**Bazi**, also known as **Four Pillars**, is a method of fortune-telling in traditional Chinese numerology, based on an individual’s birth year, month, day, and hour, corresponding to the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, forming four groups of Stems and Branches (Year Pillar, Monthly Pillar, Day Pillar, and Hourly Pillar), a total of eight characters, so it is known as the Eight Character System (八字). The following is the main content of the basic knowledge of the Eight Characters:
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Composition of the Eight Characters
1. **Four Pillars**
– **Year Pillar**: the heavenly stems and earthly branches of the year of birth, representing ancestry, parents, and early fortune.
– **Month Pillar**: the heavenly stem and earthly branch of the month of birth, representing siblings and youthful fortune.
– **Day Pillar**: Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches of the day of birth, representing oneself, spouse, and middle-aged fortune.
– **Hours**: The heavenly stems and earthly branches of the hour of birth, representing the fortune of children and the later years of life.
2. **Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches**: the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches of the day of birth.
– **Heavenly Stems**: Jia,Yi,Bing,Ding,Wu,Ji,Geng,Xin,Ren,Gui (10 in total).
– **Earth Branches**: Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu, Hai (12 in total).
– The Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches are combined in a fixed order to form the 60 cycle.
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The ranking of the eight characters
1. **Placing the Year Pillar**
– Find the corresponding Heavenly Stem and Earthly Branches according to the year of birth (e.g. 2025 is the year of “Yisi”).
2. **Monthly column
– According to the month of birth and the year’s Heavenly Stem, find the corresponding month (e.g. the first month of 2025 is the month of “Dingchou”).
3. **Scheduling Day Pillar**
– Find the corresponding Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches according to the date of birth (with the help of a almanac or charting tool).
4. **Scheduling the Hour Pillar**
– According to the hour of birth and the heavenly stem of the day column, find the corresponding hour column.
### Summary
Bazi is a fortune-telling tool in traditional Chinese culture. By analyzing the elements of Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, the Five Elements, and the Ten Deities, Bazi reveals an individual’s personality, fortune and the direction of destiny. Learning Bazi requires mastering the basics and practicing them in a step-by-step manner.