Open the Scroll
MoZhu Wiki
BaZi fundamentals in plain English — all original. From Heavenly Stems & Earthly Branches to Useful God (Yong Shen) selection, read in the recommended order and the skeleton of BaZi will stand.
101 entries in recommended reading order
The Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches: The Alphabet of BaZi
The ten Heavenly Stems and twelve Earthly Branches are the alphabet of BaZi: paired one-to-one, they form the sixty pairs of the sexagenary cycle, and a BaZi chart is simply four such Stem-Branch pairs.
Read entry
The Generating and Controlling Cycles: How the Five Elements Talk to Each Other
Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water are five basic qualities of energy, relating through "generating" (nourish and support) and "controlling" (restrain and shape) cycles — and all of BaZi is the art of reading how these two relationships play out.
Read entry
The Ten Gods: Ten Roles in Your Chart
Take the Day Master (the Day Pillar's stem — "me") as the center, ask how each of the chart's other seven characters relates to "me," and sort them into ten roles: the Ten Gods.
Read entry
Casting the Four Pillars: How a BaZi Chart Is Built
Converting a birth time into four Stem-Branch pairs — Year, Month, Day, and Hour Pillars — is called "casting the chart." BaZi is the *result* of the casting, not a computed destiny.
Read entry
Hidden Stems: The Inner Rooms of the Earthly Branches
Every Earthly Branch "hides" one to three Heavenly Stems inside it — the Hidden Stems. Never judge a branch by its surface element alone; there are residents in the inner rooms.
Read entry
Symbolic Stars: Traditional Symbols on a Chart
Symbolic Stars are traditional "badges" the ancients attached to particular Stem-Branch combinations — each one suggesting an image. They are decorations on the chart, not verdicts: MoZhu treats them as auxiliary reference, never the main basis of interpretation.
Read entry
Yearly Fortune: A New Exam Paper Every Year
The Annual Pillar is simply the year's Stem-Branch (2026 is a Bing Wu year); each year a new "year star" takes its shift, and reading the year means reading how it interacts with your natal chart and Luck Pillars.
Read entry
The Twelve Stages: Twelve States of Energy
The Twelve Stages describe a Heavenly Stem's "energy state" when it lands on each of the twelve Earthly Branches — like a human life: birth, growth, peak, decline, and return to the hidden.
Read entry
Void Branches (Kong Wang)
Ten Heavenly Stems pair with twelve Earthly Branches, so every ten-day cycle (*xun*) leaves two branches unpicked — those two absent branches are the Void Branches. Also called Xun Kong (Empty of the Cycle) or Tian Zhong (Heaven's Middle); collectively the Six Jia Void. A Void Branch is a *temporarily vacant seat*, not "nothing there."
Read entry
Branch Interactions: Combinations, Clashes, Punishments, and Harms
Earthly Branches "combine" (band together), "clash" (collide head-on), and also "punish" and "harm" each other — the basic grammar for reading how chart, Luck Pillars, and years interact.
Read entry
Luck Pillars: Ten-Year Chapters of Life
Luck Pillars are ten-year Stem-Branch chapters of life: the natal chart is the "foundation," the Luck Pillar is the "climate." The direction — forward or backward — depends on the year stem's polarity and your gender: yang-year males and yin-year females go forward; yin-year males and yang-year females go backward.
Read entry
Chart Pattern: The Skeleton of a Chart
Chart Pattern is the method for reading a chart's "skeleton": look at what Ten God the Month branch reveals, then give the chart its "surname" — surnamed Officer, Wealth, or Seal.
Read entry
Seasonal Regulation: The Chart's Air Conditioner
Seasonal Regulation reads a chart's "temperature and humidity": too cold, warm it with Fire; too hot, cool it with Water — like fitting the chart with an air conditioner, aiming for comfort.
Read entry
The Useful God: Finding the Chart's Prescription
The Useful God (Yong Shen) is the element (or Ten God) that helps a chart most; finding it is writing the chart's "prescription."
Read entry
What Is White Wax Metal (Bai La Jin)?
The NaYin of the Geng Chen and Xin Si stem-branches: gold still in the ore — pure in substance, its edge not yet showing.
Read entry
Friend Star (Bi Jian): What It Means
One of the Ten Gods: same element as the Day Master, same polarity — e.g., a Jia Day Master meeting Jia.
Read entry
Sickness (Bing) — The Seventh of the Twelve Stages
The seventh of the Twelve Stages: the Five Elements' qi weakened and sluggish — Jia Wood's Sickness falls on Si.
Read entry
Birth (Chang Sheng) — The First of the Twelve Stages
The first of the Twelve Stages: the Five Elements' qi just born, like a newborn child or a sprouting plant.
Read entry
What Is City Wall Earth (Cheng Tou Tu)?
The NaYin of the Wu Yin and Ji Mao stem-branches: earth of the city walls — tall, solid, immovable.
Read entry
What Is Great Forest Wood (Da Lin Mu)?
The NaYin of the Wu Chen and Ji Si stem-branches: branches shaking in the wind, boughs holding up the moon — the image of a great forest.
Read entry
Peak (Di Wang) — The Fifth of the Twelve Stages
The fifth of the Twelve Stages: the Five Elements' qi at its fullest — yang stems move forward, yin stems move backward.
Read entry
Du Men, the Closed Door
One of the Eight Doors of Qi Men Dun Jia, seated in the Xun palace, element Wood.
Read entry
The Twenty-Eight Lunar Mansions (Er Shi Ba Xiu)
Twenty-eight groupings of fixed stars along the ecliptic, rotating in turn with the Seven Luminaries.
Read entry
Fu Shen, the Hidden Line
When the Useful Line is absent from a hexagram, a line of the same element lies hidden beneath another line — that hidden line is Fu Shen.
Read entry
Coming of Age (Guan Dai) — The Third of the Twelve Stages
The third of the Twelve Stages: like a young man receiving his cap and sash — maturing, and beginning to accept restraint.
Read entry
What Is the Widow Star (Gua Su)?
A Symbolic Star read from the year branch: Rat, Ox, and Pig years look for the Dog (Xu); Tiger, Rabbit, and Dragon years look for the Ox (Chou); Snake, Horse, and Goat years look for the Dragon (Chen); Monkey, Rooster, and Dog years look for the Goat (Wei). It is usually named together with the Lone Star.
Read entry
What Is the Lone Star (Gu Chen)?
A Symbolic Star read from the year branch: Rat, Ox, and Pig years look for the Tiger (Yin); Tiger, Rabbit, and Dragon years look for the Snake (Si); Snake, Horse, and Goat years look for the Monkey (Shen); Monkey, Rooster, and Dog years look for the Pig (Hai). It is usually named together with the Widow Star.
Read entry
What Is Sea Metal (Hai Zhong Jin)?
The NaYin of the Jia Zi and Yi Chou stem-branches: gold sunken in the sea — a treasure with a name but no visible form.
Read entry
Red Matchmaker (Hong Luan)
Looked up from the Year Branch, counting backward through the branches starting at Mao; it is usually discussed together with Tian Xi (Heavenly Joy).
Read entry
What Is the Canopy Star?
The "grave storehouse" position of each Three Harmony combination — a branch that sits over the chart like an imperial canopy.
Read entry
What Is Sword-Edge Metal (Jian Feng Jin)?
The NaYin of the Ren Shen and Gui You stem-branches: the White Emperor holding sway, hardness forged through a hundred refinings — the image of a sword's edge.
Read entry
What Is Ravine Water (Jian Xia Shui)?
The NaYin of the Bing Zi and Ding Chou stem-branches: fine ripples ringed by mountains, breaking and parting as they strike the stones — the image of a mountain stream.
Read entry
Rob Wealth (Jie Cai): What It Means
One of the Ten Gods: same element as the Day Master, different polarity — e.g., a Jia Day Master meeting Yi.
Read entry
What Is the Calamity Star (Jie Sha)?
The "Extinction" position of each Three Harmony combination: Water looks for Snake (Si), Fire looks for Pig (Hai), Metal looks for Tiger (Yin), Wood looks for Monkey (Shen) — using the year or day branch to set the combination.
Read entry
Jǐng Men, the Splendor Door
One of the Eight Doors of Qi Men Dun Jia, seated in the Li palace, element Fire.
Read entry
Jīng Men, the Alarm Door
One of the Eight Doors of Qi Men Dun Jia — its imagery is shock, sound, and speech.
Read entry
Ji Shen, the Unfavorable God
The line that controls the Useful Line — the restraining force inside the hexagram's network of generation and control.
Read entry
Extinction (Jue) — The Tenth of the Twelve Stages
The tenth of the Twelve Stages: the previous movement of qi gathered up and cut off — Jia Wood's Extinction falls on Shen.
Read entry
Ju Men, the Shadowed Gate Star
The second star of the Northern Dipper, element Water–Metal, whose transformed breath is Darkness.
Read entry
Kai Men, the Open Door
One of the Eight Doors of Qi Men Dun Jia, seated in the Qian palace, element Metal.
Read entry
Lian Zhen, the Authority Star
The fifth star of the Northern Dipper, element Yin Fire, whose transformed breath is Confinement.
Read entry
Arrival (Lin Guan) — The Fourth of the Twelve Stages
The fourth of the Twelve Stages, also called "Establishing the Salary": the Day Stem arrives at its salary position — Jia Wood's Arrival falls on Yin.
Read entry
Liu Qin, the Six Relations
Five categories of lines — Parents, Siblings, Wealth, Officials, Children — assigned by how each line's element relates to the palace element.
Read entry
Useful God (Yong Shen)
The single line in a hexagram that stands for the matter being asked — fix the Useful God before reading anything else.
Read entry
What Is Roadside Earth (Lu Pang Tu)?
The NaYin of the Geng Wu and Xin Wei stem-branches: the broad earth that bears all things — soil along the roadside.
Read entry
What Is the Salary Star?
Read from the Day Master against the chart's branches — Jia finds Yin, Yi finds Mao, Bing and Wu find Si, Ding and Ji find Wu, Geng finds Shen, Xin finds You, Ren finds Hai, Gui finds Zi; "Lu" is the image of an official's salary, one's livelihood.
Read entry
What Is Furnace Fire (Lu Zhong Huo)?
The NaYin of the Bing Yin and Ding Mao stem-branches: heaven and earth as the furnace — the fire that smelts the myriad things.
Read entry
Grave (Mu) — The Ninth of the Twelve Stages
The ninth of the Twelve Stages, also called "Storehouse": where the Five Elements return to storage — Jia Wood's Grave falls on Wei.
Read entry
Bath (Mu Yu) — The Second of the Twelve Stages
The second of the Twelve Stages: the Five Elements' qi freshly born and now bathed — classically also called "Defeat."
Read entry
What Is NaYin?
An alternate system of Five-Elements assignments for the sixty stem-branches: thirty evocative group names.
Read entry
Peng Zu's Hundred Taboos (Peng Zu Bai Ji)
Twenty-two folk cautionary verses, arranged by the day's stem and branch.
Read entry
Indirect Wealth (Pian Cai)
One of the Ten Gods: the element the Day Master controls that shares its Yin/Yang polarity — for a Jia Day Master, seeing Wu.
Read entry
Indirect Seal (Pian Yin)
One of the Ten Gods: the element that nourishes the Day Master with the same Yin/Yang polarity — also called Xiao Shen, the Owl Spirit; for a Jia Day Master, seeing Ren.
Read entry
Po Jun, the Breaker Star
The seventh star of the Northern Dipper, element Water, whose transformed breath is Expenditure.
Read entry
Seven Killings (Qi Sha)
One of the Ten Gods: the element that controls the Day Master with the same Yin/Yang polarity — also called the Indirect Officer (Pian Guan).
Read entry
Qi Sha, the Vanguard Star
The sixth star of the Southern Dipper — the Dipper's high general — element Fire–Metal.
Read entry
What Is Spring Water (Quan Zhong Shui)?
The NaYin of the Jia Shen and Yi You stem-branches: the source that never runs dry, on which the myriad things depend — the image of living spring water.
Read entry
Hurting Officer (Shang Guan)
One of the Ten Gods: the element the Day Master produces with the opposite Yin/Yang polarity — for a Jia Day Master, seeing Ding.
Read entry
Shang Men, the Harm Door
One of the Eight Doors of Qi Men Dun Jia, seated in the Zhen palace, element Wood.
Read entry
What Is Hilltop Fire (Shan Tou Huo)?
The NaYin of the Jia Xu and Yi Hai stem-branches: blazing into a great flame, a beacon of light — fire burning on the hilltop.
Read entry
Sheng Men, the Life Door
One of the Eight Doors of Qi Men Dun Jia, seated in the Gen palace, element Earth.
Read entry
Eating God (Shi Shen)
One of the Ten Gods: the element the Day Master produces that shares its Yin/Yang polarity — for a Jia Day Master, seeing Bing.
Read entry
Shi and Ying, the Self Line and the Other Line
The Shi line stands for the querent's side; the Ying line stands for the other party — the main axis for reading relationships in a hexagram.
Read entry
Decline (Shuai) — The Sixth of the Twelve Stages
The sixth of the Twelve Stages: the turning point where the Five Elements' qi passes from flourishing to fading — Jia Wood's Decline falls on Chen.
Read entry
Death (Si) — The Eighth of the Twelve Stages
The eighth of the Twelve Stages: the Five Elements' qi exhausted and stored away — Jia Wood's Death falls on Wu.
Read entry
Sǐ Men, the Death Door
One of the Eight Doors of Qi Men Dun Jia — its imagery is withdrawal, stillness, and ending.
Read entry
Conception (Tai) — The Eleventh of the Twelve Stages
The eleventh of the Twelve Stages: receiving qi and taking shape — new life beginning to quicken — Jia Wood's Conception falls on You.
Read entry
What Is the Taiji Noble?
A Symbolic Star found by scanning the Day Master or year stem against the chart's branches, taking the image of all things protected from beginning to end.
Read entry
Tai Yang, the Radiant Star
A lord star of the central heavens — the essence of the Sun, element Fire — in the numbers it lends its bearer an air of distinction.
Read entry
Tai Yin, the Lunar Star
A lodge star of the central heavens, element Water, whose transformed breath is Wealth — lord of the Property palace.
Read entry
Tan Lang, the Greedy Wolf Star
The first star of the Northern Dipper, element Water–Wood, whose transformed breath is Peach Blossom.
Read entry
Peach Blossom (Tao Hua)
Also called Xian Chi (the Xian Pool): it marks the Bath stage of the Three Harmony combinations — the image of the sun sinking into the pool where it bathes.
Read entry
Heavenly Virtue Noble (Tian De Gui Ren)
Checked against the Four Pillars' stems and branches using the Month Branch, from the old rhyme that begins "first month: Ding; second month: in Kun."
Read entry
Tian Fu, the Treasury Star
The Southern Dipper's commanding first star — lord and keeper of the Wealth palace — element Earth.
Read entry
Tian Ji, the Strategist Star
The third star of the Southern Dipper, whose transformed breath is Goodness, element Yi Wood — governing intellect and planning.
Read entry
Tian Kui, the Chief Star
Tian Kui is an assisting star of the Southern Dipper in Zi Wei Dou Shu, element Ding Fire, tied to the lodge of examination honors and paired with Tian Yue as "Kui Yue".
Read entry
Tian Liang, the Sheltering Star
The second star of the Southern Dipper, element Earth, whose transformed breath is Shelter.
Read entry
Tian Tong, the Blessed Star
The fourth star of the Southern Dipper, whose transformed breath is Blessing, element Ren Water — governing good fortune and easy rapport.
Read entry
What Is Heavenly Joy (Tian Xi)?
The clash branch of the Red Matchmaker, named together with it; note that the classical texts also record a different "Heavenly Joy Spirit" found from the season — a separate system.
Read entry
Tian Xiang, the Minister Star
The fifth star of the Southern Dipper, element Water, whose transformed breath is the Seal.
Read entry
What Is the Heavenly Noble?
Read from the Day Master or year stem against the chart's branches — the highest-ranked of all Symbolic Stars, remembered by a famous rhymed verse.
Read entry
Tian Yue, the Axe Star
Tian Yue is an assisting star of the Southern Dipper in Zi Wei Dou Shu, element Ding Fire, tied to the lodge of examination honors and paired with Tian Kui as "Kui Yue".
Read entry
What Is the Death Star (Wang Shen)?
A Symbolic Star read from the year or day branch, taking the image of loss and dissipation.
Read entry
The Strength School and the Chart-Structure School (Wang Shuai Pai vs. Ge Ju Pai)
The two great schools of BaZi reading: the Ren tradition takes the Day Master's Strength (Prosperous/Weak) as its governing principle, while the Xu tradition takes the month commander's eight structures as the body's frame.
Read entry
Literary Star (Wen Chang)
The Literary Star Noble (Wen Chang Gui Ren): the Arrival or Birth stage of the Day Stem's Eating God — the Symbolic Star linked to study, letters, and examinations.
Read entry
Wen Chang, the Literary Star
The lodge of examination success, element Metal — an auxiliary star of Zi Wei.
Read entry
Wen Qu, the Scholar Star
The lodge of examination honors, element Water — an auxiliary star of Zi Wei.
Read entry
Wu Qu, the Wealth Star
The sixth star of the Northern Dipper, whose transformed breath is Wealth, element Xin Metal — governing money and resolve.
Read entry
Xiu Men, the Rest Door
One of the Eight Doors of Qi Men Dun Jia, seated in the Kan palace, element Water.
Read entry
Nurturing (Yang) — The Twelfth of the Twelve Stages
The twelfth of the Twelve Stages: the image of formation tended and raised — after which the cycle returns to Birth — Jia Wood's Nurturing falls on Xu.
Read entry
What Is Willow Wood (Yang Liu Mu)?
The NaYin of the Ren Wu and Gui Wei stem-branches: soft boughs trailing everywhere, rising and falling with the wind — the image of willow branches.
Read entry
Sheep Blade (Yang Ren)
The Day Stem's Peak stage: Jia's Blade is at Mao, Yi's at Yin, Bing and Wu's at Wu, Ding and Ji's at Si, Geng's at You, Xin's at Shen, Ren's at Zi, Gui's at Hai — the image of a blade's edge.
Read entry
Traveling Horse (Yi Ma)
The Clash of the Birth stage in the Three Harmony combinations — the image of roads traveled and horses galloping between relay stations.
Read entry
You Bi, the Right Assistant Star
An assisting star of the Southern Dipper, element Water — a supporting star.
Read entry
What Is the Moon Virtue Noble (Yue De)?
Read from the month branch against the chart's stems — Yin, Wu, Xu months look for Bing; Shen, Zi, Chen months look for Ren; Hai, Mao, Wei months look for Jia; Si, You, Chou months look for Geng. Together with the Heavenly Virtue Noble it is called the "Heavenly and Monthly Virtues."
Read entry
Yuan Shen, the Supporting Line
The line that generates and supports the Useful Line — the Useful Line's source of strength.
Read entry
Direct Wealth (Zheng Cai)
One of the Ten Gods: the element the Day Master controls with the opposite Yin/Yang polarity — for a Jia Day Master, seeing Ji.
Read entry
Direct Officer (Zheng Guan)
One of the Ten Gods: the element that controls the Day Master with the opposite Yin/Yang polarity — the ancients compared it to "a ruler in the state, an elder in the home."
Read entry
Direct Seal (Zheng Yin)
One of the Ten Gods: the element that nourishes the Day Master with the opposite Yin/Yang polarity — the source that gives the self life; for a Jia Day Master, seeing Gui.
Read entry
Zi Wei, the Emperor Star
The first of the fourteen major stars of Zi Wei Dou Shu — hailed as the Celestial Emperor Star — element Earth.
Read entry
Zuo Fu, the Left Assistant Star
An assisting star of the Southern Dipper, element Earth — a supporting star.
Read entry