Four Pillars and Eight Characters(四柱八字)
- #Four Pillars and Eight Characters
- #What the Four Pillars and Eight Characters Mean
- #How to Read the Four Pillars and Eight Characters
- #The Eight Characters in Your Chart
- #Saju Calendar
The Four Pillars and Eight Characters (Saju Palja, 四柱八字) arrange your birth year·month·day·hour into four pillars (四柱). Each has a heavenly stem on top and an earthly branch below, making eight characters (八字) in all.
Of these eight characters, the heavenly stem of your birth day, called the Day Master, represents you. A saju reading centers on how the other seven characters relate to you through the Ten Gods and how many characters belong to each of the Five Elements.
How it is set
| Pillar | Basis |
|---|---|
| Year pillar (year) | Changes at the Start of Spring solar term |
| Month pillar (month) | Changes at the exact time of the solar term that begins each month |
| Day pillar (day) | Advances one step each day through the 60 stem-branch pairs |
| Hour pillar (hour) | Twelve two-hour periods. The stem is determined by that day's Day Master |
Each pillar has two characters, a stem and a branch, for eight characters total. If your birth time is unknown, the hour pillar is left blank.
Traits
The pillars follow solar terms rather than calendar boundaries. The year pillar changes at the Start of Spring, around February 4 on the Gregorian calendar, rather than January 1. The month pillar changes at the exact time its opening solar term begins. That is why people born in January usually have the previous year's zodiac animal. If you were born on a solar-term transition day, your birth time may affect your month pillar.
The day pillar follows the 60 stem-branch combinations, advancing one each day. The hour pillar uses twelve two-hour periods (子·丑·寅…). Its heavenly stem is determined by the Day Master, so the same two-hour period can produce different hour pillars on different days.
Korean Standard Time follows 135 degrees east longitude, placing it about 30 minutes ahead of the sun's actual position in Seoul, at roughly 127 degrees east. It is therefore customary to adjust birth time by the birthplace's longitude, using true solar time, before assigning the two-hour period. Seowoon also uses your birthplace to make this adjustment before calculating the hour pillar. Near a two-hour boundary, the adjustment may change your hour pillar.
If your birth time is unknown, the hour pillar stays blank and the reading uses the six known characters. The year·month·day pillars still reveal your Day Master and most of your Five Elements and Ten Gods, but the areas associated with later life and children remain open. We never invent a birth time.
Once the eight characters are set, ten-year periods are calculated from them. These periods start from the month pillar and move forward or backward, with direction determined by sex and the birth year's yin or yang polarity. The starting age is calculated by dividing the number of days between birth and the relevant nearby solar term by 3. People with the same eight characters can therefore have different ten-year cycles depending on sex.
A common misconception
“The same eight characters mean the same life” is not true. Anyone born on the same day within the same two-hour period shares those characters, yet the direction of their ten-year cycles can differ by sex, as can their upbringing and choices.The Four Pillars are a tool for reading innate tendencies and the flow of time, not a verdict that fixes future events. Seowoon states calculated values as facts and describes possible events only as “more likely”.
Check it in your chart
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Related entries
- Day PillarYour day pillar (ilju, 日柱) consists of the heavenly stem and earthly branch of your birth day. Among your eight birth characters, its stem—the Day Master—represents you, while its branch is the ground beneath your feet.
- Ten GodsThe Ten Gods (sipsin, 十神) name the relationship between your Day Master, which represents you, and each other character in your chart: Companion·Rob Wealth·Eating God·Hurting Officer·Indirect Wealth·Direct Wealth·Seven Killings·Direct Officer·Indirect Resource·Direct Resource.
- Ten-Year PeriodsTen-year periods (daeun, 大運) assign ten years each to successive stem-branch pairs, moving forward or backward from your birth month's pair, or month pillar. They describe the broader backdrop that shifts once every ten years.
- Day Master StrengthDay Master strength (singang-sinyak, 身強身弱) classifies your Day Master, which represents you, as strong or weak based on how much support it receives from the other seven characters in your chart.
- All of Saju Dictionary
Frequently asked questions
How do I find my Four Pillars and Eight Characters?
Enter your birth date, birth time, and birthplace into a saju calendar to get your four pillars and eight characters. Enter your birth date in Seowoon's free reading, and the same calculation builds your chart and shows your eight characters and element counts.
Can I use my lunar birthday?
Yes. Saju months follow solar terms, not lunar months, so your lunar date is first converted to a Gregorian date before the pillars are calculated. If you were born in a lunar leap month, be sure to select that option so the date is converted correctly.
Can I get a saju reading without knowing my birth time?
Yes. The hour pillar stays blank, and the six characters in your year·month·day pillars are used to read your Day Master·Five Elements·Ten Gods. The hour pillar's positions remain open, so learning your birth time later may change the element counts or balance of the Ten Gods.
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