The ten Day Masters
In BaZi — the Chinese Four Pillars of Destiny, known in Korea as Saju — your Day Master is the heavenly stem of the day you were born. It is the one element that stands for “you,” the anchor the rest of the chart is read against. There are ten: the five elements — wood, fire, earth, metal, water — each in a yang (active) and a yin (receptive) form.
All ten, by element
- Yang Wood (Jiǎ, 甲) — the tall tree (Wood)
- Yin Wood (Yǐ, 乙) — the vine (Wood)
- Yang Fire (Bǐng, 丙) — the sun (Fire)
- Yin Fire (Dīng, 丁) — the candle (Fire)
- Yang Earth (Wù, 戊) — the mountain (Earth)
- Yin Earth (Jǐ, 己) — the field (Earth)
- Yang Metal (Gēng, 庚) — the axe (Metal)
- Yin Metal (Xīn, 辛) — the jewel (Metal)
- Yang Water (Rén, 壬) — the ocean (Water)
- Yin Water (Guǐ, 癸) — the dew (Water)
How to find yours
You do not need to know the stems by heart. Enter your birth date in the free BaZi calculator and it returns your Day Master directly, along with your five-element balance and a reading for the day. From there, the page for your stem explains how that element tends to live.