BaZi glossary
A plain-English dictionary of the terms a reading uses — the day master, the spouse palace, the seven affinity grades, and the rest. Every definition here is the same one the reading itself uses.
Reading the chart
- Four pillarsbazi
- Four "pillars" — year, month, day, hour — each a stem over a branch, each carrying one of the five elements (the colours below). The day stem is the "day master"; the day branch the "spouse palace".
- Day master
- Your "day master" is the element of the day you were born — the chart’s stand-in for your core self. This scores how the two selves interact.
- Day-master strength
- How well the rest of a chart supports the day master. It sets the direction of the chart’s balancing element, so it sits upstream of almost every reading the chart produces.
- Yong shenelemental complement
- Each chart runs low on some of the five elements and favors what restores its balance. This scores how much of what you each need the other carries.
- Natal chart
- A person’s four pillars, derived from their birth date and hour. It is worked out deterministically from a birth moment — nothing is predicted by it alone, which is what separates it from a horoscope.
The six compatibility dimensions
- Compatibility
- A score between two charts, built from six classical tests — day-master interaction, spouse palace, family affinity, stem combination, yong shen and stars — and totalled out of 100.
- Spouse palace
- The "spouse palace" is the part of a birth chart traditionally read for marriage and daily closeness. This scores how your two palaces get along.
- Family affinity
- How your birth years relate — traditionally read as ease between families, backgrounds, and elders.
- Stem combination
- A "stem combination" is a classical pairing of birth-day signs said to bind two people.
- Starsshensha
- Classical charts mark named "stars" — some lucky, some not. Scored only when both birth hours are known.
- Peach blossomtaohua
- Classical charts mark a "peach blossom" (taohua) — the romance star, a sign of attraction and magnetism. We check whether each of you carries the other’s.
The seven affinity grades
- Matched in Heaven
- Your birth charts complement each other like missing puzzle pieces. Alignment this close is genuinely rare.
- Fated Connection
- The charts echo each other in ways that go well beyond coincidence.
- Deep Karmic Bond
- Strong resonance in temperament, values, and energy between the two charts.
- Threshold Affinity
- The pairing sits at a pivotal threshold — real potential, with real turning points to navigate.
- Workable Bond
- The charts share real common ground alongside real differences — a genuine bond that grows on steady effort rather than on effortless ease.
- Distant Threads
- Differences between the charts ask for patience and open communication.
- Separate Paths
- The charts pull in different directions; forcing alignment would take heavy effort.
Positions and timing
- Affinity grade
- The tier a compatibility score falls into — always one of the seven grades above, never a letter rating.
- Qian position / kun position
- The two seats in a compatibility reading. A reading always has exactly one of each; which person sits in which seat is the reader’s choice, switched by a single control.
- Decade luck
- The ten-year cycles a chart passes through, each rated favourable, neutral, or adverse against the chart’s balancing element (its yong shen).