Chinese Metaphysics Glossary

BaZi, meaning "Eight Characters," is the cornerstone of Chinese destiny analysis. It maps your birth year, month, day, and hour into four pillars, each containing a Heavenly Stem and an Earthly Branch.

The ten Heavenly Stems (天干) are a cycle of ten symbols — 甲乙丙丁戊己庚辛壬癸 — paired with the Five Elements in Yin-Yang polarities. They form one half of each BaZi pillar.

The twelve Earthly Branches (地支) — 子丑寅卯辰巳午未申酉戌亥 — correspond to the twelve Chinese zodiac animals and carry hidden Heavenly Stems within them. They form the other half of each BaZi pillar.

The Five Elements (五行) — Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water — are the fundamental building blocks of Chinese metaphysics. They describe cycles of creation and destruction that govern all natural phenomena.

Yin and Yang (阴阳) represent the dual nature of all existence — opposite yet complementary forces that are constantly in flux. Every Heavenly Stem, Earthly Branch, and element carries either Yin or Yang polarity.

The Day Master (日主) is the Heavenly Stem of your Day Pillar — the single most important character in your BaZi chart. It represents you: your core personality, your lens on the world.

The Month Command (月令) is the Earthly Branch of your Month Pillar. It is the single most influential factor in determining the strength of your Day Master and the overall climate of your chart.

The Ten Gods (十神) are ten relationship types between your Day Master and the other elements in your chart. Each God represents a different aspect of life: wealth, authority, creativity, resources, and peers.

The Eating God (食神) is the gentle expression of creativity. It represents talent, appetite for life, charm, and the ability to enjoy the present moment.

The Hurting Officer (伤官) represents rebellious brilliance, sharp intellect, and unconventional thinking. It is the intense, untamed counterpart to the gentle Eating God.

Direct Wealth (正财) represents steady income, earned through diligence and responsible effort. It also symbolizes a spouse for men and financial discipline.

Indirect Wealth (偏财) represents windfall gains, speculative income, and generosity. It is the dynamic, opportunistic counterpart to steady Direct Wealth.

The Direct Officer (正官) represents legitimate authority, discipline, and social status. It is the structured, rule-abiding form of power that comes from within the system.

Seven Killings (七杀) represents aggressive authority, fierce ambition, and the warrior spirit. It is the untamed, confrontational form of power — the rebel with a cause.

The Direct Resource (正印) represents nurturing support, education, wisdom, and maternal energy. It is the element that produces your Day Master with the opposite polarity.

The Indirect Resource (偏印) represents unconventional wisdom, intuition, and esoteric knowledge. It is the eccentric, non-conformist counterpart to the nurturing Direct Resource.

The Friend or Companion (比肩) represents peers, siblings, and self-reliance. It is the element that matches your Day Master in both element and polarity.

Rob Wealth (劫财) represents rivalry, bold action, and risk-taking. It is the aggressive counterpart to the more cooperative Friend — same element, opposite polarity.

Major Luck Periods (大运) are ten-year cycles derived from your birth chart that reveal the dominant theme and energy of each decade of your life.

Liu Nian (流年), meaning "flowing year," refers to the influence of the current year's Heavenly Stem and Earthly Branch on your personal chart. It explains why some years are better than others.

Na Yin (纳音) is an ancient system that assigns a specific element-sound combination to each pair of Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, creating 60 unique archetypes — one for each year in the sexagenary cycle.

The Life Palace (命宫) is a calculated point in your chart that represents your overall destiny trajectory, personality essence, and the direction your life is meant to take.

The Conception Element (胎元) represents the energy at the moment of conception — nine months before birth. It reveals innate talents, prenatal influences, and hidden potential that may not be visible from the birth chart alone.

The Peach Blossom Star (桃花) is a charm point in your chart that indicates romantic attractiveness, charisma, and artistic sensibility. It is one of the most well-known auxiliary stars in Chinese astrology.

The Travel Star (驿马) indicates movement, travel, relocation, and career changes. People with this star are rarely stationary — they are always on the move, physically or professionally.

The Canopy Star (华盖) represents spiritual depth, intellectual solitude, and a connection to the metaphysical world. It is the star of scholars, monks, and seekers of hidden knowledge.