time in BaZi: what the correction changes
Understand the longitude and equation-of-time corrections behind True Solar Time, when they can change a BaZi pillar, and how MingWeave reports the calculation.
8 min readLi Chun and the BaZi year boundary
Learn why MingWeave changes the BaZi Year Pillar at the exact Li Chun solar-term instant and why January 1 or Lunar New Year can give another result.
7 min readZi hour and the BaZi day boundary
Compare midnight and 23:00 Zi-hour day-boundary conventions, see how they affect Day and Hour Pillars, and learn how MingWeave makes the choice visible.
7 min readChart reading
4 guidesHow to find your Day Master in a BaZi chart
Locate the Day Master as the Heavenly Stem of the Day Pillar, understand why time conversion matters, and use it as a relational reference rather than a label.
6 min readThe Ten Gods in BaZi as a relationship system
Learn how the Ten Gods are derived from Five Element production and control relationships plus yin-yang polarity, with a transparent lookup model.
8 min readHidden Stems in BaZi: what branches contain
Understand how each Earthly Branch maps to one or more ordered Hidden Stems, why P0 does not invent percentage weights, and how Ten Gods labels are derived from them.
7 min readFive Elements in a BaZi chart: counting with context
Learn how Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water are derived from visible and Hidden Stems, why raw counts are limited, and how to read the distribution carefully.
7 min readLuck Pillars
2 guidesHow Luck Pillars are calculated in BaZi
Follow the deterministic steps from Month Pillar through direction, sexagenary sequence, and ten-year spans, with explicit handling of unknown category and conventions.
8 min readHow Da Yun starting age is calculated
See how a birth instant, Luck Pillar direction, adjacent solar term, and the three-days-per-year convention produce a Da Yun starting age and date.
8 min readPut the rules beside a real chart
Open the BaZi calculator