Saju StationA saju in six steps
How to read a saju
A saju turns the moment of birth into eight letters, then reads how those letters relate. Know these six things and you can read every “Why” on this site.
Every example is one person's chart. This person was born on 15 March 1994 at 10:30 am in Seoul. Examples that need a date treat 15 November 2026 as today. This site works them out itself.
01
The eight letters of the Birth Chart
The Birth Chart is eight letters: two each for the year, month, day and hour of birth.
Each pair of letters is a pillar. There are four: the Year Pillar, Month Pillar, Day Pillar and Hour Pillar. The chart reads from the Year Pillar on the right to the Hour Pillar on the left.
The top letter of a pillar is a Heavenly Stem, one of 10 (甲乙丙丁戊己庚辛壬癸). The bottom letter is an Earthly Branch, one of 12 (子丑寅卯辰巳午未申酉戌亥). Step both forward together (甲子, 乙丑, 丙寅 …). After the 60th pair, you are back at the start. These 60 pairs make the cycle of 60. Years, months, days and hours each step through them in turn.
If the hour of birth is unknown, the chart is read from six letters, without the Hour Pillar.
On this siteThe table at the top of the Lifetime Reading page is this chart. The small words under each cell are the Ten Gods, below.
See my chartExample
Sample chart 甲戌 丁卯 庚子 辛巳
02
Yin, Yang and the Five Elements
Every letter is one of five energies, the Five Elements: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water. Every letter is also Yang or Yin. Yang shows itself and moves outward. Yin gathers inward and stays still.
The elements feed or restrain each other. The feeding order is Wood → Fire → Earth → Metal → Water → Wood: wood feeds fire, fire leaves earth as ash, and so on.
The restraining order is Wood → Earth → Water → Fire → Metal → Wood: roots break up earth, earth dams water, and so on.
The stems come in pairs of one element, Yang first and Yin second. 甲 is Yang Wood and 乙 is Yin Wood. Each branch has an element too, and the four 辰戌丑未 are Earth.
On this siteThe 'Five Elements' bars on a result count these. Each chart cell is tinted by its letter's element too.
See my elementsExample
Feeding order
- 木Wood
- 火Fire
- 土Earth
- 水Water
- 木Wood
Restraining order
- 木Wood
- 土Earth
- 水Water
- 火Fire
- 木Wood
Yin and Yang of the stems
Five Elements
How many of the chart's letters belong to each element
- 木 Wood2
- 火 Fire2
- 土 Earth1
- 金 Metal2
- 水 Water1
03
The Day Master
The Day Master is the top letter of the day of birth. In a saju, it stands for you.
The other seven letters are all read by how they stand to the Day Master. The same letter means different things to a different Day Master.
There are 10 Day Masters. This site gives each one an image: 庚 is the Rock and 甲 the Tall Tree.
The letter under the Day Master is the Day Branch, the seat you lean on. It is also read as the seat of your closest person, your spouse. The two together are the Day Pillar, one of 60.
On this siteThe 60 Day Pillar pages are grouped by Day Master. Today's flow gives one line for each of the ten.
See the 60 Day PillarsExample
The sample's Day Master 庚 · Yang Metal · Rock
The ten Day Masters
- 甲Tall Tree
- 乙Climbing Vine
- 丙Sun
- 丁Lamp
- 戊Mountain
- 己Open Field
- 壬Ocean
- 癸Rain
04
The Ten Gods
The Ten Gods are ten names for how another letter stands to the Day Master. They come from the elements' feeding and restraining, and whether Yin and Yang match.
There are five relations: the same element (peers), the element you feed (output), the element you restrain (wealth), the element that restrains you (officer), and the element that feeds you (resource).
Each splits by Yin and Yang. With the Day Master's polarity they are Companion, Eating God, Indirect Wealth, Indirect Officer and Indirect Resource. With the other they are Rob Wealth, Hurting Officer, Direct Wealth, Direct Officer and Direct Resource.
A branch takes the Ten God of its main Hidden Stem, the strongest stem hidden inside it. No Ten God is good or bad in itself. The same one works differently in a chart with too much or too little of it.
On this siteThe small words under each chart cell are that letter's Ten God. Today's flow names the day by the Ten God of the day's stem for your Day Master.
See today's flowExample
| Stem | Ten God · to the Day Master |
|---|---|
| CompanionPeersSame element · same polarityA force beside you. Colleagues, independence, your own share | |
| Rob WealthSame element · other polarityAlike but competing. Rivalry, contests, money going out | |
| 壬Water | Eating GodOutputYou feed it · same polarityA gentle force you give. Expression, food and pleasure, steady skill |
| 癸Water | Hurting OfficerYou feed it · other polarityA sharp force you give. Wit, criticism, breaking moulds |
| 甲Wood | Indirect WealthWealthYou restrain it · same polarityBig wealth you handle. Chances, business, moving money |
| 乙Wood | Direct WealthYou restrain it · other polaritySteady wealth you handle. Salary, savings, diligence |
| 丙Fire | Indirect OfficerOfficerIt restrains you · same polarityA strong force that tests you. Pressure, duty, breakthroughs |
| 丁Fire | Direct OfficerIt restrains you · other polarityA force that keeps you upright. Rules, work, reputation |
| 戊Earth | Indirect ResourceResourceIt feeds you · same polarityAn unusual support. Intuition, research, depth alone |
| 己Earth | Direct ResourceIt feeds you · other polarityA warm support. Learning, care, documents |
05
Combinations and clashes
When letters meet, they draw together (combinations) or collide (clash, punishment, destruction, harm). It happens inside a chart, and between a chart and the letters of a year or a day.
Two branches can make a Clash, Combination, Punishment, Destruction or Harm. Two stems can make a Stem combination or a Stem clash. Three branches that gather into one element make a Three harmony; two of them count as a Half combination when one is 子, 午, 卯 or 酉. Three of one season make a Directional combination.
This site counts a clash, punishment, destruction or harm from an incoming year or day as one to take care with. What a combination does depends. If your birth month supports the element it makes, it turns into that element, and what counts is whether your chart needs that element (the Useful God). If not, it holds back one letter of your chart instead, and what counts is whether your chart needs that letter. Either way, it then helps, calls for care or stays neutral.
On this siteThe evidence chips on a result, and the marks on today's chart, are these relations.
See today's flowExample
Relations inside the sample chart
- 戌卯CombinationYear · Month
- 甲庚Stem clashYear · Day
- 卯子PunishmentMonth · Day
Every pair
- Clash
- 子午 丑未 寅申 卯酉 辰戌 巳亥Two opposite branches collide. Change, moving
- Combination
- 子丑 寅亥 卯戌 辰酉 巳申 午未Two branches pair up and bind. Fit, ties
- Punishment
- 子卯 丑未 丑戌 寅巳 寅申 辰辰 巳申 午午 未戌 酉酉 亥亥Rubbing that shapes each other. Friction, adjustment
- Destruction
- 子酉 丑辰 寅亥 卯午 巳申 未戌What meshed comes apart. Things go off track
- Harm
- 子未 丑午 寅巳 卯辰 申亥 酉戌Each takes from the other. Hurt feelings, misunderstanding
- Stem combination
- 甲己 乙庚 丙辛 丁壬 戊癸Two stems draw together into one element
- Stem clash
- 甲庚 乙辛 丙壬 丁癸Two stems collide head on
Relations of three
- Three harmony
- 申子辰 Water亥卯未 Wood寅午戌 Fire巳酉丑 MetalThree branches gather into one element
- Directional combination
- 寅卯辰 Wood巳午未 Fire申酉戌 Metal亥子丑 WaterThree branches of one season gather
06
Luck pillars, years, months and days
The Birth Chart stays the same for life, and new letters arrive with time: a luck pillar every 10 years, an annual pillar every year, a monthly pillar every month and a day pillar every day.
Incoming letters are read the same way as the chart: which Ten God they are for the Day Master, and whether they combine or clash with the chart's letters.
The annual pillar changes at Ipchun (around 4 February), not on 1 January. Solar terms split the year into 24 parts by the sun's position. A saju month starts at every other term, 12 in all, not on the 1st. So each saju month starts between the 3rd and the 9th.
Luck pillars start from the Month Pillar and move one step every 10 years. The direction comes from the year stem's polarity and sex. A Yang year stem (甲丙戊庚壬) for a man, or a Yin one (乙丁己辛癸) for a woman, steps forward through the cycle of 60; a Yin year stem for a man, or a Yang one for a woman, steps backward.
The starting age counts the days to the next solar term (forward) or back to the last one (backward), and takes one year for every three days. So two people born at the same moment, a man and a woman, get different luck pillars, which usually start at different ages. On this site, if you choose no sex, you choose the direction yourself.
On this siteLifetime Reading reads the luck pillars, Your Year the annual and monthly pillars, and Today's flow the day pillar.
See today's flowExample
Sample chart · 15 November 2026
- Luck pillar10 years from age 23Indirect Wealth甲子
- Annual pillar1 year · from IpchunIndirect Officer丙午
- Monthly pillar1 month · from its solar termDirect Resource己亥
- The day's pillarOne dayHurting Officer癸巳
Luck direction · Yang man or Yin woman forward, Yin man or Yang woman backward
| Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|
| Yang stem | Forward | Backward |
| Yin stem | Backward | Forward |
- The sample as a woman · Backward丁卯丙寅age 3乙丑age 13甲子age 23癸亥age 33
- The sample as a man · Forward丁卯戊辰age 7己巳age 17庚午age 27辛未age 37
Read your own chart
Enter your birth, and see these six steps in your own letters.
Why saju apps give different results