Data Saju › Learn saju

How to Read a BaZi Chart Step by Step, With a Worked Example

By Data Saju · Published October 21, 2026

To read a BaZi (Four Pillars) chart, work through seven steps in order: build the four pillars, find the Day Master, label the other characters with Ten Gods, judge strength, name the structure, pick the useful element, then add the luck pillars. We trace all seven on one real chart, October 3, 1990 at noon: a strong Xin Metal Day Master (score 61 out of 100) with a Prosperity structure and Fire as the useful element. A box below runs the same seven steps for your own date. It is meant as fun and a light reference, not a verdict.

What are the seven steps for reading a BaZi chart?

Most confusion comes from reading in the wrong order. Everything after step 2 is measured against your Day Master, so the order matters. Here is the path, with the worked example's answer for each step.

Step 1: How do I find my four pillars?

Each pillar is one Heavenly Stem and one Earthly Branch, so a chart has eight characters. The year and month do not change on January 1 or on the 1st of the month. They turn at solar terms, the year at Lichun (Start of Spring) and each month at a term such as White Dew. The day comes from a continuous 60-day cycle, and the hour is one of twelve two-hour periods.

Two details decide this chart. The month pillar starts at White Dew, which fell on September 7, 5:37 PM US Eastern (September 8 at 6:37 AM in Korea), so October 3 is safely inside the 乙酉 month. And the birth time was entered as clock time in Seoul, which this site shifts by longitude to local solar time: −32 minutes, giving 11:27, still in the Horse hour. If your hour sits near a boundary, a few minutes can change the hour pillar. See daylight saving time and your BaZi hour.

Step 2: What is a Day Master?

The Day Master is the stem of the day pillar. Here it is Xin 辛, Yin Metal. In traditional images, Yin Metal is the jewel: fine, precise and easily dulled by rough handling. Every other character is read in relation to this one. If you only know your birth-year element, see What element am I?, and the full profile of each stem is in the Ten Heavenly Stems.

Step 3: What do the Ten Gods tell me?

The Ten Gods name what each of the other seven characters is to you: a peer, a source of income, a boss, a teacher. For a branch we use the god of its main hidden stem. This is the relationship table for the example chart (the full meaning of each is in the Ten Gods guide).

The pattern reads quickly once you group them. Two of the three other stems are Wealth gods (Indirect Wealth and Direct Wealth), one is a Peer (Rob Wealth), the Horse branches carry Seven Killings twice, and Output (Eating God and Hurting Officer) is nearly missing at 3%. Counting the eight characters by element gives Wood 2, Fire 2, Earth 1, Metal 3, Water 0, so Water is absent.

Step 4: Is my Day Master strong or weak?

Strength asks whether the Day Master has enough support (its own element and the element that feeds it) compared with what drains it. It is judged from three things: the season (does the month branch support it), the roots (does it sit on friendly branches) and the share of supporting elements overall. This chart scores 61 out of 100, where 50 is the middle, so it counts as strong. It was born in the Rooster month, the season of Metal, and it has roots in the branches. By group, the ten-god balance is Peers 47%, Output 3%, Wealth 21%, Officer 15%, Resource 14%. Peers alone are nearly half the chart. See Chart Strength for the seven levels.

Step 5: What is my chart structure?

The structure comes from the month branch, the part of the chart that stands for your working life. Here the month branch is 酉, whose main hidden stem is your own element, so the chart is a Prosperity structure (the Friend sits in the month branch). In plain terms, this chart does best when it builds its own path. Chart Structure lists all ten structures and the work that suits them.

Step 6: What is my useful element?

The useful element is the one that brings a chart into balance. Because this Day Master is strong and Peers are heavy, the engine uses the balancing method: bring in an element that controls the heavy Peers. It chooses Fire, which controls Metal. Then it ranks the other four elements.

A weak chart would be read the other way around: support first, restraint later. That is why steps 4 and 6 belong together. More in The Useful Element.

Step 7: What are my luck pillars?

Luck pillars are ten-year chapters. For this chart they run backward from the month pillar and the first one begins at age 7 (counted in Western years). Each pillar is judged by its Ten God against the Day Master.

For example, the pillar from age 37 (辛巳) brings a Friend stem: a decade of peers and self-reliance for this Day Master. Annual and monthly luck sit on top of the pillar; see Luck Pillars.

Read your own chart in seconds

Enter a birth date to get the same seven steps in one list. The birth time is optional; without it, the hour pillar is left out.

Everything is calculated in your browser and nothing is sent anywhere. Use the clock time in the place you were born; this site shifts it to local solar time using Seoul's longitude, so for births elsewhere, treat the hour pillar as approximate. To get a full reading with the right location, use the reading page.

What mistakes do beginners make when reading a chart?

• Reading the year first. Your zodiac animal is the year pillar only. The Day Master and the month branch carry far more weight.
• Using the calendar year or month. A birthday in early February or early in a month can belong to the previous pillar. Always check the solar term.
• Calling every missing element bad. Here Water is absent, yet the engine picks Fire as the useful element for this strong chart. A missing element only matters if the chart needs it.
• Treating strong as "good" and weak as "bad". They are just starting points; each needs a different balance.
• Skipping the order. Structure and useful element make sense only after the Day Master and strength.

Frequently asked questions

How do I read my BaZi chart as a beginner? Follow seven steps in order: four pillars, Day Master, Ten Gods, strength, structure, useful element and luck pillars. The worked example above shows each step with real values.

What is the most important part of a BaZi chart? The Day Master, the stem of the day pillar, since every other character is read relative to it. The month branch comes next because it sets the season and the structure.

Do I need my birth time? It helps, but it is not required. Without it, the chart has six characters instead of eight, so the hour pillar and the hour-based details are left out.

Why is my chart different on another website? Calculators differ in how they treat solar terms, local solar time, daylight saving time and the Rat hour. Check which rules each one uses.

What does it mean if an element is missing? It means that element does not appear among the eight characters. For this example, Water is absent, but luck pillars and years can bring it in. Whether it matters depends on the useful element.

The example chart (October 3, 1990, 12:00 PM, female, Seoul) and the checker use this site's almanac engine. Values may differ slightly from other calculators.

Read next