The vocabulary, explained.
Chinese metaphysics is dense in borrowed words. These pages explain one concept at a time, in English, with the classical image it comes from and what it actually means in a chart.
The ten day masters
Your day master is the stem of your day pillar — the closest thing a bazi chart has to a main character. Start here if you have just cast a chart.
Jia is yang wood: the tall tree, the beam, the one that grows toward the light and expects others to grow with it.
Yi is yin wood: the vine, the grass, the plant that survives by adapting — soft in form, persistent in direction.
Bing is yang fire: the sun. It gives warmth and visibility without asking permission, and it cannot be hidden.
Ding is yin fire: the lamp, the flame, the light that is precise, intimate, and aimed at one thing.
Wu is yang earth: the mountain, the wall, the ground that holds other things up and does not move quickly.
Ji is yin earth: the field, the garden soil, the fertile ground that transforms what falls into it.
Geng is yang metal: the axe, the blade, the raw ore that becomes useful only after it is worked.
Xin is yin metal: the jewel, the fine blade, the polished surface that catches light and shows flaws.
Ren is yang water: the ocean, the big river — movement, scale, and a will that finds the shortest path to the sea.
Gui is yin water: rain, mist, dew — the quiet water that reaches everywhere and changes things by soaking in.
The ten gods
The ten gods describe how the other elements in your chart relate to your day master — the grammar behind words like Peer, Output and Officer.
Peer is the same element with the same polarity: the equal, the ally, the mirror who competes without malice.
Rival is your element with opposite polarity: the ambitious competitor, the one who takes the shortcut you didn't.
Output is what your element produces: enjoyment, craft, nourishment, and the ease of doing something well for its own sake.
Expression is output with bite: the critic, the performer, the one who says the unsayable and pays for it too.
Windfall is money you don't control: opportunities, markets, other people's resources, and the risk that comes with them.
Wealth is the money you build and keep: steady income, ownership, maintenance, and the discipline of the long game.
Officer is pressure with a job: danger, discipline, competition, and the authority that comes from surviving difficulty.
Authority is structure with legitimacy: rules, reputation, duty, and the calm power of doing things properly.
Resource is unconventional support: intuition, research, mentors, and knowledge that arrives from odd angles.
Support is care with a structure: education, mentors, mothers, credentials, and the safety to grow slowly.
The fourteen major stars
Ziwei charts are read through palaces and the stars that occupy them. These are the fourteen majors — the ones that set the tone of a domain.
Ziwei is the emperor star: dignity, command presence, and the lonely weight of being the one others look to.
Tianji is the strategist: motion, calculation, adaptability, and a mind that cannot stop planning.
Taiyang is the sun: generosity, visibility, public spirit, and the cost of always being on.
Wuqu is the financier: discipline, execution, money sense, and a no-nonsense relationship with risk.
Tiantong is the companion: ease, enjoyment, gentleness, and the risk of choosing comfort over change.
Lianzhen is the enforcer: intensity, principle, charm with an edge, and a talent for handling complicated power.
Tianfu is the treasurer: stability, accumulation, good management, and a talent for keeping what has been built.
Taiyin is the moon: sensitivity, aesthetic refinement, and a rich inner world that needs the right conditions to shine.
Tanlang is the pioneer: desire, curiosity, social intelligence, and the appetite that drives exploration.
Jumen is the advocate: analysis, argument, the voice that finds the flaw, and the courage to say it aloud.
Tianxiang is the minister: dignity, fairness, service, and the craft of making a system work gracefully.
Tianliang is the elder: protection, wisdom, responsibility, and the burden of being the responsible one.
Qisha is the general: decisive force, courage under pressure, and the willingness to take the hard path.
Pojun is the destroyer: reinvention, rupture, and the willingness to tear down a structure that no longer works.
The twelve animals
The animal year is the entry point most people know. It is a shorthand, not a full chart — but it is a good door. See also the 2027 Fire Goat guide.
The Rat is the cycle's strategist: quick, resourceful, and always the first to notice where the exit is.
The Ox is patient strength: slow, durable work that outlasts the people who rushed.
The Tiger is bold action: courage, visibility, and the kind of confidence that starts things before the plan is finished.
The Rabbit is quiet grace: tact, sensitivity, and a talent for avoiding the fight that nobody needed to have.
The Dragon is scale and charisma: the animal of big arcs, public ambition and a will that expects the room to follow.
The Snake is quiet intelligence: patience, strategy, and a talent for moving only when it matters.
The Horse is freedom in motion: energy, independence and a need for the road to stay open.
The Goat is gentle persistence: creativity, care, and the patience to make slow things beautiful.
The Monkey is invention: wit, adaptability and a talent for finding a way around a locked door.
The Rooster is precision: standards, punctuality and the courage to point at the flaw.
The Dog is loyalty: principles, protection and a strong sense of who deserves the benefit of the doubt.
The Pig is generosity: enjoyment, honesty, and a talent for making abundance feel ordinary.
The twelve palaces
Each palace is a domain of life. These are the twelve that make up a ziwei chart.
The Life palace is the chart's front door: how you show up, what you default to, and the tone the rest of the chart argues with.
The Siblings palace covers peers, siblings and close equals: how you share space with people who are not above or below you.
The Partnership palace is the marriage/partnership palace: what you expect from closeness and what you actually do inside it.
The Children palace covers creativity, offspring and anything you birth into the world — including projects you raise like children.
The Wealth palace is how you earn, spend and relate to money — not how much you will have.
The Health palace describes energy patterns and stress responses — a tendency map, never a diagnosis.
The Travel palace describes how you do outside the home: movement, new environments, and the self you become away from familiar ground.
The Friends palace covers your network, subordinates and the people who work with you — and how you treat them.
The Career palace is your relationship with work: vocation, ambition, and the role you default to in a professional system.
The Property palace covers home, property and the sense of place — what 'settled' means to you and how you build it.
The Fortune palace is the inner life: what restores you, what you enjoy, and the private weather under the public self.
The Parents palace covers authority figures and upbringing: parents, bosses, mentors and the voice of the person who taught you the rules.
More coming
More guides are on the way. In the meantime, read the 2027 year guide or cast your own chart — the free preview tells you your day master straight away.
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