What Do Bazi Four Pillars Represent?

The Four Pillars of Destiny is an important component of Chinese fortune telling. The four stages of life are governed by the 'four pillars' which are year, month, day and hour pillars respectively.

Year Pillar governs one’s fortune from the age of 1 to 16;
Month Pillar governs one’s fortune from the age of 17 to 32; 
Day Pillar governs one’s fortune from the age of 33 to 48; 
Hour Pillar governs one’s fortune from the age of 49 to late year.

Each pillar governs for 16 years. To be specific, the heavenly stem of year pillar governs age 1 to 8 and the earthly branch of year pillar governs age 9 to 16; the heavenly stem of month pillar governs age 17 to 24 and the earthly branch of month pillar governs age 25 to 32; the heavenly stem of day pillar governs age 33 to 40 and the earthly branch of day pillar governs age 41 to 48; the heavenly stem of hour pillar governs age 49 to 56 and the earthly branch of hour pillar governs age 57 to 64.

Year Pillar

Year Pillar is the root, just like that of flowers and trees.
It represents Parents Palace and Grandparents Palace
It means a person's weal and woe weal and woe in childhood and the ups and downs of his parents.
It represents the fortune from age 1 to 16.
In terms of body, it means head and face.

The stem and branch of year pillar represent ancestors. If the stem and branch of year pillar is restricted during the period, then the person may lose his grandparents or parents before the age of 16; if a person's year pillar is remedy, it means his ancestors are prestigious and he will be blessed and loved by the relatives and have all the wishes come true from birth to age 16. If a person's year pillar belongs to an element against him, he may not get the love of ancestors but live an unsmooth childhood and early youth due to poverty or poor environment, or even suffer from unforeseen disasters in family.

Month Pillar

Month Pillar is seedling, just like that of flowers and trees.
It represents Siblings Palace as well as Parents Palace rather than Marriage Palace.
It means a person's career in youth and help from siblings.
It represents the fortune from age 17 to 32.
In body, it means chest and back.

Month Pillar represents a person's Siblings Palace, as well as his parents and siblings in the original family. Generally, it means a person's fortune from age 16 to 32. If the month pillar is remedy, it symbolizes the original family is well-off and his parents are successful in career. But if the month pillar belongs to an element against him, it means his parents are average or can only offer limited help.

Day Pillar

Day Pillar is flower, just like that in the nature.
Day Stem represent self while Day Branch means partner.
It represents the gains and losses in middle age and the ups and downs of marriage
It represents the fortune from age 33 to 48.
In body, it means waist and abdomen.

Day Pillar represents self or partner and governs from age 32 to 48. If the day stem or branch is restricted or in conflict, the person may part for ever with his partner - especially when the month branch is also in conflict. If it is self punishment, the person will suffer from misfortunes, mostly casualty and danger. When the month branch is remedy, it means the partner will be helpful and from a well-off family and the two can enjoy a happy marriage; also, the person will be quite blissed and successful in career from age 32 to 48. If the day branch belongs to an element against him, it means a less satisfactory partner, a poorly off family or an unhappy marriage and things will go contrary to his wishes.

Hour Pillar

Hour Pillar is fruit, just like the fruit of flowers and trees.
It represents Children Palace.
It means a person's honor and disgrace in old age and the wisdom of his children.
It represents the fortune from age 48 to 60.
In body, it means legs and feet.

The stem and branch of hour pillar represents children and the old age after 48. If the hour stem or branch is restricted or in conflict, it suggests the person or his children will suffer from harmful things; if it is self punishment, the person will suffer from misfortune and casualty. When the hour pillar is remedy, it represents filial children, successful career and peaceful later years; if the hour pillar belongs to an element against him, it suggests the unfilial children who may go against him, not to mention the peace in later years.

Which one is the most important among the four pillars?

Each of the Four Pillars represents a different aspect of life and it is pretty hard to tell which is more important, because every pillar is equally important. Depending on the doubt of a person, however, different pillars are focused on. To learn about future partner, day pillar shall be chosen to analyze; to learn about the luck in old age, the right approach is to start from hour pillar. A comprehensive consideration is needed to see which pillar is the most important. Similarly, a person's eight characters shall be evaluated comprehensively to determine whether it is good or bad.

Chinese Calendar

SuMoTuWeThFrSa
27廿五/25 28廿六/26 29廿七/27 30廿八/28 31廿九/29 十月 (Oct) 1初壹/1 2初二/2
3初三/3 4初四/4 5初五/5 6初六/6 7初七/7 8初八/8 9初九/9
10初十/10 11十壹/11 12十二/12 13十三/13 14十四/14 15十五/15 16十六/16
17十七/17 18十八/18 19十九/19 20二十/20 21廿壹/21 22廿二/22 23廿三/23
24廿四/24 25廿五/25 26廿六/26 27廿七/27 28廿八/28 29廿九/29 30三十/30

Lastest Questions and Answers

Strongest element is lucky element? (2 Replies ) Asked by M***s

Hello! I'm very new to Bazi and was reading my chart but I'm a bit confused and have a question about it... because I think that my strong day master is actually my lucky element as well? I've read that you want the elements in your chart to be balanced right? Well, my chart has a LOT of fire and earth. Yin fire daymaster, yang fire hour + month on the heavenly stems, yang fire hour on the earthly branches as well, and then I have 3 earth elements on my earthly branches. Born in a metal year so overall I have 4 fire, 3 earth, 1 metal, and 0 wood + water. Based on this I would think that wood and water are good elements for me as they provide balance to my strong chart but I was reading through my journals & events of my life and thinking otherwise... the best years of my life so far have been 2016 & 2017, which were both fire years, and the absolute worst year of my life was 2014, a wood year, with 2015 not being much better either. Looking at events throughout my life, the best events of my life have often been in fire or earth months, and the worst being in wood months once again. I'm not sure about water yet because what I've seen is too mixed, maybe I'll have more clarity after 2022-2023 though. And finally, I've had wood in my luck pillars since I was 2 years old (I am now 21 so it's ending soon) but my upbringing was horrible and life has had so many downs in ways I can't even get into. I don't mean this in a sad way because I am a very optimistic person, actually, and I know my future is looking bright in spite of it. I'm just being realistic and thinking that it seems pretty unlikely for my life to actually get worse as I exit these wood luck pillars... I would hope so anyway. I have a very limited knowledge so far and I know that looking at the animals adds a whole layer that I haven't even considered yet. But from the little I do understand right now, I'm just wondering why it seems like the best times of my life so far have been during fire years or months when fire is already so strong in my chart? Why wood has been so negative? I wish I had more to say about water but I do not yet. Some very good months in my life have been earth months as well despite it also being prominent in my chart. Thank you for reading and please let me know if you have some insight about this!

I have an M in my palm but my destiny line ends at my heart line (0 Reply ) Asked by h***k

I have an M in my palm but my destiny line ends at my heart line

Auspicious and inauspicious day (0 Reply ) Asked by a***o

On 9 july it was a horse day so how can it be auspicious day for ox and on coming 12 july it is a rooster day how it can be bad day for rooster being ox and rooster best match according to you moreover why change of date in your calendar occur in evening of every day or tell me if i am wrong .In destiny according to birth time also you say ox born in rooster time is bad for your destiny while born in dog time is more good

Destiny by Birth (4 Replies ) Asked by A***T

I was born on April 10 on the Chinese calendar of the pig year. And my inner animal is a snake, do I look at the snake destiny by birth or do I look at the pig Destiny by birth? Is it based on your Chinese year of birth or your inner animal?

Birth destiny (0 Reply ) Asked by A***T

I just want to know if I’m born in the year of the pig, on April 10 in the Chinese calendar, which means I’m born on snake month and day. Do I look up my birthday in the pig destiny or snake destiny by birth date and month?