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Saju begins with Yin-Yang. Yang (陽) is bright, active energy that expands outward; Yin (陰) is dark, receptive energy that gathers inward. Like day and night, or summer and winter, they are opposites that still cycle together in balance. Every Heavenly Stem and Earthly Branch also carries its own Yin or Yang polarity.
The Five Elements are the five expressions of Yin and Yang. Every Heavenly Stem and Earthly Branch belongs to one of these elements.
Wood · Virtue: Benevolence (仁)
A tree reaching upward — growth, new beginnings, momentumFire · Virtue: Propriety (禮)
A blazing flame — expansion, expression, passionEarth · Virtue: Trust (信)
Sheltering soil — mediation, stability, embraceMetal · Virtue: Righteousness (義)
Forged iron — decisiveness, focus, orderWater · Virtue: Wisdom (智)
Flowing water — wisdom, storage, adaptabilityWood→Fire→Earth→Metal→Water→Wood: each element nourishes the next.
Wood→Earth→Water→Fire→Metal→Wood: each element overcomes the next.
The 10 Heavenly Stems (Gap·Eul·Byeong·Jeong·Mu·Gi·Gyeong·Sin·Im·Gye) represent the energy of the sky, while the 12 Earthly Branches (Ja·Chuk·In·Myo·Jin·Sa·O·Mi·Sin·Yu·Sul·Hae) represent the energy of the earth and the 12 zodiac animals. Pairing the two produces the 60 Ganzhi cycle (甲子–癸亥), and the pair for your day of birth becomes your Day Pillar (日柱).
The four pillars built from your year, month, day, and hour of birth — each a Stem+Branch pair — form the "Four Pillars" (四柱), eight characters in total ("Eight Characters", 八字).
Year Pillar (年柱)
Ancestors, childhood, roots. Shows your early years and family energy.Month Pillar (月柱)
Parents, society, career. Shows your youth, social environment, and innate structure.Day Pillar (日柱)
Yourself and your spouse. The Day Stem (日干) is the protagonist (you), and the Day Branch is the spouse's palace.Hour Pillar (時柱)
Children, later years, outcomes. Shows old age, descendants, and how life comes together.The Ten Gods classify every other character's relationship to your Day Master (yourself) into ten types. They are the core tool for reading personality, career, love, and wealth.
Friend · Rob Wealth
Energy same as yours — self-respect, independence, competition
Eating God · Hurting Officer
Energy you produce — expression, talent, creativity
Indirect Wealth · Direct Wealth
Energy you overcome — money, activity, practicality
Seven Killings · Direct Officer
Energy that overcomes you — challenge, honor, discipline
Indirect Resource · Direct Resource
Energy that produces you — learning, intuition, protection
The twelve branches are not ranked good and bad. Where each sits on the circle fixes how it relates to the others — some combine, some face off, some grind. These are the terms you will see on the sign pages.
Three Harmony
three signs that together form one element
Six Harmony
one of the six pairs the twelve fold into
Same Seat
the same branch twice
Clash
directly opposite on the circle
Punishment
a three-way knot that presses on itself
Harm
each quietly loses a little
Break
arrangements tend to slip
Neutral
no fixed harmony or clash
Three branches spaced four apart form one element together. Each trio has a start, a middle and a close.
Sin–Ja–Jin → Water
In–O–Sul → Fire
Hae–Myo–Mi → Wood
Sa–Yu–Chuk → Metal
Not on 1 January. Two different rules are in use, and this site uses both on purpose — because they answer two different questions.
Your sign — the lunar new year
The animal signs came from the folk calendar, where the year turns at the lunar new year — the same moment age, rites and new-year customs turn. That is the answer to "what sign are you?".
Your year pillar — Lichun
Saju divides the year by the sun, not the moon. The twenty-four solar terms sit 15° apart along the ecliptic and Lichun is the first of them, around 4 February. Months are cut the same way, so a Saju chart is a solar calendar even though it looks lunar.
The lunar new year drifts between 21 January and 20 February, while Lichun barely moves. So the order of the two flips from year to year, and anyone born between them carries one sign by custom and another in their chart. It is not an error — the two systems are counting different things. See the actual dates on each sign page
Saju is only a map of your innate temperament and life's flow, not a fixed ending. Think of it as a reference tool for understanding yourself and guiding your choices.
You can read a great deal from just the Year, Month, and Day Pillars, even without the Hour Pillar. Knowing your birth time simply makes the reading more precise.
Start with the 10 Heavenly Stems, 12 Earthly Branches, and the Five Element generation/overcoming cycles — this makes learning the Ten Gods and Day Pillars much faster. Try practicing with flashcards.